Why Big Business is more evil than Big Government in the U.S.

[Billy000]

When I think of Big Government in the U.S., the only thing that comes to mind is the NSA scandal. It was certainly eye opening what the agency has done in terms of surveillance and was worth digging into for the sake of legality, but it really doesn't bother me in comparison to the evils of Big Business. This is for two reasons: 1) the surveillance programs were implemented for the sake of national security and let's face it: it exposes terrorism. 2) no one working at the NSA is above its programs. The people who implemented these programs were just as exposed as anyone else.

Beyond the NSA, I just don't understand the rightwing outrage over this concept. There is not any existing government agency that I feel, conceptually, is "big".

What concerns me is Big Business. Doesn't it bother the rightwing how much the private industries have corrupted our government? Citizens United is atrocious. Because of lobbying, the large majority of corporate crime goes unpunished. Corporations seek to silence consumer advocacy. The 1% has acquired obscene amounts of wealth as child poverty is the worst out of any other developed nation. The healthcare industry charges ridiculous amounts of money for their products because they know all the money is in the middle class and wealthy class. This leaves basic cancer treatment virtually out of reach for poor patients.

Beyond the injustices, let's talk about advertising. It is fucking everywhere. You can't escape it. We are bombarded with advertising. It's sickening. Don't get me wrong. The idea of advertising doesn't bother me. I just wish it didn't fucking follow me everywhere I go.

Yeah it's all depressing

 

[Wyatt earp]

IRS, over reach by the EPA, the local DMV, redundant agencies like CIA and FBI come to mind real fast.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

When I think of Big Government in the U.S., the only thing that comes to mind is the NSA scandal. It was certainly eye opening what the agency has done in terms of surveillance and was worth digging into for the sake of legality, but it really doesn't bother me in comparison to the evils of Big Business. This is for two reasons: 1) the surveillance programs were implemented for the sake of national security and let's face it: it exposes terrorism. 2) no one working at the NSA is above its programs. The people who implemented these programs were just as exposed as anyone else.

Beyond the NSA, I just don't understand the rightwing outrage over this concept. There is not any existing government agency that I feel, conceptually, is "big".

What concerns me is Big Business. Doesn't it bother the rightwing how much the private industries have corrupted our government? Citizens United is atrocious. Because of lobbying, the large majority of corporate crime goes unpunished. Corporations seek to silence consumer advocacy. The 1% has acquired obscene amounts of wealth as child poverty is the worst out of any other developed nation. The healthcare industry charges ridiculous amounts of money for their products because they know all the money is in the middle class and wealthy class. This leaves basic cancer treatment virtually out of reach for poor patients.

Beyond the injustices, let's talk about advertising. It is fucking everywhere. You can't escape it. We are bombarded with advertising. It's sickening. Don't get me wrong. The idea of advertising doesn't bother me. I just wish it didn't fucking follow me everywhere I go.

Yeah it's all depressing

Would say 'big government' is simply a subsidiary of big business. Can't get elected to dog catcher without a nod from corporate headquarters these days.

 

[Derideo_Te]

IRS, over reach by the EPA, the local DMV, redundant agencies like CIA and FBI come to mind real fast.

Why does it strike me that nothing comes to your "mind real fast" if you don't know the difference between the FBI and CIA.

The FBI is about domestic policing at the Federal level. The CIA is about foreign spying on the international level. Conflating the two is a sign of abject ignorance.

And if don't understand that corporations are spying on everything you do then you really are clueless. Can you see the connection between what you browsed on Amazon and the ads that are popping up in your browser while you are here in USMB? That is because Amazon is spying on what you are looking at and then selling that to other advertisers.

These corporations not only know what you like to look at online but they know your real name and address, your age, where you live, how old you are, how much you earn, your approximate credit rating, your estimated net worth and a whole host of other information about you.

But it is your local DMV and the EPA that are "over reaching" and intruding into your life!

Give me a break!

 

[MACAULAY]

In the age old battle of the Haves versus the Have-Nots...you have put on your blinders and come down squarely with the Have Nots.

I suggest you move to Greece, or any Socialist country anywhere, or if you are Black, you can try any country in Africa. They don't have many of those pesky Haves, they have run them off or broke them.

Did it do the Have-Nots any good?

Why Hell No.

All those children who live in Poverty in America, that you seem to blame on companies?

