very. drawn into the bloody conflict both the warring sides. with. members of a russian punk. protests in a church which. continues to divide russian society.

considered by many to be a place of high living standards but critics claim the notion of general wealth and well being could be an illusion now we talk to u.n. economist dr howard friedman for his views on the social and financial ills of his country. in the promised land of stars and stripes us presidents have always reminded citizens how lucky they are and where people of every background can work hard and we drinks. in american dream. yes we do justice i don't think america is an exceptional nation of freedom and opportunity

and the story of america reads much differently when facts are taken into account the measure of a nation is a new book comparing america against thirteen other wealthy nations to see where in fact the u.s. stance author dr howard stephen friedman sat down with our t.v. news initiated by a conversation with my cousin when they were discussing the patient care and affordable care act patient patient protection and affordable care act and he had been defending the current system in america saying that it's the best in the world and i asked him how do you know that and his response was well i have no idea interestingly just a couple days afterwards i was doing some of my work at the united nations and i was looking at the human development report and it dawned on me that the data to compare the united states to other wealthy countries is readily available you can look at it you can see how we're doing and from there you can identify if we're doing better or worse and in the areas we're not doing as well one of the lessons

we can learn from other countries so when you do the comparison what you find is overall the united states doesn't do that well on health safety democracy and equality we get some of the lowest rankings for education roughly in the middle but one of the disappointing factors is we used to be one of the best in most of those categories in the case of social mobility you found that america is not the land of opportunity it promises to be as a matter of fact you say countries such as canada and germany. i rank better than america what exactly did you find out this is what i found to be one of the most surprising results of the book i grew up believing in the american dream work as hard as you can and you can go anywhere and it's true some people really do move up from work classes to the wealthiest but the chances of moving are much lower than in other wealthy countries someone who was born in the forest part of the united states not just geographically but the segment of the population chances of them

moving just even out of that group are almost fifty percent that is almost fifty percent of those people are going to stay there and the rags to riches story going from the poorest to the richest group is lower in the united states than the other wealthy countries for which there is data that shocked me so what happens to this so-called american exceptionalism the country prides itself on what you know american exceptionalism is really a tough concept because at some level there's almost there's almost a faith it's a denial of facts and just looking at the side deals from a religious point of view and i find american exceptionalism as an argument to look at what i call competitive intelligence for america as a problem because people they would say well the united states is exceptional you can't compare us and i view that as just a self-defense mechanism or just a way of someone trying to maintain blissful ignorance on the other hand a frightening reality according to your facts is how america's level of inequality

compares to europe and other wealthy nations so when you talk about income inequality there's really two measures there's what's called the pre adjustment and the post adjustment period just meant is just that roi income you earned post adjustment is after you paid taxes and after the government has provided supports welfare social security as it turns out the us has the highest level of income inequality both pre and post adjustment y. the. it's true is an interesting question this level of inequality has gotten much larger over time as we've seen changes in the pay structure the weakening of the unions degradation of the minimum wage in the united states as compared to other countries so a lot of factors are affecting that pre tax income inequality but for the post tax income inequality it's all about many of the changes that happened in our tax laws there was a time where we really had a very progressive tax system now with capital gains taxes being taxed much lower

than regular income with hedge fund managers earning millions and sometimes billions and paying fifteen percent look for example at mitt romney a man is or in many many millions last year you paid a tax rate that was probably half of what you kate in case our viewers are interested you found japan spain korea and italy to be among those nations to have the best levels of wealth inequality switching gears how does america's democracy compare to other wealthy nations that's another one that's problematic there was a time where i think it was fair to say the u.s. was a leader we came up with that constitution the declaration of independence the whole idea of a modern representative government but now we've slowed down if you look at our turnout for voters it's one of the lowest of any wealthy country at the same time our two party system with a winner take all single seat election is unusual most countries don't do that and

