Why not start the new year on a good note? The USA has re-taken the top spot in the 30th annual Quality of Life Index produced by International Living magazine, after falling as low as #13 during the Bush administration. A strong, relatively stable economy, solid infrastructure, and the convenience of having a pizza delivered at all hours of the night contributed to moving the USA back to the highest quality of life in the world.
The U.S. has more paved roads than anywhere else, more airports and a lot of cell phones, It’s got good Internet access, the world’s biggest economy (though not necessarily the best), and it’s got tens of thousands of doctors and hospitals (if you can afford them). The numbers say: The United States has a convenience that’s hard to match.
Having just returned from the States, I can vouch for the level of convenience relative to my native France (which dropped to #4 on this year's list). It's nice to have a car in the driveway, all night grocery stores, customer service reps with some concept of customer service, and stores that open another register when there are three or more customers in line. I think the fact that everyone in the States understands that time is money on a molecular level is still my favorite thing about that country.
Somehow tiny Malta checked in at #3 behind New Zealand for 2011 (not to slight any of our Maltese readers - I'm sure your island nation-state is lovely) despite having a total population smaller than my home town of New Orleans. Monaco was the other small nation-state in the Top 10 at #5. The rest of the Top 10 were Belgium, Germany, Austria, the U.K., and Japan - in that order.
The methodology for determining quality of life is always a matter of some debate, so International Living does its best to explain everything here. The list takes into account Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.
I was frankly kinda surprised to see the USA score 100 out of 100 in the Freedom category this year, especially in light of the recent TSA follies. The biggest hit to the Freedom score came under Bush at the height of all his PATRIOT Act nonsense but, unless abject national paranoia is the new yardstick of liberty, I'm not sure we've regained all that lost Freedom ground in the interim. But they didn't ask me.
So what do you guys think? Does the USA have the highest quality of life? Or does somewhere else?
First place by 10 points? I smell a rat...
The biggest surprise for me was the 90/100 for Health and 100/100 for Infrastructure. Then again, the US is pretty damn big and differs state to state.
hmm surprised to see the UK as well getting 100 in freedom especially with the stupid digital bills that were passed last year forcing ISPs to save every email etc for a time period and with the massive amount CCTV in operation. Also don't get how Germany has better culture than UK
haha Belgium before Germany, yeah right.
No offense to any Belgium wso users.
Also what's it with UK having the same climate rating as new Zealand, Uk a country known for rainy cold shit weather and New Zealand nice and sunny
The HDI done back in November 2010 ranked the following :
1- Norway 2- Australia 3- New Zealand 4- United States 5- Ireland
I was abit bloody shocked to see The UK get 100 in the freedom section considering the lack privacy when it comes to CCTV etc.
As for America well clearly I don't live there, Thus I cannot judge, But I am shocked at the stats, Didn't think they'd be so high.
US Economy = 100 Canadian Economy = 62
Yeah, right.
Well, "economy" doesn't just refer to the state of the economy, so that helps explain that a little bit, though not fully.
As for America getting a 100 in freedom, many people may be "shocked" by this, but mainly due to stupid political points being made by various parties. On the whole, America has more freedoms than the vast majority of the countries in the world (yes, even compared to Western European countries), and we need to learn to recognize and appreciate these freedoms more.
Think they just made them up to be honest
US environment 51!? Obviously they've never been to California.
Wait, Somalia didn't crack the top 10?
How's Poland above Switzerland + Canada?
EDIT: Or on the same level
How can Switzerland not be number one???????
Singapore economy = 60 Cuba economy = 60
Ok next...
In the final score, Singapore ranks even lower than Cuba (59 vs 57) and is on par with China and Tonga (where is Tonga?)... and is only one point ahead of Indonesia...
When, really, Singapore should be ranked #1 in the world :-)
How does it work out with the MRT shutting down at midnight? Although cab fare there is peanuts compared to stateside.
lost me after this
Don't suck each other's dicks just yet...
U...S...A!
U...S...A!
U...S...A!
Seriously, though, some of the ranking categories seem a bit bunk to me.
The US gets first place because of a huge improvement YoY on the economy front (it was rated 67 last year). I think this survey is officially irrelevant.
Nicely done. No but seriously, USA all the way.
Economy... nice word, I guess housing is not a variable in the equation anymore.
Economy... nice word, I guess housing is not a variable in the equation anymore.
The list makes no sense at all.
