Can someone please comment

[mikedavid00]

It's been a few years since I looked, but wow have things changed. Can someone please give commentary on exactly what is going on here. USA and Japan no longer leader the pack.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html?countryName=India&countryCode=in&regionCode=sas&rank=163#in

[RNG]

It's been a few years since I looked, but wow have things changed. Can someone please give commentary on exactly what is going on here. USA and Japan no longer leader the pack.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html?countryName=India&countryCode=in&regionCode=sas&rank=163#in

Japan has had like 10+ years of economic slowdown. The US is losing jobs to third world countries and are being overrun by illegal aliens. Such is life. Wish they had posted actual numbers. Is 27 like 20% lower than the top or 2%?

[August1991]

Japan has had like 10+ years of economic slowdown. The US is losing jobs to third world countries and are being overrun by illegal aliens. Such is life. Wish they had posted actual numbers. Is 27 like 20% lower than the top or 2%?

Is Japan overrun with illegal aliens too?

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MikeDavid, here's really something to consider. After the US, the next G8 country on that list is Canada - at Number 27. Heck, the next G20 member is also Canada.

IOW, all the other 25 countries in the Top 27 are "small" countries. Their governments are not "players", in the world political game. For example, their governments are not permanent members of the UN Security Council. No one knows who is President or PM.

We live in a world where small is beautiful - unless you're a politician, or you're American.

Edited September 30, 2010 by August1991

[wyly]

some are oil rich countries others just have good governments that are good managers of resources and people, paying attention to the lowest levels of society raises a countries standard of living...

[Pliny]

It's hard to tell much from that list. It is GDP/capita. What is the GDP of the country? You have to know what the main products are. Lichtenstein is mainly known for being a tax haven. I can see productivity in that area and the banking industry in general being prominent in the world today so Luxembourg and Jersey make sense and oil is the main product of some of the other top countries on the list.

China, with all it's productivity, is way down at 128 on the list. I suppose their position has to do with the population.

Some of the statistics from countries are from different years, like Bermuda which is from 2004 and most are "est" or estimates not that they are probably far off.

Japan has had a stagnant economy since the early nineties and of course the US which is from 2009 is going through a period of high unemployment, 2010 may find it a few more notches down as Obama seems intent on keeping the economy stagnant with policies that bring uncertainties to economic activity.

[guyser]

It's been a few years since I looked, but wow have things changed.

A new sig line.....as if a few years ago you were looking at this.

[August1991]

some are oil rich countries others just have good governments that are good managers of resources and people, paying attention o the lowest levels of society raises a countries standard of living...

Twenty five? If it were ten or five, you might have a point.

Wyly, you have to look down the list to 25 or so before you find a G8 country. The Top 25 are all countries (governments) with small populations.

The only exception is the US, and the US is a decentralized federal system.

(China is now imitating Singapore. Guess where that model will lead China... )

China, with all it's productivity, is way down at 128 on the list.

Politicians don't care about their country's place on such lists. The politicians only care about the hotel rooms at summits, and whether they are well informed in meetings.

For politicians, it is better to come from a large country because the tax base is larger and there is more money to pay for a larger hotel suite. There is also more money to pay for more people to avoid stupidity during the meeting.

China may be 128 on the list but imagine the size of China's president retinue when he checks into a hotel. And they all feel very important, just like someone working at Obama's White House.

When the PM of Bermuda arrives, he probably arrives alone and carries his own luggage. And yet, who lives better: ordinary people in Bermuda, China - or Singapore.

Edited October 2, 2010 by August1991

[mikedavid00]

For politicians, it is better to come from a large country because the tax base is larger and there is more money to pay for a larger hotel suite. There is also more money to pay for more people to avoid stupidity during the meeting.

Wow I'm proud of you. You've come a long way since years past. You are finally understanding the real gov't and what they are about.

This is why I am FOR separation of the Americas and Canada. Smaller countries = less gov't and more accountability. Also Allows competition.

Do you think if Quebec separates, it will be able to afford to have thousands of Haitian and Islamic indolents wandering in each year to have kids and sit on welfare and get free healthcare? Hell NO! The money wont be there anymore to give freebies out to the world. Quebec will be forced to fix itself and its local culture will grow stronger.

This is why I'm for breaking up the Canada and the US. We are too different and divided. The heads of state get way too much money and are too powerful.

[maple_leafs182]

Wow I'm proud of you. You've come a long way since years past. You are finally understanding the real gov't and what they are about.

This is why I am FOR separation of the Americas and Canada. Smaller countries = less gov't and more accountability. Also Allows competition.

Do you think if Quebec separates, it will be able to afford to have thousands of Haitian and Islamic indolents wandering in each year to have kids and sit on welfare and get free healthcare? Hell NO! The money wont be there anymore to give freebies out to the world. Quebec will be forced to fix itself and its local culture will grow stronger.

This is why I'm for breaking up the Canada and the US. We are too different and divided. The heads of state get way too much money and are too powerful.