the reason why is that type of election ends up alienating a lot of voters most countries use proportional representation where the representatives in congress actually reflect the voting they also use other systems such as preferential voting where you rank order your votes so that if i have a candidate i like but maybe they're not from the largest party i could still vote for that candidate and not have to worry about my vote being discarded. any other wealthy nation allow private money to fund and fuel presidential elections the way the united states does i didn't specifically look at that but i can't underestimate the impact of money on the american political system and in fact there's some interesting analysis done by political scientists that showed that people from the top third of the economic class have a very strong voice and government people in the middle third have a weak voice in government and it showed that people in the bottom third of the

economic group the united states have no measurable influence that's hype of information is powerful and if you look at the politics of many other countries around the world it's shocking to think that there would ever be true the voice of people who are in the poorest third of their nation still have a powerful voice and i think that's a real challenge in american democracy is to make sure that we really are in a world of one person one vote instead of dollar equals vote are you hopeful that the candidates currently running for president could make any reforms or changes that would elevate america to better global position right now i'm not terribly optimistic in the reason why is there hindered by a few things and the factors that i think are preventing the united states to from really moving forward or one most americans just aren't aware of how we're doing they're just not aware of our situation they think we're doing much better than we

are the second is complacency. we're relatively comfortable in our world situation so people aren't dying in the streets so there's not a as much of a passion to see change the third one which is very important our democratic process really resists change if you look at our structure of government it's basically designed to not move much and it unfortunately suppress the voice of a lot of the americans who really could benefit from change so we have those factors that are all playing in the last factor is there are groups in america who've benefited greatly from some of the issues that we have that are preventing us from being great in health or from excelling in education or safety or democracy or equality and those groups that have benefited well they're going to do their best to protect their profits that's the free market. it's not just corporations though for instance the two party system in america right that's not a system that enables lots of americans to have their voice heard but at the same

time those two parties will defend a two party system so corporations are certainly one aspect but even the groups that are benefiting from our political system will defend the current political system and i give you a great example. for the presidential debates there's a committee that was brought in that said you have to have at least fifteen percent polling before certain dates to participate the only reason why that rule was put in place at that high level was to prevent third parties from being on that stage with the candidates of romney and obama the american government has always positions itself as a global leader of human rights and justice however you say that the u.s. is the least peaceful wealthy nation what exactly do you mean by that what we looked at was crime rates we looked at incarceration rates those are internal measures of safety at the same time i also took

a look at external that is our military spending our tendency to have extra wars so internally looking at measures of violence and crime and extremely the type of safety the war interactions and as you look at it what you see is our incarceration rate is multiples higher than any other wealthy country at the same time our murder rate is much higher one of the things that most americans don't realize is our gun policy is completely different from any other wealthy country at least the ones i included but when we talk about external military interaction we need to reflect on the fact the united states plays a very different role than other countries the other countries that i compare in my book many from western europe canada for you and south korea they receive somewhat of the protection of the united states so that's the one example in the book where the actions the united states takes really do impact the actions of

other countries by the united states spending far more on military and being at least viewing itself as more of armed to protect many of these countries it ends up letting those other countries spend less and that's exactly what you see in the dynamics. in what areas does the us find itself in a leading position among other wealthy nations there are a few areas where we excel we have some of the best colleges in the world so that tertiary education our graduate schools are outstanding some of the strongest in the world our hospitals our technology overall is world class and overall those types of advantages are with draws the best talent in the world here students come here in order to learn and hopefully we can keep the opportunities for them not only to arrive here but for them to stay our technology that allows us to innovate and create some great companies that still exist and are entrepreneurship the government rules that allow us to create new companies and to patent things really

is outstanding us universities and hospitals may be excellent but if the student debt bubble is above one trillion dollars and roughly fifty million citizens are living without health care how are americans benefiting from their nation's excellence they're all emblematic of one of the things that's true about the united states which is we have the extremes of excellence and a public system that seems to drift behind if you take education our undergraduate school or some of the best in the world and their extreme the expense that's a challenge so it's only accessible to a certain percentage of the population but for those who can access it they're excellent our graduate schools same thing our medical system for those who can afford it we really do have a great health system our public health system is way behind that's all the time we have dr friedman thank you very much for sitting down to speak with our team my

