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USA, Canada, Australia, and even Sweden better....

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....place to live than the Netherlands.

<A HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2149799.stm#table" target="_new">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2149799.stm#table</A>

GOD BLESS AMERICA

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Damn, 3rd spot. Oh well.

The thing is, the difference between the quality of life in those top 15 countries is so small it's not even funny.

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

Reply to silverpig

Bottom 15 doesnt have india Phew!

Algebra was easy for the Romans because "X" was always 10 :lol: 
Jay Kay

Reply to jaythaman

Well if you look at the differences between the USA and The Netherlands you show that it is sorted because of GDP. Now anyone who had geography knows that GDP is by no way a good measurement of the wealth of a country.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:

Reply to svol

Quote :

Now anyone who had geography knows that GDP is by no way a good measurement of the wealth of a country.

Do WHAT?!?! ROFLMAO!!! GDP is the dollar value (or other currency) of all new and final goods and services produced in a country in any year and is one of the basic tools for analyzing a country's economy. GDP per capita simply divides that based on the population and gives you the average income to which each member of the population potentially has access.

Maybe you should try some economics classes instead of geography classes. No offense.

War EagleEdited by Auburn9698 on 04/22/03 03:28 PM.

Reply to Auburn9698

welll i'm glad to say that Canada places nice and high heheheheh, though to tell the truth I would rather live in Europe (W-Germany maybe, Hungary - have family there - or maybe even Italy... Holland would be good too)... i mean, canada's great and all, but nonetheless it does have its imperfections (ie government are idiots, economic growth, especially in Quebec, is super slow, all because of the damned seperatists wanted to seperate quebec from canada and get this, adopt US currency ! hah... what else, job market kinda sux, though only ~6% unemployment rate, health care is getting privatized = sux, schooling is loosing funding).... yeah, "go canada"

I'm
just
taking
up
space.

Heheheh, and you thought I was done

Reply to error_911

You just like starting arguments don't you? I made this post to see what kind of crap you would try to pull. It was a fluke that I found the article.

Quote :

Now anyone who had geography knows that GDP is by no way a good measurement of the wealth of a country.

Geography? GDP is pretty much the wealth of a country. Are you now saying that the Netherlands is more wealthy than the USA, Canada, and Australia? What measurement would you like to use? Besides that, that list is not sorted by GDP.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Reply to dhlucke

The only reason The Netherlands isn't at the top of the list is because it SUCKS being right all the time.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

Reply to Twitch

Eh, GDP is partially misleading in that it calculates an average income for everyone without any sort of weighting procedure. You could have a country with one d00d making a million a year, and 49 d00ds who are dirt poor, resulting in a GDP per capita of 20 grand, as opposed to a country where all 50 people each make 18 grand for a GDP per capita of 18 grand.

The first country would be rated higher based on the GDP per capita than the second, despite it probably being better to live in the second country.

Of course it's not that simple always... but whatever.

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

Reply to silverpig

This isn't even about GDP though. That list isn't sorted by GDP. Hell, Sweden has the 14th lowest GDP out of the top 15 list yet it's #2. Only France is lower.

It was svol who said the list was sorted by GDP.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Reply to dhlucke

I wonder what's bringing up our infant mortality so high. Do they factor in legalized abortions? I doubt it, since European countries also perform abortions. Probably because we don't have socialized medicine. Our medical science is tops in the world, but not everyone has access to the best. It's one of the great issues for debate here in the U.S.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

Reply to Twitch

yes. There is more to life than GPD or lack of it. Healthcare being a major one, education, employment levels, social equality, standards of living, living costs etc

Now can someone explain how we ever got the idea that baby bunnies lay multicolored eggs made of chocolate in our living rooms?" :lol: 
<A HREF="http://members.iinet.net.au/~lhgpoobaa/images" target="_new">http://members.iinet.net.au/~lhgpoobaa/images</A>

Reply to lhgpoobaa

Level of taxation should also be included...

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

Reply to Twitch

Yep. WE RULE!
Makes me wonder why I'm in California... Oh, that's right...It's Friggin' COLD there. And a pint costs 10 buck at the cheap places, and cigarettes 10 bucks a pack, and I'd pay at least 50% tax there with my paycheck, VAT is 23%, Lite-On does not have a distributor, the winter night only lasts about three months... and I don't trust air I can not see; I love the colors of oil in the twilight.

Dev

Poor windows was not a brave soul. Threatened by the force of General Protection and Major Problem the little OS committed suicide by hanging.

Reply to Dev

Quote :

The only reason The Netherlands isn't at the top of the list is because it SUCKS being right all the time.

Now now, there was no need for that.

Oh alright, there was EVERY need.

