Is America the greatest country in the world?

[anotheratheisthere]

this post has two sections.

The fist half will just be a list of facts. Objetive statistical data from reputable and trustworthy sources such as the UN or the US DOS. they are in no particular order, I just added them as I found them.

The second half will be my interpretation of what these figures mean, and an invitation to discussion.

FACT: America is the industrialized country with the highest murder rate in the world. A higher rate than many third world countries.

FACT: America is the industrialized country with the highest rape rate in the world

FACT: America is the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. more than China or Cuba. The percentage of people who are deprived of their freedom in America is greater than that in any other country, possibly in History.

FACT: We are the greatest exporters of weapons in the world.

FACT: Over the last 50 years, the US Government has killed more civilians than any other entity in the world.

FACT: 12 countries have a higher Quality of Life/Human Developement Index than the US.

FACT: We rank 38th in life expectancy.

FACT: We rank 48 in Infant Mortality, doing worse than Cuba.

FACT: We rank 19th in literacy. Below Cuba, Estonia, Latvia, Barbados, Slovenia, Lithuania, Armania, Hungary, Poland, Albania, Russia and more.

FACT: Our children rank in the bottom half amoung industrialized countries in math skills, scientific knowledge and problem solving skillls.

FACT: We have a larger percentage of people living below the poverty line than at least 7 countries, according to the CIA, and 12 countries according to the UN

FACT: We are the only industrialized country where people go bankrupt if they get sick

FACT: We are the only industrialized country where if you can't afford life saving surgery, you die.

FACT: We have more obese people per capita than any country in the world.

FACT: We have more obese people in the military per capita than any country in the world

FACT: We are ranked 37th in quality of healthcare

FACT: We spend more money per capita on healthcare than any country in the world.

FACT: We spend more money on war (aka "National Defense") than any other country. More than all countries in Europe combined.

FACT: We waste more energy per capita than any country in the world.

FACT: We drink more water per capita than any country in the world.

FACT: We are not number 1 in high school or college graduation rate

FACT: We are not the number 1 in post graduate degree issuance rate

FACT: We rank 20th in internet access as a percentage of the total population.

FACT: 14 countries have more Nobel recepients per capita than the US. Among the countries that beat us, 3 are third world countries.

FACT: We have the greatest income inequality in the civilized world. We are the only industrialized country in the world where the top 1% has more money than the bottom 95%. (South Africa beats us, but I am not sure if it counts as a developed nation)

FACT: We have the highest teen birth rate and teen abourtion rate in the undustrialized world. More than double that of most European countries.

FACT: 9 countries have more income per capita than the US. If you incorporate income inequality in the equation, or if you exclude the top 1% from the calculation, the median "Middle Class" American has lower income per capita than almost all European countries.

FACT: The average US Soldier has a lower net worth than the average soldier in 11 European countries.

FACT: We have one of the lowest voter turnout rate in the civilized world.

FACT: We have more serial killers per capita than any country in the world.

FACT: We have the greatest rate of pedophilia in the world.

FACT: In America, a lower percentage of people have a passport, or has ever visited a foreign country, than in any Eurpoean country.

FACT: Less people speak a 2nd language in America than in any country in Europe.

FACT: Less people know the name of their chief executive in America, than in any other European Country.

FACT: Less people know what form of Government their country has in America than anywhere in Europe.

FACT: THe US ranks 97th on the "Global Peace Index", which measures the peacefulness of a country.

FACT: 4 countries are rated Higher than the US on the Wall street Journal's "Index of Economic Freedom"

FACT: The US ranks 48th on the Press Freedom Index

FACT: The US has a higher suicide rate than 22 other countries

FACT: The US has more incest per capita than any industrialized country

FACT: The US ranks 151st on GDP Growth Rate, meaning 150 countries are getting richer at a faster rate than the US is.

FACT: The US ranks 30th in the Privacy Index, which determines the degree to which citizens are protected from corporate and governmental surveilance.

FACT: The US ranks 39th in the Environmental Performance Index, which measures the degree to which a country's policies avoids damaging the environment.

FACT: America is the only country in the civilized world where "Intelligent design" is actually taught in science classrooms.

FACT: America is the country in which the highest percentage of the population thinks Chrsitianity predates Judaism.

