Perhaps not a direct comparison, but there’s do denying that Bush II pushed the U.S. a long way in that general direction.
More of a gentle nudge, really. “A long way” really isn’t the case when you look at what a really bad country can be like. The US would have to get a lot worse before it comes even close.
I can’t believe I’m having to defend the US. Me! I feel dirty.
- North Korea-Real-life Orwellian dictatorship
- Somalia-Anarchy, warlords, theocrats, pirates. 'Nuff said
- DRC-Another anarchy, victim of the “African World War”
- Afghanistan-Epicenter of Taliban and Al-Qaeda
- Pakistan-Another epicenter of Islamists
- Saudi Arabia-Ultra-reactionary theocratic hellhole
- Zimbabwe-Weimar-in-Africa: Rampant inflation, armed mobs expropriating ethnic minorities, populist dictator with a toothbrush moustache…
- Sudan-Genocidal dictatorship
- Syria-Currently undergoing civil war
- Mali-Ultra-poor, landlocked, again undergoing civil war
But not a great place if you, say, had your retirement savings in your bank account in Zimbabwean dollars. A foreign traveler to Zimbabwe might not be affected much by inflation, but it’s a very different story for a local.
Who are we writing this ranking for, anyway? It seems the list might look rather different for a tourist, a more-or-less average Joe who wants to work a steady job, raise a couple of kids, and eventually be able to retire, a woman wanting more or less the same as the aforementioned average Joe, a member of an ethnic, religious, or non-religious minority, or someone who wants to criticize the government.
True, for a feral child raised by wolves, Haiti could be paradise.
I’m sure Labadee is quite nice. It’s in Haiti.
I went to China a few years ago. It was nice, other than the air pollution. But I don’t think I’d want to live there if I were a member of Falun Gong or if I were interested in criticizing the government. I was a foreigner who was neither, so I had no problems. You can’t infer from that that everyone’s experience of being in China is problem-free.
That’s pretty much my point. If you are creating a “bottom 10” list from the point of view of a middle class person, things like appropriating property from the middle class and hyperinflation (Cuba, Zimbabwe before dollarization, etc.) are going to bump a country up pretty high. If you are writing from the point of view of the dirt poor, you are probably mostly concerned about disease burden and life expectancy. If you are writing as a political activist, otherwise pleasant places such as SIngapore are going to make the list.
South Africa is by far the most prosperous country in SSA, but for the very poor the violence and disease burden is much worse than living a modest but relatively safe life as a villager in a much poorer country.
So I really don’t think it’s even possible to picture a single complete list.
As for America, in some ways everyone on the planet lives with America, even if they are not actually in it. One of the reasons why the US is a fairly safe and prosperous place is that we have the capability to move violence, pollution, etc. in to other countries. I think it’s far from the worst place in the world, but if I were being bombed and my country’s social institutions were being gutted by US-backed development policy, I might feel differently.
Yeah. Unfortunately, a “real” list of the worst countries in the world is probably going to involve countries your average Joe Murrikan has never heard of. And we can’t have that, now can we?
I see PrettyVacant is playing the part of Der Trihs this week…
Have you ironed your flags yet today?
The other thing is that while on paper a country can look horrible, in practice it isn’t. Its illegal to be gay here, yet there is a openly gay bar and casual homophobia is no worse than in the USA.
I don’t own a flag. I also don’t spit when I see one…
Yeah, I can’t believe Mexico is on that list. Mexico! Is that just because “this is a country that isn’t in Europe but I’ve heard of it and also Juarez is a pit”?
I’ve heard that Equatorial Guinea is an absolute shitpile these days, but I’ve read very little about it in the media.
So there’s no torture in North Korea, Iran, or Saudi Arabia?
Ditto for this
Two, arguably three
Afghanistan-Invaded due to 9-11 attacks, just war if there ever was one
Iraq-Mistaken intelligence obviously leading to a bloody disaster
Libya-Invaded/intervened only due to UN backing and Arab League backing
Those statistics are ridiculous. Most people who died in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere were killed by their own countrymen not American soldiers.