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum" - Roddy Piper

Reply to RobD

I'm gonna guess here, but since we're neighbors I can mention more local things.

Have you noticed the commercials for planned parenthood? They seem to be increasing. There's a lot of people without health insurance so I'm sure that's where the infant mortality rate is coming from. People just don't know what care is available to them if they don't have insurance.

I ended up going to the emergency room with my wife for a sprained ankle a month or so ago. We don't have health insurance but I figured it was better safe than sorry so we got an x-ray. One x-ray. Total cost?

$1200

We found out later that we could possibly get the bill paid for by the state since we're poor college students, but they didn't tell us that there and even when I went back to get the paperwork they were stubborn about it. Alvarado hospital--the billing lady is a witch.

I'm hoping the paperwork goes through.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Reply to dhlucke

Oh, I know it's not ABOUT GDP, but GDP does factor into the equation...

Heh, x-rays here are free

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

Reply to silverpig

Yup, X-rays are free here....

....provided you don't mind waiting six months

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum" - Roddy Piper

Reply to RobD

The waiting thing with state run healthcare is really what ruins it. Sweden for example has a problem with hearing aids. If you want a hearing aid you have to wait in line, the line is 6 months, and they prioritize it based on your job and how old you are.

Some poor 65 year old has to wait 6 months or more to get a hearing aid? That's just great.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Reply to dhlucke

Damn, I cracked my hip, so I went to the doctor about it... He wrote me up a slip saying "Give him an x-ray on his hip" and sent me to the hospital. I walked in, got into a gown thingy and got x-rayed. I was back at the doctor's office looking at my x-rays with him within a few hours...

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

Reply to silverpig

Free health care is a great idea. Not great in practice.

My dad developed an illness several years ago, just after a stressful time at work. Eventually it was thought it was Menirs (sp) disease, but they still aren't sure.

Basically, he went to the doc's who recommended he see a specialist. Waiting time though was about 5 months. Because of his business, he's got private health insurance so went private. Got an appointment the next week. And it was the same consultant he'd have seen had he waited and seen him on the NHS. System's all f u cked up.

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum" - Roddy Piper

Reply to RobD

LOL... it seems you never had geography.

GDP says nothing about the real wealth of a country. There a countries with a huge GDP where all the money is in the hands of a couple of people and the rest of the people are very poor. But still if you only select countries by GDP those countries would be in the top ten.

GDP can never be used ALONE as a measurement of a countries wealth.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:

Reply to svol

How do you see geography? As a science that only studies natural symptoms and demograhpic things? Well then I wonder if we're talking about the same science... because we also combine it with economics.

And you started this thread to trigger a response like this.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:

Reply to svol

Well that is partially true because it is also sorted by GDP... take a look at this:
6 United States 77 7 34,142 99%*
7 Iceland 79.2 4 29,581 99%*
8 Netherlands 78.1 5 25,657 99%*

Now if you look at those marks it makes sense that Iceland is above Netherlands as they score better in everything. But if you compare Netherlands with the USA you see that we score better at 2 points while the USA only scores better at one point... still they are standing above us, only because their GDP is higher although that mark says nothing about the real wealth of a country when used alone.

Do you understand it now?

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:

Reply to svol

LOL...It seems you've never had economics.

GDP says a lot about the total wealth of a country. If you don't think so, then you don't really know what it is, which is plainly obvious by:

Quote :

GDP says nothing about the real wealth of a country.

It doesn't say exactly how it's distributed, dude. Wake up.

Quote :

GDP can never be used ALONE as a measurement of a countries wealth.

Never said it could. But it is a major, direct indicator.

You seem to be getting GDP and GDP Per Capita confused, svol.

You really need to get some business education under your belt before you debate this any further.

Please see my post at 04/23/03 01:44 PM for more details.

War EagleEdited by Auburn9698 on 04/24/03 07:14 AM.

Reply to Auburn9698

Anyone whos been in the military has had a taste of what public health care is like...my experience with it sucked. They misdiagnosed my wife with a serious disease, and they were going to do surgery on her. I asked for a second opinion and they brought in some girl who probably hadn''t been practicing medicine for long. She, of course, "veirfied" the physicians assistant findings. Fed up, I took my wife to the local private hospital. They correctly diagnosed the problem, adn it turned out to be nothing serious. That is just one occasion. Also, I hated the way they made you feel when you went there. It was like they were doing you a favor by seeing you. I'd much rather pay for service and have hospitals/doctors compete for my business. It keeps the quality of service up.

Any man can withstand adversity...The true test of character is to give a man power Abraham Lincoln

Reply to Grub

Army medical care was OK for me, but I'm biased because of the rather luscious junior nurse I copped off with (more details in the Poll section). You had to fight to get what you thought a serious complaint seen to, and that was hard work. Never kept you waiting mind.

