What do you think about your own country?

What are your feelings about the country you're currently living in?

It is the best in the world 14
It's above average 19
It's average 11
It's below average 14
It's the worst in the world 3
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Comments ( 58 )
  • charli.m

    I think Australia has some great stuff and some shit stuff. Like many places.

    I can't think of an overall "better" country, but there certainly are places with better aspects. And there sure are worse. I'm fucking lucky I don't live in a worn torn country.

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    • SwickDinging

      Australia is brilliant. Not perfect but still brilliant. Standard of living here is higher than most other places in the world. I don't ever want to leave.

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      • charli.m

        I mean, the politics and infrastructure are shite, but yeah. Comparatively speaking, it's pretty good.

        I could do without most bogans, though.

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        • SwickDinging

          I guess it's all relative. I've been very impressed with the infrastructure but I only have UK to compare it to. I have some Canadian friends here and they find the infrastructure appalling.

          I agree with you about the politics though. I'm gobsmacked at some of the stuff politicians come out with on tv here. I've found that Australians are on a completely different wavelength to the politicians, they don't represent your people well at all.

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          • charli.m

            I've seen toddlers with better social graces than politicians here.

            Yeah, I hear the UK has pretty fucked up infrastructure. I guess here it depends where you live. Melbourne was better than Sydney. Sydney is a fuck up.

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            • Boojum

              I don't want to toot the UK's horn, and I definitely don't think the infrastructure here has no room for improvement, but I'm curious what you mean by that comment.

              I mean, it's not like we're all on dial-up internet, driving on roads look like the craters of the moon and across bridges that are likely to collapse when you're in the middle, seeing weeds and bugs in the kettle after we've fill it from the tap, or surviving on two hours of electricity a day.

              The UK has the usual problems of any country with areas of very high population density and a government that believes taxes are inherently evil and shouldn't be collected to pay for works that benefit everyone, but it's really not a shithole.

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  • LornaMae

    I'm associated with two. USA by birth and Brazil by parentage. I'm happier with Brazilian customs, weather and free Universities and free health care (although it fails to work as idealized, that's one of the reasons why I've chosen to live here again).

    Politically, I'm terrified by both countries. First, Trump in the US. Now, a misogynistic, homophobic, racist man is likely to be the one to soon be elected president of Brazil.

    Anyway, I still prefer what I get out of living in Brazil than in America. It's beautiful and welcoming.

    [And, no, I don't work for Embratur - the ministry of tourism.]

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    • I just did a little research om Brazil and you guys murder rate is astonishingly high. Out of the 20 cities in the world with the most homicides per capita Brazilian cities are named 7 times and 10 times out of the top 30. That's a lot of dead people.

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      • LornaMae

        Also, you have to consider that poverty begets crime and violence. Inequality is one of the main characteristics of the country. When I say I prefer what I get out of living here it's definitely because my struggles barely compare to the majority of the population suffering with the absurdly high unemployment rates, lack of infrastructure, poverty, famine, homelessness, etc. ad infinitum. It always depresses me to see so many people in such terrible living conditions, and all I can do is help the few who I come across in life.

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      • LornaMae

        It really is! I'm lucky enough to live in a city where violence does exist but has never actually affected me. Over 10 years ago I lived in Rio de Janeiro for a couple of years and we were very fortunate during that time - although several times I passed by locations either 5 minutes before or after certain events took place and that I'd see in the news later the same day.

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    • kelili

      I was in Sao Paulo last year and I was shocked by the number of people living in the streets. But yes, most people in Brazil are welcoming and nice. I was not expecting it to be so cold (I went in July).

      Beautiful place but way too much inequality.

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      • LornaMae

        That's exactly what it's like, kelili, and it's crushing to see it daily. It really gets to me on such a deep level that I'll often feel completely hopeless about equality, which is something I value highly. We had a left-wing President for 8 years and it was the time when most poor people's lives were bettered considerably. Then two years ago there was a coup that impeached our first female President from the same party. Now the future looks even bleaker, because the right-wing candidate is sure to be elected and make life even more difficult for those in need.

        Funnily, last July I was close to you, in South Africa, and noticed the exact same things in Cape Town. As for the weather it was because the city of São Paulo does get really cold in the winter. Where I live, in the same state, while I was away in July the weather here was at about 25 - 30 degrees (Celsius), while there we got between 12 and 16. Why were you here? For work or fun? I'd assume work because it's unlikely that out of all the beautiful cities here you would've chosen São Paulo for a vacation. I mean, unless you were visiting someone.

