Unrealpolitik

[imomus]

On 11th August Science magazine, under the low-key heading "Public Acceptance of Evolution", published research by Jon D. Miller, Eugenie C. Scott and Shinji Okamoto which showed that only 14% of adult Americans think the theory of evolution is "definitely true" (around 40% give more qualified consent to the idea). In Europe and Japan, in contrast, around 80% of the adult population believes that human beings developed from earlier species of animals. (There's a more accurate graph than the New York Times one I've used here.)

In the days that followed, the story got picked up by National Geographic Magazine ("Evolution Less Accepted in U.S. Than Other Western Countries, Study Finds") and the New York Times ("Did humans evolve? Not us, say Americans") before spreading waves of amusement, despair and disbelief through the blogosphere ("Americans not developed from earlier species of animals").

The researchers, who found that American anti-Darwinism is growing quite quickly (from 7% of skeptics to 21% in the past 20 years), blamed "widespread fundamentalism and the politicization of science in the United States" for the difference between the US and Europe and Japan. But by most measures the US differs quite radically from other advanced nations. Back in the early 90s Bantam Books published "Where We Stand", a comparison of the US with other wealthy nations. In table after table, the US ranked either at the top or the bottom, revealing its fundamental difference from European nations. Here's a brief summary (based on this page) of the factors on which the US was either the lowest or highest ranking (it's probable that most of these differences have only become more extreme in the intervening 15 years). The US has the:

Lowest overall tax rates as a percentage of GNP
Highest purchasing power
Highest individual worker productivity (but in both cases, other nations have been catching up)
Highest percentage of families earning two paychecks
Highest average household debt (double next nearest, UK)
Lowest average household savings
Biggest trade deficit
Biggest current account imbalance
Lowest investment levels as a percentage of GDP
Highest inequality of income (Gini)
Highest disparity between CEOs' pay and other workers' pay
Lowest percentage of unionized workers
Smallest middle class
Highest percentage of people below the poverty level
Highest percentage of below-poverty-level children
Most deaths from malnutrition per million
Highest healthcare expenditure as percentage of GDP
Highest doctor's incomes
Lowest percentage of population covered by public health care
Highest infant mortality rate
Highest toddler death rates
Highest rate of death in 15-24 year olds
Highest premature death rate
Highest number of people who think healthcare system needs fundamental change
Highest percentage of single-parent families
Lowest percentage of girls who are still virgins aged 20
Lowest percentage of sexually active single 15 to 19-year olds using birth control
Highest teen pregnancy rates
Highest teen abortion rates
Highest rates of reported police brutality
Biggest percentage of its population in prison
Largest number of death row inmates
Largest percentage of houses with a handgun
Largest number of handgun murders
Highest murder rate
Highest rape rate
Highest armed robbery rate
Lowest percentage of people using public transport
Highest annual air miles per person
Lowest average price of gallon of gas
Most oil energy used
Most carbon dioxide per person released
Most carbon monoxide per person released
Most CFCs emitted
Most major oil spills
Most forests cleared
Most coal burned
Most debris inhaled per person per year
Most municipal waste produced per person
Least glass recycled
Least paper and cardboard recycled
Shortest paid vacations
Least news as percentage of all TV
Most manufacturing employee turnover
Most employees fired
Lowest voter participation levels
Lowest number of referenda (zero)
Largest number of political scandals

A more up-to-date account of fundamental differences between the US and Europe appears in The Economist magazine. In an August 3rd story headed "To Israel With Love", the magazine reports a gulf between American and European perceptions of the current war in the Middle East.

"A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted on July 28th-30th," the Economist says, "showed that eight in ten Americans believed that Israel's action [in Lebanon] was justified... Americans are far more likely than Europeans to side with Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A Pew Global Attitudes survey taken between March and May found that 48% of Americans said that their sympathies lay with the Israelis; only 13% were sympathetic towards the Palestinians. By contrast, in Spain for example, 9% sympathised with the Israelis and 32% with the Palestinians."

