By Henry Briggs
Last week I referred to a joke from the Woody Harrelson character in “Friends with Benefits” (good flick, by the way): “The U.S. is the greatest country in the world... except for Germany, France, Belgium... thank God for Bangladesh!” The line got a great laugh.
One reader (from Bangladesh, I think) questioned the humor. Mr. Sarker defended Bangladesh, noting that the Sears Tower in Chicago was designed by a Bangladeshi structural engineer. I explained that Harrelson’s line referred to areas in which the U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world (education, infrastructure, indebtedness etc.). He still didn’t like the joke much but was very gracious about it.
I asked him to post his comments online but he demurred. Too bad. His superior command of English and writing alone underscores Harrelson’s line beautifully. It is a verbal reminder of U.S. fault lines.
Italy’s Berlusconi has nothing on New York’s Weiner or Oregon’s Wu.
The Tea Party’s fanaticism rivals that of any party in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The U.S. has the greatest disparity between rich and poor among industrialized nations.
To understand what happened, go west, young reader, go west. California leads the nation in a lot more than teen fashions. It seems to be a precursor of the current “default” debate.
50 years ago, when the U.S. was the envy of the world, California was its Garden of Eden. It had the best public schools, the best highway system, the best housing, the best... everything. Then came 1978’s tax revolt, Prop 13, which required property taxes never be higher than 1 percent of assessed value, unless authorized by 2/3 of California voters.
Municipalities run on property taxes the way trucks run on gas. Predictably, within a few years, California lost its forward momentum.
Instead of fixing the problem by revoking Prop 13, the legislature maintained its Garden of Eden status by borrowing. Today it ranked 26th in education, the highway system is barely keeping up and industry is leaving.
Once the sixth biggest economy, California is now teetering on default, pushed by a legislature that is intractable and infantile. It is followed in style and substance by the largest economy in the world, the U.S., and its equally ineffective legislature.
Here are just a few signs of our emerging Third World status:
Apple has more cash on hand than the U.S. government. Odds are it will hold its AAA rating longer too. Its computers work better. Its mail system is faster, better and more reliable.
Call Citibank or Hertz or hundreds of U.S. companies and the odds of talking to an EFL (English as First Language) person are slim to none. Call the U.S. government and, about half the time, you’ll get an EFL person all right, but one who can’t spell or add without a spellchecker or calculator.
We sell assault rifles to people from countries (where such guns are illegal) who use them to kill U.S. citizens.
Our citizens travel to other countries for medicine they can’t afford to buy in the U.S.
Our infant mortality rate is 34th in the world, below Portugal, New Caledonia, Brunei, Macau and other countries few Americans can find on a map or spell.
Tourists from other countries come here for the bargains. Foreigners (i.e. Brazilians) pay cash for real estate (i.e. Miami) on which U.S. citizens can’t even get mortgage approvals.
Politicians write laws to benefit their benefactors. Tax codes are designed by the connected for the connected.
A college education (with which the GI Bill helped launch an explosion of wealth 50 years ago) costs $100,000 to $200,000, money only available to the top-earning 20 percent of the country.
The gap between rich and poor in the U.S. is the widest since first measured in 1967, right around the time California was the Garden of Eden, the U.S. the land of promise and Bangladesh became a country.
Henry Briggs writes weekly for Main Line Media News.
Last week I referred to a joke from the Woody Harrelson character in “Friends with Benefits” (good flick, by the way): “The U.S. is the greatest country in the world... except for Germany, France, Belgium... thank God for Bangladesh!” The line got a great laugh.
One reader (from Bangladesh, I think) questioned the humor. Mr. Sarker defended Bangladesh, noting that the Sears Tower in Chicago was designed by a Bangladeshi structural engineer. I explained that Harrelson’s line referred to areas in which the U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world (education, infrastructure, indebtedness etc.). He still didn’t like the joke much but was very gracious about it.
I asked him to post his comments online but he demurred. Too bad. His superior command of English and writing alone underscores Harrelson’s line beautifully. It is a verbal reminder of U.S. fault lines.
Italy’s Berlusconi has nothing on New York’s Weiner or Oregon’s Wu.
The Tea Party’s fanaticism rivals that of any party in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The U.S. has the greatest disparity between rich and poor among industrialized nations.
To understand what happened, go west, young reader, go west. California leads the nation in a lot more than teen fashions. It seems to be a precursor of the current “default” debate.
50 years ago, when the U.S. was the envy of the world, California was its Garden of Eden. It had the best public schools, the best highway system, the best housing, the best... everything. Then came 1978’s tax revolt, Prop 13, which required property taxes never be higher than 1 percent of assessed value, unless authorized by 2/3 of California voters.
Municipalities run on property taxes the way trucks run on gas. Predictably, within a few years, California lost its forward momentum.
Instead of fixing the problem by revoking Prop 13, the legislature maintained its Garden of Eden status by borrowing. Today it ranked 26th in education, the highway system is barely keeping up and industry is leaving.
Once the sixth biggest economy, California is now teetering on default, pushed by a legislature that is intractable and infantile. It is followed in style and substance by the largest economy in the world, the U.S., and its equally ineffective legislature.
Here are just a few signs of our emerging Third World status:
Apple has more cash on hand than the U.S. government. Odds are it will hold its AAA rating longer too. Its computers work better. Its mail system is faster, better and more reliable.
Call Citibank or Hertz or hundreds of U.S. companies and the odds of talking to an EFL (English as First Language) person are slim to none. Call the U.S. government and, about half the time, you’ll get an EFL person all right, but one who can’t spell or add without a spellchecker or calculator.
We sell assault rifles to people from countries (where such guns are illegal) who use them to kill U.S. citizens.
Our citizens travel to other countries for medicine they can’t afford to buy in the U.S.
Our infant mortality rate is 34th in the world, below Portugal, New Caledonia, Brunei, Macau and other countries few Americans can find on a map or spell.
Tourists from other countries come here for the bargains. Foreigners (i.e. Brazilians) pay cash for real estate (i.e. Miami) on which U.S. citizens can’t even get mortgage approvals.
Politicians write laws to benefit their benefactors. Tax codes are designed by the connected for the connected.
A college education (with which the GI Bill helped launch an explosion of wealth 50 years ago) costs $100,000 to $200,000, money only available to the top-earning 20 percent of the country.
The gap between rich and poor in the U.S. is the widest since first measured in 1967, right around the time California was the Garden of Eden, the U.S. the land of promise and Bangladesh became a country.
Henry Briggs writes weekly for Main Line Media News.
