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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThese are the world’s best countries. (Sorry, America — you’re No. 4.)
By Niraj Chokshi January 21 at 9:08 AM
The world's 5 best countries
The inaugural "Best Countries" ranking was unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Here are the top 5 countries according to U.S. News & World Report. (The Washington Post)
The votes are in, America, and the best country in the world is ...
(Drum roll, please.)
It's Germany. Sorry, United States, you're fourth — right behind third-ranked Britain and second-ranked Canada. But, hey, America beat Sweden!
That's according to the inaugural "Best Countries" ranking from U.S. News & World Report, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and global brand consultants BAV Consulting. The ranking was officially unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
“Just as we have done with universities, hospitals and other institutions, our Best Countries portal will be a global homepage for stories and data to help citizens, business leaders and governments evaluate performance in a rapidly changing world,” Mortimer B. Zuckerman, chairman and editor-in-chief of U.S. News, said in a statement. The publication is known the world over for many of its rankings.
Germany secured its top spot for a number of reasons, its economy key among them. The country is also, as U.S. News notes in a country profile, home to low unemployment, popular around the world, known for its high-quality brands and adept at using soft power abroad. And U.S. News credits Germany's leadership for its global rise.
"Germany's ascendance as a world leader comes largely from the work of [Chancellor Angela] Merkel," Drew writes. "Only the third German since World War II to hold the chancellorship for a decade or more, Merkel has shown decisive leadership on several issues. That is a change. Traditionally, Germans are consensus seekers who have chosen multilateral strategies over acting in a singularized manner."
Naturally, the rankings prompted official responses from officials around the world.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/01/20/these-are-the-worlds-best-countries-sorry-america-youre-number-4/
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What is missing that is in 'print', is the fact that Canada was ranked number one in this survey for 'quality of life'. Canada keeps the waters open to public, not the elite, AND their healthcare system. People can plan families, and never worry if they get sick, or worry if they are well, and they might get sick. Our system has bankrupted our happy carefree way of life, many of us knew long ago. It exists no more. We must get the power back into our hands, and take it away from the corporations who now write our laws, via campaign contributions. This is why I support Bernie Sanders. The rot from within, but be bored out of our country.
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ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)
merrily
(45,251 posts)
Hayduke Bomgarte
(1,965 posts)We're exceptional... Right?
ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)And it's cold and snowy there. They have free college. You and I can go too! Anyone who wants to go there to get a college education. They have healthcare!
NCjack
(10,297 posts)get enough sunshine to make solar practical compared to coal fired power plants. Damn those clever Germans. They have pulled ahead of us again. Just goes to show that WWII was a waste. If Germany had put its efforts into economic competition instead of war, they would dominate the world today. Instead, looks like with will take another 50 years for them achieve that.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)It's not all wine and roses.
ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)
L. Coyote
(51,134 posts)It insults the rest of the Americas when used that way. But, inside the USA, there is no outside world except where we are at conquest, it seems.
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)If you we t around the world and asked random people who Americans are, I bet 90%+ of them would respond by saying they are people in the U.S.
I understand the technical difference in how words are used, but in reality, perception is reality.
L. Coyote
(51,134 posts)What's utter bullshit to you is reality elsewhere in another languages. But, being an "American" makes people immune to that, and people who know what America means to others know what utter bullshit that has wrought.
Viva America does not translate to Long Live the USA!
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)when you say "America" without modification, you're talking about the USA. When you say "North/South/the Americas" you're talking about a continent or continents. Most people don't seem to have trouble understanding this.
L. Coyote
(51,134 posts)That way you can build a nation on genocide, march across a continent killing everyone in your path, make wars of manifest destiny, and have the attitude to declare you know what I think when I say a word because it is what you think. How very "American" don't you think? "Americans" can have fewer clues about what new negative meanings they bring to the word than about what it means to others. And who introduced the word where anyway? Open a dictionary and note, even in English alone, words have more than one meaning without considering separate minds. Most people have trouble understanding this if their heads are stuck in "America" only.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)
L. Coyote
(51,134 posts)In mine, it is mourning!
a la izquierda
(11,940 posts)The only people who think that way live in the US. South Americans often refer to themselves as Americans. When I have to identify my nationality in Latin America, I use "estadounidense" or I say that I am from the Estados Unidos Americanos. I do not put americana, nor do I say that I am from the Estados Unidos.
Shouldn't be that difficult to comprehend. In fact, the textbook that I use to teach Latin American history to college students has a note about this very concept.
yawnmaster
(2,812 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)L. Coyote
(51,134 posts)as opposed to them? 
We don't need a new word, we need to enlarge the context of our language beyond antiquated provincialism.
The "United States of America" took the name because it was America first, before the states united. The "United States of Mexico" took a more regional name referencing the Mejica antecedent. How many people in the USA know Mexico is also the United States, just not their United States? How many know where Cabo Wabo is but don't know where Mexico is?
Retrograde
(10,826 posts)estadounidense refers to a citizen or inhabitant of the United States of America (as opposed to the United States of Mexico.
The word "Usonian" was once proposed but utterly failed to catch on.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)In addition to being two continents, America is also an abbreviated colloquialism referring to the United States of America which I'd thought (until about five minutes ago) that even a half-wit would understand.
Odd though that so many people and friends of mine who live in the Yucatan refer to the US as 'America', despite your unsupported assertion that it insults the rest of the western hemisphere who (with much more grammatical and linguistic prevision), realize the actual phrase regarding the two continents is "the Americas" rather than 'America' (a most relevant and precise distinction...).
"there is no outside world except where we are at conquest, it seems...
Especially when that conquest is going on in the mind of someone attempting to illustrate how clever they pretend to be.
a la izquierda
(11,940 posts)It's not unsupported, though it is much more common for South Americans to use American than in Mexico.
But by all means, continue asserting what an entire continent thinks based on one region (Yucatan, where my research happens to be).
Jimbo S
(3,022 posts)yawnmaster
(2,812 posts)exploring the data is interesting.
There isn't much difference in scores between the top 10 or so.
Old Union Guy
(738 posts)Best for the World Economic Forum in Davos?
Is that the same as best for normal humans?
Germany #1?
Maybe, but not for long the way it's going.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,906 posts)ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)told, we are the greatest. No more. Not in infant mortality, basic health, food, alternative electricity, education, and labor issues. Not a word of that here. Just arguments on what is America, north, south, continents, etc.
I know these facts have been bleeding out now in stats for years. This is the rot, from within. There are records of candidates that reflect on these very topics, and who recognizes them and who has voted to help. And, who has not.
Ahhhh, the real state of the union. From many angles, people surveyed. Not just one person giving a speech, that reflects none of this.
Don't be afraid to poke and break the bubble!
The2ndWheel
(7,947 posts)So instead we should look at a different list to know who the greatest is, which is the truth.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Shocked that we're that high! We tend to score among the lowest of the developed nations on metrics like educational achievement and infant mortality.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)America is a federation of 50 states, Sweden is just one.
Compare Britain and Canada to their comparable equivalent in the US, like the West Coast or New England, and see how we come out then.
The US is more comparable to the EU, Russia or China rather than individual EU states.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Seems completely idiotic to do so.
ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)never changes. Yet the country has....and not for the better.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)I just don't get why they do things like this.
We definitely have a lot to learn from other countries.
JI7
(91,134 posts)Most of the migrants said their goal was germany.