Politics And Current Events

[MWB]

I really don't see this as a big revelation, other than the fact that Trump was stupid enough to admit it to a reporter.

Neither do I.

Which, obviously, has been the problem with Trump since the beginning.

to me it's not significant as a revelation, rather further evidence of Trump's dishonesty which is important right before an election

Important to who? People don’t care he’s a liar, either because they think he’s amazing for the country and this is just unimportant or he’s the same as all politicians.

It should matter, but it doesn’t.

[Troy Loney]

This is embarrassing.

[Pavel Bure]

I feel like the news cycle is,

Following up on Trump doing something dumb
Breaking Trump has done something else stupid
... what about the last story?
Shut up nerd, make a headline that will get clicks
Plays with self

[faftorial]

This is embarrassing.

Incoherent, disorderly, nonsensical retelling of the history of the Traitor-in-chief. I tried to find any scrap of compassion for the president in this book, only to find more damning evidence of how the far-right retroactively adjusts facts to fit their narrative of "Trump the god" who has never made a mistake or foible. I'm not a lifelong Democrat, I'm more of a former Republican who saw his party destroyed by a con-man. Maybe this book will work for you, but many of the facts presented are "alternate facts" retold by Trump sympathizers. Buyer beware

[tifosi77]

I'd grab a beer with people I don't like

Trump, Charles Manson, mikey, etc...

He'd probably try to play you one of his shitty songs, slip PCP in your drink, get one of his whores to sleep with you, and then you'd wake up on the sidewalk with the clap and be wanted for stealing a car.

Or as mikey calls it, "Wednesday".

[mikey]

You think I'd just give away good drugs like that on a Wednesday...?

[tifosi77]

I didn't say it was actually Wednesday. I said you called it "Wednesday". I can't be expected to understand your voodoo code words.

[grunthy]

[DigitalGypsy66]

This should be a wake-up call: New data suggest that the United States is one of just a few countries worldwide that is slipping backward.

The newest Social Progress Index, shared with me before its official release Thursday morning, finds that out of 163 countries assessed worldwide, the United States, Brazil and Hungary are the only ones in which people are worse off than when the index began in 2011. And the declines in Brazil and Hungary were smaller than America’s.

“The data paint an alarming picture of the state of our nation, and we hope it will be a call to action,” Michael Porter, a Harvard Business School professor and the chair of the advisory panel for the Social Progress Index, told me. “It’s like we’re a developing country.”

The index, inspired by research of Nobel-winning economists, collects 50 metrics of well-being — nutrition, safety, freedom, the environment, health, education and more — to measure quality of life. Norway comes out on top in the 2020 edition, followed by Denmark, Finland and New Zealand. South Sudan is at the bottom, with Chad, Central African Republic and Eritrea just behind.

The United States, despite its immense wealth, military power and cultural influence, ranks 28th — having slipped from 19th in 2011. The index now puts the United States behind significantly poorer countries, including Estonia, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Greece.

“We are no longer the country we like to think we are,” said Porter.

The United States ranks No. 1 in the world in quality of universities, but No. 91 in access to quality basic education. The U.S. leads the world in medical technology, yet we are No. 97 in access to quality health care.

The Social Progress Index finds that Americans have health statistics similar to those of people in Chile, Jordan and Albania, while kids in the United States get an education roughly on par with what children get in Uzbekistan and Mongolia. A majority of countries have lower homicide rates, and most other advanced countries have lower traffic fatality rates and better sanitation and internet access.

The United States has high levels of early marriage — most states still allow child marriage in some circumstances — and lags in sharing political power equally among all citizens. America ranks a shameful No. 100 in discrimination against minorities.

The data for the latest index predates Covid-19, which has had a disproportionate impact on the United States and seems likely to exacerbate the slide in America’s standing. One new study suggests that in the United States, symptoms of depression have risen threefold since the pandemic began — and poor mental health is associated with other risk factors for well-being.

Michael Green, the C.E.O. of the group that puts out the Social Progress Index, notes that the coronavirus will affect health, longevity and education, with the impact particularly large in both the United States and Brazil. The equity and inclusiveness measured by the index seem to help protect societies from the virus, he said.

“Societies that are inclusive, tolerant and better educated are better able to manage the pandemic,” Green said.

