Best Country in the World, and why?

[Charles J. White]

Well, not to upset anyone, but the old Dominion really is the best country in the world - Canada has it all!

From the mountains of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia to the ocean playgrounds in the Maritimes, and British Columbia. Large super clean cities like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, to the smaller urban cities of Halifax and Quebec City.

A people not known for shooting its neighbours on a daily basis; a country that attempts to get along with its citizens in general! A place where gays are generally safe.

A country that understands its British and French history; a culture mixed with judicial and constitution ideas and rights similar to America.

A place that so many from away have made lots of money off of, but so few have taken the time to actually visit and get to know the country as a whole or its people.

I have become more fond of the old colony the older I have gotten.

So, what is the best country to you, and why?

Edited July 17, 2013 by Charles J. White

[DAS]

This thread couldn't possibly end well.

[Charles J. White]

We as individuals are all adults here, and we can all have a fun discussion without getting angry at each other!

[DAS]

We CAN, but someone will always try to stir up trouble.

My opinion is (drum-roll please), the USA (surprised?). The Revolutionary philosophy that inspired the greatest move towards human freedom in world history is why. Obviously that philosophy is no longer prevalent in America. However, not many countries have changed the world with a sense of human rights and individualism.

[Plantpothead]

Having only been to a dozen or so countries, I couldn't make an honest assumption as to which, if any of ALL the countries in the world is the best. The Scandinavian countries appear to be quite harmonious.

[Strider]

It's pointless and impossible to actually quantify something like "the best country in the world". Unless you have been to EVERY country in the world and actually lived and worked in each one, it's rather condescending to even try.

[Janvier]

I agree, Canada is a good choice, although some of the Scandinavian countries like Denmark are also good candidates.

There's actually a strong link between Canada and Scandinavia, which explains why they're so much alike, see for example Nordicite canadienne by Louis E. Hamelin.

On the other hand if I lived in Brazil I wouldn't complain, despite the many problems, the poverty and the violence in certain areas, it has vast resources and vast and empty unexplored spaces like Canada or the United States, did you know that Brazil's Embraer is a mighty competitor to Quebéc's Bombardier? Try walking the Avenida Paulista and you'd swear you're actually walking Manhattan.

Try to talk to some people in, say Florianopolis, Curitiba, Joinville or Santa Catarina, they wouldn't live anywhere else and most are convinced they live in the best cities in the world, which is not so far from the truth in my opinion.

Also, at some period in history I'm sure some cities of the old Soviet Union offered excellent quality of life, and some cities of the former Eastern bloc, probably Belgrade pre-1990s.

[redrum]

With a population of only 35 million it doesn't sound like the ideal utopia to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Canada

Despite our flaws I'll take the USA any day.

[Led Dirigible]

This thread couldn't possibly end well.

+1 My thoughts exactly.

[RolandDeschain]

I love Canada, and wouldn't live anywhere else!!

[pottedplant]

I would not want to live anyplace but New Orleans, LA, USA. Problems yes, but it is a magical place, IMHO.

[the chase]

It's pointless and impossible to actually quantify something like "the best country in the world". Unless you have been to EVERY country in the world and actually lived and worked in each one, it's rather condescending to even try.

+1

But, I am very proud to be an American and am quite content.

Edited July 18, 2013 by the chase

[the chase]

with a 3-1 ratio of women to men, it doesn't sound too shabby to me.

With a population of only 35 million it doesn't sound like the ideal utopia to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Canada

Despite our flaws I'll take the USA any day.

[ledded1]

Here in North Korea you would be surprised that it really is a lovely country. We have very little crime, very little poor TV, very little fashion faux pas, and as you can see on the TV we like to dress very similar to one another. We have lots of guns but don't shoot slow walking black guys in hoodies. But come to think of it there are no slow walking black guys in hoodies in N Korea. Now if we could only persuade or friends and neighbours in the south to join us in a harmonious rebranding of the whole of Korea that would be something. The one downside is that our current leader cuts his own hair and he should let someone do it for him. But please don't tell anyone I said so.

That said I couldn't live anywhere else.