The MOD has an absolutely enourmous hospital purely for service personnel, near RAF Brize Norton (ideal for field patients flying in) and the treatment there is first class, having visited some of my mates there. Nurses are tasty too. Typical army though, some aspects were good, others were shite. It depended on what you wanted.

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum" - Roddy Piper

Reply to RobD

I can definitely put in a good word for Army medics.

I had a mild heart attack last year while on hols in Yorkshire, and was taken to the Friarage NHS hospital in Northallerton, which is now one of the main training facilities attached to Catterick. The place runs like a well oiled machine; I was well looked after, and they had me run through all the necessary tests & results checked within 4 days, so I could get back to London to recover at home.

Contrast that with my wife's aunt who had the same thing recently in a "civvy" hospital, when it took them a day just to get her into the coronary care unit, and her EKG results didn't come back for over a week.

- -
Luck is my middle name. Unfortunately, my first name is Bad.

Reply to mccoll1ns

Hey, are you OK now? Lucky it was mild. Friend of my dad had one a couple of years ago. He had to change of things in his life, but for the better.

Was there any hot nurses? Can't put my finger on the name of the service hospital (I'll get it though) and all the lads, despite their injuries loved their time in there, becuase of the top class snatch present. Weird, because I'd have thought that'd have employed the opposite tactic, using ugly munters to speed up squaddies recovery time. I mean, no self respecting squaddie wants an 18-stone moose attempting to give them a bed bath.

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum" - Roddy Piper

Reply to RobD

Yup, full recovery, no long-term damage. Looks to have been 90% stress related, so the company shuffled me sideways when I came back to work; hopefully, I'll be able to do the full career change in a year or 2 once I've sorted the finances out.

Very annoying; ALL the nurses in the coronary care unit were babes! Probably the safest place for them! :wink: My fave was Louise, a young blond girl who quite literally saved my life when I nearly had a second attack a few hours after the first (kinda affects the judgement, but she was a cutie)
AND they had an evil sense of humour. I was in there for the England-Argentina game during the world cup, and they were threatening to swap beta-blockers for placebos for random patients and wait to see who keeled over during the match!

- -
Luck is my middle name. Unfortunately, my first name is Bad.Edited by mccoll1ns on 04/23/03 03:30 PM.

Reply to mccoll1ns

Who'd of thought it...Nurse football hooligans!!!

Any man can withstand adversity...The true test of character is to give a man power Abraham Lincoln

Reply to Grub

I would have demanded fellatio instead had they taken my medication. See, no exertion on your behalf required, thus minimizing the risk to your good self.

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum" - Roddy Piper

Reply to RobD

A fine idea, with one small drawback - the missus was in constant attendance! S'pose a threesome could've been arranged...

Funniest piece of advice they give you - you're OK to "get back in the saddle" if you can go up 2 flights of stairs without getting out of breath. Now, do escalators count? :smile: And I don't know about you, but I tend to put in a bit more effort than that! Well, sometimes...

- -
Luck is my middle name. Unfortunately, my first name is Bad.

Reply to mccoll1ns

A threesome with the missus and a hotty nurse would be QUITE shagadelic. If it can be arranged, of course....

War EagleEdited by Auburn9698 on 04/23/03 10:23 AM.

Reply to Auburn9698

I suppose it depends on how energetic you feel when the boner arrives. I mean, you might feel like an olympic athlete and go at it hammer and tongues, or, you might want the old lady to take charge. Nice sometimes.

And sometimes it can last about as long as it takes to go up 2 flights of stairs!

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum" - Roddy Piper

Reply to RobD

I have been known to outlast a soft-boiled quail's egg...

- -
Luck is my middle name. Unfortunately, my first name is Bad.

Reply to mccoll1ns

Svol, many sources rank the wealth of countries by either GDP or GDP Per Capita.

Here's a Few:

The Brazilian Embassy in London:
One of the most common measures of the wealth of a country is its gross domestic product, GDP for short. <A HREF="http://www.brazil.org.uk/page.php?cid=157&offset=1" target="_new">http://www.brazil.org.uk/page.php?cid=157&offset=1</A>

World's Richest Countries
Rank/Country/GDP per capita
1 / Luxembourg / $36,400
2 / United States / $36,200
3 / Bermuda / $33,000
....
17 / Netherlands / $24,400
<A HREF="http://www.aneki.com/richest.html" target="_new">http://www.aneki.com/richest.html</A>

The World Bank
<A HREF="http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/sdenveconomics/eep/docs/presentations/Environmental Indicators.pdf" target="_new">http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/sdenveconomics/eep/docs/presentations/Environmental Indicators.pdf</A> (slide #7)