US health 90? Ok, maybe if it were medical school ranking or research capabilities, I wouldn't bother to argue. But why am I seeing so many Americans leaving their country just to get a cheap (and decent) cancer surgery? I've heard that cancer or any other treatments that incur huge costs constitute one-third of US household bankruptcy.
Infrastructure 100? I've never been to a country that has a better transportation system than Korea; not even Tokyo, let alone NYC. The price is one-third of those two cities and the system is way more convenient and modern.
Risk & Safety 100? Is the list made by the NRA?
according to top gear the average "late time" of japanese trains is......
one second.
i'm surprised that the UK ranked as high as it did. outside of London and bits of the countryside the place by and large is a complete and utter dump. the british national pastime is complaining about crap and their dry sense of humor developed as a coping mechanism to live in the country.
you need a shit ton of money to live there and get the same quality of life as the USA
Sure I've been called a xenophobe, but the truth is, I'm not. I honestly feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren't as good. That used to be called patriotism.
Haha...I'm pretty sure that this wasn't a serious comment. That is a kenny powers quote.
SB for you...classic
Wtf is with all this American-geared vitriol? Such liberal comments on here...
The second part (and decent) is not true at all. Some people leave to go to Belgium or some place but if you want the safest surgery in the world you have to go to a developed country where the cost is not cheap (to the taxpayers or the patient). People leave to go to brazil and Thailand to get plastic surgery, and tons of people die every year doing it.
Oh and infrastructure is not just the rail systems in the giant cities, America has a very well-developed highways, interstate, and inter-city transportation system. Its incomparable to other countries in many respects. While the newer cities (aka more recently entering developed country status) have nicer public systems because they were implemented with newer technology, much of these developing/newly developed countries is not paved.
How is America not the safest country in the world, we are not talking about pockets of destitution like Gary or Compton, on the whole and with regards to national security America is one of the safest. We did undergo the horror of 9/11 and the bombing before that, but try to remember a serious military/terrorist threat in the last 20 years that was not in the year following 9/11. No attacks, we have thwarted attempts at it, and no Americans have died on American soil as a result of terrorism since 9/11.
Also, Singapore as high on freedom...are you on some kind of hallucinogenic? The military oppressive regime in Singapore is insane. I remember my father traveled there on business in the mid-90s and almost got arrested for throwing a cigarette on the ground They shoot people on spot for carrying drugs. And they have asinine laws in the city, like putting a pot on a windowsill is punishable by multiple years in prison. They have an extensive CCTV network, and the military one-party has ruled for years. It is not in the least bit free, and I would not want to live for that reason alone.
If it were possible to give more than one silver banana per post you would have a million from me.
Haha...It is kind of sad, but Kenny Powers is one of my personal idols.
Dude, are you kidding me? That whole mentality that liberal=you hate America is asinine and complete and utter crap. Turn off Fox News for a while. By and large I think the USA does provide the best quality of life (for the money) of any developed country, but just because someone points out the real faults with the USA and doesn't blindly support everything we do as a country (because its supposedly patriotic) is what any intelligent constructive person would do.
We do have the best health care in the world hands down if you can afford it. But as everyone knows, the best care is not widely available to everyone. The Obama health care package was a very moderate step in the right direction, and the ignorant jackasses calling it socialist probably have no idea what that word means.
Our public transpiration sucks man, it really does. Compared to Europe we have allot of catching up to do. We do have a great road network, but our inter-city trains are ghetto as hell compared to what you get in Europe.
With regards to safety, you must be smoking crack to think that the USA is the safest place in the world.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capi…
We are pretty much dead last out of developed countries for numbers of murders per 1,000 people. And there have been a considerable number of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil after 9/11 that resulted in deaths. The D.C. Sniper, the anthrax attacks, fort hood shootings etc. They were all done by Islamic radicals and they all resulted in deaths. Again, I think the USA is safe on the whole for the average middle class person, but we are not by any means the safest if you talk about the country as a whole.
And yeah, i agree with you about Singapore.
I think being a patriot is like being part of a mob family. You can tell it like it is and if Fredo needs to go down, so be it, but respect is paramount and if another fam seems to be doing better than yours, you still stick by your people. And under no circumstance do you ever sell out or snitch on your family/country (aka treason).
Excellent point.
And no harm.
Btw, terribly sorry about the mixup Simple as, I'm hopeless with my KP quotes. I SBd a random comment of yours.
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