FACT: Among industrialized countries, America has the largest percentage of people who think the world is flat, largest percentage who think the world is literally 6000 years old, and largest percentage of people who think the sun orbits around the earth.

FACT: America is the country with the largest arsenal of nulear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.

I don't know if I have much of a conclusion to make, except maybe this:

People who say "America is the greatest country in the world" are delusional.

I can understand a statement such as "I love my country more than anything in the world" because it's a subjective statement. I can even understand "America is a great country", or "America's creation (except for slavery and the genocide of native americans) was an amazing new experiment in democracy and freedom, which can be matched by no more than a half dozen similarly great phenomenons"

But a statement such as "America is the greatest country in the world" is an objective, quantifiable and demonstrably false statement.

One could say "America is the strongest military power in the world, although comunist China owns our ass economically, so military might doesn't really matter that much, since we couldn't get away with using it against anybody other than 3rd world countries".

One could say "America used to be the greatest country in the world, before Asia had emerged, and when Europe was still trying to rebuild itself after WWII", but how is that relevant to the current situation?

Ok, maybe I'm wrong. I'd LOVE TO be wrong. If somebody has a rational explanation for how America is the Greatest Country in the World, please let me know.

[anotheratheisthere]

Some interesting comparisons:
http://www.nationmaster.com

GDP (per capita)

[row]# 1[col]Luxembourg: [col]$89,563.63[row]# 2[col]Norway: [col]$66,964.36[row]# 3[col]Iceland:[col]$53,029.30[row]# 4[col]Ireland:[col]$52,892.89[row]# 5[col]Qatar:[col]$52,239.72[row]# 6[col]Switzerland:[col]$51,032.66[row]# 7[col]Denmark: [col]$50,702.00[row]# 8 [col]United States:[col]$44,155.00[row]# 9[col]Sweden:[col]$42,553.49[row]# 10[col]Netherlands:[col]$40,167.13[row]# 11 [col]Finland:[col]$39,855.93[row]# 12[col]Austria:[col]$39,131.37[row]# 13[col]United Kingdom:[col]$38,849.97[row]# 14[col]Canada:[col]$38,439.78[row]# 15[col]Australia:[col]$37,433.85[row][col]Weighted average:[col]$9,875.07

SOURCE: World Development Indicators database and CIA World Factbook

The USA is one of the richest nations in the world.

Health Spending Per person

[row]# 1[col]United States:[col]4,271[row]# 2[col]Switzerland:[col]3,857[row]# 3[col]Norway:[col]3,182[row]# 4[col]Denmark:[col]2,785[row]# 5[col]Luxembourg:[col]2,731[row]# 6[col]Iceland:[col]2,701[row]# 7[col]Germany:[col]2,697[row]# 8[col]France:[col]2,288[row]# 9[col]Japan:[col]2,243[row]# 10[col]Netherlands:[col]2,173[row]# 11[col]Sweden:[col]2,145[row]# 12[col]Belgium:[col]2,137[row]# 13[col]Austria:[col]2,121[row]# 14[col]Canada:[col]1,939[row]# 15[col]Australia:[col]1,714[row] # 16[col]Finland:[col]1,704[row]# 17[col]Italy:[col]1,676[row]# 18[col]United Kingdom:[col]1,675[row]# 19[col]Israel:[col]1,607[row]# 20[col]Ireland:[col]1,569

SOURCE: World Bank. 2002. World Development Indicators 2002. CD-ROM. Washington, DC

Americans spend more on health than anyone else.

Yet, they rank #47 in life expectancy at birth, behind Macau, Andorra, Japan, Singapore, San Marino, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Guernsey, Israel, Iceland, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, New Zealand, Italy, Gibraltar, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Spain, Norway, Jersey, Greece, Austria, Malta, Faroe Islands, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Martinique, Germany, Belgium, Guam, Virgin Islands, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, United Kingdom, Finland, Isle of Man, Jordan, Korea, South, Puerto Rico, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bermuda, Saint Helena and Cyprus.

It seems to me that they have difficulty getting value for their dollars spent on health.

Hey McCulloch, very good point. If some third world country had bad healthcare, it could be easily justified as the result of it simply not having the money to make it better.

The US, spends more money on healthcare than any other country, but fails miserably not just on the life expectancy at birth scale, but on every single social/health indicator that I can think of.

