Greatest county in the world

[CARLHAYDEN]

Borrowed the wording from a major polling organization.

Should be interesting to compare with their results, especially when broken down by party.

http://www.pollingreport.com/defense.htm#Affairs

[Ban my account ffs!]

I don't know which country in the world is the best one.  That's purely subjective.  It's silly to say we are or aren't.

[Mr. Morden]

I don't know which county is the best.  Which one has the best county fair?

[Lief 🗽]

Hahah, of course not. Probably somewhere in the top 20 or 30 though.

[Franzl]

In some respects, yes...in a good deal, no, though.

I'd say our worst problem is the ineffectiveness of the political system. Many states and even the federal government are simply disfunctional.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Besides San Marino, the United States has the oldest written constitution still in use. That's something "special", I guess. It doesn't make the U.S. a better or worse country though.

[Linus Van Pelt]

Surprised again; I thought you'd be advocating for Mexico when I saw the thread title.

[Brittain33]

I voted for Devon.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I voted for Devon.

I see you and Mr. Morden are the only two wiseguys so far...... 

[Redalgo]

I don't know which country in the world is the best one.  That's purely subjective.  It's silly to say we are or aren't.

[Boris]

Denmark and Iceland both have hotter girls, and the commuter society brought upon by suburban sprawl leads to many a boring nights. US college towns are a lot of fun though. I'd say we crack the top 15 or so.

[Boris]

And there's just a lot of stupid, unnecessary stuff that happens in this country - getting drinking tickets at age 20, cops giving $120 for doing 70 in a 55 zone on an interstate (wtf), etc. We really need to rescind our fascistic tendencies just a tad bit.

[ag]

New York County, NY, is obviously the best. But it does't have its own constitution )

[anvi]

Our history has good and bad periods, not unlike the history of any other country.  Our Constitution had some enduring principles that have allowed us to improve it over time.  But originally, the Constitution wasn't such a good deal; it framed a representative government for white, male property owners. 

Well, we're currently the most militarily powerful and wealthiest of countries, and as mentioned, we're one of the oldest constitutional states in the world.  We struggle to unravel the imperfect practice of our ideals, and while we fall short a lot, the fact that we continue to struggle is good.  We have made great music, literature, political philosophy, artistic genres, that have influenced the globe.  Why can't we just say we're a great country, and be happy with that?  What's with this obsession with calling ourselves "the greatest?"  We're the Muhammad Ali of countries or something?  Muhammad Ali did not become the greatest fighter in history by calling himself "the Greatest."  If he was the greatest, it's because of what he did in the ring.  But even though he probably actually wasn't the greatest fighter in history, why shouldn't being a great fighter be good enough?  The world has seen countries come and go since at least the end of the last Ice Age.  If in the run of 10,000 years, you can rightly consider yourself a great country, that ought to be good enough...

[opebo]

Oh, where to begin?  I'll just pass.

[tpfkaw]

[Platypus]

At least according to the UN, that'd be Norway.

(With Australia in second )

[ilikeverin]

Nah, the Scandinavian countries have a lot going for them.  As does Canada.

I remember having this question asked of an Intro to Business class I was in my first year of high school, and getting booed for saying not only no but that we probably weren't in the Top 10.  Good times.

[Хahar 🤔]

What on Earth would make you think that?

[Torie]

Assuming arguendo that the US is the greatest country in the world at the moment, and there is a reasonable, although hardly compelling, case to be made for that (although for me as a matter of aesthetics if nothing else, such an hubristic mind set is just not my bag), it has little to do with our Constitution, and much more to do with our history, and culture, and values. So I voted no.

And yes I am very proud of my country, and admire it, despite its flaws, and relatively dysfunctional governmental machinery. Make no mistake about that.

[Middle-aged Europe]

At least according to the UN, that'd be Norway.

(With Australia in second )

The United States has the largest total GDP and the largest total military expenditures.

Norway currently ranks 1st in the Human Development Index, the Failed States Index (well, it actually ranks last there), the Democracy Index, and the Press Freedom Index (in this case along with Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland).

The U.S. is the greatest country in the world when it comes to quantity, and Norway is the greatest country in the world when it comes to quality.

Interestingly, Norway also has the third-oldest written constitution after San Marino and the United States. Constitutions do matter?

[fezzyfestoon]

I don't think there is a greatest country in the world.  Norway is near perfect, but fatally flawed in that it's in an incredibly undesirable climate.  I would never want to live there despite its incredible standard of living.  Our own unprecedented scale of success is certainly amazing.  It has flaws in its quality and our accumulation of fabulous wealth isn't always positive or beneficial.

[Hash]

It's hard to choose between Chittenden and Lamoille Counties for me, imo.

[Antonio the Sixth]

A country where people are assassinated simply for not being retarded ?

LOL

[Franzl]

A country where people are assassinated simply for not being retarded ?

LOL

God are you really this dense? We're talking about one person, one crazy person, that MAY have had political motives for his murders.

People are assassinated for their beliefs regularly in the United States? Idiot.