On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 06:12:48 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

Eisboch wrote:
Harry Krause wrote:



Quality of life issues typically include lifespan, infant mortality
rate, death in childbirth, availability of decent health care, rate of
homelessness, freedom to worship or not, lack of war, availability of
opportunities, quality of housing, amount of free (non-work) time,
quality of diet, availability of continuing education...those kinds of
things. Most of Europe is doing better on the quality of life issues
than we are.

I had a very good friend and work associate (he unfortunately passed
away a couple of years ago at 50). He and his wife were/are well
educated; he held several degrees including a Phd. in physics. They
were/are well traveled throughout the world and were/are extremely
liberal in their thinking and politics (he more so than his wife). They
both chose and came to the States on permanent work visas and would
disagree with many of your assertions. Although she still owns property
in her native Germany, she has chosen to stay here, primarily for the
quality of life.

Eisboch


They're not my assertions, and most are statistically based.

And most are meaningless if your freedom of choice is curtailed. Which
is why so many people WANT to come here.

Freedom of choice is a big factor in the quality of life. It tends to
cancel out many of the other issues.

Dave

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 07:13:58 -0500, Dave Hall wrote:



Freedom of choice is a big factor in the quality of life. It tends to
cancel out many of the other issues.

In the Human Development Index, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada,
Netherlands, Belgium and Iceland were higher than us. Perhaps, you could
state what freedoms they are lacking.


" The UN Human Development Index (HDI) measures poverty, literacy,
education, life expectancy, and other factors. It is a standard means of
measuring well-being, especially child welfare."

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclop...elopment-Index


But, you are right about achieving wealth, the United States mean wealth
is the highest of any country, unfortunately it's median wealth is much
lower.

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclop...-United-States

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 07:13:58 -0500, Dave Hall wrote:



Freedom of choice is a big factor in the quality of life. It tends to
cancel out many of the other issues.

In the Human Development Index, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada,
Netherlands, Belgium and Iceland were higher than us. Perhaps, you could
state what freedoms they are lacking.


" The UN Human Development Index (HDI) measures poverty, literacy,
education, life expectancy, and other factors. It is a standard means of
measuring well-being, especially child welfare."

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclop...elopment-Index

That index gets 1/3 of it's weighting from adult literacy and education.
It's possible that the US lags in adult literacy because we have a greater
influx of non-English speaking immigrants than the 7 countries ahead of us.



But, you are right about achieving wealth, the United States mean wealth
is the highest of any country, unfortunately it's median wealth is much
lower.

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclop...-United-States

And here is why: "other countries are more ready to sacrifice net wealth in
favour of equality".

We have a guaranteed equality of opportunity...not a guaranteed equality of
wealth.

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 14:51:11 -0500, thunder
wrote:

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 07:13:58 -0500, Dave Hall wrote:



Freedom of choice is a big factor in the quality of life. It tends to
cancel out many of the other issues.

In the Human Development Index, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada,
Netherlands, Belgium and Iceland were higher than us. Perhaps, you could
state what freedoms they are lacking.

Oh I don't know........ Could I have a $100,000 aft cabin cruiser and
run it for a season without taking out a mortgage to fill the fuel
tanks on the expected salaries in those respective places?

Could I buy a bunch of firearms and shoot them?

Could I opt out of forced government programs (and the high tax rate
to pay for them), and elect to "go it alone" with my own choices?

Could I keep my classic 60's muscle car, my ultralight airplane, my
dirt bike, snowmobile, jetski, and weed wacker without being shunned
for being out of touch with the environment and taxed out of my mind
as a result?


" The UN Human Development Index (HDI) measures poverty, literacy,
education, life expectancy, and other factors. It is a standard means of
measuring well-being, especially child welfare."

It does not measure any sort of satisfaction or recreational factors
though.




http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclop...elopment-Index


But, you are right about achieving wealth, the United States mean wealth
is the highest of any country, unfortunately it's median wealth is much
lower.

Yea, ain't it cool? The rewards for hard work here are hard to
beat.....

Dave

"Dave Hall" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 14:51:11 -0500, thunder
wrote:

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 07:13:58 -0500, Dave Hall wrote:



Freedom of choice is a big factor in the quality of life. It tends to
cancel out many of the other issues.

In the Human Development Index, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada,
Netherlands, Belgium and Iceland were higher than us. Perhaps, you could
state what freedoms they are lacking.

Oh I don't know........ Could I have a $100,000 aft cabin cruiser and
run it for a season without taking out a mortgage to fill the fuel
tanks on the expected salaries in those respective places?

Could I buy a bunch of firearms and shoot them?

Could I opt out of forced government programs (and the high tax rate
to pay for them), and elect to "go it alone" with my own choices?

Could I keep my classic 60's muscle car, my ultralight airplane, my
dirt bike, snowmobile, jetski, and weed wacker without being shunned
for being out of touch with the environment and taxed out of my mind
as a result?


" The UN Human Development Index (HDI) measures poverty, literacy,
education, life expectancy, and other factors. It is a standard means of
measuring well-being, especially child welfare."

It does not measure any sort of satisfaction or recreational factors
though.

Using anything from the UN as a source automatically disqualifies it.






http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclop...elopment-Index


But, you are right about achieving wealth, the United States mean wealth
is the highest of any country, unfortunately it's median wealth is much
lower.

Yea, ain't it cool? The rewards for hard work here are hard to
beat.....

Dave