This, says the magazine, is because Americans have strong cultural affinities with Israel; the average American is much more likely to find something in common with the attitudes of Israelis than the attitudes of Europeans:

"Americans are staunch nationalists, much readier to contemplate the use of force than Europeans. A German Marshall Fund survey in 2005 found 42% of Americans strongly agreeing that “under some conditions, war is necessary to obtain justice” compared with just 11% of Europeans. A Pew survey found that the same proportion of Americans and Israelis believe in the use of pre-emptive force: 66%. Continental European figures were far lower."

The article points to the power of the AIPAC (Israeli) and Christian fundamentalist lobbies on the American political system, and says:

"The Christian right is also solidly behind Israel. White evangelicals are significantly more pro-Israeli than Americans in general; more than half of them say they strongly sympathise with Israel. (A third of the Americans who claim sympathy with Israel say that this stems from their religious beliefs.) Two in five Americans believe that Israel was given to the Jewish people by God, and one in three say that the creation of the state of Israel was a step towards the Second Coming."

Which brings us back to the refusal to believe in Darwinian evolution. Isn't there something tremendously dangerous in this combination of stubborn irrationality and tremendous geo-political power? Unrealpolitik, we could call it.

Comments

[bricology.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

There you go again.

Honestly, Nick -- do you really think that anyone reading this is going to be surprised that there are is a large percentage of Americans that have wacky beliefs, or that ? And honestly -- I don't know how this data was gathered (Magic 8-ball?) but some of these "points" are patently absurd. The US has the "smallest middle class"? Can you even quantify "middle class"? And did you notice that this "study" was done in 1991 -- 17 frickin' years ago?

Has it not occurred to you that it's pointless to compare the US to northern European countries, Canada and Japan? I mean the fact that the US had the lowest income tax and also had the lowest percentage of the population covered by health care is kind of a heavy clue, but if you missed it, here you go: the US isn't a socialist state, as opposed to France, Sweden, et al, where health coverage is socialized. Stop comparing apples and oranges already.

The US is financially based upon the crazy notion that people should be responsible for their own success or failure. We don't tax people at 55% of their income like other nations on that list, so we can't spend that nonexistent tax revenue on healthcare, nursery school puppet shows or belly-button lint patrols. We're just fundamentally different than Europe, Canada and Japan, and we're also much bigger than any of those countries, and far younger than any except Canada.

You quote "Americans are staunch nationalists, much readier to contemplate the use of force than Europeans." Well, maybe at the moment, but surely your knowledge of history goes back far enough to know that just 60 years ago, 'tweren't so. Remember when Germany was clamoring to take over Europe, and the US wasn't interested in getting involved in a "regional dispute"? France, Britain, Italy, Germany/Austria -- European history is heavy with nations electing to use force against their neighbors. I don't think that a 60-year lull is enough to prove much of anything. And European football matches seem to produce a remarkable level of nationalism.

You say "Isn't there something tremendously dangerous in this combination of stubborn irrationality and tremendous geo-political power?" And, no doubt, you wait for the loyal readers to echo back in the affirmative. America = bad. Ho hum. Yesterday's post of originality and substance was nice while it lasted.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

We're just fundamentally different than Europe, Canada and Japan

Exactly the point I'm making here.

and we're also much bigger than any of those countries

If you're counting the EU as a "country", it outstrips the US both economically and demographically.

Back to "substance" as soon as I have some more pop records to review, Bricology!

[bricology.livejournal.com]

"If you're counting the EU as a "country", it outstrips the US both economically and demographically."

Why should I count the EU as a "country"? Until rather recently, many European countries have been at each other's throats, as they have been for millennia. And the EU Member-States still can't agree on a constitution, something the US has had for over 2 centuries.

And you're mistaken about the EU "outstrip(ping) the US...economically. Check Wikipedia: the US GDP last year was $12.36 trillion, the EU's was $12.43 trillion--almost exactly the same--but the per-capita income in the US is far greater: $43,555, compared to the per-capita income in the EU of just $28,100. Is sour grapes a factor?