[Charles J. White]

The racial tensions in urban America, and Southern America combined with the extreme gun violence and significant number in the overall population of serious poverty are the few reasons which I can’t choose America.

The Scandinavian countries are really good choices for some of the best countries in the world as someone else pointed out.

Brazil although a fascinating choice, has extreme poverty and horrible healthcare in a significant number of the population but Brazil makes for an interesting choice overall. Canada is pretty good. And with a population of 35 Million one can find natural wilderness as it is meant to be, but one can also live in very large, urban, clean cities as well.

It makes for an interesting discussion. Australia would have to be considered as a number 1 place to live as well, although very expensive.

[Disco Duck]

Every country has problems but some countries have more problems than others. I liked what I saw of London, Paris, and Toronto when I visited those respective cities but being a tourist and living in a city are two different things.

[Sagittarius Rising]

Home is where the heart is. I have travelled the world over and liked several countries for differing reasons. I just don't think there is a "best country" because it is subjective based on taste. If you are a business owner who wants to get rich, well America is a great place. If you prefer a high standard of living with a greater distribution of wealth along the classes, the Scandinavian countries are the way to go. If you like bustin caps in people with little or no repercussion based on the cash you are willing to dole out, well, Russia and Mexico are the places to be.

Me, I am a citizen of the world and I like most countries, there are the exceptions but I don't want to piss off the North Korean guy on here

[slave to zep]

Australia !

but of course i do agree with what has already been said about it being subjective, and needing to live and work in all of them to really judge, which can't possibly be done in one life time.

[DAS]

The racial tensions in urban America, and Southern America combined with the extreme gun violence and significant number in the overall population of serious poverty are the few reasons which I can’t choose America.

The racial tension and gun violence are excessively exaggerated by people with a political agenda. The overwhelming majority of Americas are harmonious and integrated people. Gun violence in America is only a problem in places like Chicago that ban guns. I have lived in or around Kansas City my whole life. The city has an egregious crime problem, one of the worst in the country. However, I've never seen a gun in anyone's hands on the streets, seen a shooting, known anyone who had been shot at, etc. In fact, shootings aren't even on the news very often because they are relatively rare even in high crime areas. American poverty, on the other hand, is vast and encompasses a huge portion of the population. The only problem is that $35,000 a year is considered poverty in America! Starvation is practically non-existent in America and homelessness is not very common. The few people who are homeless tend to have a lot of help. There are so many shelters and missions in poor areas no one ever need sleep on the streets. It seems like all three of the things you pointed out are standard of living issues. America has one of (if not) the highest standards of living in world history.

[Plantpothead]

The racial tension and gun violence are excessively exaggerated by people with a political agenda. The overwhelming majority of Americas are harmonious and integrated people. Gun violence in America is only a problem in places like Chicago that ban guns. I have lived in or around Kansas City my whole life. The city has an egregious crime problem, one of the worst in the country. However, I've never seen a gun in anyone's hands on the streets, seen a shooting, known anyone who had been shot at, etc. In fact, shootings aren't even on the news very often because they are relatively rare even in high crime areas. American poverty, on the other hand, is vast and encompasses a huge portion of the population. The only problem is that $35,000 a year is considered poverty in America! Starvation is practically non-existent in America and homelessness is not very common. The few people who are homeless tend to have a lot of help. There are so many shelters and missions in poor areas no one ever need sleep on the streets. It seems like all three of the things you pointed out are standard of living issues. America has one of (if not) the highest standards of living in world history.

I must move to America, here in the UK our government stated to me that my family (two adults and two teenage children) can survive on £111.00 per week, so whilst I am out of work I receive not a penny. Don't move to the U.K.

[chillumpuffer]

I really loved India. Forget the caste system and poverty, never have I been more humbled than I have there. The beaches of the south to the Himalaya of the north it is a fascinating friendly country. The people who I met were Incredible. Even though they were living hand to mouth nothing was too much trouble. I have had tea and biscuits in a hill station in North India to sharing a taxi in Calcutta. Though having said that I was a visitor and safe with the knowledge that I could leave whenever I wanted. Boom Shiva !

