Side-By-Side Stats

Since I am looking at The World Factbook anyway, I thought I would do a side-by-side comparison. I know that one resource is not enough, but it'll be interesting to compare.

State of Israel (Medinat Israel)

"Age Structure"

0-14 years: 28% (male 1,018,229/female 971,083)
15-64 years: 62.2% (male 2,242,928/female 2,183,688)
65 years and over: 9.8% (male 303,289/female 393,142) (2008 est.)

"Median Age"

total: 28.9 years
male: 28.2 years
female: 29.7 years (2008 est.)

"Life Expectancy at Birth"

total population: 80.61 years
male: 78.54 years
female: 82.79 years (2008 est.)

United States of America

"Age Structure"

0-14 years: 20.1% (male 31,257,108/female 29,889,645)
15-64 years: 67.1% (male 101,825,901/female 102,161,823)
65 years and over: 12.7% (male 16,263,255/female 22,426,914) (2008 est.)

"Median Age"

total: 36.7 years
male: 35.4 years
female: 38.1 years (2008 est.)

"Life Expectancy at Birth"

total population: 78.14 years
male: 75.29 years
female: 81.13 years (2008 est.)

The "Age Structure" looks pretty similar. This does not surprise me.
Israel is a little younger in terms of Median age? Is it the olim or is it people dying earlier? Or something else entirely?
Israelis are supposed to live longer. Is it the army? Do Americans work themselves to death, or eat too much? Or something else?

The stats alone do not give me reason enough to move (as the questions above show, good stats can also mean bad things), but they sure do look nice in an argument!

This study does not purport to be scientific or unbiased. It is happy to know that Israel does not look as bleak as some people might think!

Don't Super-Size Me.

I think America is way too big for me. Its size -- 9,826,630 sq km, according to The World Factbook -- is too much for me to travel in a lifetime. Don't I want to see my entire country?

Israel, which is not "about half the size of Russia" (WF), at 20,770 sq km (total, according to the same source) might be too small for some. It's more than 400 times smaller than the US! But I like having things nearby. I will like to have the beach a reasonable distance away (without my having to move to a coastal city in the US). Having a smaller country will force me to get to know my country more intimately and to appreciate (or at least laugh at) little things.

I didn't say that a smaller country size will mean fewer job and living opportunities (that's a topic for another entry), but America is too big! And what if I'm not going to take advantage of all the opportunities here anyway?

Another Interesting Resource

From Forward.com...

The Olim!

If current negotiations bear fruit, the show will be broadcast on an as-yet unnamed national TV network in Israel, probably with Hebrew subtitles, as contestants will mainly speak English. It also will be available worldwide via Internet.

This should be interesting! I hope there will be someone like me.

See? It's Not So Bad....

According to an article in The Guardian, the US is not doing so well on the "human index." In some respects, Israel is doing better.

Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on healthcare, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country. And while it has the second-highest income per head in the world, the United States ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.

The reason?

....about 47 million people, are not covered by health insurance and so have limited access to healthcare.

As a result, the US is ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in terms of infants surviving to age one. The US infant mortality rate is on a par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia and Poland. If the US could match top-ranked Sweden, about 20,000 more American babies a year would live to their first birthday.

And I am not trying to bash, but it is interesting to note that

[i]n fact, citizens of Israel, Greece, Singapore, Costa Rica, South Korea and every western European and Nordic country save one can expect to live longer than Americans.

The report lists more problems:

The US has a higher percentage of children living in poverty than any of the world's richest countries.

In fact, the report shows that 15% of American children - 10.7 million - live in families with incomes of less than $1,500 per month.

It also reveals 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals.

And while in much of Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia, levels of enrol[l]ment of three and four-year-olds in pre-school are running at about 75%, in the US it is little more than 50%.

That last one, I don't think, is valid. That may indicate another problem altogether. Besides, who says these three or four-year-olds actually learn well, or at all?

The article continues....

The report not only highlights the differences between the US and other countries, it also picks up on the huge discrepancies between states, the country's 436 congressional districts and between ethnic groups.

"The Measure of America reveals huge gaps among some groups in our country to access opportunity and reach their potential," said the report's co-author, Sarah Burd-Sharps. "Some Americans are living anywhere from 30 to 50 years behind others when it comes to issues we all care about: health, education and standard of living.

