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0 pointsscardine11y ago0 comments

I highly recommend reading "Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot" which explain how dictatorships can pick a handful of indicators and elevate them to first-world levels while still making everybody's life miserable.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Perfect-Latin-American-Idiot/pro...

0 comments

discardorama11y ago

You're talking as if the dictators sit around, wondering about some sort of "SEO" to game their ranking on these lists.

The "life expectancy" figure can't be gamed, unless you out and out lie.

Here's a recent article for thought: http://www.wired.com/2010/04/cuban-health-lessons/

scardineOP11y ago

The indicators per se are not gamed. Instead, you select a few indicators like "Olympic medals", "life expectancy" (etc) and commit every resource of the country to them at all cost and without regard for everything else. The indicators you picked will show amazing and you can use them to justify your ideology. Pretty much like a SEO hack, they are hacking public opinion (looks like it worked on you).

mistermumble11y ago

I highly recommend travel to those countries so that you can observe it for your self. The picture is different than the book.

wdr111y ago

Michael Moore needs to read this book.

jff11y ago

He's already mastered the essential strategy of selecting a handful of indicators to make your point seem right.

Moru11y ago

I'm sure he already did

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