And our Pharmaceutical companies make more money than the annual GDP of a small country.

Also, I wanted to make a clarification regarding the statement that "America is one of the richest countries in the world. While that is absolutely true (its economy being surpassed only by the European Union in size), the GDP per capita is a misleading figure which doesn't incorporate income inequality.

As shown, and sourced, the US has the greatest income inequality in the developed world.

Imagine a group of ten people has 2 apples each. The apples per person average is 2.

Imagine a group has 1 apple each, but one person in the group has 21 apples: The apples per person average is 3.

See what I mean, the people in the second group actually are mostly worse off than the other group, even though the total number of apples in their group is greater, because of income inequality.

Just a thought.

[anotheratheisthere]

Is America the greatest country in the world?

After reading the OP's facts, which I won't argue, I'd still say yes.

I object to being considered delusional for not agreeing with the OP. If one wants to use the worst aspects of America to make a determination of its greatness, then it must also consider the worst aspects of those nations used in that comparison. We've got our problems, and its a good thing to point them out, but the OP has cherry picked the data, as evidenced by not one mention of where we do lead. I would contend it is "delusional" to cherry pick data to support one's position, and indicative of one who doesn't understand the very complex issues involved.

I ask the observer to consider where they'd rather live, the US or anywhere else. Make that decision and I s'pose you've found your greatest country.

Hey Joey, I reject the notion that I am using the worse aspects of America to make a determination. If you think so, do what Cnorman did, and show some of the good aspects of America, such as immigration. So we can compare. What do we have other than immigration (which I will debunk presently) which makes us so great? We have the most patents, but that number is inflated by the presence of Big Pharma and its abuse of the patent system. What else? We have great music. Great Olympic athletes. We make great burgers. What objective statistical data is there that at least partially balances the avalanche of objective data I presented in the OP?

I didn't cherry pick the data. The facts against us are so overwhelmingly predominant that it would be cherry picking to ignore them.

I hereby admit that I failed at finding anything tangible, measurable and important at which we're number one. I'm not saying that there isn't. Just that I couldn't find it.

If you can list something that counterbalances murder, rape, child molestation, incarceration, low life expectancy, low literacy, low maths skills, low graduation rates, high teen pregnancy, etc, etc, etc, please list it.

To answer your final question, I'd rather live elsewhere. Anywhere where the chance of me being killed, or my daughter being molested is lower. Where I can make more money doing the same job. Where if I get sick I will not lose everything. Which is why I spend half the year in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and Rome, and half the year in New York City, which is the exception to the US rule, with much less crime, much less murder, much more wealth and much higher IQ than the US average.

[Wyvern]

That's true, but nonetheless there is a country that in number one in each of those categories, and the US ain't it.

And there are multiple countries that aren't number one in many (or any) of them, but are still ranked higher than the US in almost all of them.

Maybe you didn't notice my first statement about trying to use facts to refute a nonliteral statement. It is equivalent to trying to hold a liberal christian to literalist fundamentalist interpretations of the bible.

The language and travel issues are perfect example, thanks for bringing them up. Another good example is the amount of genocide we committed. It's not necessarily because we are more evil, it's just that we had way more natives to exterminate than the Italians or the Swiss did! The natives were already here, so of course it was easier for us to exterminate them then it would be for other countries without local natives to murder. Stuff like this must be taken into account.

I don't remember genocide being on your list. This is where a historical perspective would be helpful, what happened to the natives in america is horrible because 1. it was relatively recent and 2. because america did it. In Europe on the other hand the wholesale slaughter of indigenous groups happened thousands of years ago and was not done by america so of course it was perfectly fine.

And talking about cherry picking, you decide to ignore the overwhelming, fully sourced, irrefutable data about murder, incarceration, infant mortality, healthcare ranking, quality of life, literacy, teen pregnancy etc, and instead choose to address the passport and travel issues, which are relatively benign and irrelevant issues.

How can we tell anything about the sources when you have already refused to provide your sources. How can we tell anything about your data when you refuse to provide where you got your data. I chose those two issues to use as examples, if you wish to discuss other issues on your list the first thing you will have to do is provide your sources.