Yale and Dartmouth University:
"Study: Largest, wealthiest nations are biggest Olympics winners
The countries that will win the most medals at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, this month are those with a high gross domestic product (GDP), according to research by Yale and Dartmouth experts. <A HREF="http://www.yale.edu/opa/v29.n2/story4.html" target="_new">http://www.yale.edu/opa/v29.n2/story4.html</A>

The Wall Street Journal and World Health Organization:
"Rich countries would be expected to provide the balance, $38 billion a year in additional funds by 2015, or about one-tenth of 1% of the wealthy countries' combined GDP." <A HREF="http://www.aegis.com/news/wsj/2001/WJ011207.html" target="_new">http://www.aegis.com/news/wsj/2001/WJ011207.html</A>

Barclays:
"London is the greatest wealth generating city in Europe beating Paris into second place, according to research from Barclays Private Clients, the wealth management arm of Barclays, and one of the largest wealth managers in Europe. The league table shows that London’s economy was estimated to have a GDP of £159 billion (255 billion euro) in 2001" <A HREF="http://www.newsroom.barclays.co.uk/news/data/712.html" target="_new">http://www.newsroom.barclays.co.uk/news/data/712.html</A>

Do you understand now? Yes, there ARE other ways that MAY be used to compare wealth among countries. But GDP or GDP Per Capita IS one of the most commonly acknowledged indicators, whether you like it or not.

If your instructors have convinced you otherwise, you should sue them. Or at least tell them to stop hanging out in the hash bars.

War EagleEdited by Auburn9698 on 04/23/03 03:13 PM.

Reply to Auburn9698

I find the entire study to be flawed in many respects, anyway. I mean, it uses a very limited set of criteria to determine an extremely broad concept: "Best Place to Live." The study really seems to be focused on nations' varying levels of humanitarian development...which doesn't always equate to how great a place would be to live. I mean, I could live in Alaska and have pretty much everything they have in Norway--including nasty weather and prolonged periods of frigid darkness. The U.S. government basically pays people to live there, and its really easy to find a good-paying job in Alaska--if you want to work your arse off and don't mind a high risk of death.

What I'm saying is; just because Alaska would rate favorably in the U.N. study, and just because Alaska is a highly socialized state, doesn't mean I would want to live there.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

Edited by Twitch on 04/23/03 03:40 PM.

Reply to Twitch

Admit it, you want to live in the Netherlands where everything is perfect.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Reply to dhlucke

I think we all harbor secret fantasies of attaining a level of personal perfection sufficient to warrant admission into Utopia--a.k.a. The Netherlands. I mean, who wouldn't?

I figure it would be just about as difficult to get into The Netherlands as it is to get into Heaven.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

Reply to Twitch

Yeah, the "best" places to live are rather subjective.

Gosh, living in the Netherl... err, I mean Utopia would be great! Perfection!

It's probably MORE difficult to get in there as heaven, though. I mean, imperfect people (i.e. everybody but the Dutch) get in there every day.

War Eagle

Reply to Auburn9698

The Netherlands is where you go when you're too good for Heaven.

That would be a good sig line! :tongue:

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers.

Edited by Twitch on 04/23/03 03:41 PM.

Reply to Twitch

When I went to the Netherlands Saint Peter checked my passport.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Reply to dhlucke

Nicely put!!!

Hey DH, are you sure it was St. Peter? I wouldn't think he was good enough to decide who does and doesn't get to hang out with svol.... :wink:

War EagleEdited by Auburn9698 on 04/23/03 02:48 PM.

Reply to Auburn9698

Did you have to go through a decontamination chamber? I mean, you're an American after all! One would think they'd require you to be partially lobotomized before admitting you.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

Reply to Twitch

Oh, I used my Swedish passport. Americans aren't good enough to go to the Netherlands.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Reply to dhlucke

That doesn't make sense. I would have thought that the Dutch, seeing that they're perfect and all, would have exposed your duplicity right off. They must've been slumming for humanitarian reasons that month.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

Reply to Twitch

Well, they did do a bunch of medical experiments on me. Maybe they were using me? Those bastards! I believed them when they told me that I needed all those operations!

I want my nose back!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Reply to dhlucke

Well, whatever they did, I'm sure you're closer to perfection now than you were before they started...even if you are a noseless freak now.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

Reply to Twitch

Quote :

The Netherlands is where you go when you're too good for Heaven.

ROFLOL!!!
OMG I'm laughing so hard I can't even type!!! It took me five minutes to type this line!!!

Any man can withstand adversity...The true test of character is to give a man power Abraham Lincoln

Reply to Grub

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