Yes, it does. Just because we don't just hand everything freely to our people doesn't mean what we do have isn't damn good compared to the rest of the world.
Their Soybeans Piling Up, Farmers Hope Trade War Ends Before Beans Rot
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Yes, it does. Just because we don't just hand everything freely to our people doesn't mean what we do have isn't damn good compared to the rest of the world.
bacon is so vastly overrated. in terms of pork products, even in terms of hams, it's absolute bottom tier. really, I would chose any Italian or Spanish ham, any good Schwarzwälder or Schinkenspeck over bacon.
in terms of sustainability, I have set it as my personal quest to find ways to make the less appreciated parts of an animal edible. if we're going to have a disgusting, wasteful meat industry, we might as well make it less wasteful. by eating liver. and trotters. and heart and lungs and all the unwanted cuts. bones, tissue, whatever. I can make something delicious out of it.
pls don't eat too much bacon, tim. I don't want you to die
the american diet might be the most carcinogenic on the entire planet.
so many cured meats. so much grilled cheese. starches that are deep fried.
it's like you're inviting the cancer over, setting the table.
Technically, this is faulty reasoning. But with a sample size of one (the individual) I just don't care. There is zero point in personal analysis of cancer risk when 70-year smokers can die cancer-free at the age of 89 and a 21 year old vice-less person can develop lung cancer and die before their thirties.
I am not giving up decades of enjoyment for a completely random chance to avoid cancer. It might be highly carcinogenic in groups of people, but I, the individual, don't care. Now I'm not going to start smoking because of this, but I'm not going to give up what is essentially my cultural birthright: the diet I was raised on and have taken as my own.
p.s. I don't even eat pork
@Commodore I'll add that we don't even have the economic infrastructure of a developed country; our income inequality is comparable to sub-saharan Africa, IIRC.
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innonimatu
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I think it is the size of the US that makes it so hard for a decent health care system to be put in place. Were the states able to finance and legislate systems on their own, some would have done so already and shown that it can be done. Much as smaller countries around the world did it. But big corporations based on state B can torpedo an attempt to do it in state A. Wealth people will threaten to move out of state, businesses will find schemes to avoid paying taxes there to fund a socialized health care system, etc.
I believe that most people find those cases of preventable deaths due to (easily avoidable, was the state to act) high prices abhorrent. But is is the problem of getting things done in excessively large polities, democracy does not work effectively there...
I believe that most people find those cases of preventable deaths due to (easily avoidable, was the state to act) high prices abhorrent. But is is the problem of getting things done in excessively large polities, democracy does not work effectively there...
It has nothing to do with the size of the country. It is exclusively about the conservatism of the politics.
The Chinese are out for vengeance, and I'm afraid a lot of people have already been duped. Still, I am not really that sure that the CPC will stay in power that long. I hope they become a democracy sometime.
The fact that the US doesn't give people healthcare for free is one of the reasons why people cannot afford healthcare unless they get it for free. See the above replies by Cutlass and cardgame.
The free market obviously runs more efficient death panels than the government ever could.
Estebonrober
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No we hand massive land grants to our corporations freely instead. . .That way really rich people can get really richer. Moral priorities of conservatism these days is broken. I don't think its fair to count healthcare affordable only to the top 20% to other nations that cover their entire populations.
Okay, but that's not the point you made. You said the US was not a developed country, which is clearly not true by any serious metric by which countries are judged as either developed or developing. Just because you have some axe to grind with the US doesn't mean you get to redefine what the US is to suit your agenda.
Eh, it probably should count as a developed country, but it is also clearly in the bottom tier of developed countries.
What kind of developed country can't even sell its soybeans?
Your public transportation infrastructure has been intentionally destroyed by your own corporations for a quick buck, to the point that, as has been explained to me earlier this week here on CFC, owning a car is a prerequisite for working.
The same applies to healthcare and a lot of other things. You had some of the highest living standards of the world once upon a time, maybe, but you're going down fast.
And I don't consider the US an enemy, I actually feel sorry for it. It's like watching a friend with an addiction get high yet again and ask me what's wrong with me and why amn't I getting high too.
Conservatism is definitionally indifferent to morality. It is exclusively about power.
Don't believe everything people tell you on here. Owning a car is most certainly not a prerequisite for working. Half the people I work with don't own their own car and they have no trouble getting to and from work. And it's not like I live in some robust urban center either.
Again, no we aren't. Our current standard of living ranking is 17th in the world, which is pretty damn good. We've also hovered around that ranking for years now, which flies in the face of your "going down fast" claim.
You are the victim of propaganda. You seem to be believing every negative thing you hear about the US and listening to people here certainly doesn't help either since most of the Americans here are self-hating Americans who take any opportunity to bad-mouth the nation to anyone who will listen.
Farm Boy
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I mean, you could carpool. Or you could rent closer to where you work. Most people just don't want to. It's easier if you have a family/friends/church/whatever circle in place, but people seem to like to move to the hot markets and scatter now. If one was coming in from out of country, I would generally guess an inexpensive to operate vehicle would be high on the want list, usually higher than owning real estate.
Timsup2nothin
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LOL...c'mon man...I can remember being in the military and pondering just how long less than five percent of the world's population was gonna get away with consuming well over half of the resources, and trust me even on my most pessimistic day I wouldn't have said "yeah I'll live to see some guy boasting about a consistent 17th place."
Zkribbler
Deity
I remember when we were number 1 in standard of living, opportunity, happiness, education, etc. 
I remember when we were number 1 in standard of living, opportunity, happiness, education, etc.
Too high living standards for everybody are mudda, an avoidable waste, for the most effecient machinery aiming at national might and glory.
The optimum for total satisfaction and happiness is reached by adding being part of that glory as a value in the basket of living standards.
And when you can charm your people into thinking that that national glory value is even more important, you can even decrease the cost of the other, the normal living standards.
Just go to the St Peter basilica in Rome, build by the longest operational multinational ever in history.
Feel the awe of being dwarved and yet so great of being there, as if your are part of that greatness.
Farm Boy
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I remember when we were number 1 in standard of living, opportunity, happiness, education, etc.
We're enormous, there are always going to be pockets of wealthy people with good infrastructure and strong friends to keep them safe. A rather lot depends in what and how you measure along with how you carve your sample. The us is growing closer to its southern neighbors. The reaction is visible now in policy. The EU is growing closer to its, the same can be said.
Estebonrober
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Yea, I don;t think you understand how propaganda works. This is a little like first amendment violations my friend. If one is stating that their own nation is a disappointment because they know in their heart that nation can do better on every facet of its existence, that is not propaganda. If someone states that their leader is infallible and above the law because a certain Secretary tells them so over and over again that's propaganda.
Also you seem to live in some sort of strange bubble, many many of the people I work with who have good jobs are driving 30 miles or more a day to work and back. Cars are necessary for most people.
