Which country should set the standard for the rest of us?

I’m sure being on the outside looking in, many countries may seem great until you live there and experience the effects of the politics and laws first-hand. As they say, “the grass is always greener.”

That said, a country that seems kind of mellow as far as drama goes, I would say is Canada. Again, maybe if I lived in Canada, I’d feel differently.

The Scandinavian countries.

There isn’t one single country. There are lots of countries that do certain things right (but one everything), and others that do a few things right but they’re good things.

For example, I admire France for their culture and history, but their tax policies suck big time.

I admire Germany for their rationality but they go overboard sometimes.

I think that New Zealand has an interesting and balanced society, but they’re on the other side of the freaking world.

The Scandinavian countries are beautiful and well education, but some of them still have queens and kings.

The UK is a lost cause.

Summary – no one country has it all.

It doesn’t always do what’s right, but generally speaking, the good ol’ USA.

Costa Rica. But the question should be why are so many other places doing so much better with so much less than we?

@stanleybmanly Do you have any ideas on that?

I agree with @Pied_Pfeffer, On the whole, the Scandinavian countries are doing remarkably well, by investing in their people, it’s just a shame they’re so freaking cold most of the year.

I have very definite ideas on that, and every one of them are hitched to the single question “from where does the money originate and where does it go?”

You pick the best from each of them.
The colonies are good at making movies, at least.

Yes. We’re VERY good when it comes to the fantasies which sustain you loli. It should be expected from a land where fantasies on its own operating parameters are systemically ingrained in its population as means to their economic and spiritual impoverishment.

I think countries where fairness and a sense of the common good are strong values are the ones that we should look to. Canada as well as Finland and the Scandinavian countries seem to have something of a handle on this.

Yeah, another vote for the Scandinavians.

No we don’t, our movies have been terrible for at least thirty years.

As far as general freedoms and opportunity the USA is tough to beat. Our education and healthcare system needs work though. Not perfect but nowhere else is either.

ProbablyFinland which is rated the happiest country in the world.

The Virgin Islands, no one fucks with them…oh bugger, we’re in General.

Sorry @KNOWITALL forgive me treacle :D

@ucme Hey, I’m no snitch, I don’t flag anyone!

Sweet talk will get you everywhere, mon petit chou!

Scandinavia here too, except I want to be able to turn my car headlights off. And I’m against Norwegian whaling. I also like many if not all aspects of things in most European countries, though not some of the EU laws limiting expressing anti-EU sentiments or recent IP laws.

New Zealand seems mostly good too, particularly legally recognizing the sentience of animals !

When our useless politicians finally get Brexit over the line & we are rid of the toxic EU state, then Britain will set it’s own gold standard.
Long overdue & thoroughly deserved…HOORAH!!

Canada. I’ve never met anyone, born there or lives there, to disagree.

The idea that there is a Utopia out their is ridiculous. No nation is perfect. There are maybe a few little tiny Nations that live on an island that is close to being perfect but usually they don’t have things like good medical care. There will always be something. Nation is either to controlling or isolationist, or a huge difference between rich or poor, or violence, or wars, or religious fanatics, and of course where-ever you go you will always have the power hungry greedy people who are never happy unless everyone around them are miserable, because people stink. You will find evil people everywhere.

No idea about Scandinavian countries but if they can handle a diverse population similar to the US along with similar issues plaguing this country…that would be a terrific model!

@Pandora I’m asking because seems like half the world is dogging the US, instead of helping to fix it. I was just curious where the perfect land was. Obviously it’s in Scandanavia.

Scandinavia is nearly perfect, I agree.

But all of you who voted for these countries, I’ll bet you’d be horrified at Norway’s child welfare services, Barnevernet, Children have been separated from their parents for years for as little as being one pound underweight, or because a mother is declared unfit because HER mother once declared her daughter mentally ill in order to receive welfare services.

National origin also plays a role.
Some of these children are American Citizens, which constitutes kidnapping.

So, as much as I’d say ANY child-friendly country is perfect, including the Scandinavian counties and the Netherlands, something abhorant shows up.

I will stick with the U.S.A. And I don’t even find us very interesting, and far from perfect except on paper (i.e the constitution and founding documents).

@Yellowdog: Do you have links about child welfare services in Norway?

Just type in Barnevernet and see what comes up.

BTW, not many Norwegians like it either, including child psychologists. Sweden has widely condemned it. I first learned about it on Dateline NBC.

A story on CBN advised Americans to not take children into Norway. Parents have no rights there over Barnevernet.

@Yellowdog: I did and I see the negative articles are from around 2015. Maybe they fixed their issues?

I haven’t seen anything new this year. Some cases are still pending. One woman on the CBN program hadn’t seen her son in over six years.

This is what sometimes happens with people in countries where parental rights are not recognized in places where State rights are recognized over parents and families and other civilized countries,

The Wikipedia article lists a few more recent cases that were covered on a recent CBN program so I assumed it is still happening. In 2016, a Norwegian family had their twin daughters removed at birth due to alleged mother’s “undetermined mental disability” supposedly diagnosed 11 years earlier when she was 13 years old. The family took Norwegian Child Welfare Services to court, after 7 months eventually they were granted timely care over their biological daughters.

Fearing that their daughters may be taken away once again, they fled to Poland and settled in the city of Katowice. On behalf of Norway, they were sought by the Interpol as a fugitives that kidnapped their own children.

In January 2017, the news reached them that the mother was pronounced fully sane, and that they won full custody over their children, however at the end they’ve decided to stay in Poland.

