Is America Number One SG

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Teacher’s Guide

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Introduction

This Video Kit is presented in three segments. For each segment, this Teacher’s Guide provides:

• Sample Worksheets (for easy photcopying)

• Additional "Provocative Statements" (in addition to those found in the Student Study Guide)

• Additional Discussion Questions (follow-up questions to those presented in the Worksheets)

• Extra Credit Ideas

A suggested lesson plan progression…

• Use the introduction from the Student Study Guide to help introduce the topic. Hold ice-breaker

discussion by asking the students if they think America is Number 1. Assign the Introductory

Worksheet and discuss. Tally and post responses to Question #2 (Where do you rank America?).

• View Segment 1 and have students complete the ‘Provocative Statements’ worksheet found in the

Student Study Guide. Discuss. Assign as homework Segment 1 reading material and Worksheet #1.

• Repeat the above for Segments 2 and 3.

• Assign the Final Worksheet. Tally and post responses to Question #4 (Where do you rank America?).

Has their ranking changed? Is America Number1?

We’re very interested to learn how you use the material.

Please find our contact information on the back of this guide.

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Introductory Worksheet(Discuss before watching video.)

1. List several criteria that you would use to determine which country is Number 1.

(a.)

(b.)

(c.)

(d.)

(e.)

2. Where do you think America would rank using your criteria? (Use a number.)

What is the basis for your judgement?

3. Does it matter whether America is Number 1? To Whom? Why?

4. Suppose the United Nations appointed you to head a new commission that would investigate why some countries

have high rates of heart disease and others have low rates of heart disease. What kind of evidence would you look

for to answer that question? Suppose instead that the question asked why some countries have high incomes and

others have low incomes. What kind of evidence would you look for to answer that question?

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Additional Provocative Statements(in addition to those found on page 7 of the Student Study Guide)1. Now when people say freedom, I usually think of

democracy – freedom to elect your representatives,but democracy alone doesn't make a country prosper.India's a democracy. It's similar to ours, yet thepoverty in India shows that democracy alone is not enough.

2. Okay, Coke and Pepsi are not nutritious or essentialfood, but lots of people like them; and shouldn't theIndian people get to decide if they want to drinkwhat Americans drink?

Additional Discussion Questions(follow-up questions to those presented in Worksheet #1)U.S. Poverty and World Poverty1a. In what ways does poverty in America differ from

poverty in the rest of the world? How is it similar?

Advanced Question: Should we be more concernedabout an American family living on $10,000 per year(below the American average) or a family living on$4,000 per year in a poor country where the averageincome is below $1,000? Why?

Life Expectancy and Income Comparisons2a. Is average life expectancy a good way to measure

which country is Number 1? Why or why not?Advanced Question: In judging which country is Number 1, how important is life expectancy com-pared to other values? What (if any) features of a country would make a country with a shorter life expectancy "better" than a country in which people live longer?

Income and the Quality of Life3a. What other data regarding longevity, health, and the

quality of life would help you determine whether Americans are better off than, say, Indians?

3b. India’s poor do not expect to have running water, while America’s poor expect to have color televisions.Does that make it as hard for a poor American to live without color television as it is for a poor Indian to live without running water? Do people care more about how much they have, or about how much they have compared to their neighbors? To what extent do you think our understanding of poverty is shaped by our expectations?

Advanced Question: Do you think people in higher-income countries have higher-quality lives because of their higher incomes? Or do you think that theirincomes are higher because the quality of their lives is higher? Or do you think that neither one causes the other, but both happen to result from some otherunderlying factor? How would you try to find evidenceto decide which view is correct?

The Environmentfor Success

Video Segment 1

Video Segment 1 is approximately17 minutes and is covered onpages 3-8 in the Student StudyGuide.

Population

4a. If the world had twice as many people, do you think there would be twice as many good ideas? Why might there be fewer than twice as many good ideas? Why might there be more than twice as many good ideas?

4b. If only half as many people used the Internet, do you think it would be only half as good? How does the Internet illustrate the external benefits of a large population?

4c. If a family on the other side of town decides to have a large number of children, how are you affected? List some of the ways in which you benefit and some of the ways in which you might be hurt. Doesyour answer depend on what kind of government you live under? All things considered, do you think it's good or bad for you when other people's familiesget larger?

5a. In 1798, the economist Thomas Malthus argued that an increasing population would eventually outrun the world's food supply. If your neighbors have more children, outrunning their ability to feed themselves, does this affect the amount of food available to you? If so, how? If not, what becomes of Malthus's argument? Why might his argument be right in India and wrong in Hong Kong? If an increasing population means more people with more ideas about how to improve agricultural yields, what becomes of Malthus's argument?

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Extra Credit Ideas1. In regards to question 3a., ask the students to find

such data at the library or on the Internet. What canthey conclude from their investigation?