Much of the reason why our military budget is so high is because we give our military some of the best pay and medical care in the world. And where the Hell did you get the statistics from? We use 4% of our GDP not 20%. Perhaps 20% of federal government spending.
If you haven’t noticed crime has been falling and by a lot lately. Although I do support marijuana legalization.
Nonsense. Democracy just means majority rule of the people. People aren’t so stupid as to be simply directed toward the candidate or cause who can raise the most money-after all numerous initiatives here in California got defeated for example despite massive financial support.
Ah yes Israel…the only functioning democracy in the Middle East.
Not that they wouldn’t wanna live here . . . 
You misspelled “deliberately falsified and cherry-picked to support a foregone conclusion intelligence”.
I would definitely put North Korea on top of the list. I just finished reading “Nothing to Envy” by Barbara Demick and if it’s anything as she’s described, it’s pretty much the worst place on Earth. I have a collegue that just came back from 5 years living in Mexico and she enjoyed it there. I have another collegue that lives in Haiti and says life for the locals there is pretty harsh. I’ve heard good things about Cuba. I also met a priest from Congo whom I’ll never forget. He said his people suffered so much he lost his belief in God. First and only time I’d ever met an atheist priest… In practice he was more of a counselor. Anyway. This would be my list of worst places in the world to live in:
- North Korea
- Somalia
- DR of Congo
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
- Bangladesh
- Haiti
- Guiné-Bissau
- Sudan
- Zimbabwe
- Sierra Leone
The Demick book is wonderful but utterly horrifying at the same time. Those poor North Koreans!
Being landlocked is a criterion for “worst country”? Better add Switzerland and Luxembourg to the list, then.
[quote=“R.P.McMurphy, post:1, topic:618636”]
Maybe this should be in IMHO so if the mods want to move it, fine with me.
I have to agree with this one as worst country on Earth
Syria sure went up in the ranking lately
This very definition precludes it from belonging to the club of the worst nations on Earth. There is much worse than “farcical” and “doesn’t work” out there. Really, putting Cuba as the third worst country on Earth is ludicrous. I guess your ranking is largely based on this old and odd American obssession with Cuba.
Again, I don’t think there’s any objective way to put Iran remotely close to the 4th worst country on Earth. It’s not a poor country, there’s a rather high level of education, there are plenty of much more violently repressive regimes out there, political freedom is severely curtailed but not totally non existent, and even regarding the religion angle it’s a very long way from being as oppressive as Saudi Arabia.
Again, I see an American bia, here (even though Iran is more demonized than it deserves in pretty much all western countries)
Sorry, but for the third time I perceive an American bia. I guess the most dangerous country to live in might be Somalia, or someplace like that. I definitely wouldn’t pick Pakistan to resettle, but again there are poorer countries, more oppressive countries, more dangerous places.
Well…I guess this one would qualify as a dangerous place to be. And it would probably make it to my top ten list of worst countries. No objection.
I’d stay away from this one too.
Objectively, Haiti has very few things going for it. It certainly is a hell hole, and went through about every kind of hell you can imagine. Still it would never have occured to me to put it i its current state as one of the worst countries on Earth. For some reason, I keep a somewhat positive perception of the place. I’m not sure why. The people, maybe? Highly subjective, I know.
Again this American bia? Yes, I know things are pretty rough right now in Mexico. But amongst the 10 worst countries of the planet? Come on…
Somalia would definitely be on my list. But the pirates are franckly one of the least important of its problems. Raging civil wars, warlords, famine.. you take your pick. Pirates are only an annoyance for outsiders.
Definitely agree with this one. Has been, is, and in all likelihood will stay a hellhole.
Personnally, at first glance, I’d like to add the Soudan, Saudi Arabia and Burma to the list of the worst countries.