Best Country to Live In? (to buy, salary, move to)

[minibrings]

Well I am NOT trying to convince you about anything. I was curious about the facts and they speak for themselves.

Opinions hold more weight if presented with research, otherwise its all conjecture.

IMO, the developed world is the best place to live for economic viability and safety -- US, Canada, Australia and Western Europe. I base this on research and on having personally lived in 5 countries (Australia, Philippines, US, Canada, UK) on 4 continents and on having visited 50 countries.

[illinoisboy]

Although it would be awesome to live somewhere else for a while, I think I would always end up moving back to the US. We have one of the most beautiful countries in the world, with the most varied landscape. We have mountains, hills, rainforests, oceans, plains, the Great Lakes, deserts, tropics...

How many other countries can say that?

[minibrings]

I agree with you Illionois boy. I am planning to move back. Prior to Canada I was living in Australia. While I was happy there you do feel isolated living down under and they have been living under drought conditions for a while and its much greener in north america (and cheaper).

[minibrings]

Originally Posted by Soju

USA minus the violence and cheaper health care=great.

I'm curious as to why people think the US is violent?

I never had any problem living in NYC for 17 years. I do not count 9/11 as an act of violence I consider it an act of war. I've never seen a robbery, etc.

Is this how America is perceived outside the US?
Granted some cities may be safer than others but overall I do not think the US is any more violent. Is this due to the prevalence of US shoes (Cops, CSI) and action (Bourne) movies overseas?

What do Americans and non-Americans think?

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by minibrings

I'm curious as to why people think the US is violent?

I never had any problem living in NYC for 17 years. I do not count 9/11 as an act of violence I consider it an act of war. I've never seen a robbery, etc.

Granted some cities may be safer than others but overall I do not think the US is any more violent. Is this due to the prevalence of US shoes (Cops, CSI) and action (Bourne) movies overseas?

What do Americans and non-Americans think?

I say it to people that want to argue with the stats on violence locally too- some people seem to live in a little bubble where they think that consists of the whole world,but if they took a look at the big picture perhaps they wouldn't say anything anymore...

The statistics for many types of violence in the u.s. are much higher than they should be for a place like this,for example gun crimes...

[minibrings]

Found on web:

American vs. European Crime Rates
There is a widely perpitrated myth out there that the US has a higher crime rate then major Western European Nations. According to Interpol and the FBI this is not the fact.

Per 100,000
* 4161 - US
* 7736 - Germany
* 6941 - France
* 9927 - England and Wales

and it appears the US is tougher (longer sentences) on criminals..
Compared to other industrialized nations, the United States has similar rates of victimization. In many areas
American citizens are actually at less of a “risk of victimization than their counterparts in other nations.” Overall,
then, the United States does not have significantly higher rates of crime or victimization than other industrial
nations

Encarceration rates though are higher than the rest of the world. And the US is tougher on sentencing than western European countries.

[StuckPA]

They don't say what kind of crimes they are though.

[minibrings]

True. but for gun violence I'm sure the US is tops!
I wonder how Finland ranks compared to the rest of W Europe.. I read 1 in 5 own a gun in finland.

[Mattias]

Sweden, France, Italy, Norway, Denmark, USA, Canada, Australia

[Alt Dach]

Norway