I'm sorry. I'm going to stand up for the United States. Sorry, guys, but we are MUCH bigger, more culturally diverse, and have far more immigrants (many illegal) than other countries. The very poor can and do get health care. I can not see how we can be compared to a small, one race, socialist country like, say, Sweden...or Norway...or even the UK. If anyone pays attention to the UN, the US is always the bad guy...along with Israel. I don't really care what a bunch of people, who are culturally different from the US, yet not as diverse or as large say about our children's lives. I think our children have marvelous opportunities and get a lot more free help at school than other countries do. I also think we are ahead in the mental health field and I'm tired of US bashing from people in other parts of the world. It's not fair and it's biased. Who can decide what is good for a child? We all have our own opinions.
Sorry, but I'm tired of it. I would rather live here than (no offense to anyone in France) have our kids live in a culture where a hyperactive child is seen as a "bad" child or a freak and where nobody understands or helps. And where all people are expected to behave the same. We don't have that here. Thank God. We aren't perfect, but we are far more accepting of differences here. Any child can hope to be president one day, right, Mr. Obama? Where else could that happen? I'm happy to be here and proud. Whether or not we like President Obama or dislike him or if he gets in again or not...we alone elected a black president. Where else in the world will a minority be elected? Where else do so many different types of people live together? It's not always perfect, but our kids do have the chance to meet and befriend and marry all sorts of people...moreso than in other places. I consider that a big plus. For those of you thinking, "Must be a conservative" I'm very moderate and voted for Mr. Obama. I worked for him and when he was elected, I cried and my kids were proud.
Ok, off my soap box, but these kinds of topics make me roll my eyes.