James Taylor
Ottawa University
It is a very common sentiment for people to say that the
United States is number one. While this sounds great, what are we number one
at? The manufacturing jobs that built this country have been moved to other
countries so the manufacturers can make a bigger profit, and the quality of
life in the United States has not risen in decades. Yet, people still insist that
we are number one. In this paper this writer shall examine this statement, and
examine exactly where the United States stands in relation to other
industrialized nations.
Cognitive Dissonance
The theory of cognitive dissonance was developed in the
1950’s by Leon Festinger. His theory was first developed to explain how members
of a cult were convinced that the earth was going to end on a certain day, but
they alone were to be rescued by space aliens. When this event did not happen,
the member’s commitment to the group actually increased. The group members
actually thought that the aliens cared so much for them that they chose to save
the entire earth, and not just them, thus creating a dissonance. (www.changingminmds.org).
The definition of cognitive dissonance is to hold two
conflicting thoughts in one’s mind at the same time. Believing that the United States is ‘’number
one” is erroneous. This is a mantra that is often spoken and clearly many
believe, but as evidenced by what? An educational study of fifty-seven
industrialized countries revealed that the United States ranked “16th
in science and 23rd in math scores” (www.greatschools.org).
Not surprising, the one thing the United States is truly
number one with is the number of people that are in prison. According to the
Institute for Criminal Policy Research, the United States currently has 2,
217,947 individuals’ in prisons. By comparison, Denmark (Greenland) has 116
people (www.prisonstudies.org). This is quite an amazing difference, and it is
the opinion of this writer that this difference in numbers may be in part due
to the different laws concerning recreational drugs, as well as the number of
prisons that are now ran by private corporations. It stands to reason that if there is money to
be made from prisons, there are going to be more prisoners.
This video explains things much better than this writer can,
perhaps it will help explain what I have not been able to.
https://youtu.be/ZPHSXUS0_1c This video contains adult language.
References
Wilde, M., (2015). Global Grade: How do U.S. Students Compare?
Retrieved from http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/u-s-students-compare/
www.changingminds.org (n.d.) Cognitive Dissonance. Retrieved fromhttp://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/cognitive_dissonance.html
www.prisonstudies.org (n.d.). Highest to Lowest-Prison Population Total.
Retrieved from http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total? field_region_taxonomy_tid=22
www.youtube.com (2012). Why America Isn’t the Greatest Country on
Earth Anymore. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPHSXUS0_1c
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Welcome to my blog for my Social Psychology class.