RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 3:55 pm
(This post was last modified: December 10, 2015 at 3:56 pm by TheRealJoeFish.)
(December 10, 2015 at 3:48 pm)Quantum Wrote:(December 10, 2015 at 3:46 pm)TheRealJoeFish Wrote: America is a very good country that is not the best country.
A few ways of looking at it: maybe the best country is where the average person is the richest. That's Luxembourg.
Maybe the best country is where the people are the happiest. That's, what, Iceland? Definitely the Scandinavia region.
Maybe the best country is where people live the longest. Again, Scandinavia plus Japan.
Maybe the best country is where people achieve great things while being reasonably happy.
Well, I think this is correct, of course. Coming up with a metric is gonna be... difficult.
The Human Development Index tries to combine lots of these things. Its top 10 countries in terms of quality of life are:
1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Switzeland
4. Netherlands
5. USA
6. Germany
7. New Zealand
8. Canada
9. Singapore
10. Denmark
So, that's my answer, tentatively: the USA might be about the 5th-best country.
Edited to add: 1) source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index 2) the HDI uses data regarding life expectancy, economic success, and education.
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Don't worry, my friend. If this be the end, then so shall it be.