I agree. I believe more in smaller and local governments. People thousands of kilometers away from me shouldn't be making decisions on how I live.

[Pliny]

Politicians don't care about their country's place on such lists. The politicians only care about the hotel rooms at summits, and whether they are well informed in meetings.

For politicians, it is better to come from a large country because the tax base is larger and there is more money to pay for a larger hotel suite. There is also more money to pay for more people to avoid stupidity during the meeting.

You illustrate quite well why governments tend towards amalgamation, such as in Europe and the EU.

There should always exist a right to secession if we want to protect ourselves from over-taxation and over-regulation or tyrannical governments. It is the competitiveness between governments that enables people to be in control of the level of government they are willing to endure.

Quebec should secede actually. The Canadian government has become too oppressive. The problem is whether or not Quebec will be able to afford to build the wall necessary to keep their citizens safely within it's borders.

[RNG]

Something I thought of many, many years ago, and I wonder if it isn't playing out for us now, is that all economies in the world are based on growth. The US, with all their unions and debt and all aren't growing anymore and are suffering. Growth basically requires a growing population, but I hate sounding like the dude who first predicted the world would overpopulate itself and we will all die (sorry, forgot his name) but it is happening. Water is getting scarce the world over. The UN tells us fertilizer and GM crops are necessary to feed the planet. We are in trouble.

[Pliny]

Something I thought of many, many years ago, and I wonder if it isn't playing out for us now, is that all economies in the world are based on growth. The US, with all their unions and debt and all aren't growing anymore and are suffering. Growth basically requires a growing population, but I hate sounding like the dude who first predicted the world would overpopulate itself and we will all die (sorry, forgot his name) but it is happening. Water is getting scarce the world over. The UN tells us fertilizer and GM crops are necessary to feed the planet. We are in trouble.

Well, there has been no shortage of the-sky-is-falling philosophers throughout our history.

They have a water shortage problem in Las Vegas and what they do is amazing. When water gets as short or scarce the world over we might be in trouble. Water is getting scarce because governments don't know how to manage it correctly and primarily, are more interested in taxing it than managing it. I don't know about you but water used to be paid for on utility or property taxes. Now they want to tax it on usage. When things get tough we'll be back to using rainwater again.

The UN is the agency that studies all the world's social and resource problems and of course political solutions are forwarded to be implemented by national governments. Like the Kyoto accord or the Oil for Food program. Sovereign national governments are having their sovereignty usurped in the interest of the common or collective global good - its' the right thing to do (sarcasm).

[August1991]

Wow I'm proud of you. You've come a long way since years past. You are finally understanding the real gov't and what they are about.

MikeDavid, you're proud of me?

You should be proud of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and others like them. I am just saying the same as they said, and so if I have come a long way, it has taken me over 200 years to come this way.

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IMHO, it is remarkable that the US is the only large country on that list.

IMV, people around the world should wonder why the US is as successful as so many other small countries. (Hint: The US is a large collective of small countries. The US federal government is restrained.)

Edited October 5, 2010 by August1991

[Michael Hardner]

They have a water shortage problem in Las Vegas and what they do is amazing. When water gets as short or scarce the world over we might be in trouble. Water is getting scarce because governments don't know how to manage it correctly and primarily, are more interested in taxing it than managing it. I don't know about you but water used to be paid for on utility or property taxes. Now they want to tax it on usage. When things get tough we'll be back to using rainwater again.

I just read Jared Diamond's Collapse and he warns about the trend of governments pushing this management onto private developers.

[Pliny]

I just read Jared Diamond's Collapse and he warns about the trend of governments pushing this management onto private developers.

Let me guess, Collapse is about how we will evolve into destroying ourselves.

So how does Las Vegas manage it's water? I imagine it is highly regulated and taxed and all proposals of water usage must be approved. It's probably quite a process.

Private developers are not being given free reign. They are regulated and overseen by government. Government is not pushing this "management" on private developers. It is pushing the "costs" of development onto private developers because it cannot tax enough to pay for development. At least that's how I see it.

Private developers in Vegas dream up what to develop and do it under the management of government.

[mikedavid00]

There's lots of water (and power) for everyone, there just isn't the government doing their jobs and delivering power and water to the people anymore.

As far as amalgamating and the EU, I would suggest that you not compare that with what is going on over here. The EU is simply to make life easier for everyone in Europe. If the US and Canada were to separate into distinct countries, sharing a currency and easier travel between our countries would be very beneficial to us.

Greece is Greece. Italy is Italy. France is France. They will never become a single country. Don't skew what is going on in the EU to mean that they are somehow one country. That will never happen.

When I was young and stupid I used to be so 'afraid' of Quebec separating. I felt that somehow we wouldn't be 'safe' if Quebec separated.

The best thing for Quebec and the people of Quebec and the culture of the people is to separate. Hopefully we could share a currency and have easier access to work in each others countries with much easier border passing, but Quebec will have it's own sovereign country and it's own culture. Quebec's socialist welfare attitude will come to an end VERY quickly. They simply cannot afford socialized medicine and welfare checks for the 3rd world. I can assure you they will no longer allow rift raft wandering into Quebec.

Who knows, they might lower taxes and businesses might move there. I know for sure that they will allow private healthcare as they are already leading Canada in that regard. Anything is possible.

Who knows.. it might even be.. BETTER over there in given time.

Separation works. Small borders work. I don't see why we have to operate like China and Russia or act as some 'super power'. That certainly doesn't benefit us. It actually makes us POORER and ruins our local culture.

Maybe we need to embrace our borders and who we really are as people. I have nothing to do with Natives up north. I have nothing to do with Quebecer's. I have nothing to do with Easterners. Give them their oil that belongs to them. Let's give Alberta their oil money and they can immigrate the whole world into their province and see how well they do. They can take their lands back and we can go our separate ways.

This is just natural and way it should be. This federal gov't stuff is nonsense that helps no one.

[Pliny]

There's lots of water (and power) for everyone, there just isn't the government doing their jobs and delivering power and water to the people anymore.

Agreed. They are more into social engineering and planning sustainability than viewing what the people have built where they want to go and what flexibility is necessary in the future. They already have a plan and know what is best for the common good. A bike lane seems to be the priority in most urban centres.

As far as amalgamating and the EU, I would suggest that you not compare that with what is going on over here. The EU is simply to make life easier for everyone in Europe. If the US and Canada were to separate into distinct countries, sharing a currency and easier travel between our countries would be very beneficial to us.

Greece is Greece. Italy is Italy. France is France. They will never become a single country. Don't skew what is going on in the EU to mean that they are somehow one country. That will never happen.

The EU with a common currency was shoved down Europe's throat.

Politically, it is to no one's advantage to have created the EU. It simply created another level of bureaucracy for which taxation is necessary to support.

Economically, it removed a lot of barriers to trade and travel. So there was an economic advantage. Enough that the political cost of the EU could be paid for and more. Could Europe have achieved that without creating the EU?

Political and economic integration are quite different things and not necessarily tied together. The USSR did not have economic integration and the US did. Germany 3 centuries ago was composed of several countries, many city states and knightly independent estates. There was not political integration but there was economic integration. And it is economic integration, the division of labour and the mutually beneficial voluntary exchange of goods and services that produces wealth. Forced political integration is not necessarily economically beneficial.

The political integration of Europe has contributed somewhat to it's economic integration but there are already stresses in the Union with the poorer members being reluctantly bailed out by the richer members. There is essentially some resistance to economic integration as the result of forced political integration.

When I was young and stupid I used to be so 'afraid' of Quebec separating. I felt that somehow we wouldn't be 'safe' if Quebec separated.

In my younger years I resented the separation movement in Quebec as I thought Canada was a good country to live in and it wouldn't be whole without Quebec. I now see it as a political tool and feel it would be beneficial for the rest of Canada to allow it's secession.

The people of Quebec would have a tough time in the beginning and would soon have to develop a more accommodating and less arrogant attitude towards the rest of Canada and the world.

The fastest way to lose a cultural identity is to attempt to preserve it. A culture is an ever-evolving, living entity that must be free to change, accommodate and adopt all people. Preserving them in time freezes out all others and it doesn't grow. It is stifled and that is Quebec's mistake. It thinks it can preserve a culture and it is one of the major concerns of it's provincial and municipal governments. It is very costly and in my opinion an utter economic waste.

The best thing for Quebec and the people of Quebec and the culture of the people is to separate. Hopefully we could share a currency and have easier access to work in each others countries with much easier border passing, but Quebec will have it's own sovereign country and it's own culture. Quebec's socialist welfare attitude will come to an end VERY quickly. They simply cannot afford socialized medicine and welfare checks for the 3rd world. I can assure you they will no longer allow rift raft wandering into Quebec.

I agree on all your above points.

Who knows, they might lower taxes and businesses might move there. I know for sure that they will allow private healthcare as they are already leading Canada in that regard. Anything is possible.

Who knows.. it might even be.. BETTER over there in given time.

They will have to start creating their new nation, not preserving old concepts. It would be a tough row to hoe.

Separation works. Small borders work. I don't see why we have to operate like China and Russia or act as some 'super power'. That certainly doesn't benefit us. It actually makes us POORER and ruins our local culture.

Maybe we need to embrace our borders and who we really are as people. I have nothing to do with Natives up north. I have nothing to do with Quebecer's. I have nothing to do with Easterners. Give them their oil that belongs to them. Let's give Alberta their oil money and they can immigrate the whole world into their province and see how well they do. They can take their lands back and we can go our separate ways.

This is just natural and way it should be. This federal gov't stuff is nonsense that helps no one.

I agree and believe this is why a federal government should only involve itself with a limited mandate that doesn't favour any area over another and deals with only common general interests, such as criminality, defense and foreign affairs. It should have nothing to do with special interest groups such as religion, race, gender, language, corporations, bankers, cultures, etc.