They live better than most people in most of these Big Brother Marxist Basket Case countries that you would like to turn America into...and they would live even better if their parents had not taken up the Democratic Party's offer to move onto the Federal Government Plantation and kick back on the front porch--free of the stress which Taxpayers put up with...of a job and a boss.

My guess is that you work for the government, or you live off the government...either of which means you are a parasite who lives off the back of Taxpayers.

Get your ass to Greece. When you come back (which will be soon), you may have a better appreciation for the greatest society thus far created on this planet.

 

[Wyatt earp]

IRS, over reach by the EPA, the local DMV, redundant agencies like CIA and FBI come to mind real fast.

Why does it strike me that nothing comes to your "mind real fast" if you don't know the difference between the FBI and CIA.

The FBI is about domestic policing at the Federal level. The CIA is about foreign spying on the international level. Conflating the two is a sign of abject ignorance.

And if don't understand that corporations are spying on everything you do then you really are clueless. Can you see the connection between what you browsed on Amazon and the ads that are popping up in your browser while you are here in USMB? That is because Amazon is spying on what you are looking at and then selling that to other advertisers.

These corporations not only know what you like to look at online but they know your real name and address, your age, where you live, how old you are, how much you earn, yoapproximate credit rating, your estimated net worth and a whole host of other information about you.

But it is your local DMV and the EPA that are "over reaching" and intruding into your life!

Give me a break!

You are a fucking idiot, The FBI and CIA can be combined reduant agencies and they were the first ones that came to mind as an example assist clown.

The over reach by the EPA over reaching by your beloved Obama in an instance like the coal industry is killing good paying jobs

And it seems to me kiddo, you don't even have a fucking drivers license.

Here is a hint, they are morons and if the local DMVs I have been to in Arizona, Illinois, Georgia and South Carolina is a strong indication to me personally how inept big government is.

 

[Derideo_Te]

In the age old battle of the Haves versus the Have-Nots...you have put on your blinders and come down squarely with the Have Nots.

I suggest you move to Greece, or any Socialist country anywhere, or if you are Black, you can try any country in Africa. They don't have many of those pesky Haves, they have run them off or broke them.

Did it do the Have-Nots any good?

Why Hell No.

All those children who live in Poverty in America, that you seem to blame on companies?

They live better than most people in most of these Big Brother Marxist Basket Case countries that you would like to turn America into...and they would live even better if their parents had not taken up the Democratic Party's offer to move onto the Federal Government Plantation and kick back on the front porch--free of the stress which Taxpayers put up with...of a job and a boss.

My guess is that you work for the government, or you live off the government...either of which means you are a parasite who lives off the back of Taxpayers.

Get your ass to Greece. When you come back (which will be soon), you may have a better appreciation for the greatest society thus far created on this planet.

Greece ranks 27th in the world in child mortality rates.

So explain why your "greatest society thus far created on this planet" only ranks 34th?

How come Greece is so much better at keeping their children alive than the USA?

Could it be that they don't allow corporations to sell junk food to their children?

 

[MACAULAY]

In the age old battle of the Haves versus the Have-Nots...you have put on your blinders and come down squarely with the Have Nots.

I suggest you move to Greece, or any Socialist country anywhere, or if you are Black, you can try any country in Africa. They don't have many of those pesky Haves, they have run them off or broke them.

Did it do the Have-Nots any good?

Why Hell No.

All those children who live in Poverty in America, that you seem to blame on companies?

They live better than most people in most of these Big Brother Marxist Basket Case countries that you would like to turn America into...and they would live even better if their parents had not taken up the Democratic Party's offer to move onto the Federal Government Plantation and kick back on the front porch--free of the stress which Taxpayers put up with...of a job and a boss.

My guess is that you work for the government, or you live off the government...either of which means you are a parasite who lives off the back of Taxpayers.

Get your ass to Greece. When you come back (which will be soon), you may have a better appreciation for the greatest society thus far created on this planet.

Greece ranks 27th in the world in child mortality rates.

So explain why your "greatest society thus far created on this planet" only ranks 34th?

How come Greece is so much better at keeping their children alive than the USA?

Could it be that they don't allow corporations to sell junk food to their children?

