Is America the greatest country

[I_am_not_mafia]

The US are still a strangely intruguing country  to us crammed together Europeans, maybe because of its promise of possibility and free space, and a certain hard to grasp air of glamour, myth and national spirit. However, its infrastructure is terrible, the legal and prison system is a joke, gun violence is rampant, worker's rights are in a sorry state, and soo many people live in such bad conditions, e.g. concerning health and social protection. Still, having lived there, I get its charm.

I was always intrigued where Germans go when they get fed up of their country because from my British point of view, Germany probably has the highest standard of living anywhere. Better than the Scandinavian countries because of their climate. I was told that disgruntled Germans emigrate to Switzerland, which made sense. Oddly enough my dad moved to England for the freedom.

As far as I can see the only really bad thing about living in Germany is the bureaucracy. Sure there are other things I don't like, e.g. the lack of freedom (reinforced by bureaucracy), the sexism (reinforced by the bureaucratic tax system), the lack of customer service (bureaucracy with a smile) and the high tax (the most bureaucratic tax system in the world). But generally it's the ideal that most countries should aim for.

I sometimes think that bureaucracy in Germany is the equivalent to killing a Mammoth. It's how you come of age in Germany and show that you are now a fully grown human. I fully expect that in a few hundred years time 18 year olds will be presented with a complicated tax form on their birthday while their family members look on nervously. If they fail to fill it in properly then they are banished and must wander on the outskirts of society with the other untermensch. If they fill in every field correctly then they are given a certificate.

Some people think that you can judge a country by how they treat their poorest. By that standard, America isn't even a first world country. But ultimately it comes down to what you value, which is influenced by the culture that you grew up in.