I wrote "We're just fundamentally different than Europe, Canada and Japan", to which you responded "Exactly the point I'm making here." But that's disingenuous; it's not the point you're making. You are trying to say that America IS a certain way. We ARE superstitious, violent, right-wing, etc., all of which is such bullshit that I'm surprised to see it come from an intelligent person. America is the most diverse, heterodox place on earth. You call us "right-wing", but the fact is that more Americans voted for Gore than Bush, and very likely more voted for Kerry than Bush as well; we're just not as good at stealing elections than the right-wingers. Even amongst those who did vote for Bush, the majority of them disapprove of the job he's done, and/or would like to see him out of office. In short: there is no one America. We defy such pat categorization.

Anyway, I'm not just here to read your review of pop records. I'm here to read about YOUR experiences. There's no shortage of leftist news aggregators out there (I already subscribe to Daily Kos and others); this thing you posted today isn't even news--I read it in the mainstream press three days ago. No, my objection is to you being an anti-American pundit, for that is what it seems to me you are becoming. You have determined to be anti-America, and so you cast around for supporting data to post here. That's not "substance"; it's just recycled propaganda.

I was discussing this thread, and your political posts, with a friend of mine who is also a reader of Click Opera, and we were trying to think of any other musicians whose work we like, and their various political expositions. Some of the names that were kicked around were Bertrand Burgalat, Tim Gane, Sean O'Hagan, etc. Could we feature any of these guys repeatedly posting anti-American, second-hand screed? Hardly! Even the highly politically-active Billy Bragg or Paul Weller wouldn't do that; they'd rather have a direct effect through their activism.

You have ample opportunity to disprove my assertion that you're just an anti-American pundit: try posting some positive things about America and Americans, to balance out your negative posts, and balance out your fawning over your favorite places with some negative facts (something you avoided with your recent post on China).

I won't even expect you to mention the obvious things, like the fact that 11 million or so Americans served in WWII (and almost 300,000 died)--even though the US was never attacked, and that if we hadn't become involved, you'd very likely be living in a fascist Europe right now, pitted against a Stalinist USSR. Or the fact that much of Europe and Japan could never have rebounded from the war by now without American generosity and investments. Or the fact that the US has accepted far more refugees and immigrants than all of the EU, or how it's far more ethnically diverse, how it has invented or been a major partner in the invention of everything from computers and the internet to the cutting edge of medical care, or that more money flows out of the US for foreign philanthropic projects than from any other country. That's all stuff that most of us already know, even if some are loathe to admit it. No, what I want to see are YOUR experiences about America--and wherever else you are--good and bad. Surely you can do that, instead of just propagandizing with second-hand data.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

And you're mistaken about the EU "outstrip(ping) the US...economically. Check Wikipedia: the US GDP last year was $12.36 trillion, the EU's was $12.43 trillion--almost exactly the same

That's not "mistaken", you just quoted that the EU outstrips the US economically! Not by much, but still...

--but the per-capita income in the US is far greater: $43,555, compared to the per-capita income in the EU of just $28,100. Is sour grapes a factor?

You do realize that if you take Bill Gates and other billionaires out of the picture, that per capita income plummets, don't you? US high Gini rates are hardly enviable, nor are its deaths by malnutrition, its infant and child mortality, its millions without medical coverage...

You are trying to say that America IS a certain way. We ARE superstitious, violent, right-wing, etc.

I'm making both points. America is not like other advanced nations. And the differences follow a pattern; it's more right wing and more violent. I want to be a bit of a Tom Paine character. I want to make Americans think about where their nation is going. Sorry if it's also being reported on Daily Kos, there was no more Cornelius news today and I found this survey wig-flippingly interesting.

Even the highly politically-active Billy Bragg or Paul Weller wouldn't do that; they'd rather have a direct effect through their activism.

