# What Nation Is the Most Moral Nation In the World **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500 "2009-09-10T01:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Krebbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@Mr.Krebbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Krebbs)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/21 "2009-09-10T16:33:35Z")
Any one of the 5000 or so indigenous peoples that continue to live subsistence-based lifestyles. Basically, any industrialized society doesn’t get to call itself moral. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/22 "2009-09-10T16:48:54Z")
No country is moral when its interests are at stake. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/23 "2009-09-10T17:43:34Z")
> [@Plan\_B](#): > > Well, I can think of one country that defeated slavery, communism, fascism, nazism and baathism. But some of that happened before 1950 Which one country defeated Nazism? Oh, and overthrowing a sovereign nation with a baathist in charge is not ‘defeating baathism’ any more than overthrowing the United States would defeat Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/24 "2009-09-10T17:58:03Z")
I’m not sure what the OP is driving at. Maybe he could mention what country he thinks is the most _immoral_, and we can work our way up from there. Seriously, though, the subject itself doesn’t seem to have an easily definable and consistent meaning. I personally am much more interested in what the OP thinks he’ll gain from this thread. Once he knows which country is most moral, does he plan to move there? Is he going to become an activist for his home country to become more like the ideal, whatever that is? Was this thread posted just to kill some time? I’m curious. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/25 "2009-09-10T18:03:19Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Conveniently ignoring supporting the IRA, strict gun laws and institutional child abuse (or whatever doesn’t float your boat). It’s kind of ridiculous to pick a random subset of your own values, label that as morality, and then cherry pick a country that appears to support that abritrary list irregardless of the bigger picture. I laughed out loud when I read how you equate supporting terrorism, strict gun laws, and child abuse. FWIW I don’t think Ireland’s gun laws are all that strict. Also, the state doesn’t support the IRA. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/26 "2009-09-10T19:17:53Z")
Iran, possibly. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/27 "2009-09-10T23:56:29Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Conveniently ignoring supporting the IRA, strict gun laws and institutional child abuse (or whatever doesn’t float your boat). It’s kind of ridiculous to pick a random subset of your own values, label that as morality, and then cherry pick a country that appears to support that abritrary list irregardless of the bigger picture. The Irish government I don’t think has actively supported the IRA with money and so on. As for gun laws it isn’t extremely stringent in my opinion although certainly it needs libertarianizing but it’s better then the UK or Japan. > [@yojimbo](#): > > There’s nothing moral about our “pro-life” stance. We have just ignored the problem and debate with a typical “Irish Solution” we ship our women over to Britain where they have the abortions. Abortions till happen, we just make it harder, more expensive and more stigmatising than some other countries in order to placate the religious. > > [http://www.universityobserver.ie/2009/04/28/plight-flight-and-abortion-in-ireland/](http://www.universityobserver.ie/2009/04/28/plight-flight-and-abortion-in-ireland/) Well the government of Ireland has at any rate maintained it’s position on abortion and if the citizens are commiting abortion in Britain it isn’t the government’s fault really. > [@](#): > > While it is true that we are generally prosperous(our economy is in the shit now but most are at the moment) we don’t treat our homeless or very poor with much respect. Does any nation really show total tolerance of the homeless? > [@](#): > > We have had a very bad problem with institutional discrimination against the Irish traveller community for a long time. I agree but the Travellers ought to assimilate and stop being nomadic. > [@](#): > > To our shame the state was actively involved in the mass rape and physical abuse of our children by priests and at the very least the population of the country ignored the signs of abuse that were right in front of our eyes. There has been reform by both the Catholic Church and the victims themselves. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/28 "2009-09-11T07:26:30Z")
[quote=“jjimm, post:15, topic:509500”] It isn’t part of the UK: it’s a British Crown Dependency. QUOTE] That’s what I meant :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/29 "2009-09-11T07:43:37Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > As for gun laws it isn’t extremely stringent in my opinion although certainly it needs libertarianizing but it’s better then the UK or Japan. The point I was making is that having strict gun laws is a moral choice. Wqually, having liberal gun laws is a moral choice. One is not more moral than the other. ---
