Tidbit of info

[Dionysos]

I found this when researching my reply in another thread. It's the top 10 countries in terms of GDP(Gross Domestic Product). These figures are from 2000, so they're not exact but they give you an idea.

1) U.S. 9.963 trillion
2) China 4.5 trillion
3) Japan 3.15 trillion
4) India 2.2 trillion
5) Germany 1.936 trillion
6) France 1.448 trillion
7) UK 1.36 trillion
8) Italy 1.273 trillion
9) Brazil 1.13 trillion
10) Russia 1.12 trillion

Others of note:

Afghanistan 21 billion
Iran 413 billion
Iraq 57 billion
Israel 110.2 billion
Jordan 17.3 billion
Korea, North 22 billion
Korea, South 764.6 billion
Kuwait 29.3 billion
Pakistan 282 billion
Saudi Arabia 232 billion
Syria 50.9 billion
Vietnam 154.4 billion
Yemen 14.4 billion

All 13 of these countries combined equal roughly 22% of America's GDP.

p.s. Only one country was higher than the US($36,200) in GDP per capita: Luxembourg at $36,400.

I'm not making any value judgements here, just giving you guys some raw data to work with for future arguments.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0874911.html

I have seen lists that include LA & NY in the top 20 "countries" which is interesting

[Dionysos]

Originally posted by ravingloon
I have seen lists that include LA & NY in the top 20 "countries" which is interesting

Yep, the 5-county area that includes LA has a GDP($602 billion) close to Spain's($720 billion). I haven't seen anything on New York, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were right up there as well.

[Ryan]

I think it's more important to look at the GDP per capita when measuring relative productivity and wealth. When you look at those numbers, the US does not really stand out quite as far as the rest of the countries listed, and one could easily explain the reason for the lower productivity of the other nations. Japan's GDP per capita is not too far behind the US but they have been experiencing a very long recession. Germany, France, the UK, and Italy all have relatively high GDP's per capita as well, but they are lower than that of the US in large part because they work far less than Americans do. In 2000, the average American worked 90 hours more than the typical Japanese worker, and about 150 hours more than the average European. That's a LOT of productivity. Also, these countries all have a great deal of socialist influence in their governments which generally discourages competition and productivity. China has a highly oppressive government and strictly controlled commerce, so there is no question as to why there is so much poverty in that country. And Brazil and India have both been plagued with years of geo-political problems, agricultural and manufacturing problems, and internal dissention.

Of the other lower GDP countries listed, Israel, South Korea, and Kuwait are all relatively wealthy nations when their populations are considered. The others mentioned have pretty much all been plagued by political instability, radical religious influence in the governments, war, or all of the above.

[Dionysos]

Like I said, it's some raw data to work with. The GDP per capita is on there as well.

But what is your quality of life like?

[Ryan]

Originally posted by ravingloon
But what is your quality of life like?

By "your" do you mean the quality of life in America?

Yes, quality of life in America.

[Ryan]

Originally posted by ravingloon
Yes, quality of life in America.

Well I can only speak from personal experience, but I must admit that my life is about as cushy as one could imagine. I live in a beautiful, environmentally-conscious, liberal, community-oriented city with a very low crime rate. I have a very secure job making WAY more money than I need and my office is on a college campus so there are always lovely things to look at. I have a 40 hour work week but probably only spend half of that actually working. I am given paid time off from my job to attend graduate school classes and more time off every day to go exercise as part of Texas's "wellness plan." I get loads of vacation and holidays and get to spend months out of every year travelling the world or pursuing my own personal ventures. I also have a huge apartment that is totally decked out and all the other material items that people ofter associate with a good life. So, all in all, I would say my standard of living is exceptional. I worked very hard to get here, but the opportunity was always there (and no, I did not come from a wealthy family - quite the contrary).

By the way, I am in no way trying to brag about what I have because material possessions mean very little to me. I am simply setting this up in case it turns into an "Australia has a better lifestyle than you Yankee bastards" sort of debate, as I presume it might.