Actually, I don't like Bragg's music much, but I admire something he once said in an interview. "What America does affects everybody in the world, so they should open up the American presidential elections to everybody."

I think you're really just saying "Ouch". And that's part of my intention. I'm glad you discussed this piece with a workmate. This is activism.

[bricology.livejournal.com]

"That's not "mistaken", you just quoted that the EU outstrips the US economically! Not by much, but still..."

The EU exceeding the GDP of the US by .05% isn't much of an "outstripping".

"...if you take Bill Gates and other billionaires out of the picture, that per capita income plummets..."

That's simply nonsense. If you add up the _total_assets_ held by all 258 billionaires in the US, you'd have less that $500 billion; that's half a $ trillion. That's totall assets, many times their earned annual income. You would have to take something like $4 TRILLION of income out of the US GDP every year to bring our per-capita income down to that of the EU.

"...its deaths by malnutrition, its infant and child mortality, its millions without medical coverage..."

Again, these are simply because America is based upon self-reliance. We trade socialization and the safety net it provides for the freedom to take care of yourself with the additional income that you're not giving to the government. (That's the theory, anyway; it doesn't help when the government is spending $250 million per day on a stupid war.)

"I want to be a bit of a Tom Paine character."

Oh, please. Look--you'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of Tom Paine than I, but frankly, you're no Tom Paine, and you never will be, any more than I could be. Tom Paine was a human catalyst, pamphleteering and orating anywhere he could pause for a few minutes. He actually created new things--the first drafts of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, wrote a number of hugely influential books--even coined the name "The United States of America". You, on the other hand, are merely blogging to the choir, and much of what you blog (politically) is second-hand.

"I think you're really just saying 'Ouch'.

Not even close. I'm as critical of the US as anyone, and more so than most. And I can take criticism in stride, where it's appropriate. But I know hundreds of Americans, and _not_one_ of them is like the characterization you're parroting about Americans. I doubt that a single American reader of Click Opera is like that either.

"And that's part of my intention. I'm glad you discussed this piece with a workmate. This is activism."

Actually, in this case, it was ridicule. But take it however you want.

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

<< I'm making both points. America is not like other advanced nations. And the differences follow a pattern; it's more right wing and more violent. >>

That's right, America is not like other advanced nations because it is more advanced.

Look at medicine, technology, education, and entertainment.

America's problems are special because America is special.

America is not over yet, momus. The same technological awakening that is bringing China into more humanist state is effecting the disaffected in the U.S. too. The internet provides a technological base for consolidating dissent in the U.S.

Give up on us if you want, but then why do you take money from Wired Magazine?

[ex-newironsh15.livejournal.com]

The study was done based on data from 17 years ago so that a clear contrast could be made between the many years of leftish governments in Europe and the Nixon through Bush era (briefly broken up by moderate Jimmy Carter).

Has it not occurred to you that it's pointless to compare the US to northern European countries...

Isn't that where most Americans derive their heritage? So at least we know it's not genetics...

The US is financially based upon the crazy notion that people should be responsible for their own success or failure.

More John Locke / Thomas Hobbes crockery. Man is an isolated individual, wearing breeches and wandering alone in the woods, apparently without a mother or extended family. He fights evil nature by chopping trees, mixing his labour into them and thereby making the products his. Man fights against fellow man, eventually tiring of this, and they decide to form an evil mafia government to take their money in exchange for protection from each other.

This "rational" account of the origin of society, which carries so much weight in the US, predates evolution! I love it.

The problem is (as demonstrated by the study) it isn't working out for the common man, which is supposedly the foundation of society after the enlightenment. Hmm.

[bricology.livejournal.com]

"The study was done based on data from 17 years ago so that a clear contrast could be made between the many years of leftish governments in Europe and the Nixon through Bush era (briefly broken up by moderate Jimmy Carter)."

