USA ranks as 83rd safest country. New Zealand is #1, Iraq is last.

[jgraz]

New Zealand is now officially your best bet for a risk-free destination, according to the new Global Peace Index (GPI), an annual ranking of the world's nations on the basis of how peaceful they are.

Despite the much-vaunted progress on security, Iraq remained bottom of the list, below Afghanistan, Somalia and Israel, which found itself listed as more dangerous than Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the top, the usual Nordic suspects clustered below New Zealand: Denmark, Norway and Iceland came second, third and fourth, followed by Austria and then Sweden.

Britain was 35th: better than last year, and one position higher than Italy, but still below most of Europe and countries as diverse as Botswana, South Korea, Malaysia and Qatar.

The United States has clawed its way up six places to 83rd – still weighed down by two foreign wars, a high prison population and the general availability of guns. Its slight rise was attributed to the number of years since 9/11 that the country has avoided a terrorist attack, and the relative decline of other countries.

More at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/02/newzealand-tops-global-peace-ranking

[Gman]

1. Iraq ranks behind Afghanistan and Somalia??

That's pretty damn bad.

[Cant trust em]

2. I have to wonder where it was before the war. nt

[anonymous171]

3. Sweden sure has a lot of guns. I wonder how they got up there? nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Sarah Palin is wondering why Alaska wasn't included.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. It makes one wonder how giving trillions to the Pentagon does anything but make it worse.

Actually, one needn't wonder very much at all.

[brettdale]

6. we're number one!

I was just about to post this. Kiwis rock.

[rug]

10. we're number eighty-three!

:patriot:

[Dead_Parrot]

24. Not often we get to say that...

:toast:

[RufusTFirefly]

7. It would be interesting to cross-reference these rankings with...

per capita military expenditures

per capita cost of health care

percentage of citizens with health care

percentage of population that considers itself religious

[anonymous171]

8. Poorer countries would have a higher % of religious people.

Economic inequality and oppression breed religious devotion. Countries with very low levels of economic inequality have less religiosity (like Northern Europe.)

[RufusTFirefly]

9. But the U.S. is a very rich, very religious country

There's still gross economic inequality and lots of veiled oppression, but the United States is by no means poor.

My hypothesis, which goes beyond the scope of these rankings obviously, is that the degree of religiousness is inversely proportional to the strength of the safety net. That would explain why the United States is religious and wealthy.

[anonymous171]

13. Go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient#Income_Gini_indices_in_the_world

and look at the graph. America is right up there with Mexico, Brazil, and China.

[RufusTFirefly]

15. Make no mistake: We're in agreement on this.

U.S. income inequality is obscene. But the United States is a much richer country than Brazil, Mexico, and China. That makes it even worse.

[Doctor Cynic]

17. I don't think so.

When Britain was building its welfare state after the war, the Labour Government was branding the initiative as building a "New Jerusalem". There are plenty of other left-wing governments that build a welfare state on the guise of religious duty.

[ShortnFiery]

12. But the USA is the Great World Policemen - Liberating M.E. Nations who would otherwise be "Evil"

We are the USA.

We are DoublePlusGood!

[spanone]

11. will cheney reply to this? i thought they kept us sooo safe?

[Indy Lurker]

14. I suppose it's how you define "Safe"

Compared to the US New Zealand has (per capita) more that twice as many Burglaries, and about the same number of Rapes.

The US does however have more Murders and Assaults.

I added Canada and Australia just for fun.

All combined, The US has the fewest crimes.



Murders per Capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
# 24 United States: 0.042802 per 1,000 people
# 43 Australia: 0.0150324 per 1,000 people
# 44 Canada: 0.0149063 per 1,000 people
# 52 New Zealand: 0.0111524 per 1,000 people

Assaults per capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_ass_percap-crime-assaults-per-capita
# 6 United States: 7.56923 per 1,000 people
# 7 New Zealand: 7.47881 per 1,000 people
# 9 Canada: 7.11834 per 1,000 people
# 10 Australia: 7.02459 per 1,000 people


Burglaries per capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_bur_percap-crime-burglaries-per-capita
# 1 Australia: 21.7454 per 1,000 people
# 9 Canada: 8.94425 per 1,000 people
# 6 New Zealand: 16.2763 per 1,000 people
# 17 United States: 7.09996 per 1,000 people

Rapes per Capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita
# 3 Australia: 0.777999 per 1,000 people
# 5 Canada: 0.733089 per 1,000 people
# 9 United States: 0.301318 per 1,000 people
# 12 New Zealand: 0.213383 per 1,000 people




Adding them up we get the following:

# 24 United States: 0.042802 per 1,000 people
# 6 United States: 7.56923 per 1,000 people
# 17 United States: 7.09996 per 1,000 people
# 9 United States: 0.301318 per 1,000 people

In the US 15.01331 people per 1,000 people per year are murdered, raped, assaulted or are burglary victims.



