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Otherwords / Op-Ed
Published: Tuesday 17 January 2012
“Being at the bottom of the heap in terms of social justice confirms the reality of both economic and political inequality that the Occupy movement is protesting.”
We’re No. 27!
"USA: We're No. 1!"
Oh, wait — Iceland is No. 1. But we did beat out Poland and Slovakia, right? Uh...no. But go on down the rankings and there we are! No. 27, fifth from the bottom. So our new national chant is, "USA: At Least We're Not Last!"
A foundation in Germany has analyzed the social justice records of all 31 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), ranking each nation in such categories as health care, income inequality, pre-school education, and child poverty. The overall performance by the United States — which boasts of being an egalitarian society — outranks only Greece, Chile, Mexico, and Turkey. Actually, three of those countries performed better than ours in the education of pre-schoolers, and Greece did better than the United States on the prevention of poverty.
Our bottom-of-the-heap ranking in social justice confirms the economic and political inequality that the Occupy movement is protesting. It also helps explain why this grassroots uprising in America has spread so rapidly to more than 600 communities and has generated such broad public support. After all, our nation is fabulously rich, ranking well ahead of nearly every other OECD member in national wealth, so there's no excuse for us sitting at the bottom of the list in education, health care, poverty, and other measures of a democratic and egalitarian society.
Bluntly put, We the People have let today's elites abandon America's founding principles of fairness, justice, and equal opportunity for all.
These privileged few have purchased our government, stolen the wealth and economic future of working families, and reduced America to a plastic imitation of the country we thought we had. The Occupy rebellion is long overdue and on target.
Join it.
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ABOUT Jim Hightower
National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
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21 comments on "We’re No. 27!"
January 19, 2012 12:53pm
thank you! i can not find out the name of this foundation or any source... all i want is the truth. im not trying to disprove these statements. but they need to provide sources.
January 18, 2012 10:19am
I like the sign that says "Tax The Filthy Rich". That is my thought exactly. We now have 6 tax brackets that only go to $378,000. That low end stopping point doesn't even come close to taxing the rich, let alone the Filthy Rich. We need "20 Brackets to $20,million". I suggest starting at 3% for income of $0-$30K, 6% for $30K-$50K, 9% for $50K-$70K, and on up the scale to 60% for all income over $20,million. This is very close to the way congress taxed the citizens for most of the years from 1917 till 1982 when Reagan started his "Trickle Down" Bulls**t. This simple solution would balance the budget, employ people for fixing the infrastructure, help fix the income inequality, help the government stop selling out our country to China, support the middle class, and give the middle class back their disposable income which is the main stimulus of the economy.
January 17, 2012 8:46pm
I'm spredding the News!!!!
January 17, 2012 7:51pm
I'm Glad there's someone out there that can speak up,it has been going on far to long....
January 17, 2012 7:25pm
t_engl/hs.xsl/nachrichten_105938.htm
and ADD this to last link posted
January 17, 2012 7:23pm
http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/cps/rde/xchg/SID-3DC4C385-CA274C2B/bs... Try this
January 17, 2012 5:43pm
Do you have sources for your stats? Quite compelling.
January 17, 2012 4:55pm
Thanks again to Jim Hightower for putting it so succinctly. I guess I'm going to have to find someone to modify my big foam finger.
January 17, 2012 3:25pm
This link is to an article on the Bertelsmann-Stiftung website posted when the report was released. It does not seem to link the report but this is closer to the source: http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/cps/rde/xchg/bst_engl/hs.xsl/nachrich...
January 17, 2012 2:35pm
Mary, The link says article not found....:(
January 17, 2012 1:38pm
Make no mistake...this will be a campaign of the wealthy vs the middle classes. In the past we could sort of keep the unfairness in check because we could outvote them. But since the SCOTUS ruled that "money talks" and gave the dollar bill a vote, it has become harder to get a level playing field.
Consider...the top 1 percent control 42.7% of the nation's wealth , the next 19 percent, 50.3%, and the bottom 80 percent only 7%. (from a 2007 study)
The GOP wants to give us more trickle down economics.
Here's how that has worked out so far.
Average loss/gain in income per household from 1979 to 2005
top 1% + $597,241 more
next 4% + $29,8985 more
next4% + $4,912 more
next 10% - $3,733 less
next 20% - $8,598 less
next 20% - $10,100 less
next 20% - $8,582 less
bottom 20% - $5,623 less less
This is a simplistic representation of trends and some of the numbers are subject to question. Still, the trend and uneven distribution does not bode well for the shrinking middle class.
It also doesn't imply that a more fair redistribution should rely on taking money from one group and giving it to another. It does imply that that reverse money flow, from the poor to the rich, needs to become more fair. This can be done by leveling opportunities, preventing monopolies, and stopping large multinational corporations from using unfair business practices to stifle competition.
I can hear the screams now...."free market", "free market". Unfortunately, financial might doesn't make right. An unfettered "free market" will always concentrate wealth. It's like the medieval melees when a group of knights assembled on a field and fought until only one was left standing...the strongest.
The Republican party today doesn't seem to have a decent ethical outlook. They are doing things deliberately, and openly, to prevent a recovery from our recession, caused by them, at the expense of the general population's well being. That's just plain evil, and they need to be punished at the voting booth.
January 19, 2012 12:55pm
an unfettered market doesnt include handing out no bid contracts, bailouts or subsidies ;)
January 17, 2012 5:44pm
Do you have sites for your stats? Compelling.
Thanks
January 17, 2012 1:06pm
Check out this site: http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de
This is the German foundation he refers to.
January 17, 2012 12:59pm
Check out this link: http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/cps/rde/xchg/SID-1D2624E2-2F2E0762/bs... is the German foundation he refers to...very impressive work they're doing.
January 17, 2012 12:47pm
With all of the wealth that has been accumulated in this country we should be second to no one in social justice. The money is here to afford it but the greed of someof our citizens knows no bounds.
January 17, 2012 12:30pm
Here's a link to a New York Times Op-Ed column on the same topic published last October - it comes with more detail and (I hope) a powerful graphic:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/opinion/blow-americas-exploding-pipe-d...
January 17, 2012 12:25pm
No. 27 and counting down. Wait another ten years when corporate persons run us to no. 100 or below. The way they are shaping the structure and process of our society it will probably happen sooner. Only CEOs and board members will have the right to speak freely and do whatever they want. The rest of us will have to be their slaves or dead. That is their preference.
January 17, 2012 12:33pm
Perhaps a heart-felt and all embracing "sieg heil," will warm the hearts of the House and Senate "brothels and their ' ho for hire,'" all the while showing those beloved CEO pimps, how much we truly care!
January 17, 2012 12:24pm
Well, we may suck the bottom at social justice...but at least our rich are getting richer!
January 17, 2012 12:14pm
Sure wish Jim had posted a link to the report......Dick