In May 2017, a Norwegian Silje Garmo fled to Poland with her 1-year-old daughter Eira; the woman claimed she feared the baby would be taken away by Norwegian social services on inflated charges of overusing painkillers and chronic fatigue. Garmo asked for asylum in Poland and was later aided juridically by the Polish Catholic pro life and pro family lawyers’ association Ordo Iuris

According to the media, in mid-December 2018 the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs withdrew their initial objections and consented to Garmo’s request. If confirmed, Garmo would be the first Norwegian citizen accepted as refugee in Europe since the Second World War

So, when countries are accepting refugees from Norway who only want to be with their children, and Norway is sending Interpol after them for kidnapping their own children, its a problem.

I do hope you are right, through. I have always considered Norway to be one of the most enlightened and child-friendly countries of the world. And I love the climate and culture. Lets hope Norway works this out, and recognizes that parental rights must be recognized unless there is clear evidence that a child is in danger or abused.

Canada and Iceland

For once, I agree with you highly, @Stache

As long as some other country will protect us if things get really bad.

Norway. They are out of debt, and have $400 billion or more saved from properly managing the oil revenues for the country

So the question must arise: the oil and all of those other resources under OUR feet, that WE own, where do the profits go from the sale of those resources? How many billions of dollars in revenue have been mined from under those shacks in West Virginia or Kentucky? Why does the poorest EU country have internet service from their providers that make our own networks the jokes of the world? Why is healthcare, childcare and a degree from the Sorbonne FREE in France.
How do students graduate there DEBT FREE? Why isn’t a medical diagnosis equivalent to a ticket to the poorhouse in France or even Greece?

There is no single country. I think standards change over time too, so there is not one perfect solution, it is always a work in progress like a marriage.

All countries have positives and negatives. Plus, a system that is working now, might have trouble over time.

I try to look back at America. Novel idea I know. When workers and CEO’s didn’t have such a huge pay gap. When we were proud of educating the whole population. When the middle class could buy a home without a huge mortgage, buy a car without needing a 6 year loan, and buying on credit was not done to any extremes in general. When profit was not the end all be all, but capitalism did drive innovation.

I think Finland’s K-12 is really worth studying and applying in some trial cities or states in America. I also think Denmark, which has some of the happiest people in the world supposedly, is worth investigating also.

I think we should be looking at the estimates being given by scientists, and whoever looks at these things, for job creation and deal with the reality that unemployment might grow exponentially in the fairly near future.

We have to decide as a country if we really want everyone to be safe and happy and if we can embrace a happier easier lifestyle. I feel like Americans very often feel like since they suffered their children and everyone else can suffer too. Things like don’t complain about working 50 hours a week plus commute, I did it. Well, no one should be doing it. The Nordic countries seem to embrace this idea of work like balance, America talks about it, but does not really value you it for society. Not that I have seen.

America very smartly created a Social Security system, and anyone who thinks we should get rid of it really needs to do some research on what the country would become if the elderly did not have this income. We would have to start opening poor houses for the elderly again. Welfare and related systems have some negative side effects, but a universal basic income is worth investigating. The state of Alaska has a small amount they give all residents, I think it is $1K a year. Some countries in Europe I think are trying it or thinking about it. I think in parts of the Middle East too. We should be looking at that and see if it is successful in other countries.

Singapore housing is interesting.

One thing I think that is true is being able to trust government is extremely important. Corrupt democracies with capitalism, and corrupt socialist countries, don’t do well. Many Latin American countries are democracies and based on a capitalist system, and there are all sorts of problems.

We must decide how we are going to distribute or redistribute income more evenly. Are we going to increase the minimum wage? Are we going to decrease the work week? Are we going to tax the biggest earners at a higher rate and supply more government services? Are we going to tax businesses more? We need to look at other countries that have tried various systems so we can take what has worked best.

We have a big country and we can test different ideas in our states, and we should. What works well we can spread around the country.

This question reminded me of Moore’s docu Where To Invade Next? Disheartening to discover where Europeans got the good ideas they successfully implemented.

https://youtu.be/1KeAZho8TKo

Whichever one whose Legislature is doing their job

^^Totally agree. All that good salary being paid to these ought to be statesmen not gladiators!

They are getting mostly paid by the moneyed elite. And they are doing their job perfectly.

Did “Laurence Carroll”? write on Globe and Mail wrote about moving to Canada and how so different and better it is than USA?

I have to wonder why we need someone to set a standard? We’re all grown up. We should know what to do by now.

@Dutchess_lll And we’re doing it all, right?

It’s shameful what we’re doing…but we KNOW what we should be doing but we aren’t doing it, and some other country setting a standard isn’t going to make any difference.

Most countries have their niche or place in the international community which moves the world forward, Some are little more than pirate countries we’d be better off without. But even most poor countries have philosophies, food, and culture that enriches the world.

And here we are pedaling backward like a banshee.

^^Gave yellowdog a great answer. Rare. Lol

Dutchess the US sets the standard in a few countries imo. Which is right now downright tragic when it comes to the quality of the human voted as President.

@Dutchess_lll never heard of banshees pedaling backwards.

Normally one needs a tricycle or a unicycle to do that.

It’s an inside joke #yellowdog.

Agree @mazingerz88. We used to set some of the standards (discluding universal health care, for example) but no more. We are being portrayed as an ignorant, racist moronic nation on the verge of collapse.
Thanks trump. And all of his idiotic supporters. Why is it that their only defense of trump is to trash Obama?