# 43 Australia: 0.0150324 per 1,000 people
# 10 Australia: 7.02459 per 1,000 people
# 1 Australia: 21.7454 per 1,000 people
# 3 Australia: 0.777999 per 1,000 people

In Austrailia 29.563021 people per 1,000 people per year are murdered, raped, assaulted or are burglary victims.



# 44 Canada: 0.0149063 per 1,000 people
# 9 Canada: 7.11834 per 1,000 people
# 9 Canada: 8.94425 per 1,000 people
# 5 Canada: 0.733089 per 1,000 people

In Canada 16.810585 people per 1,000 people per year are murdered, raped, assaulted or are burglary victims.



# 52 New Zealand: 0.0111524 per 1,000 people
# 7 New Zealand: 7.47881 per 1,000 people
# 6 New Zealand: 16.2763 per 1,000 people
# 12 New Zealand: 0.213383 per 1,000 people

In New Zealand 23.979645 people per 1,000 people per year are murdered, raped, assaulted or are burglary victims.

[ConsAreLiars]

23. How silly.

Treating 1 burglary as equal to 1 murder is about as stupid a use of numbers as I can imagine. Or as deliberately and consciously deceptive as any of the crap operatives who share you allegiance usually conjure up. Is there a contest going on?

(edit to add a bit)

[Indy Lurker]

30. no one claimed they were equal

Again, it depends on how you define "safe"


Where does twice as many robberies compare half as many murders on the safety scale? I can't answer that.


But I would argue that if someone is breaking into your house you are not "safe"

[jgraz]

29. I hear New Zealand also has an epidemic of parking violations

Is someone perchance scrambling to cover up gun violence? I sense the hand of the NRA here.

[fascisthunter]

32. exactly

[MadMaddie]

16. I think that the Administration should really challange the

Nation to become number 1 in two years in specific catagories.

Safety
Reduction of Infant Mortality Rates
Reduction in Teen and other unplanned pregancies


I am sure there are more but the nation needs to have some common goals, achievable goals.

[Canuckistanian]

18. We're Number 8!

:woohoo:

[medeak]

20. so true!

from coast to coast have never had an unpleasant day in your fair country

[medeak]

19. going to S. Africa yikes!

read the state dept warnings and this just solidifies my anxiety

[ManiacJoe]

21. I would love to see the data

that created the rankings. The GPI website only has the full report, no data.

[dorkulon]

22. b-b-but... New Zealand is s-s-s-sooocialiiist!!!!! /nt

[sl8]

31. Me, too. n/t

[Joe the Liberal]

25. That's nonsense......

America is the safest place in the universe, Cheney and Bush made sure of that plus Fox News told me they made us safer so it MUST be true! That list makes no sense because America is #1 at EVERYTHING, as we all know the US is the only REAL country on the face of the earth. All those other countries are fakes created by socialists, terrorists and communists! C'mon jgraz you should know this by now! :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:


Lol on a more serious note I'm not really surprised the US came in 83rd. Not only do those socialized northern European countries out due the US in security but also in providing a good social safety net for their people and a whole bunch of other govt programs.

[comtec]

26. WE'RE Number TWENTy two? hup, holland hup???

wow we're 22nd...
Holland is a pretty innocuous country.. how'd we get to be 22nd?

[FunkyLeprechaun]

27. Well, duh!

"The United States has clawed its way up six places to 83rd – still weighed down by two foreign wars, a high prison population and the general availability of guns. Its slight rise was attributed to the number of years since 9/11 that the country has avoided a terrorist attack, and the relative decline of other countries."

It's a point that has been raised many times in the other forum....

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. Full list here:

http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/rankings.php

plus details of what they measure.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

33. Kick

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. Weird how Israel, with its much touted IDF, rates so low on the list.