[JoeyKnothead]

From Post 22:

Hey Joey, I reject the notion that I am using the worse aspects of America to make a determination. If you think so, do what Cnorman did, and show some of the good aspects of America, such as immigration.

What makes you think your collection of data is the determinant?

Can you show your data presents what constitutes "greatness"? If not, I'd contend you present your subjective opinion, and not much else. As we then debate your opinion, I point out your data is indicative of one who has cherry-picked the info to suit their ends.

What else? We have great music. Great Olympic athletes. We make great burgers. What objective statistical data is there that at least partially balances the avalanche of objective data I presented in the OP?

I question whether your data is the objective determinant of what constitutes greatness.

I didn't cherry pick the data. The facts against us are so overwhelmingly predominant that it would be cherry picking to ignore them.

It is my contention your data is insuffienct. Unless you define greatness by your data, in which case I s'pose you've proven your case.

I reject your hand-picked data because it is too limited in scope, and doesn't factor in all possible measures of greatness, whatever those may be.

I hereby admit that I failed at finding anything tangible, measurable and important at which we're number one. I'm not saying that there isn't. Just that I couldn't find it.

A failure to find data doesn't automatically mean that data isn't there. I ask again, why should your data be the determinant?

If you can list something that counterbalances murder, rape, child molestation, incarceration, low life expectancy, low literacy, low maths skills, low graduation rates, high teen pregnancy, etc, etc, etc, please list it.

Using only negative data, one is bound to come to negative conclusions.

To answer your final question, I'd rather live elsewhere.

I wouldn't. Who's right?

One of the things that makes America so great is that folks are at liberty to pick and choose which data they seek to condemn this nation.

[anotheratheisthere]

I tend to agree with Joey. One measure of how "great" a country is, as good as any other definition of the term, is how many people THINK it is - especially among those who don't live there and aren't citizens.

Hey cnorman, immigration, and people's general "opinion of America" are indeed social indicators worth considering. I fully accept the blame for not listing them.

I concede that the fully sourced data you provide proves that the US has a lot of immigration. Although not a greater immigration per capita than Canada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicultu ... per_capita)

Nonetheless, immigration is undisputedly a fact in the US's favor, I accept your accusation of bias in deciding not to list it, and (possibly in my continued bias) I have two responses to the immigration thing:

1) Somebody pointed out earlier that America having lesser mobility and lower polyglotism than Europe is not necessarily a point against the US, or is at least highly mitigated by the demographic necessities bringing it about. America is so much bigger than your average European country, that of course, given the same amount of mobility, a person in the US will visit less countries (and therefore learn less languages?).

The same mitigation must be applied to the immigration issue, taking historical context into consideration. After we finished exterminating the natives, America was virtually an empty country with vast resources and vast potential. Europe was just recovering from two major wars and had very low standard of living. Of course these circumstances would set up a massive trend of migration to the US - a trend which would be perpetuated by social inertia long after the objective data would justify it. Of course people in third world countries think america is the promised land, that belief has been instilled into them from birth. It's much like the belief that only Italy can make good wine, which is widely believed in Italy. Even the most enthusiastic wine taster can't tell the difference between a bottle of wine from Tuscany and one from California, South Africa, Chile or Australia, but they sick to their belief through inertia.

2) Regardless of the Immigration thing, which I tentatively and reluctantly concede, so what? I reject the "people vote with their feet" argument, because the overwhelming majority of refugees and immigrants from 3rd world countries "vote" based on out of date and inaccurate information.

All you have is one good thing about America - strong immigration - and a huge pile of negative things - high murder, high rape, low life expectancy, low literacy, bad treatment of children, bad healthcare, corruption, violence, teen pregnancy, low graduation, high infant mortality, poverty, obesity, income inequality, low voter turnout, little press freedom, low IQ, high foreign debt, etc etc etc

Find me a dozen irrefutable positive statistical facts about America, at least as objective and as objectively positive as the murder rate in the US is objective and objectively negative, and then we can talk.

My own position? I think America has the POTENTIAL to be the greatest country in the world by almost any measure. It has not, so far, lived up to its potential, in some areas to a truly execrable degree. That seems to me to be a reasonable, non-propagandistic, non-jingoistic, and non-partisan way to express it.

Now, I would say again that your CHOICE of the facts you wish to examine is a measure of bias here, whether your facts are accurate or not; it frankly looks like you just went to Google and started searching for all the negative statistics you could find.

