retired_tinkfaeree

Kov in being a pron expert non-shocker.

retired_jmeshew

Cripes Kov, why don't you come spend a decent amount of time here before saying stuff like that? The U.S. you describe isn't the U.S. I live in, or have ever lived in. Literacy rate here is 97%, and not the lowest in any developed country, and a good portion of that illiterate 3% are made up of people who don't care to be literate. You have that option if you desire. Not sure what you mean about proper education decreasing. Where are you getting that from? The next thing about manipulation; that is just speculative on your part. It seems to me that your "facts" about the U.S. have been manipulated a bit, so it can go both ways. You notice how in this whole debate I have never pointed out how fecked up y'all's countries are (and I bet I could find some things) but there has been no shortage of folks that can't stop at disagreeing with U.S. foreign policy, and have to pile on and savage the whole country. That says a whole lot about who is pumping the propaganda out around here.

retired_jmathias

I admit herr doctor, that our countries are crap. No doubt about it. However, our countries do not control politics of major part of the world.

As far as literacy go, 97% is low. Check at this table that references CIA fact book. Not only lower than in developed countires, you are also behind Turkmenistan, Kazahstan, Ukraine and Mongolia. Hence, my statement is correct.

Another thing. How are we supposed to make an argument about USA and not mention it? Please, explain that one.
I, for sure am opinionated as hell. And anybody saying that he/she is not, is a big fat liar. However, I do check multiple different angled articles on the subject, before creating an opinion.
The difference between being opinionated and manipulated is that when you are manipulated, you are enforced with an opinion of someone else. In most cases not directly.

Propaganda is used to achieve certain goal that is of use to the person that spreads it. I don't think that anyone here has the intention of convincing people to hate USA. I don't even think that anybody here hates USA citizens. However, you should ask yourself, what kind of propaganda do you have, to believe, that the majority of world is manipulated to have a negative opinion about USA foreign policy.

retired_babygirlgiggles

I doubt the correctness of abovementioned table.

Just look at Mongolia.
98% of all males can read/write
98% of all females can read/write

Yet only 97% of the total population can read/write. What are they counting as well to get that average down. Yaks?

retired_jmathias

Let's see. Went directly to CIA world Factbook...

Mongolia
Male: 98%
Female: 97.5%
Total: 97.8%

Turkmenistan
Male: 99.3%
Female: 98.3%
Total: 98.8%

USA
Male: 99%
Female: 99%
Total: 99%

So my mistake. However, I do doubt that 99% rating. Specially since University of illinois in Chicago claims 97%.

retired_jmathias

[b]UK[b]
Male: 99%
Female: 99%
Total: 99%

[b]Germany[b]
Male: 99%
Female: 99%
Total: 99%

[b]France[b]
Male: 99%
Female: 99%
Total: 99%

interesting how all of this matches to the .x percent

[b]Russia[b]
Male: 99.6%
Female: 99.7%
Total: 99.5%

[b]Ukraine[b]
Male: 99.7%
Female: 99.8%
Total: 99.6%

[b]Slovenia[b]
Male: 99.7%
Female: 99.6%
Total: 99.7%

retired_tye1234

Sorry I just love being pedantic. The male average and female average are both above the total average.

retired_jmeshew

Either way, 99 or 97%, I don't see how that is low by any standard. In a country of 300 million people, at 97%. I'm sorry but that doesn't, to me, sound at all like a country on the decline, when I notice that Spain, Canada, Romania and other developed countries are at the same level. Secondly, such a figure does not explain why 3% of the people are not considered literate. It is far too easy just to say the U.S. government sucks and therefore 3% of its citizens can't read or write. Some things to consider: the rates don't say whether we are talking functional illiteracy or absolute liiteracy. We also don't know how each nation measures literacy rates. The way it's done in Kazakhstan could very different than how it's measured in Portugal. It does not account for criminals who may have been institutionalized since youth. What about the mentally retarded and developmentally handicapped? What about those that simply don't care and choose to leave school at a young age? You just can't force people to be literate. If a country is 99%, what do you say about that 1%? The bigger the population, the more you are going to have that, for whatever reason, are not considered literate. Now if we were talking 10% of the people, or more, then you would have a point, and I can guarantee that people here wouldn't have it. But 3% with a margin of error, that is just not significant in my view. Especially when those that WANT to become literate have resources through which to do it.

On the other point: you can make the argument that U.S. foreign policy is bad. That is good and well, and worthy of debate. However, standing from afar and judging that our government is not good for our citizenry is another matter. One doesn't have much to do with the other. How is it that U.S. decisions to intervene in, say, Somalia, has something to do with literacy rates? I say that you really need to live here for a time, and experience what it is like before you can just make a blanket judgement that our government doesn't do anything for the people. The standard of living, in the main, is very high here. It's as good or better than anywhere in the world. As for the nach-idiot, you lost me on that one. Where is the proof that U.S. education is putting out people that have only one skill? I happen to work in the U.S. educational system, and while I acknowledge that it isn't perfect, and has some issues that need to be corrected, I do not find this nach-idiot phenomenon that you are speaking about.

Lastly, as far as world opinion about the U.S., it seems to me a lot of that is predicated on adherence to U.N. standards. For example, Giziar mentioned above that one of reasons the U.S. bad in the world outweighs the good is because we haven't signed on to the the Rights of the Child thing. We don't have a massive problem with children being exploited and abused here. Does it happen? Of course, but no right-thinking person can characterize the U.S. as a place where children's "rights" are , as a matter of course, violated. So what do we need to sign on to to such a thing for? It's a useless bit of rhetoric, just like 90% (or more) of everything else the U.N. does. See, Kov, the thing is, I don't care for way goverments are run in Europe- I dislike socialism, and social engineering and control, and the dependency mindset they create. I dislike the timid, waffling approach to world security threats. I dislike the tendency to naivete about human behavior which is reflected in criminal justice issues among other things. However, I am not going to go off and make insults about European countries just because I don't agree with their approach to government, such as belittling Germany because it is experiencing high unemployment- you or I could make the same sort of observations that you made about the U.S. about Germany. And there would be no point to it.

retired_tye1234

Dr Hook, you have a very blinkered view of the states. What percentage of children in the states live below the poverty line? I don’t know if it covered in the “Rights of the Child thing” but I would hope food would be part of the equation.

Can I just hazard a guess that you live on either the east or west coast?

retired_pmetzger1

If you looked in the Hut hogie, you'd know from his location.