What is the greatest nation on earth?

YouTube?t=1m36s

Please watch the above link before responding. It has some profanity, but is little more than 2 minutes long.

Considering factors like standard of living, median household income and crime rates, what is the greatest country in the world?

Originally posted by vivify
https://youtu.be/Y8J7Ug_0N6A?t=1m36s

Please watch the above link before responding. It has some profanity, but is little more than 2 minutes long.

Considering factors like standard of living, median household income and crime rates, what is the greatest country in the world?

This is the most honest 3 min 41 sec I've seen in a long time, though many in America can't deal with it. To answer your question though, I'd vote for Switzerland. They may not be able to blow up the world, but their people are better off economically. America is not bad, but it's not #1.

http://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp

Originally posted by vivify
https://youtu.be/Y8J7Ug_0N6A?t=1m36s

Please watch the above link before responding. It has some profanity, but is little more than 2 minutes long.

Considering factors like standard of living, median household income and crime rates, what is the greatest country in the world?

Well, according to the Human Development Report of 2014, Norway ranks number one currently with an HDI of 0.944. Switzerland has an HDI of 0.917. By comparison, the U.S. has an HDI of 0.914.

HDI=Human Development Index. It is a comparative measurement that measures things like life expectancy, education, quality of life, and standards of living.

However, I feel the question is somewhat pointless considering other human factors. Many humans will not agree that these HDI measurements are critical or even part of the measurement. This may be from ideological reasons, nationalism (which can override many sensibilities), or even something as simple as profession. In my profession, the U.S. is without a doubt in my mind the best country for me to live in, even with the changes made in recent years with the ACA. At the moment, by raw military power the U.S. is the best nation (or at least the most powerful) and those who value this have a strong case. Yet, if you don't value it then you don't.

So who is to say which is really the best country? If you define your parameters carefully enough you can greatly influence the outcome. Defining them as you did does just this. Defining them differently will have a very different outcome. In other words, any measurement we seek is subjective based largely upon the one or group doing the measurement and the results will be more a reflection of what they value than something concrete.

Originally posted by vivify
https://youtu.be/Y8J7Ug_0N6A?t=1m36s

Please watch the above link before responding. It has some profanity, but is little more than 2 minutes long.

Considering factors like standard of living, median household income and crime rates, what is the greatest country in the world?

That clip is quite famous and has been discussed on this forum many times.

Anyway, defining "greatness" is quite subjective. For example, you could define "greatness" as being the most dominant force in the world in terms of political and military influence, culture and technology, in which case the US clearly is the greatest country in the world. If you define it in terms of median living standard or even living standard per capita, the US might not crack the top 20.

But defining greatness in terms of wealth or living standard per capita is pretty pointless. The US is such an enormous country that culture and living standards of people in say, Boston can hardly be combined with those in, say, Hattiesburg in a meaningful way. If you wanted to make an apples to apples comparison, you'd probably have to compare the US to the whole EU. IF you wanted to compare Norway to something, maybe you'd choose Connecticut.

Now, if you want to ask which country would be the best to go live in, that's also a legitimate question, but is a very different one than that put forth by the OP.

The clip is thought provoking, certainly and is great writing by a great writer (Aaron Sorkin), but isn't much of a real analysis of anything.

Incidentally, if you insist on defining greatness on a per capita basis and, rather than standard of living, you choose per capita contribution to the world's knowledge and development of science and technology (which certainly seems every bit as legitimate), then the greatest country in the world just might be....

U-KNOW-WHO

....

Originally posted by vivify
https://youtu.be/Y8J7Ug_0N6A?t=1m36s

Please watch the above link before responding. It has some profanity, but is little more than 2 minutes long.

Considering factors like standard of living, median household income and crime rates, what is the greatest country in the world?

It depends on what you are looking for precisely and what you would value in particular. But, broadly speaking, Northern European countries tend to rank best followed by honorable mentions for countries like Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and a few others. If you would particularly value, say, women's emancipation and rights, then Northern Europe would be a good bet, but if security is deemed very important then Japan rates highly, with very low crime rates. As sh76 rightfully mentions, however, a much larger country is inevitably going to have some regions which do better than others. If you look at US regions separately, then for instance New England might not be so far from the honorable mentions, while the Deep South is perhaps closer to some better-performing former Soviet bloc nations like Poland.

Originally posted by sh76
Incidentally, if you insist on defining greatness on a per capita basis and, rather than standard of living, you choose per capita contribution to the world's knowledge and development of science and technology (which certainly seems every bit as legitimate), then the greatest country in the world just might be....

U-KNOW-WHO

....

Netherlands?

Wouldn't it be great if the 200th Greatest Nation was awesome?

That is what world leaders should be working on - making the worst place to live wonderful.
Not worrying about positions on a league table.

Originally posted by bill718
This is the most honest 3 min 41 sec I've seen in a long time, though many in America can't deal with it. To answer your question though, I'd vote for Switzerland. They may not be able to blow up the world, but their people are better off economically. America is not bad, but it's not #1.

http://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp

You have a point bill

Switzerland does not get bogged down in wars abroad.

Their citizens are armed to the teeth with automatic weapons.

The criteria for citizenship is hard to attain.

They are the world's bank. They have everyone's money.

They don't surrender their economic rights to a socialist bank like the Fed and they wisely stayed out of the EU.

Switzerland rocks!! 😵

Originally posted by whodey
You have a point bill

Switzerland does not get bogged down in wars abroad.

Their citizens are armed to the teeth with automatic weapons.

The criteria for citizenship is hard to attain.

They are the world's bank. They have everyone's money.

They don't surrender their economic rights to a socialist bank like the Fed and they wisely stayed out of the EU.

Switzerland rocks!! 😵

Actually, Switzerland has opted into many key EU treaties, including the Schengen area (open borders) and freedom of movement of labour. So while citizenship may not be easily obtained (that holds for just about every EU country, by the way), other EU citizens can freely move to Switzerland and work there.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Wouldn't it be great if the 200th Greatest Nation was awesome?

That is what world leaders should be working on - making the worst place to live wonderful.
Not worrying about positions on a league table.

We could start with a global basic income.

Greatness must surely be divined as to what has been given to humanity.

The TV: Scotland
Whisky: Scotland
Penicciline: Scotland
Billy Connolly: Scotland
Skirts for men: Scotland

I think they must rank in the top 3 at least.

Originally posted by vivify
https://youtu.be/Y8J7Ug_0N6A?t=1m36s

Please watch the above link before responding. It has some profanity, but is little more than 2 minutes long.

Considering factors like standard of living, median household income and crime rates, what is the greatest country in the world?

there is no greatest country in the world. there are great countries to live in.

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
there is no greatest country in the world. there are great countries to live in.

Russia




It is the greatest country by land area.

Originally posted by twhitehead
We could start with a global basic income.

So how much are you going to give me?