Do Conservatives know that America ranks 23rd in the World for Infrastructure?

[FayeforCure]

Do they care? They seem to think that America is #1, but they are delusional and need to be educated on how far behind we are. Here is Fareed Zakaria, who starts off his piece by saying:

I am an American, not by accident of birth but by choice. I voted with my feet and became an American because I love this country and think it is exceptional. But when I look at the world today and the strong winds of technological change and global competition, it makes me nervous. Perhaps most unsettling is the fact that while these forces gather strength, Americans seem unable to grasp the magnitude of the challenges that face us. Despite the hyped talk of China's rise, most Americans operate on the assumption that the U.S. is still No. 1.

Later he explains how far behind we are:

The following rankings come from various lists, but they all tell the same story.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), our 15-year-olds rank 17th in the world in science and 25th in math. We rank 12th among developed countries in college graduation (down from No. 1 for decades).
We come in 79th in elementary-school enrollment.

Our infrastructure is ranked 23rd in the world, well behind that of every other major advanced economy.

American health numbers are stunning for a rich country: based on studies by the OECD and the World Health Organization, we're 27th in life expectancy, 18th in diabetes and first in obesity. Only a few decades ago, the U.S. stood tall in such rankings. No more.

There are some areas in which we are still clearly No. 1, but they're not ones we usually brag about. We have the most guns. We have the most crime among rich countries. And, of course, we have by far the largest amount of debt in the world.

Then he gives us plenty to think about, but probably most surprising, in our so-called land of opportunity for the average citizen, is that our social mobility opportunity ( being able to climb the economic ladder) is far behind European countries, in fact it is in 19th place!!:

A crucial aspect of beginning to turn things around would be for the U.S. to make an honest accounting of where it stands and what it can learn from other countries. This kind of benchmarking is common among businesses but is sacrilege for the country as a whole. Any politician who dares suggest that the U.S. can learn from - let alone copy - other countries is likely to be denounced instantly. If someone points out that Europe gets better health care at half the cost, that's dangerously socialist thinking.
If a business leader notes that tax rates in much of the industrialized world are lower and that there are far fewer loopholes than in the U.S., he is brushed aside as trying to impoverish American workers.

If a commentator says - correctly - that social mobility from one generation to the next is greater in many European nations than in the U.S., he is laughed at. Yet several studies, the most recent from the OECD last year, have found that the average American has a much lower chance of moving out of his parents' income bracket than do people in places like Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Canada.

And it's not just politicians and business leaders. It's all of us. Americans simply don't care much, know much or want to learn much about the outside world. We think of America as a globalized society because it has been at the center of the forces of globalization. But actually, the American economy is quite insular; exports account for only about 10% of it. Compare that with the many European countries where half the economy is trade-related, and you can understand why those societies seem more geared to international standards and competition. And that's the key to a competitive future for the U.S. If Olson is right in saying successful societies get sclerotic, the solution is to stay flexible. That means being able to start and shut down companies and hire and fire people. But it also means having a government that can help build out new technologies and infrastructure, that invests in the future and that can eliminate programs that stop working.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599205661000

[tufsu1]

sadly Faye, many closed-minded people are not likely to listen to a guy with a name like Fareed Zakaria talk about America

[FayeforCure]

I think this is the most important point for our future, including our infrastructure:

Why the Social Elevator Stalls

The United States sells itself as the land where women and men can rise from humble origins to the highest offices in the land. Americans describe the triumphs of Abraham Lincoln, the president who was born in a log cabin, and Bill Clinton, the president who was born in a trailer park.

While the United States embraces these great examples, the truth is that even modest, upward social mobility in the United States is rare and growing rarer. In short, the American dream is, in fact, a dream.

This is the finding of a recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Comparing intergenerational earning within the Member States of the OECD, Northern European social democracies (Denmark, Norway and Finland), Australia and Canada are significantly more meritocratic societies. There, individuals' wages are not strongly related to those of their parents. At the opposite end of the social mobility scale is Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. In these countries, the children of the poor are far more likely to remain poor while the children of the rich are far more likely to stay rich.

Of course, in any of these countries, it's most convenient to be born to wealth if you seek wealth yourself. Everything follows from it: a better social environment, better schools, better jobs, better wages, and better prospects for your own children.

But while we have long believed that the true meritocratic states, those where one could climb the social ladder based on merit and talent, were countries where individual freedom and small government were prevalent, this study shows that it is actually, quite clearly, the opposite.

For merit to pay off, the state must intervene.

This is all so counter to what Conservatives have been preaching about having government get out of the way, to solve our problems.....

