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0 pointskolanos3y ago0 comments

I would assume people are tired of seeing this qualifier in every other HN thread? "It might be bad in the U.S., but in the rest of the world...." Especially when it is verifiably false. [0]

Of the ten most populous countries in the world, only China (2.114) and Indonesia (1.783) have lower peace indexes than the United States (2.337). Of the next ten, only four have lower indexes. In other words, two thirds of the twenty most populous countries in the world (of which the U.S. is third) are more violent than the United STates. Unless by the "rest of the world" we're going to ignore most of the people?

[0]: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-viol...

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aussieshibe3y ago

My interpretation was that "the rest of the world" is meant to refer to "the rest of the countries in the world" not "the rest of the people in the world".

To say that the US has a worse peace index than the rest of the countries in the world is still hyperbole, but it's not so far off the truth.

The US has the 129th best peace index of 163 countries, right after Egypt, Zimbabwe, and Azerbaijan.

kolanosOP3y ago

> My interpretation was that "the rest of the world" is meant to refer to "the rest of the countries in the world" not "the rest of the people in the world".

Even by that measure it is false. The only continents less violent than the one the United States resides are Europe, Oceania and Antarctica. The United States isn't even the most violent country in its own continent, that would be Mexico.

So really the unnecessary qualifier should be: "Well it might be bad in the U.S., but in Europe, Oceania and Antarctica..."

aussieshibe3y ago

I wrote "countries", not "continents". I also have not claimed that the US is the most violent country.

By the metric you've presented as a yard stick for violence (Peace Index), there are only 33 countries which are worse off than the US.

Sure, those 33 countries mean the US has a worse peace index than ~80% of countries, not 100%. I concur that (based on this metric alone) the US is not the #1 most violent country.

Having said that: being worse than 80% of countries on any metric, in my opinion, is easily enough to be able to say "worse than the rest of the world" and have a reasonable expectation for that to be understood as hyperbole.

ChadNauseam3y ago

In my experience, when someone says “the rest of the world” they’re usually referring to scandinavia

watwut3y ago

This attitude of "If you're breaking into someone's home, you're asking to die." is not worldwide universal one. It is very American one.

It does not imply necessary that America is worst country in the world overall.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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aussieshibe3y ago

My interpretation was that "the rest of the world" is meant to refer to "the rest of the countries in the world" not "the rest of the people in the world".

To say that the US has a worse peace index than the rest of the countries in the world is still hyperbole, but it's not so far off the truth.

The US has the 129th best peace index of 163 countries, right after Egypt, Zimbabwe, and Azerbaijan.

kolanosOP3y ago

> My interpretation was that "the rest of the world" is meant to refer to "the rest of the countries in the world" not "the rest of the people in the world".

So really the unnecessary qualifier should be: "Well it might be bad in the U.S., but in Europe, Oceania and Antarctica..."

aussieshibe3y ago

I wrote "countries", not "continents". I also have not claimed that the US is the most violent country.

By the metric you've presented as a yard stick for violence (Peace Index), there are only 33 countries which are worse off than the US.

Sure, those 33 countries mean the US has a worse peace index than ~80% of countries, not 100%. I concur that (based on this metric alone) the US is not the #1 most violent country.

ChadNauseam3y ago

In my experience, when someone says “the rest of the world” they’re usually referring to scandinavia

watwut3y ago

This attitude of "If you're breaking into someone's home, you're asking to die." is not worldwide universal one. It is very American one.

It does not imply necessary that America is worst country in the world overall.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse