yeah I figured its best not to engage this while doing other things and put out cursorey responces but whatever. Im saying if your argument was that mississippi was close by GDP then GDP means nothing since the state as a whole is little more than a hole in the earth. Mississippi still frowns on interracial marriges and such. Its a sad place.

Also now that im looking again, India which is set to emerge as the next super power has a low GDP and its people are highly educated to a degree that surpasses most of the world in my experience, or perhaps its just the brahman class.

In your experience? That wouldn't mostly be doctors, engineers and scientists who were amongst the few who were qualified enough to get visas for the US, would it? In my experience, about one in four Americans have been educated at Ivy League universities and pretty much all American have been to college, in that those are the people I've met.

Croatia is a peculiar country. If I was to believe the various american TV programes , I would say our worst schools are better than your worst. But our best fail in comparison to your best. We are an ex communist country, therefore most of our educational system is outdated but free and equally available to even the poorest of citizens. Private education facilities are scarce and out of reach for most but a few of the richest. But other, poorer countries would still envy Mississippi I would imagine. I agree with Tom on the rest. Access to teaching facilities is far greater in any state of the U.S.

Even the worst of your states cannot compare to other countires and their civil rights. India may have a large number of highly educated citizens, but considering it has over a billion citizens a few thousand highly educated people doesn't factor in much. Plus, they kill female infants there and burn women with acid if they refuse to marry someone...

Yeah but they defend that right, the women as well, even the whole practice of burning yourself with your husband if he dies first. I mean, this is what I was saying ebfore about Human Rights not being universal. This is why democracy will not work from the western perspective.

1 in 4 at an ivy league uni? BUUULLLLSSSHHHIIIIIITTTTT! and no, MOST americans have not been to college. the people you've met yeah, but that is in NO WAY indicative of the total population.

Human rights are universal as proclaimed by the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It's only a matter of the west finally forcing those standards onto everyone else. :D

He was being sarcastic. ;)

Its getting that way but the maority of ones alive go, and frnakly, I'm all for learning what you want but too mnay go for things that they never use and have no relevence in the large movement of the world.

Social Security is keeping the greatest generation alive, but when they die out im sure it will tip the scales.

I know you're joking but there are a lot of people here (in the US) who honeslty believe we have to ram it down their throats.

I actually wasn't joking, I'm all for imposing our standrards on the rest of the world, it's not our fault they're too stupid and backward to figure it out by themselves, and frankly, we cannot allow ourselves to wait for them to reach our level of development as far as human rights are concerned. Only difference being that I don't think we need to invade the all...;) Going through the proper channels of economic cohersion is the cultured ( european ) way to do it ( just look at Turkey ).