"For example, the state human development index shows that people in last-ranked Mississippi are living 30 years behind those in first-ranked Connecticut."

Inequality remains stark. The richest fifth of Americans earn on average $168,170 a year, almost 15 times the average of the lowest fifth, who make do with $11,352.

The US is far behind many other countries in the support given to working families, particularly in terms of family leave, sick leave and childcare. The country has no federally mandated maternity leave.

The US also ranks first among the 30 rich countries of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of the number of people in prison, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the total population.

It has 5% of the world's people but 24% of its prisoners.

Sure, there might be some envy here, and maybe some other problems, but these are interesting data to note....It does make me wonder what is important to value in life. What really matters in a country?

The Movies I Love

As I wrote in an earlier post, I am not a big movies fan. I watched Israeli movies for Hebrew practice, and ended up being exposed to a different way of conceptualizing the movie. Ends don't have to be tied up nicely (not meaning "happily"); ends don't have to be tied up in the strict sense, either. Both "Meduzot" and "Shnat Efes" are open to interpretations, thanks to their metaphors (which I loved). Note, I am not saying that Israeli movies are better than American movies, but I am glad I discovered a new way to think about movies, and I would love the opportunity to watch more of these films.

Here are my top three favorites, of the movies I have seen (in no particular order):

1. Meduzot ( מדוזות // Jellyfish)

2. ha'Kayitz Shel Avia (הקיץ של אביה // Avia's Summer)


3. Shnat Efes (שנת אפס// Year Zero)


(All images are from Wikipedia)

From NBN: "Aliyah for Dummies"

"Aliyah for Dummies"

What comes before the flights? What comes before the shippers, the pilot trip and the applications and forms? NBN Director of Pre-Aliyah, Doreet Freedman describes the very first steps when Aliyah is all but a sapling of an idea in our minds.

Here I am, listening to a Nefesh b'Nefesh worker's thoughts on Aliyah on "Radio NBN." Let's see if she has anything useful (to me) to say (I will try to keep an open mind; the "sapling of an idea in our minds" makes me hopeful for something good; the writing on the website -- not so much).



Doreet also studied for a "master's in Israel..."

Doreet ("D") helps people considering aliyah...."If you want to have a successful aliyah, you need to do your homework...."

I agree.

D: The "bureaucratic process...is just part of it...."

D, explaining the process....

1. Appt. with aliyah shaliach, fill out paperwork (proof of Judaism); "Opening up a tik is free-of-charge"
2. Download application with tik # from NBN
• Who you are, "status issues," essay, references, letters of recommendation
• Financial/services (social) aid, verification of financial status

D: re: Pilot trip. "We cannot accept people who have never been to Israel before..."

I know what I need to do!

D: re: community
"Community sketch guide" on the site.

D: "We will help you write a resume..." etc etc.

That sounds good for me, too.

"In Israel, they want to make sure that you're here first...."

Good thing I am and will be a student.

I wish there were more information about students in this "program"....

D: Sal klita calculator online, NBN gives a grant, too.

I will definitely look at the archives....

Hestitation

I should write about the times I am not sure whether I would like to make aliyah, like this weekend. What about the quality of Israeli education? Of Israeli life? Of my disadvantage of not knowing English? Of living far away from my family?

These are not new, original, and profound thoughts, but they still make me wonder whether I should make aliyah. It's so hard to decide; everyone has their own reasons, or their lack of reasons. I just wish I were more sure. I'm sure that can only be solved by a trip to Israel...

An Admission and Revision

Ah, after searching far and wide, I have finally found a blog that is a light in all of the unplanned aliyah-making. I have found someone from Bar-Ilan. I have found a former politics major.

I have found Lizrael Update.

Why Language

איפה הלשון הקדוש

And here's another important thought: if the government goes down the drain, if there is violence, if there is sadness, if Israel tries too hard to pretend to be/make fun of America (hey, I don't care), there will always be Hebrew. There will always be an opportunity to learn Hebrew!

(I also hope learning it will never get tiring...)

And even famous people agree with me (not directly, of course)!

Another Reason....

...is Israeli libraries?

This is something I definitely need to check out. I love books in Hebrew, but are there enough libraries in Israel to meet my needs? Is there a different kind of loaning system?