DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - China peace index ranks 80th, while US 85th

**exchpaypalgold** · 12-07-2010, 03:50 AM

What's your problem with it in detail? I mean it's a Peace index. The USA isn't exactly a peaceful country and few would even value that if it were.

The points where the US scores badly are often aspects many Americans actually like, such as the high militarization of society (5/5) or the high rate of incarceration (5/5).

The same goes for points such as easy acces to weapons (3/5) or the several aspects that are related simply to being in a war.

It seems a bit contradictory to have a wish to be high on a peace index given the nature of American society ?

The index is weighted to the number of wars fought, the number of deaths without regard to which war is justified or not, jailed persons, crime committed, and so on. It is an attempt, but like any index, is bias. But the biggest mistake is to say this index is about anti war.

The only true value in this is not where the country is listed in which year, but how the ranks changed over time. For instance, the United States went from 97 in 2007 to 85 in 2010 while Cuba went from 52 to 77 from 2007 to 2010. So, is the US getting better or Cuba getting worse?

12-07-2010, 03:50 AM	#7
exchpaypalgold Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 626 Senior Member	What's your problem with it in detail? I mean it's a Peace index. The USA isn't exactly a peaceful country and few would even value that if it were. The points where the US scores badly are often aspects many Americans actually like, such as the high militarization of society (5/5) or the high rate of incarceration (5/5). The same goes for points such as easy acces to weapons (3/5) or the several aspects that are related simply to being in a war. It seems a bit contradictory to have a wish to be high on a peace index given the nature of American society ? The index is weighted to the number of wars fought, the number of deaths without regard to which war is justified or not, jailed persons, crime committed, and so on. It is an attempt, but like any index, is bias. But the biggest mistake is to say this index is about anti war. The only true value in this is not where the country is listed in which year, but how the ranks changed over time. For instance, the United States went from 97 in 2007 to 85 in 2010 while Cuba went from 52 to 77 from 2007 to 2010. So, is the US getting better or Cuba getting worse?
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