Oh please… yes life expectancy is brought down by people who die young… so what is the US doing about it? Not a lot.

Oh, and I am doubting the accuracy of the entire list of things given that Wikipedia has Japan or Macau as the best life expentancy (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy)

If the US isn’t the most democratic, what use is it if it was the first big modern nation to go democratic? What type of claim is that anyway? A measure of democracy is based on:
1. “Whether national elections are free and fair”;
2. “The security of voters”;
3. “The influence of foreign powers on government”;
4. “The capability of the civil servants to implement policies”. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index)

Its probably time to sort out US democracy and start improving it instead of being the country that “brings” (forces) democracy to the rest of the world. How democratic is, “You will now have a democracy” anyway?

Freedom of the press is ALWAYS a good thing, that is why it is measured. A free press will actively criticise government and business, will publish dissenting opinion and inform the public.

In regards to your prison population:

“Five percent of the world’s population is American; twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners are American. The United States incarcerates more of its citizens than any country in the history of the world.

The rate is three times that of Iran, six times that of China. More than one in a hundred adults in the United States is in prison. One in nine black men ages 20 to 34 is in prison.” (shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2010/02/where-are-1-of-american-adults.html)

One percent of your population is in jail… not to mention the fact that the majority of these prisoners are people of colour and/or disabled… its terrible, and clearly isn’t helping anyone. Rehabilitation and diversion programs work… they just require funding.

No, a lack of corruption is not a made up stat. “Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ordering the countries of the world according to “the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians”. The organization defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”.” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index). The US is perceived as corrupt, perhaps it is time that methods to halt corruption began.

Oh wow, and American invented phones… therefore the lack of mobile phone per capita isn’t a concern… what type of argument is that? Does the US have black spots that prevent mobile phone usage? Are plans unaffordable? I don’t know if the mobile phones per capita measurement is useful or not, but try and argue the point next time instead of claiming it isn’t important because someone from the US invented phones.

Wow… eugenics as an argument about infant mortality? According to wikipedia (and you could have looked this up to support your arguments or to you know, get educated), “The infant mortality rate correlates very strongly with and is among the best predictors of state failure. IMR is also a useful indicator of a country’s level of health or development, and is a component of the physical quality of life index.” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality)

You might also want to read: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality#United_States

I too am surprised that GDP was not included, but that isn’t an indicator of a good life, just of a successful economy. Military spending again isn’t an indicator of anything much at all, and although the US spends more than any other country on their military, what does it achieve (and don’t say democracy in other countries because I will travel to the US just to slap you)?

Olympic gold medals are an indication of sporting prowess, or the ability to throw money at sporting academies. Again this does not impact on the every day life of people, just their pride in their nation’s ability to perform at sport… every 4 years.

Slated liberal views? Seriously? Go and read some more stuff. ALthough the figures in the charts may be out of date, go and find out where the US actually ranks in some areas and think about whether or not you are happy with that. Then go and agitate for change in the areas you are unhappy about.

The US is not the king of the world. The US is just another nation… a powerful nation yes, but not one that gets to dictate to the world about how they’d like to see everything done.

Seriously, go travel through Europe, Asia and Africa, learn about other people, how they view the US and think about how that impacts on the US over all.

And just for the record America does not equal the USA. The Americas involves South and North America… so many countries. Try using USian or just US.