So... Which Country Is The Best?

[Jason Tandro]

I was asked by this local reporter one day (he was interviewing a bunch of random people at my town):

"Why Do You Think America Is The Greatest Country?"

My answer was rather blunt.

"I don't."


Don't get me wrong, I'm as patriotic as the next man. I love my country and I wouldn't rather live anywhere else. In my mind it is the greatest country, but I don't believe that in the literal sense.

Every country has a lot of stuff bad about it and varying levels of "good".

So, let's extoll the virtues of our countries, shall we?

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United States of America

Pros

Freedom... For the Most Part
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While it's true that some groups (particularly homosexuals) are finding their rights under attack nowadays, the fact still remains that you can do a lot of stuff in this country that you can't do in many others. We do not lead the world in social freedoms and civil rights, but we are towards the top of the list.

Beautiful
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While urban sprawl is kinda killing it, our country has tons of natural beauty. We have every type of environment under the sun. From the arctic tundra of Alaska to the desert mesas of Arizona.

Culural Melting Pot
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Recent illegal immigration witchhunts notwithstanding our country has tradtionally been a great societal blender. Even in my little hick town, 87 different nationalities are recognized (or maybe it's 87 languages spoken... I'm not sure which).

Well Protected
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I'm sure some people (Ratty, psychokind and Valerie come to mind) would say that our military might is a con, but at the end of the day its nice to go to bed at night knowing that your country will probably never be invaded. The fact is that America has the second largest military force in the world, and the best equipped. Our navy has finished our 13th aircraft carrier. The country with the second largest navy has about 6. But to be honest, even if our military was not so large, mother nature is on our side. Anybody wanting to invade us would have to cross an ocean to get to us.


Cons

World Police
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While in some cases I believe this is necessary, I will admit that our tendency to go on crusades has given our country a stigma that we will not likely overcome.

Violent
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With freedom comes the freedom to do stupid stuff. We are regarded as one of the most violent nations in the world. During peacetime we are probably the most violent.

Arrogant
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And I'll be the first to admit it. We have only been around for 230 years. In that time we have won almost every single war we've been in, the two we "lost" we lost politically and not militarily, and we now have the best military in the world. We brag about freedoms and diversity, most of us unaware that many countries have adopted similar and even better political systems. A lot of us claim that without America the world economy would shutter to a halt and these people are what I like to call "wrong". No doubt there would be an impact, but no moreso than any other global superpower going down.

[psychokind]

Germany!

and more precisly: the Grand Duchy of Baden!

[Freedan]

Canada... let's see... I'm sure there's some things I'll miss, but here's what I can think of right now:

Pros:

- We have a relatively low crime rate.

- Beautiful scenery, especially around the coasts and parks.

- Freedom. You won't find anything Patriot Act-like here. Also, gay marriage is legal, which I'm just fine with.

- Multicultural. While it does irritate me when a specific group starts clamouring for special treatment, we're accepting of different cultures.

- We're generally well-liked. I think most Canadians tend to believe the whole world loves us, which probably isn't true, but we don't have any real enemies.

- Universal health care. I'm glad to live in a country where I won't be denied a procedure I need because I don't have a spare $45,000.



Cons:

- That universal health care usually comes with a significant waiting period. It can take weeks, even months to see a specialist for a certain condition.

- Our government is a joke. Our former Liberal gov't was caught lining their own pockets with money, which led to the Conservatives getting elected. They promised an 'era of accountability and transparency', which has been one big lie. In fact, the gov't is more secretive than ever. They withhold information from the people, stage public events down to the tiniest detail (including not allowing people to ask questions unless they're approved), passed out instructions to their MPs on how to bring Parliament to a standstill if things aren't going their way, silence their MPs if they say something without our PMs permission; really, it's more of a totalitarian gov't then 'transparent and accountable'. Our PM complained in previous years that our senate was unfairly stacked with Liberal supporters.... so he appoints a shitload of Conservative supporters instead. People complain about the Liberals, complain about the Conservatives, but won't elect the third option because most people either don't trust them, or don't take them seriously.

- That isn't helped by our low voter turnout, usually around 60-65% for federal elections... even lower for local ones.

- People in Canada are polite, but not always especially friendly unless you get to the coasts (the Maritimes, mainly). Smaller cities means nicer people. Toronto is like our New York City; people might not be openly hostile, but they're generally off in their own world.


Bah... I think I'll just cut it off here.