America’s status in the world

On the occasion of Bloomberg Health Index’s announcement of the healthiest countries of 2020…take a wild guess at the US’s ranking…(or, you cheater, skip to the end and see) added to the President’s incessant, incoherent, hallucinatory ramblings about how great we are, I feel compelled to ask:

Just how great are we? What exactly does the US rank #1 in? 

We lead the world in:

...COVID cases. We are 5 percent of the world’s population and have 30 percent of the confirmed cases.

…the cost of health care. Ours is the most expensive in the world.

…the incarceration of men and women. By pure number. By percent of population. By any way you can count it.

…our military spending.

Here are #1 ranking in other areas that might interest you:

#1 Most innovative: Switzerland
#1 Most technologically advanced: Japan
#1 in use of renewable energy: Sweden
#1 Cleanest environment: Finland
#1 Highest worker productivity: Germany
#1 Highest median family income: Norway
#1 Healthiest: Spain
#1 Safest: Singapore
#1 Lowest Infant mortality: Luxembourg
#1 Best healthcare system: Luxembourg
#1 Longest life expectancy: Monaco
#1 Most educated: Singapore
#1 Highest literacy rate (100%) Andorra, Luxembourg, Greenland, Norway
#1 Narrowest gender gap: Iceland
#1 Most LGBGTQ-friendly: The Netherlands
#1 Happiest: Norway

Now to the Bloomberg Index. Each year statisticians pour over country-by-country data on pollution, water quality, access to health care, health risks in the population (smoking, obesity, high blood pressure), malnutrition, life expectancy, causes of death. Taking these and other factors into account, the Index ranks 169 countries. The top (healthy) score is 100. (The data are pre-pandemic.)

This year Spain (92.75) placed first, edging out last year’s first-place Italy. Here are the top 10:

1. Spain
2. Italy
3. Iceland
4. Japan
5. Switzerland
6. Sweden
7. Australia
8. Singapore
9. Norway
10. Israel

Where, oh where, is the US in this ranking? We are #35.

Among those countries ranked healthier than us: Cuba, Croatia, Estonia, Chile, Slovenia. (And, of course, the unsurprising ones: Canada, UK, New Zealand, Germany, France, Austria.)

Our greatness at this moment can be our recognition of our faults and our embrace of meaningful and compassionate change. It is this thought that allows me to sleep at night.