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Some years ago, when I was still hoping to move to Canada (not that I would reject it now, if the opportunity presented itself), I followed the news, which then seemed to be that Canada earned the distinction of ranking as the best place in the world to live in, year after year.
It has not dominated that category so systematically in recent years, although it still nevertheless always ranks very high - and significantly higher than the United States. It is one of those things that Americans allow themselves the convenient conceit to ignore. But when you look at Canada's far superior and fairer healthcare system, as well as the strength of their democratic institutions, compared to some nagging signs that the overall standard of living in the United States has been in a steady decline for decades, it has the costliest healthcare system in the world, which is far less fair than it is in Canada and many other developed nations, and where democratic institutions certainly seem to be eroding.
According to the poll, Canada was ranked third best country in the world overall. It ranked third overall in education, and third overall for women. It was also ranked the second best nation in the world to serve as corporate headquarters. Overall, Canada ranked as the best country in the world in terms of overall Quality of Life.
The study was conducted by the US News and World Report, in partnership with the Y and R's BAV and Wharton. They looked at 80 nations, and examined numerous elements that affected the overall quality of life in each country. There are dozens of factors that the study takes into consideration. According to this article by Daily Hive Staff, they:
"broke down 80 countries’ overall rankings based “on 75 different metrics.” Each of those metrics was then placed into one of nine subcategories that included: A good job market Affordability Economic stability Family friendly Income equality Politically stable Safety Well-developed public health system Well-developed public education system Canada beat out Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, and Finland, which all finished in the Quality of Life top five."
"broke down 80 countries’ overall rankings based “on 75 different metrics.” Each of those metrics was then placed into one of nine subcategories that included: A good job market Affordability Economic stability Family friendly Income equality Politically stable Safety Well-developed public health system Well-developed public education system Canada beat out Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, and Finland, which all finished in the Quality of Life top five."
That other category of best country in the world also took in numerous factors, and is supposed to determine which nation ranks best overall on average with the combined categories. Canada ranked high, coming in at third overall, behind top-ranked Switzerland, and then Japan, which ranked number two. This was followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, and the United States, which came in at eighth overall. Norway and then France rounded out the top ten list.
Once again, I feel that Americans could use this as an example of what their own nation could be, if Americans allowed it to happen. But one of the major things that prevents that from happening is the generally accepted, and in fact, usually unquestioned, belief that the United States is the greatest nation in the world. It is a line that many politicians and other famous people keep saying, time and time again, ad nausea. Whenever something seems to contradict or undermine this claim, it is generally ignored, which is the reason that so many Americans remain ignorant of this kind of news story. It is also the reason why so many Americans believe only the worst notions about things like a universal, single-payer healthcare system, even though literally every other industrialized nation in the world has such a system in place. I would be willing to bet almost anything that this story will not ever reach so much as a blip on the major American media radar.
Once again, I feel that Americans could use this as an example of what their own nation could be, if Americans allowed it to happen. But one of the major things that prevents that from happening is the generally accepted, and in fact, usually unquestioned, belief that the United States is the greatest nation in the world. It is a line that many politicians and other famous people keep saying, time and time again, ad nausea. Whenever something seems to contradict or undermine this claim, it is generally ignored, which is the reason that so many Americans remain ignorant of this kind of news story. It is also the reason why so many Americans believe only the worst notions about things like a universal, single-payer healthcare system, even though literally every other industrialized nation in the world has such a system in place. I would be willing to bet almost anything that this story will not ever reach so much as a blip on the major American media radar.
Frankly, I believe it is because it might generate too many questions. Surely, many Americans (maybe even most) would systematically dismiss it as frankly unbelievable. When you have been fed a line like you are the greatest and freest country in the world for so long, it takes a lot to shake that faith, especially when such news items as this rarely ever reach the American people at large. But for those who would believe it, it might force certain question to arise, and it behooves those in power who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo in the United States to keep Americans generally ignorant of the realities in the rest of the world, both in terms of the damage that American foreign policy has rendered in many underdeveloped nations, as well as the generally better standard of living that many in other advanced nations enjoy.
Below are the two links that I used in writing this particular blog entry, including the specific statistics and rankings for each nation.
Canada ranked #1 country in the world for Quality of Life by Daily Hive Staff, Jan 22, 2019:
Study ranks Canada #1 in the world for quality of life This is the country’s fourth year in a row in the ranking’s top spot Elana Shepert / Vancouver is Awesome JANUARY 23, 2019:
https://www.vancourier.com/news/study-ranks-canada-1-in-the-world-for-quality-of-life-1.23609916
And here is the link to the US News and World Reports findings:
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries
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