Georgia is South Korea
May 20, 2009 at 5:37 pm by Andisheh Nouraee in NewsI’ve always been struck by the similarities between Georgia and South Korea. Always.
Georgia once hosted the Summer Olympics. So did South Korea.
Georgia is resentful of the north. So is South Korea.
Georgia has several excellent Korean restaurants. So does South Korea.
So it was no surprise when I learned today Georgia and South Korea have a nearly identical HDI score.
The HDI, or Human Development Index, is used by the United Nations Development Program to quantify a country’s development by combining statistics on life expectancy, literacy, education levels, and GDP.
The super blog The Map Scroll applied the UN’s HDI’s criteria to each of the 50 U.S. states.
The results are interesting.
Some U.S. states rank as high as perennial quality-of-life superstars Australia, Sweden and the Netherlands. They’re the dark green states.
Other states, mainly clustered in Appalachia and the former Confederacy, are no better-off than Kazakhstan. They’re the light green states.
Georgia is somewhere in the middle — nearly tied with South Korea.
Its makes sense to me.
Not too long ago, Georgia was a poverty-stricken shithole. The state’s HDI has risen above its neighbors thanks to a solid half-century of rapid economic growth. We’re not quite Maryland yet, but we ain’t Mississippi.
In that sense, Georgia is also like South Korea. 50 years ago, South Korea was a war-beaten dirtpile. Today it boasts the second most advanced economy in Asia. It ain’t quite France, nor is it Burma.
Incidentally, if you eyeball the shading on the above map you might notice its resemblance to another map: the red-n-blue U.S. presidential electoral college map.
Almost without exception, the states with the highest HDIs (the darkest green states on the HDI map) voted for Obama.
And the states with the lowest HDIs (the lightest green states on the HDI map) voted McCain.
The only exception I notice is Alaska, home state of McCain’s running mate.
(Hat-tip to Richard Florida, who is subbing for Andrew Sullivan this week.)
May 20th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
lol @ the Andrew Sullivan quip.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
I have a question: when did Iowa become so cool? Does this have something to do with Field of Dreams?
May 20th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
I didn’t see that “poverty-stricken shithole” of Iran listed. What’s up with that?
If you eyeball the shading on the above map you might notice its resemblance to the 2008 U.S. presidential electoral college map. However, if you looked at the numerical scores for each state you would see that North Dakota is exactly in the middle of the rankings, yet eight states below it voted for Obama, while four states above it voted for McCain.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Jay, what you say is true, but doesn’t contradict what I wrote. The highest HDI states go overwhelmingly for Obama. The lowest for McCain. And the ones in the middle are divided between both.
And Iran is indeed a poverty stricken shithole. So is Zimbabwe. Not sure what that has to do with this post though.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:19 am
I didn’t intend for what I wrote to be viewed as contradicting what you wrote. You didn’t write anything about the ones in the middle being divided by both, and that’s why I brought up the numerical rankings. You made the comparison between the two maps, but the actual numbers tell another part of the story.
Oh, I’m intrigued that you label areas as poverty stricken shitholes. And here I thought that was the job of Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage.
I’m sure the people who live in these shitholes would love to know what you think of their homes.
And I do look forward to your next story on inner-city crime, because I can only imagine what the response from your readers will be when you talk about the poverty stricken shitholes of Atlanta and the young men who live there.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:27 am
I have often said, “The only good thing about Alabama is that is keeps Mississippi from touching our state.” That map reinforces that quote.
June 27th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
The Hdi of the states SHOULD NOT be compared to other countries in the world. If we do, then some countries that contain extreme poverty or megaslums in Latin America have a high HDI than the lighter shaded states which is very misleading. Who thinks Mexico has a better standard of living than Mississippi or other states? Seriously!? Those states have poverty but it’s not like they’re 3rd world status. The Unites States hdi is offically 0.950 and this map seems a bit irrelevant to that.
June 27th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Yet another reason I think the UN is full of shit…