pleasure thank you very much. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so for langley you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. on. the news today violence is once again flared up the film these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. the

giant corporations to rule the day. the headlines on the u.s. is warning the latest fierce battles in syria will be a nail in the coffin of president assad this comes as youngsters are being increasingly drawn into the bloody conflict on both sides. with the reverberations members of a russian punk band go on trial facing seven years in jail for a protest. still to date it's a case that continues to divide russian society. a campaign promise that goes on for a field. spends billions to prosecute whistleblowers showing the u.s. government to be as opaque as a. message into it had with mr you know neal the chinese

run has been broken in london it's certainly hollows for day one and day two of the olympics story a chinese has won the first gold not today monday day three it's gone to rimini and more in the intriguing stuff in just a second. thanks for joining us this is sports today plenty head over the next ten minutes or so including this. one becomes for russia three medals for their charlie on this second day of the london olympics. captures his second p.g.a. gold title with a victory lap the canadian open. from dream to reality russia's first ever professional motor sport. for the first time.

but let's start out those olympic games were rushed to their medal hole in london on sunday gongs coming in cycling fencing and swimming as richard van port fleet reports. russia's steady progress of the london two thousand and twelve olympics continues its very managed to add three bronzes on day two of a gold medal the bay managed to win on the opening day. things on the way and the women's road race somewhat a race it proved to be over russian she wasn't really fancied going in the race but she produced a fine performance while with an hour to go also free riders including civilians kovar made a break from the peloton and they share the lead brighton's of the closing stages but of course he's up against coaches not renowned as a great finish a great sprinter i just didn't have the legs to keep up with her opponents civilians go it was more than happy to win

a bronze medal given the circumstances given the opponents but she was up against that initial assertion that i claim that the thing is when you reach the last part of the race i have no choice but to make need although i knew it would be g.'s my chances of winning the race is beyond you know the finishing sprint is not my to scale and i was mentally prepared for the third place to be honest of a high hopes of russia's fencing team at this olympics but that's more in the team of enrollment individual events and never less russia's men's savings he managed to win a bronze medal for nicholai a couple of. its much easier to win something at the olympics when you are not the fever until she will people who falls to do six or think they can predict the outcome of this or that competition but it doesn't always work out the way people expect or final bronze of a day went to russia's four by one hundred men's swimming team freestyle team who managed all of them or lost such as the likes of australia to gain a medal in fact it was

a very good achievement to get on the podium also whether they were up against the likes of france australia as i said i am the usa but they put in a fine performance to clinch a bronze rich of a ball fleets r.t. london. now there's been plenty of action already on monday but not a lot of medals handed out just yet the first goal of the day has though and it's gone the way of rumania in the men's ten meter air rifle george moldavia surprise winner at the royal artillery barracks the twenty nine year old who's not even ranked in the top twenty five in the sport beating world number one nick lowe of comprehending of italy in the second place india's gag on narrowing rounded off the podium when marking romania's first goal of the game. engulf the canadian open reached a thrilling climax on sunday american skier pier she eventually claiming the title seeing off the challenge of composites william a girth on robert greek us pearcey managing to finish

a shot ahead of his countryman after his third consecutive score of sixty seven left him in seventeen on. sending a stroke back a little both the chance to win its first this attempt at par on the dean. well he to force a playoff. feel to sink a birdie attempt here meaning he to have to settle for joint second the davis belonging to las vegas native pearce. john there was a big. turnaround for me and i got a lot of things figured out and got a week off and got a rest and then i you know picked up right where i left off so i'm so excited about fred couples that showed he still got plenty of clark left in this golf club after winning this senior british open the fifty two year old demonstrating on the twelfth old just why he was renowned for a long car full of grinds the ninety nine to two masters champion are going very hallberg to finish a nine under for the tournament couple sealing the deal with

