Greatest county in the world

[opebo]

...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...

Most Norwegians spend the winter in Phuket or such places, so the climate's not such a big deal.

[Stranger in a strange land]

The greatest county in the world is obviously Fairfax, VA.

With regards to whether the United States is the greatest country in the world, it's impossible to say. It's certainly a great country with a glorious history, but it's very problematic to compare it with, say Sweden or Singapore, both of which are also great countries in my opinion, just smaller and less powerful.

[opebo]

Its definitely the greatest for getting shot for non-financial motivations.

[Verily]

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.

Norway is also a rentier state. Thirty years from now, when North Sea oil is running out, quality of life there will drop dramatically.

Anyway, the US is in the top 25, but best country in the world? Definitely not.

[courts]

No, american culture is pretty degenerate at this point. I'd say Wormy has it right although I'd that expand that list to include a lot of east asia. Also Monaco, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, etc. obviously.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

We're the cesspool of humanity at this point. Do you guys really see future generations looking upon American culture in a favorable way? Our nation's legacy is going to be a bad one, which is sad because there's been plenty of good things to come from this country.

[Storebought]

No, as far as general standard of living is concerned, but it is in the top five.

[The Mikado]

The question is unanswerable.  There's no clear definition of "greatest" or yardstick to measure it by.  Abstain.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I think you can find quite a number of people who would say New York or Los Angeles counties.

[Хahar 🤔]

I think you can find quite a number of people who would say New York or Los Angeles counties.

Los Angeles County? Impossible.

[Torie]

I think you can find quite a number of people who would say New York or Los Angeles counties.

Los Angeles County? Impossible.

I love LA.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Bumping this to get more responses for comparison.

[Redalgo]

I do not believe that there is necessarily a "best" country in the world unless one breaks it down into comparing them side-by-side for specific qualities. Although the United States has a rather interesting character, its history contains extremely bright and dark spots alike. Similarly, the U.S. Constitution has served as both a safeguard of human rights and as a culturally backwards oppressor of tens of millions of people in the past. On the whole in the present day I consider my country to have characteristics that are much more positive than not. Nonetheless, I dislike getting wrapped up in nationalism and find the common American notion of its exceptionalism to be a little ignorant and narcissistic.

If I had to choose, I would compare countries based on how happy their people are with their lives. In that case the U.S. would eek into the top 25 but not out-compete many other affluent countries of advanced development. From all that I have read I would say the United States is indeed a great country but not the best in some of the respects that matter most. That is fine with me. We do not always have to be #1 and ours is a relatively young country that still has a lot to learn from others around the world. There will always be potential for a country to pursue more growth and development.

[CARLHAYDEN]

I wish I had more imput, but, here's a comparison with the Gallup results:

                                       Atlas                                Gallup
                    Democrat     Republican     Others    

Greatest          13%             93%              8 %          80%

Not                  63                  7                64              18

Unsure             24                 2                28                2

[Platypus]

I wish I had more imput, but, here's a comparison with the Gallup results:

                                        Atlas                                Gallup
                    Democrat     Republican     Others     

Greatest          13%             93%              8 %          80%

Not                  63                  7                64              18

Unsure              2                24                28                2

To be fair, you ought to break it down by home country also.

[Хahar 🤔]

I think you can find quite a number of people who would say New York or Los Angeles counties.

Los Angeles County? Impossible.

I love LA.

The problem with LA is that there's so little of it. Even most of the city itself is nondescript suburbia, and there are so many obscure outlying suburbs...

[Redalgo]

The percentages of Democrats and Republicans listed as unsure are mixed up, ya?

[CARLHAYDEN]

The percentages of Democrats and Republicans listed as unsure are mixed up, ya?

Thanks for the correction.