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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

American Extremism: Pushing The Poles Farther Apart

The Patron Saint of "American Exceptionalism"

Not just ignorant, but proudly ignorant.

And not just proudly ignorant, but boastfully ignorant.

Aggressively ignorant.

Dear Boo,


We live in an increasingly "bifurcated world." 


By many measures, "the antipodes" continue to diverge.


Perhaps this divergence is most evident in frequent reports of "income inequality" although it is also true that humans, in the main, enjoy better nutrition than at any time in my life... probably any time in history.


In statistical terms, we now have more "standard deviations from the mean" with peak performers soaring and under-performers lagging far behind. 


Here is a revealing "particular."

"On average, children run a mile 90 seconds slower than their counterparts 30 years ago."

On the other hand, note this impressive statistic: "Global life expectancy has increased by about six years since 1990, reflecting gains in rich countries against heart disease and in poorer countries against diarrhea and malaria."

When I was born in 1947, U.S. life expectancy was 60 years.

Another notable divergence in American culture is that "The Land of The Free" has become "the land of the overworked and the underemployed."

In Germany it is standard operating procedure during recessions to minimize unemployment by reducing full-time workers to four-day weeks, re-distributing "the fifth day" among "the unemployed."


We Know What To Do. 
But Politicians Don't Know How To Get Elected If They Do It

It is often said that the United States is a conservative nation.

In fact, we are an extremist nation, constantly bouncing from one pole to the other with little regard - indeed, active disregard - for Balance.

At the end of the day, there are many more "solutions" than whiny gringos would have us believe.

What's missing is "political will." 

Divine Desperation: Feeling Hopeless Makes People Stop Doing What They Can


Love

Dman

PS Although the paranoid "right" would have us believe we live in unprecedentedly dangerous times, we actually live in the safest time - ever! 

Harvard's Steve Pinker Notes Slight Uptick In Violence In A Much More Peaceful World


Unfailing American Optimism
(Another manifestation of The National Lunacy)

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