A Comparison

            
Location makes a difference:

                                     USA                             Zimbabwe

population               300 million              11 million
land size                     --                                  slightly larger than Montana
arable land               18.01%                       08.24%
birth rate                  14.2 /1000               31.6 /1000
death rate                 8.3 /1000                 17.3 /1000
infant mortality     6.3 /1000 births     33.9 /1000 births
median age               36.7 years                 17.6 years
% employed             93%                             20%
rate of inflation       1.1%                            231 million%
life expectancy        78.1 years                 44.3 years

In the USA the Republican administration is currently in the process of transferring power to a Democratic administration following the November elections.

In Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is under increasing pressure to step down amidst rampant inflation and continuing repercussions following the disputed runoff election last June in which supporters of the opposition were brutalized or killed.  President Mugabe, now 84 years old, has been in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980.  Last Friday Mugabe said, "I will never, never, never surrender.  Zimbabwe is mine, I am a Zimbabwean.  Zimbabwe belongs to us, not the British."  The country is currently facing economic collapse and a cholera epidemic.