Matt Smallbone

We celebrated Australia Day yesterday in Tennessee. Snow was forecast and it was not really the type of day that you would play backyard cricket whilst having a Barbie. It was more a case of hot chocolate and a DVD.

Lame.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Indialantic, FL playing bass for Matt Maher* and after the show a young lass asked me which country was better… Australia or America?

An insightful question for sure.

Here’s the thing. I have lived in the USA for 4 years and this land has dealt me incredible opportunities (e.g. hitching a ride to a Michael W Smith gig in a leer jet with Gov Mike Huckabee) that would never have come my way had I remained in south-east Queensland.

However, I still bleed green and gold.

I would much rather listen to Powderfinger than Bruce Springsteen and would watch an entire 5 days of an Ashes Test before I’d switch on the Superbowl.

Her question, however, was not one of preference… it was a question of better-ness.

Hmmm.

It takes a brave soul to answer this question. My Australian mates hate it when I use the word ‘diaper’. They will hate it even more if I conclude that the USA is ‘better’. This question will by its very nature emote a visceral response. It’s the same thing as asking who was the ‘better’ ball club in the 1980s… the Celtics or the Lakers.

This question needs to be answered from a vacuum, with no emotion if the truth is to be uncovered.

I graduated** from the University of Queensland in 1999 with a Bachelor of Applied Science. My instincts at times like this are therefore quasi-intellectual. I needed some criteria to answer the ‘better-ness question’. I have decided to attack this question (the conclusion of which will alienate me from 50% of my friends) via Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs***.

In a nutshell, Maslow suggested that you cannot meet your potential in life (a term that he called ‘self-actualization’****) until you have the basics taken care of. He was arguing that you cannot become Albert Einstein if you are starving in an African village.

I acknowledge that Maslow never intended his theory to be the test by which nations are judged.  However, it makes for some interesting dialogue as I want to raise my kids in a country that gives them the best chance of meeting their potential.

Below is the Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid. You need to have the bottom layers under control before you can move up a level. Basically, if your physiological, safety, belonging and esteem needs aren’t met you won’t become self- actualized.

I know that this is getting very un-rock-n-roll very quickly, but this Psychology 101 stuff is important arsenal at boring parties.

So now the important question becomes:

‘In which country am I more likely to self-actualize’?

I will attack one level of the pyramid per blog until we have a winner.

LEVEL 1 – PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS (breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion)

These basic needs must all be met in order to survive. So… which country takes care of physiological needs best?

Breathing goes to Australia. You have never felt more alive than waking up after a good night camping in the bush. There is amazingly fresh air in the outback.  Not so much in LA.

AUSTRALIA 1 – USA 0

Food – Food quality is about the same. I give this one to the USA though as food is so cheap***** in the land of the free.

1 all.

Water – USA with a big win on this one. They actually have water.

Sex- This is a tie… I guess.

USA 2 – AUSTRALIA 1.

Sleep – The USA wins this as basically every house has AC and central heating. You sleep every night in a dark room of constant temperature.

Homeostasis- This is a term that describes a body’s ability to regulate itself. I’ll give this a tie as I have felt my personal homeostasis consistent in both lands.

Excretion – This goes to Australia. We have about 75% less water in the bowl in Australia… and therefore splash back is something I experienced for the first time at LAX in 1997.

So… the land of flags and anthems wins the first round (of five) by a solitary point. Stay tuned as we take on ‘Safety’ in the near future.

*I was subbing for Matt Maher’s bass player Kemi Ndolo (which leaves Matt’s audience feeling like they have just attended the Red Hot Chili Peppers sans Flea).

** And paid for it via the Australian Federal Government’s HECS Scheme. HECS allows students to pay off their tertiary studies bill (approx $15,000 ish for 4 years in 1999) as they earn income in the future.

*** Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. I am pretty sure I got a ‘5’ for this subject… which is a B-.

**** Kind of like ‘Biggest Loser’ for your whole being

***** A KFC meal will cost over $10 in Australia and about half that in the USA