The lack of equal opportunities also affects the motivation and level of commitment of citizens, which in turn decreases the labor productivity, and negatively affects the growth potential of an economy -- not to mention heavy social price generated by unequal opportunities.

Economic and social marginalization leads to violence and insecurity which threaten the core of a nation: the ability to live altogether in the same country, sharing the same American Dream.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabah-ghezali/what-american-dream-why-t_b_694612.html

People who are struggling to keep their heads above water cannot think big, and will oppose any innovation to infrastructure. It creates a third world environment. Hence Arianna's Third World America book.

[FayeforCure]

sadly Faye, many closed-minded people are not likely to listen to a guy with a name like Fareed Zakaria talk about America

tufsu1, I agree, and what is soooo sad is that it's precisely the immigrants like Fareed, Arianna and myself that are working so hard to try to help restore the conditions that America used to be able to offer its citizens, while other Americans (many of those who were accidentally born in America) aren't too worried about America's decline, or prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of it.

[Ocklawaha]

I know I've beat this to death, but COLOMBIA! We are so far behind Colombia's mass transit infrastructure that we can't even find their shadow. Brasil? Shit they are building a high speed railroad from Rio to Sao Paulo, as well as about 5,000 more miles elsewhere in the country. Expect Brasilia to be next. Colombia is building the $12 Billion (us) dollar Ferrocarril Carbonifero a new cut-off between Bogota and the Atlantic coast.

The TV images of the Colombia you thought you knew? THIS IS THE REAL COLOMBIA TODAY... AND YOU WERE SAYING?!

OCKLAWAHA

[Garden guy]

sadly Faye, many closed-minded people are not likely to listen to a guy with a name like Fareed Zakaria talk about America

You are right there...if our president were named john doe i maybe he'd be a little better off...conservatives are the first to condemn someone based on thier name.

[BridgeTroll]

 

For merit to pay off, the state must intervene.

Really?

[uptowngirl]

sadly Faye, many closed-minded people are not likely to listen to a guy with a name like Fareed Zakaria talk about America

tufsu1, I agree, and what is soooo sad is that it's precisely the immigrants like Fareed, Arianna and myself that are working so hard to try to help restore the conditions that America used to be able to offer its citizens, while other Americans (many of those who were accidentally born in America) aren't too worried about America's decline, or prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of it.

and people wonder why most european countries are kicking out immigrants LOL!

[Garden guy]

If the conservative american ideas were put in place a hundred years ago most of you guys out there would still be in europe or wherever...conservatives love the idea of a free country but only for them...it's the conservative base that keep embarrassing the rest of the country...the world laughs at us because of them...

[dougskiles]

No doubt that we have gotten fat and happy.  Figuratively and literally.

Not only is our infrastructure aging, but we keep replacing it with the same old technology.  We have seen very few technological advances in the last 20 years.  And it is not just the roads and bridges that people see everyday.  I am just as concerned with our outdated methods of treating drinking water, wastewater and stormwater.  I've been practicing as a civil engineer for 20 years and we have been designing these systems the same way since I graduated.  Part of the problem is that our regulatory system allows very little innovation.  We are penalized for trying new concepts and rewarded for sticking with the 'tried and true'.

[uptowngirl]

If the conservative american ideas were put in place a hundred years ago most of you guys out there would still be in europe or wherever...conservatives love the idea of a free country but only for them...it's the conservative base that keep embarrassing the rest of the country...the world laughs at us because of them...

I guess my subtly was lost on you GG- read international papers more.

[BridgeTroll]

Part of the problem is that our regulatory system allows very little innovation.  We are penalized for trying new concepts and rewarded for sticking with the 'tried and true'.

Your last two sentences seem to say that the "fault" for this aging infrastructure should be lain at the feet of both conservatives and liberals... or more precisely ALL Americans. Hmmm....

[Garden guy]

If the conservative american ideas were put in place a hundred years ago most of you guys out there would still be in europe or wherever...conservatives love the idea of a free country but only for them...it's the conservative base that keep embarrassing the rest of the country...the world laughs at us because of them...

I guess my subtly was lost on you GG- read international papers more.

I guess it was'nt and don't be so rude lady...

[wsansewjs]

Have you noticed in the last at least 80 years that the conservatives values of past has shifted to the liberal values today? This means the conservative values today will be shifted tomorrow in the American politic.

This tells me that it is not the value themselves, but the people on the conservative side have an attitude like that to shake a ruckus up and keep slamming broken-end of rakes up everyone's asses.

-Josh

[JeffreyS]

I think you could point the finger and at the Neo cons and Libs on this one.