"Is Part of the United States in the Third World?"

[Razgovory]

Bullshit but funny.

[Faeelin]

Texas - .914

Hah!  In your FACE Kuwait!

I just want to point out that New Jersey is your God.

[DisturbedPervert]

Parts of it maybe.  Detroit looks like something out of post colonial Africa.

[Alatriste]

Survey says: YES!

To illustrate the point, I am now going to make a long list. These are the 76 top countries ranked by human development index score, with the 50 states interposed to show their relative level of development, based on the two tables linked above:

1. Iceland - .968

The Icelandic currency has dropped by 60%, the banking system has all but collapsed, we remain in the vise of the British Anti-Terrorism Act, yours truly is quietly studying the feasibility of relocating the family business to Norway (rather than say, remain as Gordon Browns indentured servant) and we're tying with Norway in some UN poll?

Eh, give it till 2010, we'll rank lower than Portugal.

With 2006 data... Besides, the HDI measures includes things like life expectancy, literacy, education, and per capita GDP that a petty recession doesn't change.

I'm not surprised at all by the results (and I don't understand why comparing California with France, for example, makes no sense) after all, America is a continent, and European results do show more or less the same pattern from Iceland and Norway to Bosnia and Macedonia. And I'm convinced splitting European countries in regions would show more or less the same results too.

The title, besides, is misleading. The list only oncludes 76 countries, those with highest HDI. Hardly the 'Third World'...

[Martinus]

Poland has a worse score than Hungary because Poland is a huge country with a population 4-5 times bigger than that of Hungary. As a result we have some poor areas that drag us down. If we compared big cities, I bet Warsaw would score higher than Budapest.

[The Brain]

In Swedish "Staten Island" means "the state of Iceland". Makes you thimk.

[HisMajestyBOB]

In Swedish "Staten Island" means "the state of Iceland". Makes you thimk.

Indeed it does. 

[Norgy]

In Swedish "Staten Island" means "the state of Iceland". Makes you thimk.

I thimk it's the swame in Norbewgion.

[Viking]

Isstaten, not Island. Had it been Land Island or Country Island then you would have had a point.

[Norgy]

Owkmay.

[The Brain]

Isstaten, not Island. Had it been Land Island or Country Island then you would have had a point.

[Sheilbh]

I'm not surprised at all by the results (and I don't understand why comparing California with France, for example, makes no sense) after all, America is a continent, and European results do show more or less the same pattern from Iceland and Norway to Bosnia and Macedonia. And I'm convinced splitting European countries in regions would show more or less the same results too.

This is true.  There are third world parts of the UK, certainly.  I mean there are parts of Glasgow with a lower male life expectancy than Gaza, Russia or North Korea.

[Caliga]

[Ed Anger]

Merely by being an American, we stand astride the world like a colossus. We are the gods among men.

[Caliga]

I'm sure in Roman times the Galatians made lists such as this:

CIVILIZED TRIBES OF THE MVNDVS

I. GALATI
II. PAPHALAGONII
III. LAZICI
IV. GALLI
V. GRAECI
VI. BRITANII
V. HIBERNII
VI. AEGYPTII
VII. PERSICI
VIII. ELAMII
IX. LVSITANII
X. ROMANI

LOLLICVS LOLLICVS LOLLICVS!