Is the USA really the best country in the world?

[destruction]

Here is something I googled from another board. I thought I bring it here.

Don't you hate it when the ignorant Americans are blindly convinced that America is the best country?

"We know our country isn't perfect, but it's closest."

"Even though Bush won, we are still the best country... Because we are America."

Sorry, United Statesians, but your arrogance and ignorance only reinforce the "American idiot" stereotype in this forum.

Please try to justify your belief that America is the best country.

We have a democracy!

Actually, you have a representative democracy, but so does Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany, and other countries. As of 2003, the majority of the world's people live in representative democracies [1].

India is the largest democracy (democratic republic) in the world [7], and Switzerland is the strongest example of a direct democracy [8].

We have the Freedom of Speech!!!

It is true that the United States has the most liberal freedom of speech. However, other countries such as Canada, Germany, and the European Union also have the freedom of speech; generally, the only restrictions are for preventing hate speech.

Outlawing hate speech does not cause the downfall of democracy, as these countries also have a representative democracy, which I mentioned above.

The United States tied at 22nd or 23rd in the worldwide Freedom of the Press index in 2004, while eight countries tied for first place [9].

We are the most intellectually advanced!

No.

In general, America is backwards and conservative compared to other developed countries. [2]

This study compared the United States to the countries of Northern Ireland, Philippines, Ireland, Poland, Italy, New Zealand, Austria, Norway, Great Britain, Netherlands, West Germany, Russia, Slovenia, Hungary, and East Germany.

When asked to answer yes or no to, "The Bible is the actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word," the third highest group (in terms of percentage) that answered yes was the United States (33.5%), compared to all the other countries listed above. In comparison, the percentage of Great Britain that answered yes was 7.0%. [3]

The United States ranked the highest for the following questions (compared to all the other countries listed above) [3]:

I definitely believe in "life after death" (55.0%)

I definitely believe in "the Devil." (45.4%)

I definitely believe in "Hell." (49.6%)

I definitely believe in "religious miracles." (45.6%)

In a survey that asked, "In your opinion, how true is this? Human beings developed from earlier species of animals," the percentage of people who answered yes was the lowest in the United States (<35.4%). In comparison, the percentage of Great Britain that answered yes was 76.7%. [3]

A study of mathematics and science literacy of 15-year-olds in developed countries was assessed in 2000. The United States ranked 18th in mathematical literacy, the top 8 mathematically-literate countries being Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Finland, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, respectively. The United States ranked 14th in science literacy, the top 7 scientifically-literate countries being Korea, Japan, Finland, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, respectively. [4]

The illiterate n00bs of Gaia may also be explained by the population of Americans. The number of Americans compared to non-Americans in ED is about half, while the number of Americans in the Chatterbox are greater than the number of non-Americans [5].

This is likely due to the poor literacy levels of Americans, as shown in a 2000 comparison of reading literacy of 15-year-olds in developed countries. The United States ranked 15th in the combined literacy score, the top 3 countries being Finland, Canada, and New Zealand, respectively. For "retrieving information", the United States ranked 15th, the top 5 countries being Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Korea, respectively. For "interpreting results", the US ranked 15th, the top 2 countries being Finland and Canada, respectively. For "reflecting on texts", the US ranked 11th, the top 4 countries being Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Finland, respectively. [6]

This may explain the inability of most EDers to recognize satire (No, this thread isn't a satire thread) or think critically.

We have the best social equality!

Hah!

The top three countries with the greatest income equalities are Slovak Republic, Belarus, and Hungary, respectively. The United States is not even in the top 30. The Gini index (a measure of inequality) of Slovak Republic, the country with the greatest equality, is 19.5; the Gini index of Sierra Leone, the country with the worst equality, is 62.9. The United States has a Gini index of 40.8, where the poorest 20% of its population receive 5.2% of the income and the richest 20% receive 46.4%. [10]

We have the best standard of living!

According to the 2004 UN quality-of-life index, the top 3 countries were Norway, Sweden, and Australia, respectively. The US ranked 8th in quality of life [11]. According to the 2005 Economist quality-of-life index, the USA ranked 13th in quality of life, the top countries being Ireland, Switzerland, and Norway, respectively [14]. The country with the highest life expectancy is Andorra (83.47), and the US is not even in the top 20 [12].

Interestingly, you are more likely to die in the USA compared to many, many countries, among them Canada, Australia, Cuba, North Korea, China, Israel, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait! [13]

We are the most multicultural country!

The most multicultural country in the world is arguably Canada or Australia.

Then why does everyone want to immigrate to the USA?

More people are immigrating to Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia than the United States. Canada has a net migration rate of 5.96, while the US has a net migration rate of 3.41. [15] (A positive number means people are migrating into the country, while a negative number means people are migrating out of the country.)

WE CAN NUKE YOUR COUNTRY AND DESTROY YOU!!!!!!11

Does the power to destroy people make you the best country? If you use that argument, you are just reinforcing the violent, arrogant, jingoist American stereotype.

There are many more obvious reasons why America is not the best country, but the points I brought up are the non-obvious ones... at least for most Americans.

Obviously, I am not saying all Americans are idiots. I am merely saying that America is not the best country.

References

1. Representative democracy

2. Beliefs of the U.S. Public about Evolution

3. Comparing Christian beliefs in U.S. with those of other countries

4. Mathematics and science literacy average scores of 15-year-olds, buy country: 2000

5. From the USA or not?

6. Combined reading literacy average scores and average subscale scores of 15-year-olds, by country: 2000

7. India

8. Democracy (varieties)

9. Freedom of the Press rating by country

10. Gap Between Rich and Poor: World Income Inequality - Thanks, Aolga

11. UN quality-of-life index, top countries, 2004

12. Countries with the Highest Life Expectancies in the World

13. CIA The World Factbook: Rank Order - Death rate (2005)

14. Economist world-wide quality of life index, 2005

15. Net Migration Rate (Top 25)

Further Reading:

World's Greatest Country: Do the Facts Lie?

[drlogic]

of course not

amerikuh sux

bush sux

france rox

now hurry up and get back to u'r can of dust off, xanax, glitter & glo-stix

[johnnyrevs]

we know that you hate this country

you don't have to keep reminding us

[destruction]

we know that you hate this country

you don't have to keep reminding us

Translation:

My arrogance and ignorance only reinforced the "American idiot" stereotype. I don't really have anything to defend my belief that America is the best country in the world so my arrogance will suffice but just saying it makes me feel sooooo good.

And I don't care.

Please try to justify your belief that America is the best country.

You really don't care about America's infrastructure, do you?

[patopeaking]

look

us aussie hate you americans

you have no idea what is going on outside your fucked up country

all we hear about is your dilemas. We dont want to be like you yanks

[patopeaking]

over and out