# The Best Nation on Earth... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 23, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958 "2009-07-23T03:09:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/121 "2009-07-25T17:11:27Z")
> [@Commander\_Keen](#): > > On what basis? For example, Japan has over 100 million people, and in 2005 its homicide rate was 11% of the US’s. > > [http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/85-002-x2006006-eng.pdf](http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/85-002-x2006006-eng.pdf) Well then, Japan is a strong competitor. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/122 "2009-07-25T17:12:45Z")
Not “barren wasteland” - “crocodile buffer zone”. ---
**Author:** ![Sri\_Theo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/123 "2009-07-25T17:59:24Z")
I vote Denmark as well I only lived there for a year, but man is it the most awesome country. And it has some interesting statistical quirks as well, there is actually more violence in the countryside then in the biggest cities (Copenhagen has a million in its conurbation, 500,000 in the city itself) I always wanted to chip in with that when there was those huge Urban vs. Rural threads… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/124 "2009-07-25T18:16:55Z")
[QUOTE=MichaelQReilly] Listen, I love me some Canada, but we are talking about an entire nation north of Detroit. [/QUOTE] Canada’s south of Detroit. No, seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/125 "2009-07-25T19:09:18Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Canada’s south of Detroit. No, seriously. I bet myself how many posts it would be until someone said that. I won (and lost.) ---
**Author:** ![Anomie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Anomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anomie)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/126 "2009-07-26T02:33:23Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Denmark. It has been scientifically proved: [Denmark: The Happiest Place on Earth](http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=4086092&page=1). Besides we have the prettiest girls. Hang on… Didn’t your crown prince have to go to Sydney to find a decent sheila? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/127 "2009-07-26T03:51:18Z")
Tahitian, baby. Gauguin seemed about right, He tried Denmark for a year, but found it lacking. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/128 "2009-07-26T11:31:30Z")
I’ll throw in my suggestions,Ireland,Scandinavia(Including Iceland),Canada,Japan and New Zealand would probably get my vote but I’m not sure which one. I’m a Brit but the U.K. wouldn’t get my vote as the best place to live. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/129 "2009-07-26T14:37:37Z")
Out of patriotic duty I submit Argentina. Sure all our politicians are crooks but: 1. Except tropical beach, we have it all: Do you want deserts? Beach? Rainforest? Visit San Juan, Buenos Aires and Misiones. 2. One of the world biggest reserves of fresh water. 3. A huge country and small population relative to it. If you want space, move to Patagonia. 4. Hot chicks, really hot chicks. 5. A rich cultural life. 6. We are good (very good) at most popular sports. Even though we have fewer resources and lower population than most of our competitors in Tennis, Football, Basket, Volley, Girl Hockey, and Rugby we are always competing for gold. 7. We are situated in a “peaceful” region. For all of our past misunderstanding we don’t risk an invasion, which is very lucky for us: the Argentinian Armed forces are in a sorry state. 8. Growing things is our job, and we do it well. 9. We are far, far away from the rest of the world For all of that, Argentina is the best place to be in case of a global catastrophe (WWIII, for example). ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/130 "2009-07-26T20:42:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Canada’s south of Detroit. No, seriously. The percentage of the country that is actually south of Detroit is pretty much negligible, it must be less than .5% of the entire country. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/131 "2009-07-26T20:47:46Z")
> [@MichaelQReilly](#): > > The percentage of the country that is actually south of Detroit is pretty much negligible, it must be less than .5% of the entire country. **RickJay** was just making a clever joke. If you want to go from Detroit to Canada you head south. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/132 "2009-07-26T21:46:32Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I bet myself how many posts it would be until someone said that. I won (and lost.) How does that work? “I’m right! And wrong!” I’m glad I managed to whoosh one poster, though. (Not you.) ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/133 "2009-07-28T00:16:19Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > **RickJay** was just making a clever joke. If you want to go from Detroit to Canada you head south. 😉 Hmmm, I thought i knew all the ways to mock Detroit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/134 "2009-07-28T00:48:51Z")
LOL, I have never been to Detroit. I looked at a map. 😉 But back to the OP. So it’s decided then? The US is the best country BY FAR, with Scandinavians living in Italy, Canada and Japan vying for a distant second? ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/135 "2009-07-28T01:37:57Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > But back to the OP. > > So it’s decided then? The US is the best country BY FAR, with Scandinavians living in Italy, Canada and Japan vying for a distant second? Well, nobody presented a compelling argument against Argentina 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/136 "2009-07-28T01:44:03Z")
> [@Estilicon](#): > > Well, nobody presented a compelling argument against Argentina 🙂 I know a guy who vacations in Mexico so often that’s he’s in the process of becoming a citizen there. He’s been all over Latin America so we were talking about where I should travel, and I brought up Argentina because I have some friends there. He said he was robbed twice and treated like absolute shit because he was an American, and wouldn’t go back for a million dollars. That’s one of only 2 anecdotes I’ve heard about Argentina, the other being from my Argentinan friends who talk it up, but also caution that you’re not going to be treated the same if you speak English. So maybe it’s a great place to live, but it doesn’t sound like an ideal place to visit. (And FTR, for all that, I’d still go if the opportunity arose. I like seeing for myself.) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958/137 "2009-07-28T01:50:06Z")
I firmly believe in the ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ argument for large countries so I’ll have to go small and Scandinavian… Denmark? Or the nonscandinavian Dutch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-nation-on-earth/503958.md?page=6)