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A Tale of Two Countries, and A Question
Schwartzreport
A Tale of Two Countries, and A Question | Stephan A. Schwartz |
R
ecently I was invited to present my paper: “Infrared Spectra Alterations in Water Proximate to the Palms of Therapeutic Practioners,” published in these pages, at a water conference held outside the Swedish City of Malmö. It gave me nearly a week to spend time with some intimacy with 60 men and women, most of whom came from the countries of Scandinavia, along with a few others, such as myself. People spent the entire day together from morning to night listening, sharing, eating and even partying in a modest way. It was inevitable that you drop your guard a bit in such a setting, and begin to speak to one another with some familiarity. Over the course of several meals two people, one a middle aged Norwegian water engineer, the other a 19-year-old college student, the daughter of another engineer who had come along with her father independently asked me the same question: “Why do Americans murder each other so much? No one can understand it. It's not the guns; we have guns. There is something else, what is it?” Not an unreasonable question. He told me he watched CNN and the BBC and could not believe the weekly mass murders. “How many he said?” “More than 30,000 a year. More than 300,000 between 2000 to 2010,” I told him. In one of the conversations we were joined by another Swedish man also
The Schwartzreport tracks emerging trends that will affect the world, particularly the United States. For EXPLORE it focuses on matters of health in the broadest sense of that term, including medical issues, changes in the biosphere, technology, and policy considerations, all of which will shape our culture and our lives.
430 Schwartzreport
some kind of engineer. He asked: “How is it possible that so many people are killed by the police in your country?” Also a reasonable question. He added, “All the Scandinavian countries have a miniscule number of shooting deaths by police. To which the Norwegian replied, “In Norway no one has been killed by a policeman using his gun since 2006, nearly a decade ago? Then he added, “How many people have been killed by the police in your country just this year?” I did not know the answer and had to look it up. According to The Guardian since January 1, 2015—I write this in October 2015—914 people, an average of three a day, men women and children, have been killed by gunfire by U.S. police.1 In Norway in 2014, forget about killing, the entire police force only fired two bullets the entire year2 (Table 1). My answer to all their questions was that culture was the determinant and that American culture glorified guns as a solution to problems, and was willing to tolerate mass murder—and suicide—by gun. “How can a people like that be happy? I don't understand that world at all.” I came away from those conversations shivering a bit with how strange those Scandinavians found my country. I have been traveling outside the U.S. for many years and in the last decade something has happened. There has been a kind of loss of respect for the United States and, pity is too strong, but a kind of rueful condescension. I first saw this reaction exhibited by Americans in the early years of the USSR opening up, when Westerners poured into the countries of the former Soviet Union and started interacting with the Russians, Georgians, Ukrainians and others. They didn't like it then, and I didn't like it now.
It is not a pleasant feeling realizing friendly well-meaning people see you as coming from a neighborhood they might not want to live in, and these conversations I had in Sweden stay with me. When I got home I decided to look at the social outcomes of Norway and the United States. Not from the perspective of any political ideology, simply on the basis of objectively verifiable outcome data. Here is what I found. Let me begin with this from a bastion of capitalism, Forbes magazine: “At No. 1 for the third year in a row: Norway. What's it got that the rest of the world doesn't? For one thing, a stunning per capita GDP of $54,000 a year. Norwegians have the second-highest level of satisfaction with their standards of living: 95% say they are satisfied with the freedom to choose the direction of their lives; an unparalleled 74% say other people can be trusted.” I made a list of nine major wellness assessments, a representative sample, and came up with (1) Infant mortality, (2) maternal mortality, (3) Healthcare, (4) University Education Cost (5) Eldercare, (6) Median Household Income, (7) Obesity, (8) Heart Disease, and (9) Selfassessed Happiness. Then researched the comparison. The following are what I found:
INFANT MORTALITY NORWAY 2.8 per thousand live births,3 UNITED STATES 6.1 per thousand live births
MATERNAL MORTALITY According to Modern Healthcare, “U.S. women are more likely to die during childbirth than women in any other developed country, leading the U.S. to
EXPLORE November/December 2015, Vol. 11, No. 6
“It ranks at 22 in the income security domain with a pension income coverage of 92.5%, although it has a higher than average old age poverty rate for its region at 14.6%. It ranks lower in the health domain (25), with values that are slightly below the regional average for the indicators of life expectancy (23) and healthy life expectancy at 60 (17.5).8
Table 1
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME NORWAY (First) $51,4899 (Note this is slightly different from the Forbes number above, which is even higher.) UNITED STATES (Sixth) $43,585.9
Table One From the Guardian.
