These statements are true. But the problem with many of them is that the US is very diverse and very large compared to the countries against which it is competing. Compare the US against the Netherlands and it doesn't do so well. Compare it against Europe and it's a very different story. It is much more interesting to divide the US into its individual states and compare certain of them against these countries instead. I recall someone finding that several US states are better in many of these measures than every single country in the world (and of course several are ... not).
Dude still compared to Europe even with clunkers like the Balkans thrown in, it's still pretty far down the list on many many metrics. No where in Europe do kids regularly get killed in schools, or live under the threat of homelessness.
Perhaps I'm reading too far between the lines but I get a sense this list is written with a bit too much schadenfreude. I still see America as the best place in the world to live - there is nowhere more free and flush with opportunity. I see the items on this list as tragic and hope that the US is able to climb in those metrics as well.
From my perspective people in Norway, Denmark, Germany are for more free than Americans. They are from for fear of financial ruin in case of a medical emergency. They are free from fear of arbitrary firing. They are mostly free from fear of homelessness and hunger. At least, they have less fear of these things. From my experience in Europe people just live better overall there. Everything is more walkable.
In terms of life quality I can’t think of an area where America is clearly better than these countries.
Looking at one stat:
“ But the percentage of people living in poverty puts America at number 127 out of 172.”
However:
“ Definitions of poverty vary considerably among nations. For example, rich nations generally employ more generous standards of poverty than poor nations.”
So I wonder how meaningful a lot of the comparisons are.
I'm not sure either. What makes it even harder, is that in the poorer countries, people often eat locally grown organic food. This tends to be unaffordable to poor Americans.
It might be easier to narrow down to a city. I visited 20+ countries. From natural beauty perspective, Costa Rica, Hawaii (US), and Switzerland are top of my list.
I suppose that's why the entire world is trying to get here, they want to experience the awfulness. I came 20+ years ago and although Canada is a nice place to visit, fuck ever trying to live there again.
Readit News
https://www.google.com/search?q=child+homelessness+in+europe
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In terms of life quality I can’t think of an area where America is clearly better than these countries.
However:
“ Definitions of poverty vary considerably among nations. For example, rich nations generally employ more generous standards of poverty than poor nations.”
So I wonder how meaningful a lot of the comparisons are.
I'd like to move there.
Canadian Expat.
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