Acknowledgments | p. xi |
About the Author | p. xii |
Introduction | p. xiii |
Overview of an Inferior Nation | p. 1 |
Conflicting Images and Misplaced Priorities | p. 1 |
Comparative and Absolute Standards | p. 4 |
Past Trends | p. 9 |
Sources of the Myth's Robustness | p. 11 |
The Informational Defaults of the Media and Government | p. 14 |
An Integrated Power Structure | p. 17 |
The Facts | p. 19 |
The Economy, Work, Recent Federal Budgets, and Business and Government | p. 23 |
The Paradox of Poverty in the Midst of Wealth | p. 23 |
Wealth | p. 23 |
Poverty | p. 24 |
Income Inequality and Social Mobility | p. 29 |
The Rollover from Record Budget Surplus to Record Budget Deficit in Two Years | p. 33 |
The National Debt | p. 35 |
The Trade Deficit | p. 37 |
State Deficits | p. 38 |
Bankruptcies | p. 38 |
Productivity, Job Stress, and Child Care for Working Parents | p. 39 |
Unemployment | p. 42 |
Other Comparisons with Europe | p. 44 |
Inflation and Deflation | p. 44 |
Contribution of Employers to Social Security | p. 46 |
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) | p. 46 |
Consumer Confidence and Spending | p. 49 |
Recent Federal Budgets | p. 50 |
Consumption and Happiness | p. 56 |
Enron and Beyond: Corporate Fraud, Regulatory Laxity, and Tax Evasion | p. 57 |
Corporations as Persons and Their Political Ascendancy | p. 64 |
Health, Health Care, and Costs | p. 75 |
Leading Causes of Death, Major Illnesses, and Disabilities | p. 76 |
Mental Illness | p. 81 |
Domestic Violence | p. 82 |
Child Abuse | p. 83 |
Alcohol and the Use of Illicit Substances | p. 83 |
Prevention of Illness, Deferment of Death | p. 84 |
The Cost of Health Care | p. 86 |
Overall Costs | p. 87 |
Distribution of Health Costs | p. 87 |
The Quality of Health Care | p. 98 |
The Health of Americans Compared with That of Citizens of Other Advanced Nations | p. 100 |
An Afterword on the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 | p. 104 |
Education | p. 107 |
Educational Achievement Compared with Other Nations | p. 107 |
Spending on Education as a Measure of National Commitment | p. 110 |
Factors Related to School Achievement | p. 112 |
Innovation and the Organization of Education | p. 115 |
Dropping Out of Secondary Education and the Negative Role of the Federal Government | p. 117 |
Access to Higher Education | p. 121 |
Crime and Punishment | p. 125 |
Crime, Its Fluctuation, and Its Costs | p. 125 |
Imprisonment, Rehabilitation, and Parole | p. 127 |
Privatization of Prisons | p. 132 |
Drug Control: Enforcement or Prevention, Crime or Disease? | p. 135 |
Capital Punishment | p. 137 |
The Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources | p. 143 |
Energy Consumption, Pollution, and Global Warming | p. 143 |
Actions of the Current Administration That Endanger the Nation's Environment | p. 155 |
Other Crises of the Global Environment and America's Response | p. 157 |
Foreign Affairs-Selected Issues | p. 163 |
Foreign Assistance to Poor and Developing Countries | p. 163 |
Economic, Social, and Environmental Deprivation in the World | p. 163 |
The U.S. Response to the Need for Assistance | p. 167 |
Public Attitudes toward Foreign Assistance | p. 175 |
The Afghanistan War: A Case Study of Military Mismanagement with Tragic Consequences | p. 178 |
An Afterword on Civilian Casualties | p. 196 |
The Iraq War of 2003 and More Military Mismanagement | p. 197 |
Corporate Influence on Military Preparedness | p. 211 |
The Sanctions Alternative | p. 214 |
Unilateralism | p. 215 |
Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Inequality | p. 223 |
Black Inequality | p. 223 |
Other Victims of Ethnic or Racial Prejudice and Discrimination | p. 232 |
Gender Inequality | p. 234 |
Civil Liberties | p. 241 |
The Bill of Rights vs. the Patriot Act and Other Government Policies and Regulations | p. 241 |
Anecdotal Evidence of Abuse | p. 247 |
Public Reaction to Curtailment of Civil Liberties | p. 251 |
The Media and Their Relationships with Corporations, the Government, and the Public | p. 255 |
Media Mediocrity and Concentration | p. 255 |
The Media and Corporate Enterprise | p. 261 |
A Brief History of Corporate Control of the Media | p. 269 |
The Media and Government | p. 274 |
Democracy | p. 283 |
The American Model | p. 283 |
To Vote or Not to Vote | p. 289 |
Filling the Electoral Power Vacuum with Special-Interest Wealth and Influence | p. 293 |
What Difference Does It Make If Democracy Is Weak? | p. 298 |
Where the Rubber Hits the Road: The Elusive Realm of Bureaucratic Performance | p. 304 |
Conclusions and a New Beginning | p. 311 |
Notes | p. 321 |
Introduction | p. 321 |
Overview of an Inferior Nation | p. 321 |
The Economy, Work, Recent Federal Budgets, and Business and Government | p. 323 |
Health, Health Care, and Costs | p. 334 |
Education | p. 343 |
Crime and Punishment | p. 346 |
The Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources | p. 350 |
Foreign Affairs-Selected Issues | p. 355 |
Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Inequality | p. 365 |
Civil Liberties | p. 369 |
The Media and Their Relationships with Corporations, the Government, and the Public | p. 371 |
Democracy | p. 376 |
Conclusions and a New Beginning | p. 380 |
Index | p. 381 |
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