__________________________________________________________________________

Well, the exception to my comments is the rotting big cities of the North, like Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore--cities where the Democratic Party goes to get all its votes, and which the Democratic Party has turned into mini-Marxists States.

That's where the stats get skewed. I don't know what to do about them.

Wonder if we can get Africa to take them off our hands.

 

[TooTall]

In the age old battle of the Haves versus the Have-Nots...you have put on your blinders and come down squarely with the Have Nots.

I suggest you move to Greece, or any Socialist country anywhere, or if you are Black, you can try any country in Africa. They don't have many of those pesky Haves, they have run them off or broke them.

Did it do the Have-Nots any good?

Why Hell No.

All those children who live in Poverty in America, that you seem to blame on companies?

They live better than most people in most of these Big Brother Marxist Basket Case countries that you would like to turn America into...and they would live even better if their parents had not taken up the Democratic Party's offer to move onto the Federal Government Plantation and kick back on the front porch--free of the stress which Taxpayers put up with...of a job and a boss.

My guess is that you work for the government, or you live off the government...either of which means you are a parasite who lives off the back of Taxpayers.

Get your ass to Greece. When you come back (which will be soon), you may have a better appreciation for the greatest society thus far created on this planet.

Greece ranks 27th in the world in child mortality rates.

So explain why your "greatest society thus far created on this planet" only ranks 34th?

How come Greece is so much better at keeping their children alive than the USA?

Could it be that they don't allow corporations to sell junk food to their children?

Could it be they don't have as many single mothers and drug addicts?

 

[TooTall]

When I think of Big Government in the U.S., the only thing that comes to mind is the NSA scandal. It was certainly eye opening what the agency has done in terms of surveillance and was worth digging into for the sake of legality, but it really doesn't bother me in comparison to the evils of Big Business. This is for two reasons: 1) the surveillance programs were implemented for the sake of national security and let's face it: it exposes terrorism. 2) no one working at the NSA is above its programs. The people who implemented these programs were just as exposed as anyone else.

Beyond the NSA, I just don't understand the rightwing outrage over this concept. There is not any existing government agency that I feel, conceptually, is "big".

What concerns me is Big Business. Doesn't it bother the rightwing how much the private industries have corrupted our government? Citizens United is atrocious. Because of lobbying, the large majority of corporate crime goes unpunished. Corporations seek to silence consumer advocacy. The 1% has acquired obscene amounts of wealth as child poverty is the worst out of any other developed nation. The healthcare industry charges ridiculous amounts of money for their products because they know all the money is in the middle class and wealthy class. This leaves basic cancer treatment virtually out of reach for poor patients.

Beyond the injustices, let's talk about advertising. It is fucking everywhere. You can't escape it. We are bombarded with advertising. It's sickening. Don't get me wrong. The idea of advertising doesn't bother me. I just wish it didn't fucking follow me everywhere I go.

Yeah it's all depressing

Free Cancer treatment is available from St Judes, the American Cancer Society and there are a number of charitable organizations that provide free housing for the families while their child is being treated. They are supported by contributions, millions of dollars coming from those hateful corporations. They are not affiliated with the government and have a superb survival and cure rate.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

When I think of Big Government in the U.S., the only thing that comes to mind is the NSA scandal. It was certainly eye opening what the agency has done in terms of surveillance and was worth digging into for the sake of legality, but it really doesn't bother me in comparison to the evils of Big Business. This is for two reasons: 1) the surveillance programs were implemented for the sake of national security and let's face it: it exposes terrorism. 2) no one working at the NSA is above its programs. The people who implemented these programs were just as exposed as anyone else.

Beyond the NSA, I just don't understand the rightwing outrage over this concept. There is not any existing government agency that I feel, conceptually, is "big".

What concerns me is Big Business. Doesn't it bother the rightwing how much the private industries have corrupted our government? Citizens United is atrocious. Because of lobbying, the large majority of corporate crime goes unpunished. Corporations seek to silence consumer advocacy. The 1% has acquired obscene amounts of wealth as child poverty is the worst out of any other developed nation. The healthcare industry charges ridiculous amounts of money for their products because they know all the money is in the middle class and wealthy class. This leaves basic cancer treatment virtually out of reach for poor patients.

Beyond the injustices, let's talk about advertising. It is fucking everywhere. You can't escape it. We are bombarded with advertising. It's sickening. Don't get me wrong. The idea of advertising doesn't bother me. I just wish it didn't fucking follow me everywhere I go.