**Author:** ![parncutt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@parncutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parncutt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/30 "2012-04-02T03:17:40Z")
I would say that the world’s most moral nation is the nation that is doing the most to solve the world’s biggest problem, and I would say the world’s biggest problem is poverty, given that as many as a billion people are at risk of dying by starvation. To find out more, just type “billion starvation” into Google. Extremes of poverty could be eliminated in about two decades if the rich countries fulfilled their promise to spend 0.7% of gross national product on international development projects (more: The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs). The only countries who are actually doing that are the Scandinavian ones, so at the risk of expanding the definition of “country” I would say Scandinavia is the world’s most moral place. The countries that are doing the most to cause global poverty are the tax havens which providing secret bank accounts for the super rich so that they can avoid taxes, see “Tax Justice Network”. The worst country in this respect is without doubt Switzerland, which therefore receives my vote for the world’s least moral nation. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/31 "2012-04-02T03:29:38Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Which one country defeated Nazism? Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/32 "2012-04-02T03:32:31Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Morality is a concern of both. No, ethics are. Morality is strictly a personal definition. Just like the OP thinks that being pro-life is a virtue, I think that being anti-abortion is a heinous violation of reproductive autonomy. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/33 "2012-04-02T04:03:12Z")
Hey. another zombie! I would argue against Ireland simply because it surrendered so much of it of its civil society, particularly that of the social safety net, to the Catholic church, and for decades tuned a blind eye to the abuse of tens of thousands of children in orphanages and various forms of work houses. This hardly makes them unique, but IMO certainly takes them out of the “best of” class. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/34 "2012-04-02T04:12:45Z")
[Sweden or Norway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governments_by_development_aid), depending on what year it is. Mmmm… zombie Swedish Bikini Team. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/35 "2012-04-02T04:12:47Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I agree but the Travellers ought to assimilate and stop being nomadic. This is a phenomenally crass thing to say. Please try to have a little respect for entire ways of life before you suggest they change to become like the society that marginalizes them. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/36 "2012-04-02T05:02:01Z")
Nunavut. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/37 "2012-04-02T05:33:48Z")
Um, Canada? They don’t really piss anyone off that I can think of. They’re just kind of there. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Nor does that describe America, which I assume you mean. America practiced slavery for a long time; it was _ **behind the curve** _ in stopping it. America stalemated communism; it didn’t defeat it. The Soviet Union did if anything more than the US to stop Nazism, and the US has never shied from supporting fascism. And it replaced Baathism with something worse, after helping support it for years. > > Like me, for example. > > Morality is a concern of both. Note, the OP said we’re talking about nowadays, NOT past behavior. Slavery shouldn’t count for this conversation. (And if you’re arguing that the Soviet Union was more moral, then you’ve truly gone around the bend) > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I agree but the Travellers ought to assimilate and stop being nomadic. Yeah, and those damned Jews! They should have just stopped being Jewish, so Hitler wouldn’t have killed them! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/38 "2012-04-02T05:58:45Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Note, the OP said we’re talking about nowadays, NOT past behavior. Slavery shouldn’t count for this conversation. (And if you’re arguing that the Soviet Union was more moral, then you’ve truly gone around the bend)! The person I was responding to was talking about past behavior, including stopping the Nazis. And if us stopping the Nazis made us moral, then logically it makes the Soviets moral since they did more than we did. It’s their argument, not mine. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/39 "2012-04-02T07:34:03Z")
I don’t know why everyone keeps saying that morality needs to be defined. This is an obviously opinionated question asked in IMHO. If someone asked what the most beautiful song ever written is, would you need a definition for beautiful? > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > [Sweden or Norway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governments_by_development_aid), depending on what year it is. Mmmm… zombie Swedish Bikini Team. I was kind of thinking that, but then I’ve also read that those are two of the richest nations in the world. When the average income is around $80,000/yr, it’s pretty easy to donate 0.7% of that. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500/40 "2012-04-02T07:52:26Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > What nation in your opinion is the most moral nation in the world. This doesn’t count any historical events before 1950 so don’t say “Germany can’t be moral due to the Holocaust”. > > I would choose the Republic of Ireland as it respects human rights, doesn’t have a death penalty, has low crime, is pro-life, and generally prosperous. I follow the definitions from my Philosophy class. “Moral” = “acceptable according to the customs (Latin _mores_) of the place and time”. By that definition, all of them. They may not match my mores, but they match their own. It’s individuals who can go against or ignore mores; nations can’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nation-is-the-most-moral-nation-in-the-world/509500.md?page=3)