Oh? You know for a fact that the data was selected from 17 years ago to make that point, rather than it simply being that the study was done 17 years ago? If that were their intention, it would've made more sense to select data from the first Bush Administration. After all, (Carter excepted), the contrast between the US administration under him would've been even starker than before, especially since--17 years ago was also the Thatcher/Major era, as well as the time of Mitterand and Kohl. In short: the 1991 period was anything BUT a period of "leftish governments in Europe".

"Isn't that (Europe) where most Americans derive their heritage? So at least we know it's not genetics..."

Not anymore. According to the US Census Bureau, about 80 million US citizens are not of European ethnicity; that's somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of our population, and the influx of non-Europeans (and their reproductive rates) is growing far faster than the influx of Europeans, so that percentage will only increase. Within our lifetimes, at the present trends, the US will have a non-European majority.

"More John Locke / Thomas Hobbes crockery. Man is an isolated individual...blah...blah...blah...The problem is (as demonstrated by the study) it isn't working out for the common man, which is supposedly the foundation of society after the enlightenment."

Oh sure--it "isn't working out" so well that it has become the dominant global paradigm. Japan went from being an isolationist, feudal serfdom to being the world's most prosperous nation by...wait for it...following the American Capitalist pattern. The former Soviet Union collapsed because they couldn't maintain their financial system, and now they're...wait for it...a capitalist State. China is becoming a rival superpower by... Hopefully you get it by now. The fact is that the vast majority of people will choose to live in a free society over a controlled one, and it "works out" just fine for a majority of them. If you aren't happy with it, you can always give Cuba or North Korea a try.

[ex-newironsh15.livejournal.com]

The year 1991 was selected because after these dates, the U.S. turned slightly to the left and Northern Europe slightly to the right (although one could plausibly argue that very little changed in any of these nations). Therefore, 1991 provides the best date for comparing a decade of Reaganomics with 30 years of social democracy. Although Where We Stand compares dozens of nations on most lists, I have limited my comparisons to the U.S., Northern Europe, Japan and Canada. I have included every nation from this group I could find; omissions in my lists reflect omissions in Where We Stand.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/8Comparison.htm

Oh sure--it "isn't working out" so well that it has become the dominant global paradigm.

Except in the still somewhat social democratic EU

Japan went from being an isolationist, feudal serfdom to being the world's most prosperous nation by...wait for it...following the American Capitalist pattern.

Japan adopted practices and made them compatible with its national character, rather than adopting John Locke wholesale.

The former Soviet Union collapsed because they couldn't maintain their financial system, and now they're...wait for it...a capitalist State.

Russia went from a rather dismal rural peasant economy to the number two economy in the world. It faced a hostile economic environment and a devastating arms race until Yeltsin and his thugs helped tear it down. Yes, pay probably should have reflected incentives a bit more. But using the Soviet Union as a straw man forever to defeat any state intervention will not help us.

China is becoming a rival superpower by... Hopefully you get it by now.

China, the land of the free. sure.

The fact is that the vast majority of people will choose to live in a free society over a controlled one, and it "works out" just fine for a majority of them.

Well they think (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Dimensional_Man) they're free. I'm sure the guy watching fox news is so proud of himself for not being a piss poor a-rab. That doesn't mean we should use this person as a role model.

If you aren't happy with it, you can always give Cuba or North Korea a try.

Friends of mine have been to Cuba. I'd like to go someday.

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

<< And, no doubt, you wait for the loyal readers to echo back in the affirmative. America = bad. Ho hum. >>

Thank you, bricology.

America, A Warning From History

[(Anonymous)]

Why are Americans always on the defensive about their country?

I don't mind slagging my own country off where it needs it.

Let's face it - America? It's not even your country.

Give it back to the Indians, you bastards.

Oh, too late - you killed them all.

I wonder... How far do we have to get into this ridiculous War on Terror thing before America/Israel start exterminating large amounts of the Arab population in the Middle East (for what ever given reason).

I give it a couple of years max.

And don't think for a moment that you'll be able to shrug your shoulders and say "we didn't know".

The warnings are everywhere.

Re: America, A Warning From History

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Yes, they are.

