With all this talk by Clinton and others about how "America" and "We" are "number One", I just thought we might talk about some of the areas in which "America" is "Number One" among 19 industrialized countries. The following was taken from "We're Number One: Where America Stands--and Falls--in the New World Order" by Andrew L. Shapiro, Vintage, N.Y. 1992 Among 19 Industrialized Nations, America Stands "Number One" in: (in terms of rates--per 100,000 or per capita) 1. No 1 in Billionaires (and No 1 in Children Living in Poverty) 2. No 1 in Health Care Absolute and Per Capita Expenditures (and No. 15 in Life Expectancy) 3. No 1 in Total Health Spending (and No. 13 in Public Health Spending) 4. No 1 in Wealth and Income Inequality and No 16 in Percentage of Total Income Held by Poorest 40% of the Population 5. No 1 in Percentage of Population without Health Care Coverage 6. No 1 in NOT Providing Paid Maternity Leave (or No. 19 in providing paid maternity leave as 0 weeks are provided) 7. No 1 in Abortion and No. 11 in use of Contraceptives 8. No 1 in Percentage of Pregnancies Ending in Abortion and no. 1 in Abortions Obtained by Women Who have had an Abortion Before 9. No 1 in Teenage Pregnancy and No 1 in Teenage Mothers under 14 Years Old 10. No 1 in Infant Mortality and No. 1 in Percentage of Infants Born at Low Birth Weight, No 1 in Preschoolers NOT Fully Immunized and No. 1 in Death of children Under 5 years-old; 11. No 1 in AIDS, No 1 in Incidence of Cancer Among Men, No 1 in Incidence of Breast Cancer and No 13 in Death Due to Breast Cancer; 12. No 1 in Beef Consumption Per Capita, No 1 in Coronary Bypass Operations Per Capita, No 1 in Snack Food Consumption 13. No 1 in Divorce Rate 14 No 1 in Single-Parent Families; 15. No 2 in Cigarette Consumption and No 4 in Alcohol Consumption per Capita 16. No 1 in Highest-paid Athletes and No 19 in Teacher' Salaries 17. No 1 in Private Spending on Education and No 1 in Higher Education Enrollment and No 17 in Public Spending on Education, No 11 in Years of Free Full-time Compulsory Education, No 9 in Early Childhood Education, 15 in Scientists and Technicians per Capita, and No 19 in Math Proficiency Scores on Internationally Standardized Tests 18. No 1 in Big Homes and No 1 in Homelessness 19. No 1 in Defense Spending and No 19 in Spending on the Poor, the Aged, and the Disabled 20. No 1 in % of Research and Development Spending on Defense, No 1 in Military Aid to Developing Countries and No 19 in Humanitarian Aid to Developing countries 21. No 1 in Net Indebtedness, No 19 in National Saving and Investment Rates (as % of GDP) 22. No 1 in Bank Failures and Bank Bailouts 23. No 1 in Managers, No 1 in Executive Salaries, No 1 in Ratio of Average Executive Salary to average worker (pay inequality) 24. No 15 in average female wage as % of average male wage 25. No 1 in U.N. Dues Owed/Not Paid and No 1 in U.N. Security Council Vetos since 1980 26. No 1 in Percentage of Population who have been a victim of a crime, No 1 in Murder Rate, No 1 in Murder of Children and No 1 in Reported Rapes 27. No 1 in Deaths by Gun, No 1 in Deaths by Capital Punishment, No 1 in percentage of murders still at large, and No 14 in percentage of murders solved 28 No 1 in Number of people killed in car accidents due to drunk driving 29. Number 1 in Lawyers and No 1 in Litigation and No 1 in Rates of Incarceration 30 No 1 in emissions of air pollutants per capita and No 1 in controbution to acid rain, No 1 in garbage per capita, No 1 in paper use per capita, No 1 in Junk Mail, No 1 in Hazardous Waste and No 14 in recycling paper and No 16 in recycling glass 31 No 1 in gasoline consumption per capita and No 1 in rate of increase in oil imports, No 1 in Major Oil Spills Affecting Coastal Areas, No 1 in Autos Per Capita and No 1 in use of Autos in Lieu of Available Public Transport, 32. No 1 in TVs and Radios per capita, No 1 in time spent watching TV, No 1 in percentage of homes with VCRs and No 18 in daily newspaper circulation per capita and No 19 in Book Titles published per capita Jim Craven *------------------------------------------------------------------* * James Craven *"Concern for man himself must always * * Dept of Economics * constitute the chief objective of * * Clark College * all technological effort, concern * * 1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd. * for the big, unsolved problems of * * Vancouver, Wa. 98663 * how to organize human work and the * * (360) 992-2283 * distribution of commodities in such * * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * a manner as to assure that the * * * results of our scientific thinking * * * may be a blessing to mankind,and not * * * a curse. * * * Never forget this when you are * * * pondering over your diagrams and * * * equations!" * * * (Albert Einstein, Speech at Cal. * * * Inst. Technology Feb, 16, 1931) * * MY EMPLOYER HAS NO ASSOCIATION WITH MY PRIVATE/PROTECTED OPINION *