be ranked 33rd among 179 countries on the health and well-being of women and children.”4 HEALTHCARE NORWAY 11th in World Health Organization's Ranking of the World's Health Systems,5 UNITED STATES 37th in World Health Organization's Ranking of the World's Health Systems.5 AVERAGE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION COST NORWAY—Free, UNITED STATES— Public university $7173,6 Private $24,700 Although it must be said that the U.S. has 51 of the top 100 highest rated universities in the world and Norway has none. Whether this is relevant for the average college student is unanswered. ELDERCARE NORWAY first A person at 60 can expect 24 more years of life, with 17.4 of them being in good health. The Global Agewatch Index reports, “Norway ranks first on the Global AgeWatch Index. As with many other countries in its region, Norway ranks consistently high across all domains, including first for income security with the highest GDP per capita in its region.
Schwartzreport
“It also ranks first in the capability domain, with an employment rate among older people that is approximately 15 percentage points above the regional average (70.9%). It also has the highest rate of educational attainment among older people (99.4%). It comes in at number four in the enabling environment domain, with high rates of perception of safety (86%) and civic freedom (96%) among older people. It ranks lower in the health domain (16), with slightly below regional averages for life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at 60.”7 UNITED STATES eighth A person at 60 can expect 23 more years of life, with 17.5 of them being in good health. Global Agewatch reports this: “The United States of America ranks at 8 overall on the Index, ranking consistently high in all four domains. It performs best in the capability domain (4), with a significant change in value points from 2013 due to an increase in the employment rate which now stands at 60.9%. It also has a high rate of educational attainment among older people for its region (95.6%). “It ranks at 17 in the enabling environment domain, slightly below average on the civic freedom indicator (84%), but above average on the indicators of safety (71%), social connectedness (94%), and satisfaction with public transport (62%).
OBESITY NORWAY 84th most obese nation measured by adult prevalence rate giving the percent of a country's population considered to be obese, 21.5%.10 UNITED STATES 18th most obese nation measured by adult prevalence rate giving the percent of a country's population considered to be obese, 33%.10 HEART DISEASE NORWAY Death rate per 100,000, 57.2.11 UNITED STATES Death rate per 100,000, 80.5.11 SELF-ASSESSED HAPPINESS NORWAY is the fourth most happy nation, as reported by the World Happiness Report. The assessment is “based on research collected by economists and scientist analyzing the factors that make people feel satisfied. Data points include life expectancy, freedom to make life choices and social support.”12 UNITED STATES is the 15th most happy nation, as reported by the World Happiness Report. This list is but a start on the objectively measurable ways in which Norway, and Norwegians, are happier, healthier, more affluent, more fulfilled, and better educated than the people of the United States. Living lives less stressed, working less, and having more non-working time with which to enjoy friends and family than Americans. The data is there, this is not a polemical argument. That's the objection cited by Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor and moderator
EXPLORE November/December 2015, Vol. 11, No. 6 431
when Senator Bernie Sanders mentioned Norway, Denmark, and the other Nordic countries in the first Democratic debate. It's sounds quite damning, but I am not sure how relevant it is. One could also say Norway has a greater population than Wyoming, Vermont, District of Columbia, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Delaware combined. But I don't know that that is relevant either. It seems to me that the apposite question is what insights can we draw from the social outcomes of each of these democratic, small d, political entities? In 1932 in New State Ice Co. v Liebmann Associate Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis made what I think is the relevant point when he wrote, “(a) state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” (endnote) [New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262 (1932)]. The people of Norway voted in their democracy, for the programs that make their lives, happier healthier, and more rewarding. And in just the same way Americans have voted in our democracy, and we have the state of the states, and of the country as it is today. So here's my question: Why does the richest nation in the world, one abundantly blessed with resources, choose as a society to be on average poorer, unhealthier, poorer educated, harder working, under more stress and, less happy as a society than the Norwegians? I think these that question should be of significant interest to anyone living in the United States and particularly for those in the healthcare professions who deal with the health of individual men,
432 Schwartzreport
women, and their children, health being one of the major components of social wellness.
