Is the USA the best country to live in?

[AFSOC_Commando]

Well I have spent time in over 30 Countries Due to my father and myself being Military....

I can say with authority that all the countries that I have visited have good and bad, I have envied many things in other countries but also distained many of the laws, rules and Government interdiction...

Of them all I personnally believe that the USA is the Best overall considering the big picture. We don't necessarily have the best laws, government or society but as a whole it works out as the best of all evils in my opinion!

I have seen many of the arguments in this thread and believe that to make a fair appraisal you should at least have experienced other cultures....

Nothing is free in ANY country... Someone is always paying in some manner.

But on a closing note, Many of the countries I have visited and Lived in (I have lived in foreign Countries for 30 years of my life, spending more years overseas than many of the members of this board have been alive) I would love to go back to and visit again. I have yet to visit a country that didn't have some redeeming quality, AND I have noticed that the Core (read comman) people of each coutnry want exactly the same things:

Good Job,
Healthy Family,
Minimum Government

 

[B00ne]

werd!!!!

 

[Czar]

Originally posted by: AFSOC_Commando
Well I have spent time in over 30 Countries Due to my father and myself being Military....

I can say with authority that all the countries that I have visited have good and bad, I have envied many things in other countries but also distained many of the laws, rules and Government interdiction...

Of them all I personnally believe that the USA is the Best overall considering the big picture. We don't necessarily have the best laws, government or society but as a whole it works out as the best of all evils in my opinion!

I have seen many of the arguments in this thread and believe that to make a fair appraisal you should at least have experienced other cultures....

Nothing is free in ANY country... Someone is always paying in some manner.

But on a closing note, Many of the countries I have visited and Lived in (I have lived in foreign Countries for 30 years of my life, spending more years overseas than many of the members of this board have been alive) I would love to go back to and visit again. I have yet to visit a country that didn't have some redeeming quality, AND I have noticed that the Core (read comman) people of each coutnry want exactly the same things:

Good Job,
Healthy Family,
Minimum Government

just curious, could you list a few countries and tell us what you liked and didnt like about them?

 

[alexruiz]

Originally posted by: AFSOC_Commando
Well I have spent time in over 30 Countries Due to my father and myself being Military....

I can say with authority that all the countries that I have visited have good and bad, I have envied many things in other countries but also distained many of the laws, rules and Government interdiction...

Of them all I personnally believe that the USA is the Best overall considering the big picture. We don't necessarily have the best laws, government or society but as a whole it works out as the best of all evils in my opinion!

I have seen many of the arguments in this thread and believe that to make a fair appraisal you should at least have experienced other cultures....

Nothing is free in ANY country... Someone is always paying in some manner.

But on a closing note, Many of the countries I have visited and Lived in (I have lived in foreign Countries for 30 years of my life, spending more years overseas than many of the members of this board have been alive) I would love to go back to and visit again. I have yet to visit a country that didn't have some redeeming quality, AND I have noticed that the Core (read comman) people of each coutnry want exactly the same things:

Good Job,
Healthy Family,
Minimum Government

There are several good post in this thread, and the one quoted is among my favorites. I totally agree in the fact that there is more to life than just money (can someone say family?). I also agree that there are so many good places to live in.

I would say that Mexico is the best place to live, but I was born here (or there, depending on where you are ). Not the hyped beaches or resorts, just an average town or country city. The biggest problem in my country is the extremely unequal richness distribution (remember, we have the 12th largest economy in the world). While for 4% of the population life is heaven, and for 15% percent life is great, for the rest life is hard. Having lived in several cities in Mexico, and even abroad (USA) I still like my homewtown the best.

Granted, you have to work a little harder, but once you are on a roll life is easier. Education is basic, and our cultural richness is among the top in the world. You want to succed, you MUST get college education or even better, postgraduate degrees. Plan your finances well and you will be FREE (yes, I mean true freedom). Right now I own 2 cars and my house, plus an apartment (I DO mean own, not owing the bank or someone a single penny.... I wonder how many persons in the USA can say the same).

