I said it’s hard to get a new apartment in Sweden. I didn’t say that there were restrictions on movement. In America it’s not difficult to get a new apartment.
So what makes European countries great is the ability to move out of them then?
Unfortunately, it’s full of Belgians, which lowers the rating somewhat.
I’m not counting the EU as one country; I’m counting, e.g., Sweden as one country. But Swedish citizenship confers upon you a far wider right to travel, settle, work, study, etc elsewhere than does U.S. citizenship.
(And, FWIW, I wouild find it very hard to argue that the Unites States is more culturally diverse than the EU. If you wished to live in a place within the US which was “foreign” to you, in the sense of having a dominant language [theatre, cinema, newspapers, television, literature] whcih was not the langauge of the place you currently live, how many different options would you have?)
The ability to move somewhere different from where you are was your criterion, not ours. If that is your criterion, the you should prefer any EU nationalilty to US nationality.
(Though, yes, the freedom to leave your country if you choose to is an important liberty.)
So “affordable housing” is your overriding criterion for the best nation on earth?
You can have the sweltering heat of Arizona, the wild fires of California, and the hurricanes of Florida.
I have no desire to live in a large city. If I did, and larger is better, then I would want to move to Mexico. Mexico city.
Yes we do. In fact, a few minutes by boat will take me to a little island that has a microclimate classified as a desert complete with cacti.
I live on Vancouver Island. A two minute walk to the beach. The whole island is chock full of beaches and we have surfing going on the west coast. Furthermore, I’m 25 minutes away by car from strapping on my downhill skis. I’m ten minutes away from getting into my boat to fish for salmon, ling cod or prawns.
I’m ecstatic about the choice I made as to where I live. Are you ?
I’ll give you geographically diverse, but I’m pretty sure we are more culturally diverse. We encourage and pride ourselves in multiculturalism and have two official languages while you tout the melting pot .
As for economically diverse, I’ll give you that too. You have more richer and rich people as well as more poor and poorer people. I don’t really think that that is really anything to brag about.
You have no idea about Canada.
The EU kind of is one country, on a lot of levels. Same passport, no border controls, same rotating EU president, mostly the same currency…sounds like the early stages of a country to me. The language and historical differences slow the processes. But for the purposes of this discussion, if you are born an E.U. citizen, practically the whole continent is your field for work, study, etc. (IF, of course, you can sufficiently master another language, which, again, does trip things up.)
I can’t at all see where you’re coming from with the assertion that the EU is not as culturally diverse as the US. Do you seriously think that the cultural differences between Romanians, Latvians, Spaniards, Dutch, etc. are lesser than that between people from different parts of the U.S.? Yes, there is a big difference between people from Alabama and people from Hawaii. But it’s nothing compared to the different between Poles and Portuguese.
We have hispanic areas all over the southwest, Caribbean culture in the extreme southeast, Asian areas all over the northwest, and everything you could imagine in New York. And that’s not to mention all the diverse and varied subcultures that fall under “white American.” A Minnesota farmer is a very different person than an LA businessman.
So “there isn’t an option available to you in the US that I don’t have in Canada” until someone names several, then they suck and you don’t want them. Gotcha.
I don’t see how this is relevant beyond a little dickwaving, but yes, I love Arizona. I would stay here even if I won powerball (though I admit I would summer elsewhere :p.)
Canada is ~85% white while the US is ~65%, and I’m pretty sure we have more Spanish-speakers than you have French-speakers.
<Checks>
We have more Spanish-speakers than you have people.
Are you serious? Because that’s insane. The US is a mostly homogenous country with various sprinklings of minority ethnicities and immigrant groups, just like a whole bunch of other countries. In terms of cultural diversity, the US is nothing even remotely special. You want cultural diversity, try India or Russia.
Forgot to add it was 98 degrees in my kitchen this evening, and check out Alberta for deserts. I’m on Vancouver Island.
I didn’t say affordable housing. It is precisely because Sweden makes restrictions on the housing market that makes it difficult to move around. It’s their egalitarian housing laws that cause this problem.
No actually my criterion was the ability to move around within the country and having a wide variety of choices regarding the type of local lifestyle you’d like to choose from, whether it’s living on the beach in Kawai, Snow Mobiling in Alaska, Working on an oil field in West Texas, living on a hippy commune in Tennessee or Clubbing in New York City. It is the diversity of options and the ease with which one can seek the option they prefer that makes America great.
That and Americans have some of the greatest freedom to move to other countries in the world of any nation on Earth. Not greater than Europeans certainly, but the options within America are greater than any European nation. The ability to move OUT of a nation is an important liberty certainly, but you can’t consider living on the beach in Italy a perk of living in Sweden because Italy isn’t in Sweden. It might be a perk of BEING Swedish, but it’s not a perk of living there. Also, Americans can without too much trouble move to Italy as well. Teaching English will get you a job pretty much anywhere in the far east you could wish to live.
As for Canada. Do they have mechanized riding spiders?
How are the wild pineapples on your island surfing paradises?
Mexico City is not actually bigger than New York City if you count the metro area. New York City is one of the biggest in the world by urban agglomeration. Mexico City is a bigger city based on urban jurisdictional lines of distinction, but not by actual contiguous metro area.
Yes we do. In fact, a few minutes by boat will take me to a little island that has a microclimate classified as a desert complete with cacti.
Can you live there in a tent for free in January like people do in Kawai?
Actually I’m tired of New York I’d rather go live on the beach or in the woods. Either New Mexico or Puerto Rico or Wyoming, all in the US. 
.
I’m pretty sure you don’t at 10% of our population. It’s statistically impossible for your culture to be more diverse. It is more culturally diverse within a 15 mile radius of me than it is in your entire country and there are more people too.
I’ll give you that one.
Irrelevant if you think of the European Union as one big quasi-country.
Not true at all - unfortunately. The part about getting a job in Asia is true enough, but it is extremely difficult to move to Italy - or any EU country - as an American. Where do you get that it is “not too much trouble” to move there? Check out the regulations for various EU countries at http://workpermit.com. Actually, that is something I’d put in America’s column: as complex as the US’s immigration system is, we have that wonderful green card immigration lottery open to people around the world. And you don’t even have to be a computer programmer to qualify! Other countries should follow suit.
How are the wild salmon in your rain forest?
I know both Canada and the US have lots of great things to offer. My complaint is with people saying things like “you have no desert” when we do. At least know what you’re talking about.
You mean, then, that you encourage biculturalism. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that…)
While you have your two lovely official languages, we have none – preferring to let people express themselves as they wish.
What does overall population size have to do with diversity? Diversity is usually measured in the percentage breakup of a population, not by the size of a population, no? Or am I missing something?
…Not that I’m particularly defending Canada’s claim to greater cultural diversity…
There aren’t any wild salmon in the Rain Forests of New Mexico, but I hear they are pretty damned spectacular in Washington.
I never claimed it didn’t, that was someone else. But a microclimate isn’t quite the same as what stretches from Texas to California.
I am thinking of it in terms of the sheer number of ethnic cultures on display. I seriously doubt that Canada has any ethnic populations the US doesn’t have. Also, in the US there are generally far more individuals of those ethnic populations. The city I live in has a population roughly equivalent to Canada’s in the metro area and just Queens alone is the most ethnically diverse urban area on the entire planet.