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What country is the #1 country in the world? I'm basing this on notoriety, economy, power, cities, and history. Which country are people most familiar with and know the most about? What cities in these countries do people know most about.
In my opinion, it would be America or China. Japan is a runner-up. What do you think?
Israel. It does what it wants, is accountable to nobody, makes up the rules to suit itself, and has the world's most powerful nation wrapped around its little finger.
May I point out the perhaps biggest problem with threads like this one (apart from subjective biases):
Most people aren't well educated in what other countries are like.
I've travelled and lived in enough places and talked with enough people (from all over the world) to know this. Thread after thread on CD alone over the years have also proven this.
Besides, if you want a scientificly solid answer (which you absolutely will not find by asking the question on a forum open to the public), you will not get a "number 1" based on the phrasing of these questions.
For starters they're too vague and unspecified. What do you mean by notoriety? How do you judge history? Et cetera.
Also, there will not be one country that will be the best at everything. One will be the best at something, another at another.
Third, it changes from year to year. That's why the UN (et al) have such problems with creating just one "top countries in XX", and why they also have to update and change them yearly. One year Sweden was the best country to generally live in, the next it was Norway, etc. ...
If your question is really about what we, as individuals, subjectively think is the "number 1" based on our criterias and knowledge of other countries, then here's my subjective (and biased) opinion:
1. Notoriety: Good - Sweden (I've never been disliked by any nationality this far). Bad - Too many to consider.
2. Economy: China (if we're talking good economy); USA (if talking bad economy)
3. Power: China (both historically speaking and now)
4. Cities: England (I love London!)
5. History: Sweden (our years as a super power are pretty intriguing to read about)
1. Notoriety: Good - Sweden (I've never been disliked by any nationality this far). Bad - Too many to consider.
2. Economy: China (if we're talking good economy); USA (if talking bad economy)
3. Power: China (both historically speaking and now)
4. Cities: England (I love London!)
5. History: Sweden (our years as a super power are pretty intriguing to read about)
That's what I think anyway ...
The US has a larger economy than china currently, and 1/4 the population.
The US has a larger economy than china currently, and 1/4 the population.
Larger economy = more people with money available to spend money on the market.
But, which I'm sure no one can have missed, much of the money is borrowed. Much of it from China. The US is in a huge trouble right now because it needs to borrow even MORE money.
Let's put it like this: If I go and borrow one million dollars from the bank, I'll have one million dollars to spend on the market.
But I doubt anyone would call me rich since the money's borrowed and thus not really mine.
The US has more than 14 trillion dollars in debt. Much of that is owed to China. China, however, has no debt.
So calling oneself rich doesn't make you rich. You can appear rich, yes, but only until people start looking into the facts.
(Which most people don't, hence the idea of the US being the "richest country". Which also proves my point that people can only give subjective opinions in threads like these, since we aren't educated enough in the subjects to make a valid scientificly sound answer.)
May I point out the perhaps biggest problem with threads like this one (apart from subjective biases):
Most people aren't well educated in what other countries are like.
I've travelled and lived in enough places and talked with enough people (from all over the world) to know this. Thread after thread on CD alone over the years have also proven this.
Besides, if you want a scientificly solid answer (which you absolutely will not find by asking the question on a forum open to the public), you will not get a "number 1" based on the phrasing of these questions.
For starters they're too vague and unspecified. What do you mean by notoriety? How do you judge history? Et cetera.
Also, there will not be one country that will be the best at everything. One will be the best at something, another at another.
Third, it changes from year to year. That's why the UN (et al) have such problems with creating just one "top countries in XX", and why they also have to update and change them yearly. One year Sweden was the best country to generally live in, the next it was Norway, etc. ...
If your question is really about what we, as individuals, subjectively think is the "number 1" based on our criterias and knowledge of other countries, then here's my subjective (and biased) opinion:
1. Notoriety: Good - Sweden (I've never been disliked by any nationality this far). Bad - Too many to consider.
2. Economy: China (if we're talking good economy); USA (if talking bad economy)
3. Power: China (both historically speaking and now)
4. Cities: England (I love London!)
5. History: Sweden (our years as a super power are pretty intriguing to read about)
That's what I think anyway ...
USA as the worst economy? Ever heard of Zimbabwe? As for history, Sweden's is pretty cool, but Poland is also sweet. Although, if we're going for historical cities, Istanbul takes the cake easy.
By the history criteria, the US is too young to have proven itself so far. We could argue when the empire period began (1840s?, after War between the States, after WWII?) but in any case it is a mere pittance in the long sweep of human history and empires. We simply do not know now if the current downturn is the cusp of a serious civilizational crisis or merely a bump in the road.
There is a debate on this forum over which is the most powerful city in the world. In my view it is London, though largely because US power (New York and Washington) makes crossroads there (figure it out). No doubt the flow of the bulk of financial power across the globe on a daily basis is Tokyo, London, New York. But that may already be changing in terms of real economy; think of how many bilateral deals the Chinese government has made on several continents, financing infrastructure investment in exchange for commodities.
They say that Italy is number one as measured by the world's artistic treasuries, certainly number one, and by far, in cuisine, has among the world's best health care systems, and is among the countries with the longest life expectancy.
I believe that France is number one in tourism visits per year, it has among the world's best health care systems, and is among the countries with the longest life expectancy.
Japan is among the countries with the longest life expectancies.
Many say that Norway is among the countries with the best quality of life, well perhaps at least until yesterday.
USA as the worst economy? Ever heard of Zimbabwe? As for history, Sweden's is pretty cool, but Poland is also sweet. Although, if we're going for historical cities, Istanbul takes the cake easy.
I have indeed. But heuristic thinking made me think of the US before I continued pondering it deeper and hence I didn't get to Zimbabwe. Must also confess that my knowledge of the country isn't deep enough to make a conclusion about its economy that I would be willing to post here on CD (or anywhere else where I might have to defend my opinion at a later stage).
Poland's history is cool too, but Sweden has influenced alot of it
If we're talking historical cities, then Istanbul is really cool (I haven't been there yet but I am very jealous of my brother who's going there next week). But of the cities I've been too this far with a long history, Cairo would be my choice, so number 1 country of historical cities in my opinion would be Egypt. Israel as a close second.
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