# What countries are better than the U.S.A.?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 10, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334 "2019-04-10T14:36:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/1 "2019-04-10T14:36:48Z")
Using your own definition of “better”(elaborate if your wish), what countries are better to live in than the United States of America?
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/2 "2019-04-10T14:39:41Z")
Not sure I’d say any are “better”, but there are sure aspects of Canada and the Scandinavian countries/cultures that I respect and would prefer that the US emulate.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/3 "2019-04-10T14:40:20Z")
There are 18 of them based on a metric determined by income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.
> **[This is the world's happiest country in 2019 | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-happiest-countries-united-nations-2019/index.html)**
>
> The United Nations' has released its annual World Happiness Report. Can you guess which country took the the No. 1 spot?
Top 10:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Norway
4. Iceland
5. Netherlands
6. Switzerland
7. Sweden
8. New Zealand
9. Canada
10. Australia
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### Author:  [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/4 "2019-04-10T14:40:23Z")
For me it would be any first world country that provides health care for its citizens as opposed to it being a money gouging for profit business. I think that’s pretty much all of them, isn’t it?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/5 "2019-04-10T14:42:42Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> There are 18 of them based on a metric determined by income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.
>
> [https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-happiest-countries-united-nations-2019/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-happiest-countries-united-nations-2019/index.html)
>
> Top 10:
>
> 1. Finland
> 2. Denmark
> 3. Norway
> 4. Iceland
> 5. Netherlands
> 6. Switzerland
> 7. Sweden
> 8. New Zealand
> 9. Canada
> 10. Australia
I’m looking for countries that _you_ think are better-that’s why I posted the question in IMHO.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/6 "2019-04-10T14:48:17Z")
I’d probably put NZ, Austrailia, and Denmark at the top of the list - if only because of climate! 😃
Never really heard anything bad about NZ - other than that it is so damn far away from everything/one I know.
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### Author:  [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/7 "2019-04-10T14:49:13Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> Not sure I’d say any are “better”, but there are sure aspects of Canada and the Scandinavian countries/cultures that I respect and would prefer that the US emulate.
I’ll have to think about what “better” means to me, but for now I’ll cosign this answer.
BTW, I just learned that Australia has gone 28 years without a recession. That’s pretty amazing. As far as I know it’s also a nice place to live. Maybe a skosh hot for my liking, though.
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### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/8 "2019-04-10T15:06:08Z")
In terms of general thought on my part; all of them. But yesterday was not a happy day for me. As far as ones I would want to live in/leave to I would say a couple of the Nordic ones and possibly Georgia or one of the more Siberian Republics. (Assuming those weenies never let my kinfolks form an actual Siberian Republic)
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/9 "2019-04-10T15:21:32Z")
Any with UHC plus Costa Rica (no UHC, working on it, but that and my bad reaction to cilantro are the only minuses, and private medicine is perfectly affordable on a professional’s income). Not terribly fond of the Scandis but that’s because I don’t fit terribly well there; perfectly fine places if you like their concept of social life.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/10 "2019-04-10T15:39:56Z")
I’d say the Scandinavian countries but I’d prefer someplace without cold winters as a place to live. Perhaps one of the few remaining colonies of these countries?
BTW, until Brexit, I would have said the UK.
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### Author:  [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/11 "2019-04-10T16:24:04Z")
My choice is Japan. I consider myself an otaku and I like all kinds of aspects of Japanese culture. I also tend to be introverted and prefer more formal / ritualized social interactions. If the language were a little easier to learn and if I was single I would have probably already moved.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/12 "2019-04-10T17:05:26Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> My choice is Japan. …
My son just took a long trip w/ several friends to visit another guy who had been in Japan for 2 yrs. My son was extremely taken by many aspects of Japanese culture. The city he liked least was Tokyo.
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/13 "2019-04-10T17:11:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Using your own definition of “better”(elaborate if your wish), what countries are better to live in than the United States of America?
I would look at this from the angle of ‘where would I like to retire too or live that isn’t the US’. So, with that criteria, I’d look at countries that either speak Spanish or English as my first choices, then have decent climates, are fairly good to retire too and that seem like they would be good places to live…and ones I actually COULD move too, relatively easily, as an American.
I think Costa Rica would be my first choice. I’ve been there (on extended holiday anyway), and it’s beautiful. It’s got a fairly robust ex-pat community, is pretty safe and has some great people, plus I could potentially move there and retire there pretty easily, all things considered. Canada was going to be my actual choice a few years ago, but the bar to move and retire there is higher than I’m willing to pay. Australia is the same…they are good places, but it’s actually not that easy to move there and get citizenship to retire, and it’s fairly expensive. I don’t know about New Zealand. Ireland was another of my choices, as I actually have some friends there (Scotland as well), but I think it has similar issues for me to move there and retire, though it’s something I’m still looking into.
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/14 "2019-04-10T17:20:59Z")
There are many lists – of quality of education, health outcomes, life expectancy, economic fairness, economic opportunity, movement toward energy sustainability, ecological protection, fairness toward women, and others.
The USA is not at the top of any of these lists, and is really low on many, especially compared to other “first world” countries.
Generally speaking the USA looks really good only if compared to the abysmal conditions of third world countries. Otherwise, it is only great for the wealthy. Which of course is true of any country.
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/15 "2019-04-10T17:26:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> I’m looking for countries that _you_ think are better-that’s why I posted the question in IMHO.
**I** think those are better. And would likely include even more countries, but that becomes a bit too much like doing hard work for a IMHO forum post.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/16 "2019-04-10T17:33:07Z")
Off the top of my head:
Canada
Finland
Estonia
New Zealand
Costa Rica
Scotland (when it leaves the UK and rejoins the EU)
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### Author:  [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/17 "2019-04-10T17:38:06Z")
Syria. Out of all the countries it has the lowest suicide rate, not explained by a possible statistical aberration caused by small population size. [Suicide Rate by Country 2023](http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/suicide-rate-by-country/) Such a low suicide rate must reflect a profound happiness caused by living there.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/18 "2019-04-10T17:49:09Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> Any with UHC…
I’d add any country with UHC and sane gun ownership policies. I think it’s pretty obvious that any country in which people don’t bankrupt their families when they get sick and in which lunatics don’t regularly mow down people is objectively a better country than America.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/19 "2019-04-10T18:42:33Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#):
>
> Syria. Out of all the countries it has the lowest suicide rate, not explained by a possible statistical aberration caused by small population size. [Suicide Rate by Country 2024](http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/suicide-rate-by-country/) Such a low suicide rate must reflect a profound happiness caused by living there.
I think it’s because they kill you first.
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### Author:  [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-countries-are-better-than-the-u-s-a/832334/20 "2019-04-10T18:58:05Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> I think it’s because they kill you first.
Dang. Another dream turned to ashes. Saudi Arabia for lowest tax rate then? Or maybe Namibia for (one of)the lowest cancer rate(s).
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