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How they do it better

Read an interesting article in US News & World Report about how other countries are able to manage different aspects of society better than the United States.

There are about 30 different examples in the article, but here are a few interesting ones:

  • Removing all street signs, street lights, and speed limits. Apparently by removing all of these constraints, drivers feel less safe while driving and hence drive much more defensively. It also gives them a much greater feeling of interdependence with other drivers and with pedestrians.
  • Upper class buses. In Colombia, they created a high-end commuter bus line. Many upper middle class commuters use it and it is far cheaper and quicker to setup than rail lines. I would absolutely use public transportation to commute to work every day if it were more convenient.
  • Graduated fines. In Finland, fine amounts (e.g. for speeding tickets) are scaled based on means rather than a flat rate. They take half a days income as a base and then use a multiplier from 1 to 120 based on the severity of the offense to determine the fine amount. It sounds pretty crazy, but I suppose if you have graduated tax rates, why not have graduated fines?
  • Smarter schools with smarter teachers. Another approach from Finland, they have the smallest gap between best and weakest students and rank first or second among industrialized nations in literacy, science, and math. One of the ways they have achieved this is to ensure that teachers are very well trained and qualified - all must have master's degrees - and equally important they are respected and have the same prestige as doctors and lawyers.
  • Prostitutes as elder-care workers. This one sounds crazy, but Germany has trained ex-prostitutes to become care givers for the elderly. They have learned to get along with people, are good listeners, and have no reservations about touching people's bodies. I suppose that makes them good candidates to become care givers.
  • Cleaning up our schools, literally. In Japan, there's a period of time each day called souji. It's a 15 minute period when students, teachers, and administrators drop whatever they're doing and jointly clean the school (i.e. with mops, buckets, brooms, etc.). The tradition is meant to promote cooperation with others, a sense of responsibility, and public morality. I think it sounds like an awesome idea.

I'd love to see some communities in the U.S. try some of these out to see if they work.

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