Among industrialized nations, the United States has the
- highest poverty rate, both generally and for children;
- greatest inequality of incomes;
- lowest government spending as a percentage of GDP on social programs for the disadvantaged;
- lowest average number of days for paid holiday, annual leaves, and maternity leaves;
- lowest score on the United Nations index of “material well-being of children”;
- worst score on the United Nations gender inequality index;
- lowest social mobility;
- highest public and private expenditure on health care as a percentage of GDP
These trends are accompanied by the
- highest infant mortality rate;
- highest prevalence of mental health problems;
- highest obesity rate;
- highest proportion of population going without health care due to cost;
- second-lowest birth-weight for children per capita, behind only Japan;
- highest consumption of antidepressants per capita;
- third-shortest life expectancy at birth, behind only Denmark and Portugal;
- highest carbon dioxide emissions and water consumption per capita;
- second-lowest score on the World Economic Forum’s environmental performance index, behind only Belgium;
- third-largest ecological footprint per capita, behind only Belgium and Denmark;
- highest rate of failure to ratify international agreements;
- lowest spending on international development and humanitarian assistance as a percentage of GDP;
- highest military spending as a portion of GDP;
- largest international arms sales;
- fourth-worst balance of payments, behind only New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal;
- third-lowest scores for student performance in math, behind only Portugal and Italy, and far from the top in both science and reading;
- second-highest high-school dropout rate, behind only Spain;
- highest homicide rate;
- largest prison population per capita.
From Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco: 2012, Nation Books.
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Grumpy Lion 