What if I Lived in India Instead?

I found this site today and found it interesting -- pick a country, any country, and it'll display for you a list of statistics about how your life would be different if you lived there.  (Info source, it says, is the CIA World Factbook.)

Here's how India -- my next stop -- compares to home:

If India were your home instead of Canada you would...

have 9.8 times higher chance of dying in infancy

The number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in India is 49.13 while in Canada it is 4.99.

This entry gives the number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year; included is the total death rate, and deaths by sex, male and female. This rate is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country.
Source: CIA World Factbook

have 2.1 times more babies

The annual number of births per 1,000 people in India is 21.34 while in Canada it is 10.28.

This entry gives the average annual number of births during a year per 1,000 persons in the population at midyear; also known as crude birth rate. The birth rate is usually the dominant factor in determining the rate of population growth. It depends on both the level of fertility and the age structure of the population.
Source: CIA World Factbook

use 96.95% less electricity

The per capita consumption of electricity in India is 484kWh while in Canada it is 15,880kWh.

This entry consists of total electricity generated annually plus imports and minus exports, expressed in kilowatt-hours. The discrepancy between the amount of electricity generated and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is accounted for as loss in transmission and distribution.
Source: CIA World Factbook

consume 96.6% less oil

India consumes 0.0956 gallons of oil per day per capita while Canada consumes 2.8116

This entry is the total oil consumed in gallons per day (gal/day) divided by the population. The discrepancy between the amount of oil produced and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of stock changes, refinery gains, and other complicating factors.
Source: CIA World Factbook

make 91.93% less money

The GDP per capita in India is $3,100 while in Canada it is $38,400

This entry shows GDP on a purchasing power parity basis divided by population as of 1 July for the same year. A nation's GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates is the sum value of all goods and services produced in the country valued at prices prevailing in the United States. This is the measure most economists prefer when looking at per-capita welfare and when comparing living conditions or use of resources across countries. The measure is difficult to compute, as a US dollar value has to be assigned to all goods and services in the country regardless of whether these goods and services have a direct equivalent in the United States (for example, the value of an ox-cart or non-US military equipment); as a result, PPP estimates for some countries are based on a small and sometimes different set of goods and services. In addition, many countries do not formally participate in the World Bank's PPP project that calculates these measures, so the resulting GDP estimates for these countries may lack precision. For many developing countries, PPP-based GDP measures are multiples of the official exchange rate (OER) measure. The differences between the OER- and PPP-denominated GDP values for most of the wealthy industrialized countries are generally much smaller.
Source: CIA World Factbook

die 14.83 years sooner

The life expectancy at birth in India is 66.46 while in Canada it is 81.29.

This entry contains the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. The entry includes total population as well as the male and female components. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures.
Source: CIA World Factbook

spend 97.66% less money on health care  (includes both public and private spending)

Per capita public and private health expenditures combined in India are $86 USD while Canada spends $3,673 USD

This entry contains the per capita public and private health expenditure at purchase power parity using US Dollars. This figure combines government, personal, and employer spending on health care
Source: World Health Organization

have 25.88% more chance of being unemployed

India has an unemployment rate of 10.70% while Canada has 8.50%

This entry contains the percent of the labor force that is without jobs.
Source: CIA World Factbook

experience 14.64% more of a class divide

The GINI index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income. In India is 36.80 while in Canada it is 32.10.

This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country. The index is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the richest. The index is the ratio of (a) the area between a country's Lorenz curve and the 45 degree helping line to (b) the entire triangular area under the 45 degree line. The more nearly equal a country's income distribution, the closer its Lorenz curve to the 45 degree line and the lower its Gini index, e.g., a Scandinavian country with an index of 25. The more unequal a country's income distribution, the farther its Lorenz curve from the 45 degree line and the higher its Gini index, e.g., a Sub-Saharan country with an index of 50. If income were distributed with perfect equality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the 45 degree line and the index would be zero; if income were distributed with perfect inequality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the horizontal axis and the right vertical axis and the index would be 100.
Source: CIA World Factbook

be 25% less likely to have HIV/AIDS
I tried out another few countries, just out of curiosity (surprise, surprise, Scandinavian countries and New Zealand stack up pretty well) ... the one that shocked me was our comparison with the US:

If The United States were your home instead of Canada you wouhld...

spend 82.93% more money on health care -- they spend so much more, for a worse system?  (Hmmm, maybe public health care ISN'T so evil as they think.)