Yeah it's all depressing

Big Business, derrrr made me buy my computer that's 100 times faster than the computer I had 6 years ago

Evil!

Derrrr

Corporation Evil CEO

How do Progressive manage to reproduce, it seems they lack the brainpower

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

In the age old battle of the Haves versus the Have-Nots...you have put on your blinders and come down squarely with the Have Nots.

I suggest you move to Greece, or any Socialist country anywhere, or if you are Black, you can try any country in Africa. They don't have many of those pesky Haves, they have run them off or broke them.

Did it do the Have-Nots any good?

Why Hell No.

All those children who live in Poverty in America, that you seem to blame on companies?

They live better than most people in most of these Big Brother Marxist Basket Case countries that you would like to turn America into...and they would live even better if their parents had not taken up the Democratic Party's offer to move onto the Federal Government Plantation and kick back on the front porch--free of the stress which Taxpayers put up with...of a job and a boss.

My guess is that you work for the government, or you live off the government...either of which means you are a parasite who lives off the back of Taxpayers.

Get your ass to Greece. When you come back (which will be soon), you may have a better appreciation for the greatest society thus far created on this planet.

Greece ranks 27th in the world in child mortality rates.

So explain why your "greatest society thus far created on this planet" only ranks 34th?

How come Greece is so much better at keeping their children alive than the USA?

Could it be that they don't allow corporations to sell junk food to their children?

Mortality rate under-5 per 1 000 live births Data Table

I think I found our problem...

 

[Wyatt earp]

When I think of Big Government in the U.S., the only thing that comes to mind is the NSA scandal. It was certainly eye opening what the agency has done in terms of surveillance and was worth digging into for the sake of legality, but it really doesn't bother me in comparison to the evils of Big Business. This is for two reasons: 1) the surveillance programs were implemented for the sake of national security and let's face it: it exposes terrorism. 2) no one working at the NSA is above its programs. The people who implemented these programs were just as exposed as anyone else.

Beyond the NSA, I just don't understand the rightwing outrage over this concept. There is not any existing government agency that I feel, conceptually, is "big".

What concerns me is Big Business. Doesn't it bother the rightwing how much the private industries have corrupted our government? Citizens United is atrocious. Because of lobbying, the large majority of corporate crime goes unpunished. Corporations seek to silence consumer advocacy. The 1% has acquired obscene amounts of wealth as child poverty is the worst out of any other developed nation. The healthcare industry charges ridiculous amounts of money for their products because they know all the money is in the middle class and wealthy class. This leaves basic cancer treatment virtually out of reach for poor patients.

Beyond the injustices, let's talk about advertising. It is fucking everywhere. You can't escape it. We are bombarded with advertising. It's sickening. Don't get me wrong. The idea of advertising doesn't bother me. I just wish it didn't fucking follow me everywhere I go.

Yeah it's all depressing

Free Cancer treatment is available from St Judes, the American Cancer Society and there are a number of charitable organizations that provide free housing for the families while their child is being treated. They are supported by contributions, millions of dollars coming from those hateful corporations. They are not affiliated with the government and have a superb survival and cure rate.

thanks for the info, didn't know my $60 bucks a month for the past 8 years was a rip off charity or not.

 

[Billy000]

IRS, over reach by the EPA, the local DMV, redundant agencies like CIA and FBI come to mind real fast.

None of those are institution wide examples of corruption.

 

[boedicca]

When I think of Big Government in the U.S., the only thing that comes to mind is the NSA scandal. It was certainly eye opening what the agency has done in terms of surveillance and was worth digging into for the sake of legality, but it really doesn't bother me in comparison to the evils of Big Business. This is for two reasons: 1) the surveillance programs were implemented for the sake of national security and let's face it: it exposes terrorism. 2) no one working at the NSA is above its programs. The people who implemented these programs were just as exposed as anyone else.

Beyond the NSA, I just don't understand the rightwing outrage over this concept. There is not any existing government agency that I feel, conceptually, is "big".

What concerns me is Big Business. Doesn't it bother the rightwing how much the private industries have corrupted our government? Citizens United is atrocious. Because of lobbying, the large majority of corporate crime goes unpunished. Corporations seek to silence consumer advocacy. The 1% has acquired obscene amounts of wealth as child poverty is the worst out of any other developed nation. The healthcare industry charges ridiculous amounts of money for their products because they know all the money is in the middle class and wealthy class. This leaves basic cancer treatment virtually out of reach for poor patients.

