Ethnic enigma

When we try and place ourselves on a spectrum, rate how things are going, we often use a scale of 1 to 10. But here's a new scale: South Dakota Native Americans to New Jersey Asian Americans.

According to a recent study of well-being, broken down by ethnic group and state of residence, these are the endpoints. Asians in New Jersey will live, "on average, an astonishing 26 years longer, are 11 times more likely to have a graduate degree, and earn $35,610 more per year" than Native Americans in South Dakota.

The results prove a number of shockingly wide disparities — the life expectancy of an African American is roughly equivalent to that of the average American … three decades ago.

The report also presents a number of "factoids" about well-being in America, everything from health to education to economic mobility. And here's the not-so-surprising reality: we're falling behind.

A poor child born in Germany, France, Canada, or one of the Nordic countries has a better chance to join the middle class in adulthood than an American child born into similar circumstances.




The U.S. ranks second among 177 countries in per-capita income but 12th on human development, according to the global Human Development Index, published annually by the United Nations Development Programme. Each of the 11 countries ahead of the U.S. has a lower per-capita income than the U.S., but all perform better on the health and knowledge dimensions.




The U.S. infant mortality rate is on par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, and Poland.




If the U.S. infant mortality rate were equal to that of first-ranked Sweden, twenty-one thousand more American babies would have lived to celebrate their first birthdays in 2005.




In 98 countries, new mothers have 14 or more weeks of paid maternity leave. The U.S. has no federally mandated paid maternity leave.




The United States ranks second in the world in per-capita income (behind Luxembourg), but thirty-fourth in survival of infants to age one.




The U.S. ranks forty-second in global life expectancy and first among the world’s twenty-five richest countries in the percentage of children living in poverty.




In the 2006 OECD international assessment of fifteen-year-olds, in math, the U.S. came in twenty-fourth, and in science, the U.S. came in seventeenth.




The U.S. incarceration rate is five-to-nine times greater than that of our peer nations.

So what is the greatest nation in the world to do? Accept our inequalities and move forward? Face up to them? Work to equalize the disparities that exist within our own boundaries (and then look to change the world)?

We may be providing for the Asian Americans in New Jersey, but are we failing others at the same time?

Culture Shock

When I first arrived for my semester abroad in Spain, it was hard to understand how anything ever got done in business. The Spanish people prize their siesta time, lunch is a three-hour affair (with wine, of course) and the night does not end until at least 2 am. Even when they are working, the Spanish have a much more laid-back attitude about, for example, task completion. They figure, why worry if it will get done eventually?

The adjustment is frustrating for American students who, three weeks into their classes, have not been formally matriculated, have no syllabus and do not know what materials are even needed for the course. The pervasive cultural attitude of work "as a necessary evil" creates an environment that values leisure and happiness at a level above productivity. (1) Relationships matter and often overpower the actual "work" side of working. In a tutorial for British nationals looking to work in Spain, the BBC cautions that individuals should "be prepared" for work to get personal. (2)

While work does matter to the Spaniards, it will never be the be-all end-all that it is for Americans. From the Spanish perspective, Americans will never be content with what they have. They, on the other hand, believe that by minimizing the pressures of work, they are able to better enjoy the simple pleasures in life, as well as the greater joys of culture and family. "Workaholism is not fashionable in Spain." (3)

In 2008, Spain's GDP per capita was $31,960, compared to the United State's $47,580. (4) But this does not explain everything. For example, the Spaniards enjoyed a longer life expectancy at birth (81 years versus 78). (5)

Given that the Spanish as a whole value leisure over work (the opposite being true in the United States), their GDP alone cannot give insight into the "wealth" of the nation. (6)

The fact that the Spanish have a generally weaker work ethic than Americans, and the reality of their culture offers an explanation as to why the GDP is lower (and why doing business with Spaniards is relatively difficult). Culture is a difficult variable to quantify, but it does offer some explanation for the numerical differences in material wealth between the United States and Spain.

But on the other hand: never discount the value of a mid-afternoon nap.

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(1) Weil, David. Economic Growth. Boston: Pearson Education Inc., 2009. pp. 410

(2) "Spanish for Work," BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/forwork/beingthere/systems.shtml. Accessed on Feb. 16, 2010.

(3) Wattley-Ames, Helen. Spain is Different. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press Inc., 1992. Accessible on Google Books

(4) World Bank, www.worldbank.org. Accessed on Feb. 16, 2010

(5) Ibid.

(6) Weil 411