9.
REFERENCES 1. The Counted–People killed by the police in the U.S. 〈http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-countedpolice-killings-us-database〉 Accessed 12.08.15. 2. Nevins S. What Norway is getting right about policing that American cops just can't figure out. MintPress News. 〈http:// www.mintpressnews.com/what-norway-isgetting-right-about-policing-that-americancops-just-cant-figure-out/208413/〉; Accessed 07.08.15. 3. International comparisons of infant mortality and related factors: United States and Europe, 2010 National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 63 No. 5 September 24, 2014. 〈http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ nvsr/nvsr63/nvsr63_05.pdf〉; Accessed 15.08.15. 4. Robeznieks A. U.S. has highest maternal death rate among developed countries. Modern Healthcare. 〈http://www.moder nhealthcare.com/article/20150506/NEWS/ 150509941〉; 2015 Accessed 12.08.15. 5. World Health Organization's Ranking of the World's Health Systems. 〈http://thepatient factor.com/canadian-health-care-informa tion/world-health-organizations-ranking-ofthe-worlds-health-systems/〉; Accessed 15.08.15. 6. College Tuition Around the World. 〈http:// www.top10onlinecolleges.org/college-tui tion/〉. 7. Norway. Age Watch Report Card. Global Age Watch Index 2014. 〈http://www.helpage. org/global-agewatch/〉; Accessed 15.08.15. 8. United States of America. Age Watch Report Card. Global Age Watch Index 2014. 〈http://www.helpage.org/global-a gewatch/population-ageing-data/country-
10.
11.
12.
ageing-data/?country=United%2BStates %2Bof%2BAmerica〉; Accessed 16.08.15. Phelps G, Crabtree S. Worldwide, Median Household Income About $10,000. The Gallup Organization. 〈http://www. gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-me dian-household-income-000.aspx〉; Accessed 16.08.15. The World Fact Book. Adult prevalence rate gives the percent of a country's population considered to be obese. Central Intelligence Agency. 〈https://www.cia.gov/ library/publications/the-world-factbook/ rankorder/2228rank.html〉; Accessed 16.08.15. Coronary heart disease. World Health Rankings. 〈http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/ cause-of-death/coronary-heart-disease/bycountry/〉; Accessed 16.08.15. World Happiness Report 2015. John Helliwell, Richard Layard, Jeffrey Sachs (eds.) 〈http://worldhappiness. report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/ 04/WHR15.pdf〉; Accessed 15.08.15.
Stephan A. Schwartz is the editor of the daily web publication The Schwartzreport (http://www.schwartzreport.net), which concentrates on trends that will shape the future, an area of research he has been working in since the mid-1960s. He was previously the Senior Samueli Fellow in Brain, Mind and Healing at the Samueli Institute. For over 35 years Schwartz has also been an active experimentalist doing research on the nature of consciousness, particularly Remote Viewing, healing, creativity, religious ecstasy, and meditation. He is the author of several books and numerous papers, technical reports, and general audience articles on these topics.