Per capita public and private health expenditures combined in The United States are $6,719 USD while Canada spends $3,673 USD

This entry contains the per capita public and private health expenditure at purchase power parity using US Dollars. This figure combines government, personal, and employer spending on health care
Source: World Health Organization

experience 40.19% more of a class divide -- this, in the country (US) that thinks it's a classless society

The GINI index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income. In The United States is 45.00 while in Canada it is 32.10.

This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country. The index is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the richest. The index is the ratio of (a) the area between a country's Lorenz curve and the 45 degree helping line to (b) the entire triangular area under the 45 degree line. The more nearly equal a country's income distribution, the closer its Lorenz curve to the 45 degree line and the lower its Gini index, e.g., a Scandinavian country with an index of 25. The more unequal a country's income distribution, the farther its Lorenz curve from the 45 degree line and the higher its Gini index, e.g., a Sub-Saharan country with an index of 50. If income were distributed with perfect equality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the 45 degree line and the index would be zero; if income were distributed with perfect inequality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the horizontal axis and the right vertical axis and the index would be 100.
Source: CIA World Factbook

have 34.53% more babies -- God help us, they'll outnumber us even more in future!

The annual number of births per 1,000 people in The United States is 13.83 while in Canada it is 10.28.

This entry gives the average annual number of births during a year per 1,000 persons in the population at midyear; also known as crude birth rate. The birth rate is usually the dominant factor in determining the rate of population growth. It depends on both the level of fertility and the age structure of the population.
Source: CIA World Factbook

have 23.05% more chance of dying in infancy

The number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in The United States is 6.14 while in Canada it is 4.99.

This entry gives the number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year; included is the total death rate, and deaths by sex, male and female. This rate is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country.
Source: CIA World Factbook

use 21.38% less electricity -- this surprised me (as did the "less oil" stat below)

The per capita consumption of electricity in The United States is 12,484kWh while in Canada it is 15,880kWh.

This entry consists of total electricity generated annually plus imports and minus exports, expressed in kilowatt-hours. The discrepancy between the amount of electricity generated and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is accounted for as loss in transmission and distribution.
Source: CIA World Factbook

make 20.83% more money -- but at the cost of more hours (see below) and worse health care

The GDP per capita in The United States is $46,400 while in Canada it is $38,400

This entry shows GDP on a purchasing power parity basis divided by population as of 1 July for the same year. A nation's GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates is the sum value of all goods and services produced in the country valued at prices prevailing in the United States. This is the measure most economists prefer when looking at per-capita welfare and when comparing living conditions or use of resources across countries. The measure is difficult to compute, as a US dollar value has to be assigned to all goods and services in the country regardless of whether these goods and services have a direct equivalent in the United States (for example, the value of an ox-cart or non-US military equipment); as a result, PPP estimates for some countries are based on a small and sometimes different set of goods and services. In addition, many countries do not formally participate in the World Bank's PPP project that calculates these measures, so the resulting GDP estimates for these countries may lack precision. For many developing countries, PPP-based GDP measures are multiples of the official exchange rate (OER) measure. The differences between the OER- and PPP-denominated GDP values for most of the wealthy industrialized countries are generally much smaller.
Source: CIA World Factbook

die 3.05 years sooner

The life expectancy at birth in The United States is 78.24 while in Canada it is 81.29.

This entry contains the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. The entry includes total population as well as the male and female components. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures.
Source: CIA World Factbook

have 9.41% more chance of being unemployed

The United States has an unemployment rate of 9.30% while Canada has 8.50%

This entry contains the percent of the labor force that is without jobs.
Source: CIA World Factbook

consume 6.11% less oil

The United States consumes 2.6400 gallons of oil per day per capita while Canada consumes 2.8116

This entry is the total oil consumed in gallons per day (gal/day) divided by the population. The discrepancy between the amount of oil produced and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of stock changes, refinery gains, and other complicating factors.
Source: CIA World Factbook

be 50% more likely to have HIV/AIDS

The number of adults living with HIV/AIDS in The United States is 0.60% while in Canada it is 0.40%.

This entry gives an estimate of the percentage of adults (aged 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS. The adult prevalence rate is calculated by dividing the estimated number of adults living with HIV/AIDS at yearend by the total adult population at yearend.
Source: CIA World Factbook

work 4.17% more hours each year
Okay, I'm supposed to be doing more errands in preparation for my trip (I leave on Sunday), so I'd better hop to it.  Talk to ya later!