Is it true that a society is best judged, by how it treats its weakest members? On this basis, how is ours?

Define weakest members. We abort helpless infants. History probably wont look kindly on that . Our elderly get great care. Our drunks and drug addicts are at a disadvantage to other nations. Single mothers are helped but only enough so that they can never better thier situation. Our poorest citezen is probably overwieght right now. We are currently supporting the entire nation of Mexico by employing thirty million of thier underemployed. We have provided a strong enough military that noone else in North America has ever had to fear foriegn invasion. Freeing up the money they would have spent on defense so they can grow thier economy. We have tax sponsored compulsory education for every child. We have federaly subsidized loans and grants for the poor. We protect minorities from violence and descrimination at the cost of some personal freedoms for the majority. We are allowed to own property. But again the answer would depend on who you define as the weakest members. I think our society is mostly in favor of not taking care of the weak but empowering them to take care of themselves.

I think that this question holds true. On that basis, ours is not the worst, but still lacking. I think one of the major things that we need to do to improve this is to follow our European cousins and provide free heathcare for the citizens. Another thing we should do is educate our poor members of society who are on welfare and can't find jobs so they will be qualified for highly demanded positions. Our public education system is not even on the top 10 list in the world, and we can do better than that. So, based on your question and on a scale of 1-10, I would say ours rates about a 6.

sadly lacking. that is such bull ****!!! We give the handicapped monthly pensions, subsidize their housing costs, we build special stairs for them, have special schools, and they get the best parking places. In other societies, like China for instance, they take defective infants to the riverbank and drown them.

The previous answers reflect an Anti American self loathing attitude that I quite frankly can't comprehend.

Turn on the cable news right now. The American public is glued to their tv's as I type this watching the 6 miners that are in all likelyhood long dead attempt to get rescued. Millions of dollars in man hours and equipment are being spent to get the job done. In other parts of the world, suicide bombers are blowing themselves up in middle of crowds.

Don't tell me our society stinks. I dare you to find a better one.

They say that there is help out there when you are at your lowest point in a life and yet icant find it and if i hear 1 more person tell me there is help out there i am gonna grab a phone and tell them to dial it for me

Poor.

It's also true that a society that refuses to take care of its' most disadvantaged (or conversely, overly care for the highly advantaged) won't stay a country for long.

If you're talking about America, we are the best in providing freedom and the oportunity to excell!

Edit- in reading the answeres so far, maybe you'd like to be somewhere else? Republicans want to teach the poor to fish; democrats just want to give them fish. History has proven that the social programs the Democrats have touted for the past 50 years have failed and have actually done much more harm to the people they were supposed to have helped.

Edit- Rapiant- Do you have any idea of how the Continental European socialist system is bankrupting their countries??? You really need some education.

Ours is brutal considering the daily slaughter of the absolute weakest sanctioned by supreme court nonsense.

No. Best judged by its works.

Yes, I think it is so true - we are a very poor nation if that is the case. I think society is only rich if we learn compassion, kindness, charity, tolerance, acceptable and love.

Our GNP means nothing while there are people still sleeping in the park and under bridges, people cannot access health care and have no food.

Shame on us all for letting it happen around us.

Depends on who you perceive as the weakest.