A report recently conducted by the United Nations Population Fund and an organization called HelpAge International, with 91 countries evaluated, reports that the United States ranks 8th in the world for the wellbeing of the elderly. That’s good news... for me and for my fellow Americans, considering the debacle on Capitol Hill.  Our country is behind Sweden, which ranks first; Norway, second; and Germany, third; with the Netherlands and Canada following in fourth and fifth places respectively. The report uses several familiar metricks: health, income security, employment and education opportunities as well “enabling environment.”  Presumably, “enabling environment” measures such things how friendly a society is to the elderly, such as physical safety, access to public transportation and the ease of maintaining social connections late in life, which is judged to be a key component of mental health and happiness.

Even though I’m feeling sadness at a reminder that the elderly in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tanzania, which came in at the bottom of the list of 91 countries in the survey, I’m going to lean back, relax, breathe deeply, and count myself lucky that an accident of birth gave me citizenship in the United States of America. I’m not even going to let myself get into a snit at learning that my country is not at the top of the list. I’m going to be very glad for my Swedish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, and Canadian friends.  While relaxing, I’m going to hope my country can survive the assault by the Republican Tea Party on our nation’s newly enacted Affordable Health Care program.  If they should get their way, the United States will drop down in the ranking of nations.  I don’t believe that will happen.  We are better than that.