Women pushing their children in buggies bearing the familiar symbol of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament marched last weekend alongside banners proclaiming “We are all Hezbollah now” and Muslim extremists chanting “Oh Jew, the army of Muhammad will return.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-525-2309812-525,00.html

Re: America, A Warning From History

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

<< Why are Americans always on the defensive about their country? >>

I'm willing to take plenty of shit about the U.S., my country.

But not wholesale derision, no, thanks.

[polocrunch.livejournal.com]

The US is financially based upon the crazy notion that people should be responsible for their own success or failure. We don't tax people at 55% of their income like other nations on that list, so we can't spend that nonexistent tax revenue on healthcare, nursery school puppet shows or belly-button lint patrols.

Well that untaxed income still exists, ready to be spent on healthcare should each individual desire it to be so. What the US mostly proves is that the majority of people either don't have the sense, the training or the money to invest in health insurance. Your country needs its people to have adequate medical coverage as much as any other country, and what many Europeans would say is that, for one reason or another, private voluntary medical insurance is not as effective at getting people covered as a compulsory insurance system. So Europe is more successful at ensuring its populace has medical coverage.

Of course, state-funded systems are not always so fantastic (Momus, being British, might well agree here), but generally they are pretty satisfactory. Anyway, I would say that, overall, everyone having access to quite a good healthcare system is much better than a small majority having access to no healthcare system.

[bricology.livejournal.com]

I'll readily agree that many Americans don't have the good sense to invest their income in a healthcare system. However, that _doesn't_ mean that people don't have access to healthcare. In fact, any city in America will treat people who need health care, and often times, for free. Here in San Francisco we've got SF General Hospital, which is widely respected as a training hospital. If a person needs care but has no insurance, they will treat them for free. Likewise at a half-dozen private/public clinics, such as the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic. These are supported by a combination of local, state and federal funds, by nonprofit sources and by volunteer help. I've had to use public healthcare in both Britain and the Netherlands, and I can say that the quality of healthcare that I got there was actually worse than I've received from SF General for free.

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

<< If a person needs care but has no insurance, they will treat them for free >>

That reminds me of the time I landed in a city hospital with no health insurance, after drinking too much liquid acid, tied to a gurney. I was cared for kindly and professionally, and had not a dime to offer. This was Louisville, Kentucky, heart of GWB land.

I never thought I would find myself defending the American medical system, but momus' writing stirs the American patriot in me.

[bricology.livejournal.com]

"I never thought I would find myself defending the American medical system, but momus' writing stirs the American patriot in me."

Yeah, that's something that Nick doesn't seem to care much about with his blanket statements about America: he's inevitably pushing some of us to contrast our views and experiences as Americans against his claims of what we "all" supposedly are. It's disappointing when otherwise intelligent people aren't willing to look beyond their biases.

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

<< Nick doesn't seem to care much about >>

Ah, I think momus is thrilled when we get all worked up in our U.S. patriotism because of his biases.

Man, if I pissed someone off as much as momus pisses me off, I'd be proud!

I mean, what if the U.S. becomes a better place because dear momus antagonized us into a fluster? hahaha just imagining, but you see what I'm saying. I like to be pissed off.

[kairo.livejournal.com]

glad you mentioned san franciscos general. i successfully got my 10 grand of medical bills at a different SF hospital waived. so it's definitely not hopeless for americans without insurance. Doesn't california have tons of medicare slots available that no one is applying for? I hear that all the time it seems. Granted, its not the easiest process in the world...
Our wait-time for getting medical work done is considerably shorter than in countries with socialized medicine. Almost everyone i know in my age ranger purposefully doesn't pay into health care. It's most definitely not the fault of the government for not making it available to them.. people in their 20's (and i believe there are a lot of 20somethings in america), just have an invincibility complex about them.

worrying reading

[deludedian.livejournal.com]

It does make for worrying reading. I had always known that the US was renowned for its strong christian beliefs, but when you see it in these terms it is a little disturbing to say the least.

Thanks man.

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