a touch of style as long puts her in her first ever win on british oil the american thus getting to take home the mature version of. turning our attention to m.l. b. baseball now with a struggling red sox given their fans something to shout about after beating historic rivals new york for the second straight day boston getting off to a good start in a hostile environment brian sweeney handing the visitors a two zero lead could double at the top of the second inning russell martin who ever was very much intent on keeping the home team in connecting with his second homer in the last three games before making it to two with an r.b.i. single tied game would head into extra innings for a recent boston position through yahoo see the deal minikin having what proved to be a winning single three to the final score boston of many struggled this season the l. east but if anything was going to be. going to be a win over the yankees. it didn't take

ricky why lynch and long to make his name in the big leagues the taiwanese pitcher striking out a career high twelve opponents the first time in team history as his baltimore orioles rushed open atlantics chan getting plenty of help from not connected with a three run homer to make it four zero in a six one eventual final score the oriel thrusts avoiding a three game season series sweep the three joe moment record breaking the spirit. rushes first ever world class small. s'pore truck has been tested eyed in the moscow region for time formula one champion alan prost the monk was in attendance for the rent a world series event constantine to top off was there as well. four years ago view dram to moscow would have its very own world class more a sports wreck today even a month ago you could heal only workers here and the quickest car was nowhere near formula one levels but the dream finally came true and high octane action has found

its home on the outskirts of the moscow region make an impact in international motor sport now a very real possibility for russia the building of the track began in two thousand and eight with a total cost to reaching one hundred fifty million dollars when it comes to a wants to get the best rate money can buy they call herrmann to look at the global renowned architect who's designed numerous f one tracks around the world it's a very technical track you have one part also talk is the faster the other half is so slow and very very tricky if you push too hard then you go a little bit over the limit then you lose a lot of time and you have to have in mind that the combination of the canasa you don't need to concentrate on the cause you are in now you have to concentrate also on the next to call. after four years of planning and many more years

of dreaming russia finally has its very own motor sports track to help because now that the racers can develop their skills in their own countries and maybe even the fast track their way into the f one ranks. one man already did it through up into when it's in the world work it became the first russian to make it into the sport's top and shalom so securing his first put him finish at the season opening a straddling ground pre the following season and after two years. bella tran are the twenty seven year old driver now races with f one her hair. actually that circles. in person because i think they make a few cars but all the focus is the thought of michael it's you know is no bump in the sand yeah but it's it's quite difficult you know it's it's a lot of low speed corner second and sort of here and it's really difficult to find

out if it's in the corner if one is for another day however the rana world series taking center stage this week not only was the first franchise to test the track it also hosted the first to go international more to sporting events russia. saying that they have the idea. and that's easy. so i can search by the style this is the stall the. tried where you can accept formula one just like the small prime russia is already set to join their one calendar in twenty fourteen it's another circuit in the winter olympic of sergeant however the moscow raceway should prove a solid plan b. and some of the sport still surrounds most likely be held here the dream finally a reality constantine by the archie. many years in the making great to see now finally the following athletes in germany have their own interpretation of

what's going on in london currently the if a new role model lympics bringing together competitors who don't mind getting done and dirty to reach the top the lighting of the ceremonial torch in hamburg only slightly less spectacular than a similar sort of money on a friday out a little park on both first on the menu a team members more than likely having trouble distinguishing the opposition from one of their own sleighs are usually reserved for the winter games but a really race through the muddle is among the clear spectator favorites here about local football. paralyzes so i have see the demeanor on food for the gold all the dirty fun for a good cause for the proceeds going to a local cancer trust it's. the same so a lot of the real olympics i love is all the sports though whether it's next.

that's. going to be soon which brightened if you knew the ballots.