Despite what Canada’s nation hating extreme right would have you believe.
Fuck right off, Canada is nowhere in top 10.
Did everyone from Hexbear and Lemmygrad move to lemm.ee? I notice that that’s where most of the anti-Canadian hate is coming from. Was there a brigade message sent out or is this just organic?
Does that ever work or do most or just laugh at you?
As a Canadian expat, these sorts of surveys are an embarrassment. Canada is not that great. It has some good things going for it, but “second best in the world” is a laughable statement.
- The wealth disparity is terrible
- Nearly every inhabited patch of land is a suburban hellscape.
- The government is routinely dedicated to accomplishing as little as possible, especially on climate
- The fossil fuel lobby is embarrassingly strong
- The cost of living is extreme for many, with little effort to reign it in
- The country suffers from an inferiority complex in relation to the US of all places.
- The electoral system is broken
I mean, I love my country, but I’ve seen a lot of places that I’d rather live. The idea that we’re 2nd best compared to even half of the countries I’ve visited in the last 10 years is just silly.
Meanwhile my girlfriend just got back from travelling around Europe and all of those “superior” countries, and couldn’t wait to get home.
Said everyone was rude, taxis scammed her frequently, the public transit was pretty subpar with no other choice, the food was pretty mediocre, she had to be extra careful about pick pocketers, and lastly she said everyone stunk so bad from perfume that she had a constant headache.
Canada isn’t perfect, but it does have a ton going for it.
Sounds like your girlfriend did the typical North American thing of visiting “Europe” by hitting a bunch of major cities and sticking to the touristy centres.
- The Netherlands is gorgeous, quiet, and safe, but if you don’t wander further than one or two kilometres from Amsterdam Centraal, you’ll never see that. Rent a bike and ride through Haarlem or Utrecht if you want a proper experience.
- Brussels has some of the best food I’ve ever tasted, but you have to break away from the tourist traps first.
- Athens is an exciting, “young” city with ancient treasures literally on display in the subway stations. You’ll never see that if you just wander around the Parthenon. The food everywhere is great too, though the best spots are usually well outside the touristy areas.
- Paris has some really exciting stuff happening with cycling right now, and the view from Momatre is amazeballs. Yes, the locals can be rude, but fuck it, take the train and get out of the city!
Which brings me to the other important point: Europe is not just the (impressive) cities, but rather a continental patchwork of interconnected but distinct cultures. Have breakfast in a B&B in Arras before you trek out to see the Vimy memorial, then board a train and be in Nyon by dinnertime where you can sit on a clear blue lake and munch on baguette. Hop on the train again and you’re in Torino, Venice, or Florence which is just gorgeous. I had the best pizza in my life there in a dodgy little place at 1am.
Stay a few nights in Warsaw and take a stroll through the old city. Gobble some perogi in Krakow and then push yourself to visit Auschwitz. Then take the train across the now undefended border to Berlin where you can walk the path of the former wall, and the next night go for the best danishes in the world… in Denmark.
Seriously, your girlfriend is out to lunch if that’s her impression of “Europe”. You two need to take another trip and rethink your priorities.
Sounds like Paris.
Paris is the reason I will never do a ‘Europe trip’ ever again. I was robbed, assaulted and the city reeks of piss. Fuck travel.
Well she wasn’t in the nordic countries at least, public transport can be subpar but is almost always servicable and gets you anywhere (we have on-demand minibuses for rural areas), the only part that could apply is being seen as rude because we don’t greet every person within our field of view…
I’ve been to Europe many times, and my experience has been the total opposite of what your girlfriend describes.
Europe is huge. Don’t judge a whole continent for what your girlfriend experience is maybe one or two places.
That’s like saying that North America sucks because your girlfriend got mugged in Juarez, México.
I’ve had similar experiences in several cities in the UK, Austria, Paris, Amsterdam and even a trip out to the nurburgring To be frank, the friendliest Europe experience I’ve had was Kosovo but that was on business vs personal with the rest of them so I’m not sure that didn’t affect my experience in Kosovo.
I agree completely with what you’re saying. Living in a progressive state is a far different experience and we should avoid generalizations of countries without specific context and understanding.
That is sort of an assumption when talking about a list of the best countries.
I can really relate to this. I lived outside of Canada for 25 years. I recently-ish moved back to Canada and am totally blown away by things here. Life isn’t always amazing in any place you pick on the planet, but god damn, Canadians need to stop contemplating their collective belly button lint and focus on some of the massive issues that need attention.