2. Ask the students to reconsider the calculation thatplaces the entire world’s population in Texas, allowinga certain amount of land to grow food for each person.Have them search the Internet or library for data onthe amount of land necessary (with current tech-nology) to produce enough food for one person forone year. Adding that land to the calculation, howmuch land area would be required for the world’scurrent population?

3. See "For More Information" and "End Notes" onpage 8 of the Student Study Guide for more ideas.

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Worksheet #1(Discuss after watching Segment 1 – The Environment for Success.)

1. How should we define poverty? Does it matter how we plan to use the definition?

2. Why do people in richer countries live longer?

3. Do you think people who live in rich countries are happier than people who live in poor countries? What kind of evidence could help to settle this question?

4. How does the video refute the assertion that India’s poverty stems from its population density? Do you find the refutation convincing? What additional evidence could you gather to help settle this question?

5. The video argues that a lack of natural resources cannot explain why India is poor – because Hong Kong was nothing but a big rock, and it became rich. Do you agree or disagree with this argument? What additional evidence might convince you that this argument is correct? What additional evidence might convince you that it is incorrect?

Results May Vary

Video Segment 2


Additional Provocative Statements(in addition to those found on page 13 of the Student Study Guide)1. (The Founders) made a country that said if you want

it you can get it. We’re not going to guarantee you it.We’re not going to go out of our way to make sureyou get it. But if you want it, you can get it.

2. If you are an ordinary guy, without connections,you’re best off coming to this country (U.S.).

Additional Discussion Questions(follow-up questions to those presented in Worksheet #2)Freedom and Democracy1a. Do you think it is more likely that more civil liberties

contribute to higher incomes, or that people with higher incomes demand from their governments, and end up getting, more civil liberties?

2a. How can you begin to talk about the cost of allowingso much opportunity?

3a. How do television news images of law enforcement officials intercepting Mexicans as they cross the Rio Grande or Cubans as they come ashore in Florida fit with your rating or Stossel’s assertion?

Economic Freedom4a. How would you estimate the total costs of some

particular government regulation? How would you estimate its total benefits?

4b. Suppose people needed government approval for any Web site. What would be the likely costs and benefits of this regulation?

4c. Do you think that the government imposes regulations mainly to help the overall society or mainly to help special interests? What kinds of evidence would support your answer? What kinds of evidence would contradict your answer?

4d. Who should decide whether people in India have the right to drink Coke and Pepsi, or eat at McDonalds?Should each person in India have the right to decide for herself or should someone else decide for her? Who? Why?

5a. How can you measure whether their benefits outweigh their costs?

5b. Which of these laws would you be willing to see repealed? Why?

Advanced Question: Using the logic consistentlypresented in this segment, should you and your fellow students initiate a drive to repeal your community’szoning regulations? How about the requirements forbuilding permits? Why or why not?

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Advanced Question: Certainly America’s record in thearea of government regulation is less than consistent.Can you find evidence that would allow you to compare growth and opportunities available during the laissez-faire era of the 19th century with the growthand opportunities available during the more regulatedperiod of the New Deal and later 20th century? Whatdata can you find that would allow you to compare thegrowth and opportunities in heavily regulated and notso regulated areas of our economy today, say thepharmaceutical industry compared to e-commerce?

Extra Credit Ideas1. Have the students list some reasons to help explain

why economically free countries are richer (on average). Do they think economic freedom helps a country become wealthier? Or does greater wealthlead to more economic freedom? Ask them to provideevidence to support their answers.

2. The video shows how economic freedom led to therevival of Youngstown, Ohio. Have the studentsidentify another example. Ask them if they thinkthe Youngstown experience was typical, or do theythink that Youngstown was chosen because it isunusual? What kind of evidence would help themdecide this question?


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Worksheet #2(Discuss after watching Segment 2 – Results May Vary.)

1. What is the difference between freedom and democracy?

2. Segment 2 opens with John Stossel saying, "Even if you don’t think America is the best country in the world, you can’t quarrel with America’s performance at creating opportunity." Do you accept this? Why? Why not?

3. On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate America’s openness to new ideas? To Immigrants?

4. List some government regulations. What are their benefits? What are their costs?

5. In one of the exchanges between Stossel and Tom Palmer they discuss "one seemingly worker-friendly (French) law (that) actually says workers may not work more than thirty-five hours a week." How could this law not be worker friendly? List several American laws passed with the intent of protecting workers. What are the benefits? What are the costs?

Is ItArrogance?

Video Segment 3


Additional Provocative Statements(in addition to those found on page 17 of the Student Study Guide)1. The secret is now out. People know that if you want

to be the pilot of your own life, if you want to makeyour own destiny, there's only one place to do it – andthat is in America.

2. We now know what works: democracy, rule of law and economic freedom. Yet most of the people in theworld continue to suffer under governments thatrepress those things, and leaders who sanctimoniouslysay, despite a record of failure, that they know better.

Additional Discussion Questions(follow-up questions to those presented in Worksheet #3)Economic Freedom Generates Economic Growth1a. What are some reasons that pollution might increase

with economic growth?