Guilty as charged. I am biased.

And as long as we're on the subject, I'd like to see your source for this:

Among industrialized countries, America has the largest percentage of people who think the world is flat, largest percentage who think the world is literally 6000 years old, and largest percentage of people who think the sun orbits around the earth.

That's the kind of claim that could come from a polemic site and have nothing to do with actual research or reliable statistics. The same could be said for some other "facts" you have posted. Without a link or reference, no one here has any reason to take these claims any more seriously or discuss their significance. Again, your agenda in choosing the facts you want to highlight is showing.

Again, I am definitely biased. I admit it. Most of the data I present is irrefutable, some of it slipped through the cracks. I saw that data being listed on Bill Mahar. It was wrong and misleading for me to include it in the mix and give you the impression that our ignorance of heliocentricity or the planet's age, is as objective a fact as the degree to which we murder each other.

So, if the debate is "Is anotheratheisthere biased", then you win the debate. If the debate is "Is anoheratheisthere extremely good at debating and never makes mistakes in presenting his data" then the answer is no and you win the debate.

But the debate is "Is America the greatest country in the world". if you care to challenge my claim that it isn't, please do so. To look at the enormous evidence in my favor and point at imperfections in my case, or to meaninglessly attempt to extrapolate my personal opinions from the "choice of specific way in which I present the evidence", is an attempt at deflection.

Again, present as many statistical facts as I did, of which at least as many are irrefutably sound and undeniable, and which present the US in a good light, and then we can have an honest debate balancing my biased selection and interpretation of the data with your biased selection and interpretation of the data.

So far I we've got all the things I mentioned, and you've got immigration, the validity of which I've punched some holes into.


Regardless of the fact that I didn't state my case flawlessly, can't you agree that objectively not only is my opinion that America isn't the greatest country in the world reasonable, but that, in reverse, the opinion that America is the greatest country in the world is unreasonable?

[anotheratheisthere]

How can we tell anything about the sources when you have already refused to provide your sources. How can we tell anything about your data when you refuse to provide where you got your data. I chose those two issues to use as examples, if you wish to discuss other issues on your list the first thing you will have to do is provide your sources.

I provided sources to most of my data in a subsequent post. Should be page two. Links to wikipedia,etc.

As I have time, I will look up the sources for the other info, and I admit that it was a mistake not to incorporate sources into my original post.

[anotheratheisthere]

From Post 22:

Hey Joey, I reject the notion that I am using the worse aspects of America to make a determination. If you think so, do what Cnorman did, and show some of the good aspects of America, such as immigration.

What makes you think your collection of data is the determinant?

Can you show your data presents what constitutes "greatness"? If not, I'd contend you present your subjective opinion, and not much else. As we then debate your opinion, I point out your data is indicative of one who has cherry-picked the info to suit their ends.

What else? We have great music. Great Olympic athletes. We make great burgers. What objective statistical data is there that at least partially balances the avalanche of objective data I presented in the OP?

I question whether your data is the objective determinant of what constitutes greatness.

I didn't cherry pick the data. The facts against us are so overwhelmingly predominant that it would be cherry picking to ignore them.

It is my contention your data is insuffienct. Unless you define greatness by your data, in which case I s'pose you've proven your case.

I reject your hand-picked data because it is too limited in scope, and doesn't factor in all possible measures of greatness, whatever those may be.

I hereby admit that I failed at finding anything tangible, measurable and important at which we're number one. I'm not saying that there isn't. Just that I couldn't find it.

A failure to find data doesn't automatically mean that data isn't there. I ask again, why should your data be the determinant?

Man, you are turning this into a philosophical debate about the definition of "greatness". In such an abstract realm, an arbitrary opinion that "greatness is how tasty apples are" is as valid as data about murder rate.

If you step into the realm of philosophical relativism where I wouldn't be able to prove to you that 2+2=4, then all you're doing is attempting to dismantle my reality-based (though imperfect) argument without offering an alternative.

Lets keep our feet on the ground and face reality. Being able to find a job, not being killed, your daughter not being raped, etc, are very important. Do I claim that this kind of data defines the ultimate meaning of "Greatness", no? But it's a bloody good start. If you can do better, let me know.