Beyond the injustices, let's talk about advertising. It is fucking everywhere. You can't escape it. We are bombarded with advertising. It's sickening. Don't get me wrong. The idea of advertising doesn't bother me. I just wish it didn't fucking follow me everywhere I go.

Yeah it's all depressing

Big Business, derrrr made me buy my computer that's 100 times faster than the computer I had 6 years ago

Evil!

Derrrr

Corporation Evil CEO

How do Progressive manage to reproduce, it seems they lack the brainpower

Here's what Big Government give us:

And here is what Big Business gives us:

 

[Billy000]

When I think of Big Government in the U.S., the only thing that comes to mind is the NSA scandal. It was certainly eye opening what the agency has done in terms of surveillance and was worth digging into for the sake of legality, but it really doesn't bother me in comparison to the evils of Big Business. This is for two reasons: 1) the surveillance programs were implemented for the sake of national security and let's face it: it exposes terrorism. 2) no one working at the NSA is above its programs. The people who implemented these programs were just as exposed as anyone else.

Beyond the NSA, I just don't understand the rightwing outrage over this concept. There is not any existing government agency that I feel, conceptually, is "big".

What concerns me is Big Business. Doesn't it bother the rightwing how much the private industries have corrupted our government? Citizens United is atrocious. Because of lobbying, the large majority of corporate crime goes unpunished. Corporations seek to silence consumer advocacy. The 1% has acquired obscene amounts of wealth as child poverty is the worst out of any other developed nation. The healthcare industry charges ridiculous amounts of money for their products because they know all the money is in the middle class and wealthy class. This leaves basic cancer treatment virtually out of reach for poor patients.

Beyond the injustices, let's talk about advertising. It is fucking everywhere. You can't escape it. We are bombarded with advertising. It's sickening. Don't get me wrong. The idea of advertising doesn't bother me. I just wish it didn't fucking follow me everywhere I go.

Yeah it's all depressing

Big Business, derrrr made me buy my computer that's 100 times faster than the computer I had 6 years ago

Evil!

Derrrr

Corporation Evil CEO

How do Progressive manage to reproduce, it seems they lack the brainpower

That's the best rebuttal you have?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Greece ranks 27th in the world in child mortality rates.

So explain why your "greatest society thus far created on this planet" only ranks 34th?

How come Greece is so much better at keeping their children alive than the USA?

Could it be that they don't allow corporations to sell junk food to their children?

Different metrics between nations as to what qualifies as a live birth is a major factor.

The researchers compared data on infant health and mortality in the U.S.; Austria, whose rate of 3.8 is roughly average among European nations; and Finland, whose rate of 2.3 is one of the lowest in the world. One of the biggest differences, they found, was in the definition of what could be considered a live birth. “Extremely preterm births recorded in some places may be considered a miscarriage or still birth in other countries,” they wrote. Although the chance of survival for babies born before 23 weeks is low (the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that doctors don’t resuscitate babies born before that point), they’re recorded as live births in the U.S.

Why American Babies Die - The Atlantic

 

[Derideo_Te]

Greece ranks 27th in the world in child mortality rates.

So explain why your "greatest society thus far created on this planet" only ranks 34th?

How come Greece is so much better at keeping their children alive than the USA?

Could it be that they don't allow corporations to sell junk food to their children?

Different metrics between nations as to what qualifies as a live birth is a major factor.

The researchers compared data on infant health and mortality in the U.S.; Austria, whose rate of 3.8 is roughly average among European nations; and Finland, whose rate of 2.3 is one of the lowest in the world. One of the biggest differences, they found, was in the definition of what could be considered a live birth. “Extremely preterm births recorded in some places may be considered a miscarriage or still birth in other countries,” they wrote. Although the chance of survival for babies born before 23 weeks is low (the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that doctors don’t resuscitate babies born before that point), they’re recorded as live births in the U.S.

Why American Babies Die - The Atlantic

There is no way just counting premature births at 23 weeks accounts for the disparity.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Greece ranks 27th in the world in child mortality rates.

So explain why your "greatest society thus far created on this planet" only ranks 34th?