EXPLORE November/December 2015, Vol. 11, No. 6
A Tale of Two Countries, and A Question | Stephan A. Schwartz |
R
ecently I was invited to present my paper: “Infrared Spectra Alterations in Water Proximate to the Palms of Therapeutic Practioners,” published in these pages, at a water conference held outside the Swedish City of Malmö. It gave me nearly a week to spend time with some intimacy with 60 men and women, most of whom came from the countries of Scandinavia, along with a few others, such as myself. People spent the entire day together from morning to night listening, sharing, eating and even partying in a modest way. It was inevitable that you drop your guard a bit in such a setting, and begin to speak to one another with some familiarity. Over the course of several meals two people, one a middle aged Norwegian water engineer, the other a 19-year-old college student, the daughter of another engineer who had come along with her father independently asked me the same question: “Why do Americans murder each other so much? No one can understand it. It's not the guns; we have guns. There is something else, what is it?” Not an unreasonable question. He told me he watched CNN and the BBC and could not believe the weekly mass murders. “How many he said?” “More than 30,000 a year. More than 300,000 between 2000 to 2010,” I told him. In one of the conversations we were joined by another Swedish man also
The Schwartzreport tracks emerging trends that will affect the world, particularly the United States. For EXPLORE it focuses on matters of health in the broadest sense of that term, including medical issues, changes in the biosphere, technology, and policy considerations, all of which will shape our culture and our lives.
430 Schwartzreport
some kind of engineer. He asked: “How is it possible that so many people are killed by the police in your country?” Also a reasonable question. He added, “All the Scandinavian countries have a miniscule number of shooting deaths by police. To which the Norwegian replied, “In Norway no one has been killed by a policeman using his gun since 2006, nearly a decade ago? Then he added, “How many people have been killed by the police in your country just this year?” I did not know the answer and had to look it up. According to The Guardian since January 1, 2015—I write this in October 2015—914 people, an average of three a day, men women and children, have been killed by gunfire by U.S. police.1 In Norway in 2014, forget about killing, the entire police force only fired two bullets the entire year2 (Table 1). My answer to all their questions was that culture was the determinant and that American culture glorified guns as a solution to problems, and was willing to tolerate mass murder—and suicide—by gun. “How can a people like that be happy? I don't understand that world at all.” I came away from those conversations shivering a bit with how strange those Scandinavians found my country. I have been traveling outside the U.S. for many years and in the last decade something has happened. There has been a kind of loss of respect for the United States and, pity is too strong, but a kind of rueful condescension. I first saw this reaction exhibited by Americans in the early years of the USSR opening up, when Westerners poured into the countries of the former Soviet Union and started interacting with the Russians, Georgians, Ukrainians and others. They didn't like it then, and I didn't like it now.
It is not a pleasant feeling realizing friendly well-meaning people see you as coming from a neighborhood they might not want to live in, and these conversations I had in Sweden stay with me. When I got home I decided to look at the social outcomes of Norway and the United States. Not from the perspective of any political ideology, simply on the basis of objectively verifiable outcome data. Here is what I found. Let me begin with this from a bastion of capitalism, Forbes magazine: “At No. 1 for the third year in a row: Norway. What's it got that the rest of the world doesn't? For one thing, a stunning per capita GDP of $54,000 a year. Norwegians have the second-highest level of satisfaction with their standards of living: 95% say they are satisfied with the freedom to choose the direction of their lives; an unparalleled 74% say other people can be trusted.” I made a list of nine major wellness assessments, a representative sample, and came up with (1) Infant mortality, (2) maternal mortality, (3) Healthcare, (4) University Education Cost (5) Eldercare, (6) Median Household Income, (7) Obesity, (8) Heart Disease, and (9) Selfassessed Happiness. Then researched the comparison. The following are what I found:
INFANT MORTALITY NORWAY 2.8 per thousand live births,3 UNITED STATES 6.1 per thousand live births
MATERNAL MORTALITY According to Modern Healthcare, “U.S. women are more likely to die during childbirth than women in any other developed country, leading the U.S. to
EXPLORE November/December 2015, Vol. 11, No. 6
“It ranks at 22 in the income security domain with a pension income coverage of 92.5%, although it has a higher than average old age poverty rate for its region at 14.6%. It ranks lower in the health domain (25), with values that are slightly below the regional average for the indicators of life expectancy (23) and healthy life expectancy at 60 (17.5).8
Table 1
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME NORWAY (First) $51,4899 (Note this is slightly different from the Forbes number above, which is even higher.) UNITED STATES (Sixth) $43,585.9
Table One From the Guardian.