True, for materialistic life, the USA is tough to beat, but there is more to life than jst money. I just love living in a country town that is almost isolated, with close to zero crime rate, with no drug problems or homosexuals...... that you still can get hand made ice cream or comparable stuff and enjoy the mountain breeze..... and if you feel in the mood to be "modern", you can drive 30 minutes to a warm bigger city, or you can drive one hour and be in the world's largest city, with all its implications. You can speak your mind, pursue whatever career you want or even critizice the goverment. If you are a foreigner visiting, you are treated fairly, with respect and even with care, not the "you look like a terrorist garbage" seen in other places. That is true freedom!!!


That is true freedom!!

 

[SnapIT]

Originally posted by: Carbonyl
Snapit- You've lived in both for extended periods. I am interested why you chose Sweden? Not just the "freedom" stuff either. My choice was thailand a few dozen posts back for the reasons stated.


-Edit and my parents have said in the past things like sunny california, education opportunity, escaping the depressed economy back then, escaping my facist grandfather.

Well, it's really not that different, we have the same stuff here that you got there...

I like Sweden better because of the climate, fairly long warm summers and cold winters, i like both the sun and the snow, because of the people here, i cannot really explain it and if i tried it would probably sound offensive to americans...

Then there is the system, i like that, even though i, as a business owner pay a lot of taxes for it, i think it is worth it... It's gotten better since most of the state-owned monopolies have disappeared, nowdays you can run a hospital, school, or whatever you want except for police and military institutions...

I think the capitalistic influences has done Sweden a world of good, we have the US to thank for a lot of that... Right now it feels like we got the best of both worlds...

 

[hagbard]

No.

 

[AFSOC_Commando]

Czar.

Here is a list of countries I have lived in for more than a few months;

Azores Portugal (small Island in the atlantic) 5 Years
Phillipines 3 years Graduated HS there in 82!
Panama and the rest of SA 9 months roughly
Korea, Guam, Okinawa 3-4 months? Kinda hazy... Lotsa juice at the time
Belgium 1 1/2 years
United Arab Emirates, Saudi, Qatar, Yemen, Bahrain (Spelling?) 10 Months
Italy 9 Months
Germany 3 years
Sicily 1-2 months
Kuwait 6 months

These are the ones I can list and stay outta Jail

Most of the Countries have a western lifstyle so many things are very similar...

BUT, it was really put to perspective for me while in Kuwait at the Ocean in the evening and watching the Children swimming in the water and the smiles on the parents faces as the kids played, the only difference I saw from Home was that the adults were wearing full garb and not going into the water, other than that they were EXACTLY like an American family at the beach! I know family members who won't eat meat on Fridays due to religious beliefs, I find that no different then Middle Eastern Families whom follow their own belief.

That was the day I no longer used the term "beloved patriot". I find that we have the same problems here as they do... We have extreme Christians also Called the KKK or Skin Heads or White Supremists that are the extreme of the Christian Religion, They have their own.

While attending a "christining" (spelling?) in the Phillippines at a hovel made from tin steel, cardboard and scrap wood taken from the base dump I was treated to my first taste of Dog meat, it was considered an honor to be given this and be invited. I watched the family interact and notice that other than Material goods they to were the same as me. Except that they don't believe in a throw away life style and use everything they harvest, find and own to the fullest extent.

I was never so touched as the time the "Ridge Riders" ( Motorcycle Club in the PI) did a road trip to a remote head hunter tribe in the mountains to provide much needed aid to the true Phillippino's after a devastating Monsoon wiped out over half the town just before X-mas. I handed a simple Christmas stocking with an apple, orange, toothbrush, tooth paste, comb and a few pieces of candy to a boy about 14 and he cried and acted like I had handed him Fort Knox... That was when I no longer looked at Christmas the same way and NEVER worried about any gift I may receive. Then a older lady of about 80 or so approached in just a loin cloth, we handed her a blanket and a used frying pan, She said Thank You and Merry Christmas in english, she learned just for the occasion, WHILE she was crying!! Again, puts my life into perspective.

The Azores was just a pretty island that you learned to live with since it had Earth Quakes every few days, The water was beautiful, I remember watching the Dolphins chasing the Sharks from the play ground of my school which was about 100 yards from the Ocean. The island was only 36 miles around! I learned to love fresh baked bread there.


The list goes on and on....


I loved every place I have lived or visited for one reason or another...

Todd