The decline of the United States over the last decade in this index — more than any country in the world — is a reminder that we Americans face structural problems that predate President Trump and that festered under leaders of both parties. Trump is a symptom of this larger malaise, and also a cause of its acceleration.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/opin ... e=Homepage

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

100th in discrimination against minorities? I'm not going to sit here and say we are great at not discriminating against minorites, but 100? no effing way

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

first economists are telling us how many people get infected from COVID at a rally and now they’re telling us how shitty the US is in social progress

why are we trusting f*ckin economists with these things?

[grunthy]

Lol. That is a horrible list. The discrimination thing is just... lol

[dodint]

first economists are telling us how many people get infected from COVID at a rally and now they’re telling us how shitty the US is in social progress

why are we trusting f*ckin economists with these things?

Should probably just take the Administration at its word. America is Great.

[grunthy]

first economists are telling us how many people get infected from COVID at a rally and now they’re telling us how shitty the US is in social progress

why are we trusting f*ckin economists with these things?

Should probably just take the Administration at its word. America is Great.

Or you can think for yourself and know how **** ing absurd it is that we rank in the bottom on discrimination.

[Troy Loney]

That's because all Trump's achievements aren't reflected in the data yet. Of course Obungler's america was in decline.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I would be interested in where they get 100th in discrimination

Other countries might be ethnically diverse but not really racially. The US is by a wide margin the most racially diverse country in the world I feel like (no numbers to back that up). We’re by no means perfect when it comes to demographic harmony but 100th feels like an intentionally bad ranking

That number does seem a bit laughable

[Morkle]

So in regards to Troy's OBungler nickname.

Trump started using OBiden as a nickname, and I laugh because it's a great nickname, but not at all reflective of a VP role, which he'd never open up the door someone to say Pence did most of the work.

[mikey]

I assumed that there isn't 100 countries that even have that great of an opportunity to be discriminatory towards minorities...but I guess I'm really undershooting globalization...

[Troy Loney]

I would be interested in where they get 100th in discrimination

Other countries might be ethnically diverse but not really racially. The US is by a wide margin the most racially diverse country in the world I feel like (no numbers to back that up). We’re by no means perfect when it comes to demographic harmony but 100th feels like an intentionally bad ranking

That number does seem a bit laughable

https://www.socialprogress.org/?tab=2&code=USA

Here's the scorecard. I think the hiccup is to be able to separate causation and correlation. I think the best way to think about this is, the US is the richest, most powerful nation in the world, set on top of a failed state. Our social welfare programs are designed to incentivize stagnation among the lowest classes, as opposed to incentivizing social mobility. I think this is where the stuff from hillbilly elegy merges with the situation of urban poverty. So you combine the lack of social mobility with past laws that deliberately kept the black population impoverished, and you have the perpetual underclass.

Then of course, access to education, healthcare and housing is predicated on ability to pay and access to credit, which then again continues the lack of generational mobility. And while the US doesn't explicitly imprison and prosecute minority populations, the incarceration rates would indicate that something is broken, and whether overt or not, it would imply discriminatory practices.

I am also not sure what the "100" means here. I would agree that it is hard to find 100 countries clearly better than the US as they all have flaws. But overall the US is 28, and I don't think that's preposterous.

[Morkle]

Doesn’t want to cause a panic with the “pandemic.”

Tries to cause all kinds of panic around something else.

[nocera]

Doesn’t want to cause a panic with the “pandemic.”

Tries to cause all kinds of panic around something else.

Ah yes, appealing to the casual racism of suburbanites. Hey, it worked in 2016.

[blackjack68]

Desperation is a stinky cologne.

[grunthy]

Doesn’t want to cause a panic with the “pandemic.”

Tries to cause all kinds of panic around something else.

Ah yes, appealing to the casual racism of suburbanites. Hey, it worked in 2016.

Implying people are racist is one of the reasons Trump was elected in the first place. Want to make that same mistake again?

[obhave]

"The United States ranks No. 1 in the world in quality of universities, but No. 91 in access to quality basic education. The U.S. leads the world in medical technology, yet we are No. 97 in access to quality health care."

Stuff like this infuriates me, come on America.

[Troy Loney]

Ah yes, appealing to the casual racism of suburbanites. Hey, it worked in 2016.

I don't think it actually did. People just honestly believed that Trump was more trustworthy than Clinton. hard to really pin that down, but that meter has shifted on it's head in favor of Biden.

This is all going to go back to whether Trump gets enough of those typical GOP voters to come home.