be ranked 33rd among 179 countries on the health and well-being of women and children.”4 HEALTHCARE NORWAY 11th in World Health Organization's Ranking of the World's Health Systems,5 UNITED STATES 37th in World Health Organization's Ranking of the World's Health Systems.5 AVERAGE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION COST NORWAY—Free, UNITED STATES— Public university $7173,6 Private $24,700 Although it must be said that the U.S. has 51 of the top 100 highest rated universities in the world and Norway has none. Whether this is relevant for the average college student is unanswered. ELDERCARE NORWAY first A person at 60 can expect 24 more years of life, with 17.4 of them being in good health. The Global Agewatch Index reports, “Norway ranks first on the Global AgeWatch Index. As with many other countries in its region, Norway ranks consistently high across all domains, including first for income security with the highest GDP per capita in its region.
Schwartzreport
“It also ranks first in the capability domain, with an employment rate among older people that is approximately 15 percentage points above the regional average (70.9%). It also has the highest rate of educational attainment among older people (99.4%). It comes in at number four in the enabling environment domain, with high rates of perception of safety (86%) and civic freedom (96%) among older people. It ranks lower in the health domain (16), with slightly below regional averages for life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at 60.”7 UNITED STATES eighth A person at 60 can expect 23 more years of life, with 17.5 of them being in good health. Global Agewatch reports this: “The United States of America ranks at 8 overall on the Index, ranking consistently high in all four domains. It performs best in the capability domain (4), with a significant change in value points from 2013 due to an increase in the employment rate which now stands at 60.9%. It also has a high rate of educational attainment among older people for its region (95.6%). “It ranks at 17 in the enabling environment domain, slightly below average on the civic freedom indicator (84%), but above average on the indicators of safety (71%), social connectedness (94%), and satisfaction with public transport (62%).
OBESITY NORWAY 84th most obese nation measured by adult prevalence rate giving the percent of a country's population considered to be obese, 21.5%.10 UNITED STATES 18th most obese nation measured by adult prevalence rate giving the percent of a country's population considered to be obese, 33%.10 HEART DISEASE NORWAY Death rate per 100,000, 57.2.11 UNITED STATES Death rate per 100,000, 80.5.11 SELF-ASSESSED HAPPINESS NORWAY is the fourth most happy nation, as reported by the World Happiness Report. The assessment is “based on research collected by economists and scientist analyzing the factors that make people feel satisfied. Data points include life expectancy, freedom to make life choices and social support.”12 UNITED STATES is the 15th most happy nation, as reported by the World Happiness Report. This list is but a start on the objectively measurable ways in which Norway, and Norwegians, are happier, healthier, more affluent, more fulfilled, and better educated than the people of the United States. Living lives less stressed, working less, and having more non-working time with which to enjoy friends and family than Americans. The data is there, this is not a polemical argument. That's the objection cited by Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor and moderator
EXPLORE November/December 2015, Vol. 11, No. 6 431
when Senator Bernie Sanders mentioned Norway, Denmark, and the other Nordic countries in the first Democratic debate. It's sounds quite damning, but I am not sure how relevant it is. One could also say Norway has a greater population than Wyoming, Vermont, District of Columbia, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Delaware combined. But I don't know that that is relevant either. It seems to me that the apposite question is what insights can we draw from the social outcomes of each of these democratic, small d, political entities? In 1932 in New State Ice Co. v Liebmann Associate Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis made what I think is the relevant point when he wrote, “(a) state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” (endnote) [New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262 (1932)]. The people of Norway voted in their democracy, for the programs that make their lives, happier healthier, and more rewarding. And in just the same way Americans have voted in our democracy, and we have the state of the states, and of the country as it is today. So here's my question: Why does the richest nation in the world, one abundantly blessed with resources, choose as a society to be on average poorer, unhealthier, poorer educated, harder working, under more stress and, less happy as a society than the Norwegians? I think these that question should be of significant interest to anyone living in the United States and particularly for those in the healthcare professions who deal with the health of individual men,
432 Schwartzreport
women, and their children, health being one of the major components of social wellness.
