Is The U.S. Becoming a Third World Country?

America Has the Highest Income Disparity in The Developed World

Nov 10, 2009 Mary Spierling

This question has been circulating around since the recent financial turmoil that has hit the average American and many would even laugh at the thought but is it true?

The latest report from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranks the United States with the highest disparity of income in the developed world. They also report the U.S. has progressively become the most unequal society of all industrialized nations. The gap between rich and poor has widened more rapidly than in most other countries over the past 20 years.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg reported in 2008 that the United States has a balance sheet that's starting to look more and more like a third-world country.

The Measure of America and U.S. Prosperity

A new study entitled The Measure of America provides a wealth of data demonstrating the profound and deepening social decay of the United States. The result is a portrait of America that shows much of the country’s population living in conditions that are closer to the Third World than to the American Dream.

Some startling facts about recent developments in the quality of life in the U.S. include:

Our healthcare system is not in the top five countries with high quality care to its citizens
We are the only developed country that does not have paid childcare following birth
Nearly 47 million of us (20 percent of the population) have no health insurance in 2008; 25 million of us are underinsured
We now have 664,000 people who are homeless and about 1.6 million people used some type of shelter or housing program at least once during the year
The infant mortality rate in the United States remains higher than that other developed countries
We have more per capita debt that any other developed country
Of the 30 wealthiest nations, we have the highest proportion of children living in poverty

Capitalism has been the engine driving America and the global economies for over two centuries. John C. Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group in his book The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism, in 2007 predicted a 75 per cent chance of a recession, says America has lost its “moral compass” which will result in the collapse of our society as we know it.

Capitalism and Wall Street

Many contrarian economists are warning that the entire system of capitalism will collapse largely due to the arrogant behavior of Wall Street.

The wealthiest 10 per cent of Americans -- those with incomes of $138,000 or more -- earned 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living near or below the poverty line in 2008, according to current census figures.

The federal government is now considering new regulations to limit executive pay at companies that have received federal bail out funds. President Obama also cites the need for higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for health care overhaul and other measures, arguing that the wealthy have disproportionately benefited from tax cuts during the Bush administration.

Remember back in 2006 when Rep. Tom Tancredo publicly called Miami “a third world country”? In retrospect, that statement might now encompass the United States as a nation..:

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U.S. income disparity is at record level	U.S. poverty is rising at alarming rates	Quality of life in the U.S is deteriorating
Is the U.S. destined to be a third world country?	Is U.S. capitalism the cause of our problems?