To answer your final question, I'd rather live elsewhere.

I wouldn't. Who's right?

One of the things that makes America so great is that folks are at liberty to pick and choose which data they seek to condemn this nation.

Well, the greatness derived from the liberty to "pick and choose which data they seek to condemn this nation" is present to a larger degree in other developed nations than it is here. Therefore it doesn't make America "so" great. It makes it "almost as great" in this department as almost every other country in the developed world.

[McCulloch]

Per capita rates are relevant how?

Unless you wish to claim that McDonald's is the greatest restaurant, then yes per capita rates are relevant. The fact that the US has 100 times more immigrants than Denmark does not indicate that the US is a more desirable destination.

In absolute numbers, the US has accepted more than three times as many immigrants as the nation in second place (Russia, for the record). I don't see that that translates into "how many stay" compared to other nations.

It does not. That came later.

For the record, I don't claim that the US is the greatest country in the world; but a helluvalot of people sure seem to think so. I think that's relevant, too.

And some of them not even Americans.

I just don't think wholesale pillorying of any nation is particularly useful.

Probably not. But it is the source of our nation's identity and our national pastime. We are really really sorry we burned down the White House in 1814. It looks nice now.

Anyway, Canada has been a traditional destination for people of conscience fleeing the USA: United Empire Loyalists; Escaped Slaves; political refugees during the Cold War; American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War; military deserters objectors to the Iraq war.

[McCulloch]

Also, I wanted to make a clarification regarding the statement that "America is one of the richest countries in the world. While that is absolutely true (its economy being surpassed only by the European Union in size), the GDP per capita is a misleading figure which doesn't incorporate income inequality.

As shown, and sourced, the US has the greatest income inequality in the developed world.

Imagine a group of ten people has 2 apples each. The apples per person average is 2.

Imagine a group has 1 apple each, but one person in the group has 21 apples: The apples per person average is 3.

See what I mean, the people in the second group actually are mostly worse off than the other group, even though the total number of apples in their group is greater, because of income inequality.

Just a thought.

You sound like some kind of godless socialist.

[JoeyKnothead]

From Post 27:

Man, you are turning this into a philosophical debate about the definition of "greatness". In such an abstract realm, an arbitrary opinion that "greatness is how tasty apples are" is as valid as data about murder rate.

Seems to me it is you who created a philosophical debate by declaring all who reject your opinion to be "delusional".

I ask again, why should your data be the sole determinant of what constitutes "greatness"?

If you step into the realm of philosophical relativism where I wouldn't be able to prove to you that 2+2=4, then all you're doing is attempting to dismantle my reality-based (though imperfect) argument without offering an alternative.

I do NOT need to offer an alternative. It is beholden on you to show your data is the appropriate and ONLY determinant - since you declare those who disagree are "delusional".

Lets keep our feet on the ground and face reality.

Lets. Now, as we face reality - as much as one who disagrees with you can, why is your data the sole determinant of greatness?

If you wish to continually insult me by implying I don't face reality, I will be forced to report you to the moderators.

As one who came to me asking how you may remove yourself from probation, I'd say you're doing it wrong.

I will ask now, so we can clear this matter up:

DO YOU STILL CONTEND THOSE WHO DISAGREE WITH YOU ARE "DELUSIONAL"?

DO YOU STILL WISH TO STATE OR IMPLY I'M NOT FACING REALITY?

Being able to find a job, not being killed, your daughter not being raped, etc, are very important. Do I claim that this kind of data defines the ultimate meaning of "Greatness", no? But it's a bloody good start. If you can do better, let me know.

How can I, when you declare in the OP I will be "delusional" to do so?

I take it you now admit your data is NOT the sole determinant, and by logical conclusion it is you who were "delusional" by casting aspersions on those who disagree.

Again, it is NOT my job to show your data is not the sole determinant, but your job to show it is. How you can do that now - having admitted your data is incomplete - I'll be amused to see.

Well, the greatness derived from the liberty to "pick and choose which data they seek to condemn this nation" is present to a larger degree in other developed nations than it is here. Therefore it doesn't make America "so" great. It makes it "almost as great" in this department as almost every other country in the developed world.

Agreed. I add it to the sum total of various "greats" this country has to offer, and conclude this is indeed the greatest country.