9.
REFERENCES 1. The Counted–People killed by the police in the U.S. 〈http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-countedpolice-killings-us-database〉 Accessed 12.08.15. 2. Nevins S. What Norway is getting right about policing that American cops just can't figure out. MintPress News. 〈http:// www.mintpressnews.com/what-norway-isgetting-right-about-policing-that-americancops-just-cant-figure-out/208413/〉; Accessed 07.08.15. 3. International comparisons of infant mortality and related factors: United States and Europe, 2010 National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 63 No. 5 September 24, 2014. 〈http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ nvsr/nvsr63/nvsr63_05.pdf〉; Accessed 15.08.15. 4. Robeznieks A. U.S. has highest maternal death rate among developed countries. Modern Healthcare. 〈http://www.moder nhealthcare.com/article/20150506/NEWS/ 150509941〉; 2015 Accessed 12.08.15. 5. World Health Organization's Ranking of the World's Health Systems. 〈http://thepatient factor.com/canadian-health-care-informa tion/world-health-organizations-ranking-ofthe-worlds-health-systems/〉; Accessed 15.08.15. 6. College Tuition Around the World. 〈http:// www.top10onlinecolleges.org/college-tui tion/〉. 7. Norway. Age Watch Report Card. Global Age Watch Index 2014. 〈http://www.helpage. org/global-agewatch/〉; Accessed 15.08.15. 8. United States of America. Age Watch Report Card. Global Age Watch Index 2014. 〈http://www.helpage.org/global-a gewatch/population-ageing-data/country-
10.
11.
12.
ageing-data/?country=United%2BStates %2Bof%2BAmerica〉; Accessed 16.08.15. Phelps G, Crabtree S. Worldwide, Median Household Income About $10,000. The Gallup Organization. 〈http://www. gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-me dian-household-income-000.aspx〉; Accessed 16.08.15. The World Fact Book. Adult prevalence rate gives the percent of a country's population considered to be obese. Central Intelligence Agency. 〈https://www.cia.gov/ library/publications/the-world-factbook/ rankorder/2228rank.html〉; Accessed 16.08.15. Coronary heart disease. World Health Rankings. 〈http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/ cause-of-death/coronary-heart-disease/bycountry/〉; Accessed 16.08.15. World Happiness Report 2015. John Helliwell, Richard Layard, Jeffrey Sachs (eds.) 〈http://worldhappiness. report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/ 04/WHR15.pdf〉; Accessed 15.08.15.
Stephan A. Schwartz is the editor of the daily web publication The Schwartzreport (http://www.schwartzreport.net), which concentrates on trends that will shape the future, an area of research he has been working in since the mid-1960s. He was previously the Senior Samueli Fellow in Brain, Mind and Healing at the Samueli Institute. For over 35 years Schwartz has also been an active experimentalist doing research on the nature of consciousness, particularly Remote Viewing, healing, creativity, religious ecstasy, and meditation. He is the author of several books and numerous papers, technical reports, and general audience articles on these topics.
EXPLORE November/December 2015, Vol. 11, No. 6