We're #1?

Americans often have the perception that the United States is the best country in the world. We are the richest, the smartest, the most powerful...just generally better than everyone else. After all, we are the only nation blessed by God, aren't we? Few ever stop to question what the actual statistics are. Those that do can often tell you that American students are somewhere in the remedial section of most rankings and they may know that we have the infant mortality rates of a third world country. But, let's take a look and how the numbers really look.

We really ARE #1:

• World Competitiveness Yearbook - #1 out of 60. Proof that American capitalism is alive and well in America, at least relative to the rest of the world.
• Military Size - #1 out of everyone. That's one to be proud of.

Where we aren't #1, but still in the top 10

• Index of Economic Freedom - #7 of 155
• Save the Children: Best and Worst Countries to be a Mother - Tied for #10 of 125.
• Human Development Index - #8 of 177
• Program for International Student Assessment - #9 of 38 in science and #7 of 38 in reading. Not as bad as you might have expected.
• United Nations Study: #2 (after Brazil) in number of deaths from firearms. We would have been number one, but the 1995 Brazil numbers were particularly bad. Just missed it!

Where we are less impressive

• Worldwide Press Freedom Index - #44 of 167. Behind such bastions of freedom as Hungary, Namibia and Bosnia.
• Worldwide Quality of Life Index (the Economist 2005) - #13 of 111
• Environmental Sustainability Index - #35 of 146
• Corruption Perceptions Index - #20 of 163. Tied with Chile.
• Program for International Student Assessment - #24 of 38 in math and #20 of 38 in reading.
• Infant Mortality - #42 of 226. The rates are better in Cuba, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The US came in between Taiwan and Croatia.
• UNICEF: State of the World's Children - #40 of 192 in Under 5 mortality rate. This time Croatia edged us out.
• Murder Rate per Capita: #24 of 62. It is true that South Africa and Kyrgyzstan are deadlier. We rebound to #8 of 62 in murder with firearms.

Obviously, there are probably hundreds of other rankings that we could find for the US. I highlight these because they highlight our priorities. We excel economically and militarily. We fall flat on our faces when it comes to caring for the youngest and most vulnerable among us and for our environment. Even the shining idea of American freedom seems to have been tarnished in the current day and age.