Marlon Menezes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>--> 
>I really dont think you can compare the absence of
>Indian political leaders in the US to the situation in
>the UK.
>The Indian population as a percentage of the total is
>far smaller in the US than the UK and their physical
>presence in the US has been much shorter for obvious
>reasons. Specifically, the south asian population is
>around 0.5% of the US population while it is about
>2.5% in the UK. Furthermore, the south asian
>population is very ghettoized in the UK thus
>increasing their chances for political representation.
>


In that respect... the Hispanics have grown to be
the largest minority group in the US... how many Hispanic
"Senators" are there ?

Your arguments however make you seem to be part of the C.I.A.
propaganda/disinformation machine (kidding), maybe you could
make this American propaganda on some America-net for the
American zealots to wallow in their mire. You might
be better served to re-channel you zealousness to make the "Goan"
propaganda, instead of trying to marginalize Goa, while make
this American propaganda.

Here are some not so rosy facts --
The USA has the largest number of "Convicted Criminals" in the 
world !

In terms of Standards of living ranking of nations, the USA
ranks somewhere as low as 15th -- there are "FOURTEEN" other
countries in the world that offer you a better standard of living 
in the world ! With Norway being ranked at the Number ONE spot
as providing the best standard of living. Incidently my cousin has 
recently moved to Norway and can attest to that.

Here's an interesting article --

United Nations: Nordic Countries Best Place to Live in the World
The Nordic countries have the best standard of living in the world, as per the Human 
Development Report published by the United Nations

Best Standard of Living in the World

The Nordic countries are overall the best countries to live in the world, according to 
the Human Development Report which is published annually by the United Nations. 
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland figure among the top countries on the UN 
index because of their high levels of education, democracy, income and public health.

The Human Development Report (HDR) is an annual independent study commissioned by the 
United Nations Development Programme and published into more than a dozen languages. 
The HDR measures the wealth of nations by the standard of living of their population 
and considers several indexes related to life expectancy, education, economy and 
environment.

Economists, philosophers and political leaders have long emphasised human wellbeing as 
the sole purpose of economic development. A successful community is not that which has 
one wealthy member and nine living in poverty, but that one where all members of the 
community have succeeded in achieving a high standard of living. The HDR measures 
whether the national income of a nation is creating an environment for its people to 
enjoy a life with good health services, political freedoms, security against crime, 
greater access to education and a satisfying leisure time.


Norway tops the index for third consecutive year

The Nordic countries have always performed very well in the United Nations' HDR, all 
figuring within the top 15 countries on the index. Among the Scandinavians, Norway has 
become the best performing Nordic country in the report after ranking number one in 
2001, 2002 and 2003, heading the Development index for the third consecutive year.

In Norway, 99 percent of the population can read and write, there are 413 doctors per 
100,000 citizens, the average life expectancy is 78.4 years, and the Norwegians are 
even wealthier than ever before. The famous Nordic social welfare state remains 
efficient and provides the Norwegians with a first class health, education and 
benefits system, which is financed through their taxes.

Norway has also topped the lists for being among the most generous countries in the 
world in terms of foreign aid donations on a per capita basis, and for their green 
environmentally friendly policies.

However the Norwegian society is the most developed in the world, the average 
Norwegian is still known to complain nonetheless. The current discussion topics in 
Norway range among the waiting lists for medical care, the shortage of nursing homes 
and the cuts in police and school budgets.


Quality of Life, Income, Education and Life Expectancy

If we would only focus on per capita income statistics, we would perhaps be surprised 
to hear that the inhabitants of the small central European nation of Luxembourg are 
the wealthiest in the world, with an average salary of $53,780. The average salary in 
Norway is $45,000 but the Nordic countries are above all known for being an 
egalitarian society; of the seventeen richest countries in the world, Sweden ranks 
first as having the fewest people living in poverty and the fewest illiterate people, 
while other rich countries such us the United States have the the most, showing that 
stark inequality persists even in middle or high-income countries.

Education is one of the pillars of the Nordic society. Illiteracy is practically non 
existent from Iceland to Finland, and the free national education systems breed some 
of the most skilled workforce in the world. Moreover, when it comes to equality 
between women and men, all the five Nordic countries top the index and score again the 
highest; Iceland takes the lead in terms of emancipation, followed by Norway, Sweden, 
Denmark and Finland on the fifth position.

You may now be convinced that people in the Nordic countries live well, but they also 
live long. The HDR averages life expectancy on the Nordic countries between the 77.7 
years of Finland and the 78.9 of Norway. Japan has the longest life expectancy with 
the average Japanese living up to of 81.3 years.


The rich are richer and the poor are poorer

If the average Norwegian lives 78 years, a child born in Sierra Leone will probaly die 
before reaching the age of 35. Sierra Leone's average life expectancy is 38.3 years, 
this is half that in Norway. If all Norwegians are literate and enjoy free education 
payed by the State, at the other extreme, only 36% of adults in Sierra Leone can read. 
The average salary in Norway is $45,000, but the average per capita income in Sierra 
Leone is only $470.

In fact, if the best places to live in the world are found in Europe and north 
America, the 25 countries at the bottom of the HDR index are all in Africa. Overall 
child life expectation, adult literacy rate and many other advances have been made in 
the last 30 years, yet we still see unacceptable levels of deprivation in people's 
lives across the world: illiteracy, pollution and poor sanitation, poverty and 
hunger...

Millions of people from the Scandinavian countries have emigrated out of their 
homelands during the last centuries to escape poverty and war. Today, the Nordic 
nations are prosperous and stable countries which have made impressive gains in the 
developing world and have demonstrated the possibility of eradicating poverty. When it 
comes to building a prosperous society, the Nordic countries should be taken a role 
model for the developing and developed nations of the world.


 -- Brian Antao


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