1b. Why do you think that richer countries tend to have better environments, with less pollution?

2a. What data would it take to prove the case one way or the other? Can you find data to demonstrate that American society has changed in this regard over the last fifty years?

2b. How do you think your own racial/ethnic backgroundinfluences your answers?

Advanced Question: Consider Sister Helen who runs thesoup kitchen in the South Bronx. Is it possible that hervolunteer effort is superior to government efforts? Is itpossible that her efforts are counter-productive for bothher clients and for society as a whole?

Savings, Risk-taking and Economic Growth3a. If David Levy had an income guaranteed by the

government, do you think he would try harder or lesshard to think of genuinely useful inventions? Why?

3b. If the government raises taxes in order to fund welfare programs for people who have been unsuc-cessful in the marketplace, will there be more or fewer inventions?

Advanced Question: What are some of the advantagesand disadvantages of allowing people like David Levy the freedom to attempt success and risk failure?

How Do We Know Who’s Number 1?4a. When people "vote with their feet" by moving from

one country to another, can we conclude that they expect a better life in the other country?

4b. How does recent American immigration experience with Mexico, Cuba, and Canada support or refute D’Souza’s suggestion? What does historic data from the nineteenth and twentieth century suggest?

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Extra Credit Ideas1. Clearly most people’s income changes over time.

Ask the students to find evidence to determinewhether or not a significant number of people haveactually moved up the economic ladder during thelast thirty years. Consider these questions: How is itpossible that people at lower income levels can havetheir income increase significantly but still be worseoff than they were before? What data can you findshowing the equality or inequality of income distri-bution in America? Has there been any significantchange in the equality of income distribution overthe last forty years? Should we as a country promotea more equal distribution of income as a matter ofnational policy? If so, should it be coercivelyimposed, say through taxation, or should it beaccomplished through voluntary means?

2. Some economists use the term "creative destruction"to describe what happened to George O’Neal (thesteel worker from Youngstown), the steel industryitself, and the city of Youngstown. Ask the studentsfor their definition and to state evidence as providedin the video. Consider these questions: What wouldyou need to know before you could decide if it was apositive or a negative process? Is it even reasonableto expect a clear-cut verdict concerning creativedestruction? What responsibility does society havefor those individuals, like George O’Neal, who getcaught in the midst of this process?


4c. In 1980, Fidel Castro agreed to allow Cubans to legally emigrate from Cuba to the United States. 120,000 Cubans left the next day. What, if any, conclusions can we draw from this episode about life in the United States versus life in Cuba?

4d. Do people "vote with their feet" by moving from one state to another within the United States? What, if anything, can we infer about the states where people prefer to live?

Advanced Question: Besides observing how people"vote with their feet," can you think of other ways to determine how people decide which country theywould like to live in?

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Worksheet #3(Discuss after watching Segment 3 – Is It Arrogance?)

1. Why do countries with more economic freedom grow faster? Why do those with less economic freedom growmore slowly?

2. The restaurant owner, Malik Amstead, claims that you can triumph over the racial and ethnic prejudice in America. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

3. Do high taxes encourage or discourage inventiveness? How?

4. Dinesh D’Souza argues that people voting with their feet is powerful testimony relative to desirable places to live. Do you agree with his analysis? Explain the basis of your argument.

5. Is it arrogant to assert that America is Number 1? Why? Why not?

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Final Worksheet(Discuss after watching all three Segments.)

1. What issues raised in the video have implications for government policies? Are any of the issues not related to government policies? Explain your answers.

2. What evidence does the video cite to support its claims? What other evidence might support or contradict those claims?

3. What other evidence can you find – besides the evidence in the video and in this study guide – that either supportsor contradicts the claims in the video and study guide?

4. You have seen a good deal of evidence and heard testimony from a variety of witnesses. Where do you now rank America? Has your earlier ranking changed? Is America Number 1?

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ConclusionWhy is it that Americans can take so many things for grant-ed – from electricity to a long life filled with entertainmentoptions – while many people around the world, mainly inpoor countries, lack not only electricity but food and safewater? The video suggests that the main reasons are eco-nomic freedom and openness (to everything from new ideasto immigrants). The views expressed in the video are notjust a "matter of opinion." They are statements about reallife that are either true or false (or that contain some ele-ments of each) and can either be supported or refuted byevidence.

The class has seen a good deal of evidence and heard testi-mony from a variety of witnesses. The available evidence –some of which we have presented here – supports the state-ments in the video. Economic freedom contributes to a better material standard of living and improves other non-material aspects of our lives. So what did the class decide?Is America Number1?

We’re very interested to learn how you use the material.Please find our contact information on the back of this guide.

a project of Center for Independent Thought73 Spring Street, Suite 408New York, NY 10012

Email: [email protected]: 212-925-9083

For additional educational resources, educational activities, andinformation about us, visit us online at stosselintheclassroom.org

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Is America Number One SG