How come Greece is so much better at keeping their children alive than the USA?

Could it be that they don't allow corporations to sell junk food to their children?

Different metrics between nations as to what qualifies as a live birth is a major factor.

The researchers compared data on infant health and mortality in the U.S.; Austria, whose rate of 3.8 is roughly average among European nations; and Finland, whose rate of 2.3 is one of the lowest in the world. One of the biggest differences, they found, was in the definition of what could be considered a live birth. “Extremely preterm births recorded in some places may be considered a miscarriage or still birth in other countries,” they wrote. Although the chance of survival for babies born before 23 weeks is low (the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that doctors don’t resuscitate babies born before that point), they’re recorded as live births in the U.S.

Why American Babies Die - The Atlantic

There is no way just counting premature births at 23 weeks accounts for the disparity.

I said it's a factor, not THE factor, and that is but one example of skewed metrics.

For example, babies who are not viable and who die quickly after birth are more likely to be classified as stillbirths in countries outside the United States, especially in Japan, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands, and France. This is especially likely for babies who die before their birth is legally registered.[9] In the United States, however, nonviable births are often recorded as live births, making the US infant mortality rate appear misleadingly high. In a detailed study of medical records and birth and death certificates in Philadelphia, Gibson and colleagues found that infant mortality had been overstated by 40 percent, merely as a result of these nonviable births that were recorded as live births.[10]

There is another problem with using infant mortality to represent health care efficacy. US physicians often go to great efforts—at the prenatal and postnatal stages—to save a baby with poor survival chances. The additional prenatal care an American doctor provides may improve the odds of the live birth of a baby with poor survival chances, who is then likely to require extensive neonatal care. Accordingly, the US uses substantially more neonatal intensive care units (NICU) than other industrialized countries. In this case, the additional health care may actually worsen reported infant mortality rates and misleadingly suggest poor care in the United States. Similarly, US physicians are more likely to resuscitate very small premature babies, many of whom nevertheless die and many others of whom live with serious and expensive medical problems. This practice also raises measured infant mortality rates for the United States.

The combination of higher delivery costs because of greater NICU use and the unique way the United States counts live births could lead one to erroneously conclude that the United States is highly inefficient compared to other industrialized nations. Furthermore, infant mortality is strongly and immediately affected by external influences such as the mother’s age, behavior, and lifestyle (meaning factors such as obesity and use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs).[11] Infant mortality is strongly linked to birth weight and gestational age, which are highly, but not perfectly, correlated. Indeed, the correlation is high enough that researchers will often use one or the other measure according to conveniences. In any case, both measures are largely a result of parental lifestyles.

Teenage mothers are more likely to have preterm, low-birth-weight babies. The mortality rate for infants born to US teenage mothers is 1.5 to 3.5 times as high as the rate for infants born to mothers ages twenty-five to twenty-nine.[12] The US rate of births for teenage mothers is very high—2.8 times that of Canada and 7.0 times that of Sweden and Japan. If the United States had the same birth weights as Canada, its infant mortality rate—adjusting for this variable alone—would be slightly lower than Canada’s (5.4 versus 5.5 per one thousand births).[13]

Turning to gestational age, MacDorman and Mathews calculate that if the United States had the same distribution of gestational ages as Sweden, its recorded infant mortality rate would drop by 33 percent, tying it with France as the fifth lowest rate out of twenty-one developed countries.[14]Moreover, in the United States, mortality rates for infants born to unwed mothers were about twice as high as for infants born to married women.[15]

Overall, these lifestyle and socioeconomic factors may reflect poorly on some aspects of society in the United States in comparison to other countries. It is inappropriate, however, to conclude that the root cause is the US health care system rather than societal factors in a dynamic heterogeneous society. Infant mortality is a particularly misleading metric by which to grade country-specific health system performance and to make international comparisons.

“A further limitation of using potential years of life lost as a mortality measurement is that many deaths are caused by other external factors–such as obesity and pollution–which are disguised by the disease they cause.”

US health care A reality check on cross-country comparisons

 

[Derideo_Te]

Greece ranks 27th in the world in child mortality rates.

So explain why your "greatest society thus far created on this planet" only ranks 34th?

How come Greece is so much better at keeping their children alive than the USA?

Could it be that they don't allow corporations to sell junk food to their children?

