that's likely impossible to quantify...that is, quality of life versus longevity. One thing that will make it difficult is that happiness in a person is relative. We look at some cultures and wonder how anyone could be content living as they do but find out that they are happy as clams. We already know that we can greatly extend the life of wild animals by keeping them captive. We do this by controlling every facet of their lives. An owl with a 3-5 year life expectancy in the wild will live several times longer if captive and properly maintained by humans. It gets food, shelter away from predators, medical care and so forth. It's kept on a short leash and monitored regularly to make certain it's bodily functions are normal. But is that owl really happy? We can't tell. A captive of this type has it undergone a process that removes it's spirit and replaces it with one of acceptance of its fate.
The more I think of it, this isn't that much different from how some folks want to humans to accept. There may be one difference in how that owl is treated and what we do with human life. If the owl doesn't keel over and die on its own, humans decide when it is time for it to depart. Stay tuned....
the last 20 years or so.
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/history-of-life-expectancy
The first one displayed is for people who were born in 1960, but you can change the birth year right up to 2011. by decades.
Canada comes 8th behind all those socialist countries, but then we have health care so I guess we're one of them. The US comes top of the non-socialist countries since it didn't enter the "socialist" category until 2010, just behind those economic powerhouses Latvia and Lithuania. It comes 16th.
Canada peaked in the Life Expectancy stakes for the class of 1990 at 3rd in the world (this is obviously a statistical conjecture) though average life expectancy has risen by 5 years to 77.4 years. The US is expected to have slipped to 21st in the World league tables though its life expectancy has increased by roughly 5 years as well
Fast forward though to the class of 2011, and things have changed. Canada falls to 15th in the world, with a lousy average life expectancy of 81.5 years. The US though has fallen to 37th, though it is now just two and a half years behind Canada, in 1960 you were only 2 years behind. It does beat Cuba though (38th), by 3/10ths of a year which isn't good news. (Please note that these statistics were compiled before the new detente with Cuba. Therefore all bets are off.)
The big gainer is Japan, In the 1960 cohort Life Expectancy is listed at 67.7 years. For the 2011 group, it springs from 35th to First with an expected expectancy ;-P of 82.7 years. a 15 year change.
This set of statistical projections were compiled by LeDuc Marketing so who knows what they're trying to prove but it is a US based organization.
You won't believe the countries doing better than we are supposed to do. Not just Japan and Switzerland but places like Italy, and Singapore and Spain. Beating the US is Cyprus, Norway, Holland, Slovenia, Chile and Costa Rica. Chile?? Jesus !
Is this where I'm supposed to say "So what?" ?
Ted

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