| I wrote this for my Economics class. This was the assignment:
Write a 1-2-page paper in which you compare the quality of life in the US
with that of low-income nations and discuss the role of the GDP in the
differences between life in America and life in these low-income nations.
Discuss whether or not there can be too much growth. What are the negative
factors to continued growth in the US? Discuss whether you agree or disagree
with Senator Kennedy's view.
I thought many of you would be interested to know that I used some stuff from my favorite Nooma "Rich" in this paper. Here's the 1.5 pages I cranked out for my LAST ASSIGNMENT OF THE SEMESTER!!!!!!!:
GDP and Quality of Life When compared
with the rest of the world, Americans are very rich and resource-consuming. According to the American Almanac, Americans
use 26% of the world’s energy resources despite comprising only 5% of the
population. The United States
has an annual average GDP of approximately $37,000 per person, and those in
low-income nations live on less than $2 per day.
The United
States has grown into a real economic powerhouse, and
many wonder if America
has had too much growth. Theoretically,
there is no such thing as too much financial growth if the extra money is used
responsibly. Unfortunately, America has
elected to pump its time and resources into oil-rich countries, while the
struggling nations continue to fight for survival. In doing this, America has kept oil prices down
for its citizens, but done little to help those who are truly in need.
Some would argue that it would not
be feasible for America
to truly make a difference to the rest of the world. American Pastor Rob Bell points out a
statistic that denies this claim in his video “Rich” – it would cost $20
billion to provide clean drinking water to all of the needy countries in the
world, which is the same amount of money Americans spend annually on ice cream
alone.
The danger with Americans having too
many resources is that the world’s income gap is going to continue to grow. Americans have tendencies of never being
satisfied with what they have, and remaining ignorant to the impoverished. Instead of being satisfied with a moderately
priced, reliable car, Americans opt for high-end vehicles made by Hummer and
Mercedes-Benz. Meanwhile, according to Bell, 92% of the world’s
population does not have a car.
Kennedy brings up a good point when
he says that GDP “measures everything, in short, except that which makes life
worthwhile”. From my experience, it is
true that money does not equal happiness, and I have had some of my best
experiences when I have been strapped for cash.
However, his statement that “the GDP does not allow for the health of
our children [and] the quality of their education” is somewhat ignorant. In this day and age, to say that things like
health care and quality of education are not congruent with money is just plain
ignorant. Homes in high quality school districts
are priced quite higher than those with lesser quality. Also, according to Rueters, more than 50% of
individual bankruptcy filings in America are due to the high cost of
health care. Health care is not cheap,
and having more money certainly helps out during times of illness.
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