Different metrics between nations as to what qualifies as a live birth is a major factor.

The researchers compared data on infant health and mortality in the U.S.; Austria, whose rate of 3.8 is roughly average among European nations; and Finland, whose rate of 2.3 is one of the lowest in the world. One of the biggest differences, they found, was in the definition of what could be considered a live birth. “Extremely preterm births recorded in some places may be considered a miscarriage or still birth in other countries,” they wrote. Although the chance of survival for babies born before 23 weeks is low (the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that doctors don’t resuscitate babies born before that point), they’re recorded as live births in the U.S.

Why American Babies Die - The Atlantic

There is no way just counting premature births at 23 weeks accounts for the disparity.

I said it's a factor, not THE factor, and that is but one example of skewed metrics.

For example, babies who are not viable and who die quickly after birth are more likely to be classified as stillbirths in countries outside the United States, especially in Japan, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands, and France. This is especially likely for babies who die before their birth is legally registered.[9] In the United States, however, nonviable births are often recorded as live births, making the US infant mortality rate appear misleadingly high. In a detailed study of medical records and birth and death certificates in Philadelphia, Gibson and colleagues found that infant mortality had been overstated by 40 percent, merely as a result of these nonviable births that were recorded as live births.[10]

There is another problem with using infant mortality to represent health care efficacy. US physicians often go to great efforts—at the prenatal and postnatal stages—to save a baby with poor survival chances. The additional prenatal care an American doctor provides may improve the odds of the live birth of a baby with poor survival chances, who is then likely to require extensive neonatal care. Accordingly, the US uses substantially more neonatal intensive care units (NICU) than other industrialized countries. In this case, the additional health care may actually worsen reported infant mortality rates and misleadingly suggest poor care in the United States. Similarly, US physicians are more likely to resuscitate very small premature babies, many of whom nevertheless die and many others of whom live with serious and expensive medical problems. This practice also raises measured infant mortality rates for the United States.

The combination of higher delivery costs because of greater NICU use and the unique way the United States counts live births could lead one to erroneously conclude that the United States is highly inefficient compared to other industrialized nations. Furthermore, infant mortality is strongly and immediately affected by external influences such as the mother’s age, behavior, and lifestyle (meaning factors such as obesity and use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs).[11] Infant mortality is strongly linked to birth weight and gestational age, which are highly, but not perfectly, correlated. Indeed, the correlation is high enough that researchers will often use one or the other measure according to conveniences. In any case, both measures are largely a result of parental lifestyles.

Teenage mothers are more likely to have preterm, low-birth-weight babies. The mortality rate for infants born to US teenage mothers is 1.5 to 3.5 times as high as the rate for infants born to mothers ages twenty-five to twenty-nine.[12] The US rate of births for teenage mothers is very high—2.8 times that of Canada and 7.0 times that of Sweden and Japan. If the United States had the same birth weights as Canada, its infant mortality rate—adjusting for this variable alone—would be slightly lower than Canada’s (5.4 versus 5.5 per one thousand births).[13]

Turning to gestational age, MacDorman and Mathews calculate that if the United States had the same distribution of gestational ages as Sweden, its recorded infant mortality rate would drop by 33 percent, tying it with France as the fifth lowest rate out of twenty-one developed countries.[14]Moreover, in the United States, mortality rates for infants born to unwed mothers were about twice as high as for infants born to married women.[15]

Overall, these lifestyle and socioeconomic factors may reflect poorly on some aspects of society in the United States in comparison to other countries. It is inappropriate, however, to conclude that the root cause is the US health care system rather than societal factors in a dynamic heterogeneous society. Infant mortality is a particularly misleading metric by which to grade country-specific health system performance and to make international comparisons.

“A further limitation of using potential years of life lost as a mortality measurement is that many deaths are caused by other external factors–such as obesity and pollution–which are disguised by the disease they cause.”

US health care A reality check on cross-country comparisons

Thank you for the background research.

You do appreciate that looks more like trying to lay the blame for infant mortality outside of the US healthcare system than trying to actually deal with the reality that the USA still ranks below Greece in this regard.

I am sure that the healthcare lobby spent a great deal of money to place the blame elsewhere but it doesn't alter the end result.

All it does is establish that the OP is right that big business is the problem and not the solution in this instance.