I have been to a lot of first world countries for extended periods as a digital nomad. Canada is not even in the top 5 imo
What U.S. News believes doesn’t change reality either. These rankings are and always have been subjective BS
As a digital nomad, I’m guessing you would have been to relatively low CoL places like Bali, Thailand, maybe Eastern Europe or LatAm. You have to remember that your experience as someone from the global north, earning in a strong currency is very different from a local person there.
Not that i disagree with you that rankings are flawed but by the same token, Canada /is/ in the top 5 for many people from low standard-of-living countries
Typically you’d be right but as a DN I actually spent most of my time in North America and western Europe—mostly in countries people would compare Canada with (UK, France, Spain, Norway, Germany, USA, Australia, etc.). I never went to Asia or South America as a DN. Actually the only time I stepped foot in LatAm was in Panama for a month this past winter.
It really changed my perspective on Canada. I don’t think it’s a bad country at all but I don’t hold it in as high regard as I once did. Every country has its strengths and weaknesses. What those are is different for everyone. Canada is squandering immense potential in my opinion. If it wasn’t for family, there are several places in the USA I would consider living long term instead.
I’m not sure I really have a favourite. Every country has good and bad. There are some parts of the USA (ex. Colorado, Washington) that I really like. But also the USA has its own issues that we all know about. France is beautiful but there can be civil unrest, taxes are high, etc. I spent some time in Singapore and it’s very safe, clean, great food, but it’s also stale and far from a lot of places. Culture comes into play a lot. I can recognize that somewhere is a great place to live but it’s not for me. I didn’t grow up there, I don’t speak the language, etc. In Europe I feel most “at home” in the Netherlands.
Different things matter to different people. So saying things like “this country is #2” are meaningless. Countries I personally would rank above Canada: USA, Netherlands, Norway, Australia, New Zealand.
United States is fifth.
Yeah, “best” is a rather vague metric, and in this case, simply bullshit
I’m about to shake your world. Ready?
What you believe doesn’t change reality. Your feelings don’t matter.
Sorry.
You believe it’s bullshit.
What you believe doesn’t change reality. The report is as the report is, the metrics are all there, and whether you believe it or not makes absolutely zero difference.
Hey the USA is a great place to live if you make good money. Not a great place to be poor though.
Pretty much. Most of the best Universities in the world. That most of it’s citizens could never afford to attend. Many of the best Hospitals and specialty clinics in the world. That again most of it’s people can’t use.
Most American’s are somewhere in the middle, and I’m sure the median household has more disposable income than most other first world countries, it’s just that the prosperity is so unevenly spread.
Granted, some would speculate that it is because of the unevenness that the US is so prosperous, but I would dispute that. I think the US could go a long long ways towards helping it’s less fortunate without compromising it’s prosperity.
How does it compare to canada? I legit have no idea. I just remember reading in a thread like 2 days ago how an american person moved to canada and one of the main complaints was how pay was less and housing was way more.
House prices are much more reasonable in the USA. Obviously it’s a huge country and it depends where you want to live, but in comparison house prices in Canada make no sense whatsoever.
Culturally, very similar. There are subtle differences. Americans are louder and more confident in general I think. Also way more business oriented. People in general seem less healthy but the disparity with Canada isn’t that big anymore. Wealth disparity is though. Way more very poor people, way more really rich people. In Canada I’m a top 1% earner. In the USA I’m not really even close.
The obvious major difference from Canada is health insurance. If it’s not covered by your employer (92% of Americans have coverage last I checked), I hope you have some disposable income to pay to pay for health insurance. That being said, taxes are usually way lower depending on which state you’re in, so you very well might come out ahead, even with copay and deductible. For reference, I had a global health insurance plan with Cigna. It had 1 mil USD coverage and max out of pocket per year for me was like 3 k USD. That was 205 USD/month. This didn’t cover general doctors visits, or anything related to that. It was basically for visits to the emergency room. So if you’re looking for coverage at the same level as Canada, you’re going to be paying more. I have heard from numerous sources that the health care in the USA is way better than in Canada–as long as you can pay for it.
These are broad generalizations. USA is a very diverse place. Of all places I’ve been in the world, USA is the most similar to Canada, and Australia probably comes second.
Thanks Trudeau. Can’t get us to #1.