[kingzoso]

Here in North Korea you would be surprised that it really is a lovely country. We have very little crime, very little poor TV, very little fashion faux pas, and as you can see on the TV we like to dress very similar to one another. We have lots of guns but don't shoot slow walking black guys in hoodies. But come to think of it there are no slow walking black guys in hoodies in N Korea. Now if we could only persuade or friends and neighbours in the south to join us in a harmonious rebranding of the whole of Korea that would be something. The one downside is that our current leader cuts his own hair and he should let someone do it for him. But please don't tell anyone I said so.

That said I couldn't live anywhere else.

It seems that you must have immigrated to North Korea (one of the most poverty-stricken nations on the planet) from Central England. Since the English are very prone to and appreciate sarcasm, I applaud your choice. However, I might advise you to move back to Central England because if your new found home country of North Korea does not stop their pursuance of nuclear weapons, sometime in the next couple of years, than I believe that North Korea will cease to be a poverty-stricken nation and a dictatorship, but a vast wasteland of radiation and contamination. All brought upon themselves (or at least by the young leader of that nation, you know, the one that cuts his own hair).

My answer to the topic at hand is the United States of America. Specifically, the Great State of TEXAS!!! For more reasons that I could state. (Get it? State?)

Edited July 18, 2013 by kingzoso

[JP78]

take out texas and florida and the answer is easily the United States.

[kingzoso]

take out texas and florida and the answer is easily the United States.

Were you not taught to Capitalize the First word of a sentence and the names of any state(s) of the Union? That is considering that you were born or raised in the USA.

Just asking... I take it that you are not an American citizen. Otherwise, why would a fellow American make such a comment without providing any background information or reasoning for this reply/post.

Edited July 18, 2013 by kingzoso

[Stormbringer]

I really loved India. Forget the caste system and poverty, never have I been more humbled than I have there. The beaches of the south to the Himalaya of the north it is a fascinating friendly country. The people who I met were Incredible. Even though they were living hand to mouth nothing was too much trouble. I have had tea and biscuits in a hill station in North India to sharing a taxi in Calcutta. Though having said that I was a visitor and safe with the knowledge that I could leave whenever I wanted. Boom Shiva !

Oh my oh my... you must have been in a totally different Indie then me. WORST COUNTRY EVER India is. Dont go there. Make a HUGE DETOUR around it. Avoid it, please, do!!!

People are terrible there. They are filthy (but I MEAN it, they piss and shit on the streets, throw waste everywhere around them, they dont care about hygiene), absolutely anti social (they are doing ALL THE THINGS you are told when you are a child in western world NOT TO DO... they do EXACTLY that!!!), they are unfriendly and mostly poor beggars with no limits whatsoever (they come to you and beg and beg and beg and when u say you dont give them anything, sorry, they beg on and go with you and are unfriendly and... brrrrrrrr).

No, really, dont go to India... It has beautifull nature (I was in the north, in Himalayas etc), but the people there just... almost not humans. I mean the buddhist part was nice, people were nice too, but the southern we went, the worse it was.

I dont want to say that ALL Indian people are like this, there are for sure exceptions and maybe in the south, it could be a whole different story, ok, but out of 1b people living there, I guess majority is living in these awfull conditions.

I have traveled through the world, been on many many places, in many many countries. I have seen poverty, richness, touristic places and uninhabited places too. I met friendly people and unfriendly people too. India is an extreme that I never ever met anywhere else.

Ok, back to topic. It is very subjectional (as you can see from what I have just said as well lol), but there are some objective charts too. HDP, healthcare, income, costs, medical care, crime rate etc etc etc... As far as I know, on top places, there is always Canada, Japan, Norway and such countries. So there is something to it.

From where I have been, I loved New Zealand the most. Nice place to live, you get everything there (mountains, oceans, deserts, forests, everything). People are getnle and nice towards eachother and its a "rich" country, where anyone can get a job and make a good living off it. Have I said that people are VERY friendly there too? .

For me its New Zealand, but I believe Canada and those countries could be very nice too... It would perhaps be too cold in there for me only . I like warmer climate .

BTW. Sorry to all Indian people here. I know all is not that bad in there and not all Indian people are "bad". And also, people are people. They live their ways and its ok. Peace.