U.S. Is World’s 101st Most Peaceful Nation
In the peace rankings, the United States has fallen out of the top 100, according to the Global Peace Index.
Released Wednesday, the eighth annual assessment is data-driven and measures such things as internal crime statistics, political forces, refugee activity, population trends and other factors — including terrorism, the number of homicides and economic conditions.
The most peaceful spot? Iceland, followed by Denmark and Austria.
The three least peaceful countries are South Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria, at the very bottom of the list.
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
mea_mark June 19th, 2014 at 8:12 am
Ignore the top 100, we are number 1, American exceptionalism.
Tom Ward June 19th, 2014 at 12:26 pm
Actually, one of the factors the score is based on is “Rate of incarcerated persons” which we are literally #1 in the world.
mea_mark June 19th, 2014 at 4:00 pm
More American exceptionalism, Woo Hoo! We are number one again.
fahvel June 19th, 2014 at 8:46 am
even less peaceful whenone pays close attention to the evil within the population which is a direct result of lower education demands and a plethora of idiots on the radios and tvs.
Tom Ward June 19th, 2014 at 12:28 pm
The Global Peace Index is partially based on incarcerated persons which we are literally #1 in the world in, with an incarceration rate of 743 per 100,000 people.
So, the war on drugs is making our country a much less peaceful place.
“In recent decades the U.S. has experienced a surge in its prison population, quadrupling since 1980, partially as a result of mandatory sentencing that came about during the “war on drugs.” Violent crime and property crime have declined since the early 1990s.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States#Prison_population
Dwendt44 June 19th, 2014 at 12:39 pm
There’s a profit in privately run prisons so lobbyists encourage long sentences for minor crimes and non-violent ones like drug use.
Another feather in Republican caps.
fancypants June 20th, 2014 at 2:02 pm
in our efforts to arm the world with guns we have to fight harder to make it to the bottom of the list. This is unacceptable