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        • kelili

          In fact, it was a sort of socialist get-together where we exchanged about our organisation's struggle and would discuss about revolution, feminism, class struggle etc.. We were in Guararema to be exact.

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    • TS

      In which country do you currently live?

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      • LornaMae

        I left the US in 2005 and, apart from a one-month visit in 2010, have been here ever since.

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  • JellyBeanBandit

    I live in Ireland. Horrible weather, like I'm not gonna be able to stay here forever because of that. It's just miserable. Other than that it's good. Good enough minimum wage. Pretty forward, gay marriage is legal, we've finally legalised abortion. Good education. Yeah, it's great except for the weather.

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    • Meatballsandwich

      And I thought the weather here in Sweden was awful.

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  • Grunewald

    I just like my country because it's mine. You know, how everyone likes the smell of their own fart? Like that.

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    • kelili

      Beautifully worded. Almost poetic!

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  • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk

    ive had some incredible cheeseburgers in the far east

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  • Randomly-Strawberry

    It truly depends on WHICH PART you are you.

    In SOME cities, it's like the best place in the world. In SOME cities, it's just average. In SOME OTHER cities, it's below average, and in some really poor places it's the worst place in the world.

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    • Randomly-Strawberry

      *WHICH PART you are in, not you are you

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  • paracetamol

    Its a shithole. Dont come here.

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  • dreamtrain

    I live in Spain. We're on a crisis right now, and the government kind of sucks; but at least the healthcare is great; and we have nice life expectancy and so. Not a good education system though, which makes me really sad. We could do amazing things about education, but we don't move a finger. Wish I could help change it in a not-so-far future.

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  • Bazinga

    I have been to many countries, and women hate me in all of them. That's why I like living in the USA. I own a collection of weapons, go to the rifle range and blast them off. My sexual insecurities simply melt away.

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  • kelili

    My country is a good place to live if you have a job. We always have good weather and we have beautiful beaches but most people here live in poverty. We have free education and free healthcare but it's not as great as you would think. The leaders are corrupted and love money a little too much. The population is passive and fear to revolt.

    But I would never leave this place.

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  • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk

    polenta

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  • megadriver

    I like my country (Bulgaria), I'm proud of our long history, of the many things Bulgaria invented, or had first... Stuff like the electronic watch, the modern computer, first airplane bomber, first cinema in Eastern Europe and many more, but I hate most of the politicians... Especially communists. There is a special place in hell for them, where satan rapes them with a spiked condom and uses chili pepper sauce and battery acid as lube.

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  • Stupiddude

    Egypt is a great country. lots of resorses,amazing history and the people are so funny and loving at least that's what they used to be. But due to the asshole governering poverty and stuff like that unfortunatly i can's say we are great.but We can be great

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  • Boojum

    As I write, there are 51 votes in this poll, and 57% of those voters believe their country is "above average" or "the best".

    That's sort of like how 90% of people consider themselves to be of above average intelligence. (Strictly speaking, roughly 50% of people are indeed of above average intelligence, but only if you consider an IQ of 101 to be above average.)

    Every country has its good points and bad, and there is no "best" country. I've lived in three countries during my life: USA, UK, and Italy. Each of them has some wonderful things going for them, some really shitty aspects that make life difficult in one way or another, and a lot of stuff in the middle that's fair to middling in terms of impact on quality of life. I've been generally happy in all three countries, and I've had periods of feeling totally pissed off with the natives, the government, the climate, etc, in all three as well.

    Anyone who believes there is a "best" country has a very narrow perspective. Usually that's because they're too lazy or afraid to get up off their arse and go live in a different culture for a few years. Sometimes it means they have a tribal view of the world where it's all us versus them, and obviously WE are better, smarter, holier people than "they" are.

    There will be a culture and country somewhere in the world that suits any particular person better than most other places, but that just means it's "best" for that person, not "best" in any objective sense.

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  • LornaMae

    I've been invited to go there and have been looking into it! For some reason there are several 2nd and 3rd generation Lebanese around here. Why do you think it's the best? I'd like to know. :)

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  • Meatballsandwich

    I live in Sweden. I think my country has turned to shit over the past 20 years or so. Such a shame because back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, this country was absolutely brilliant. Now it's nothing but a mess and I've been considering leaving it for the past 4-5 years.

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    • Susancream

      I read this in an irish accent, I don't know why.

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  • Meatballsandwich

    The best? Certainly one of the best countries in the middle-east, but not on par with Europe.

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  • Could you also explain why?

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  • paramore93

    The UK. Corruption, austerity, injustice, poverty. There's not enough money for the NHS or to investigate basic crimes. There's nowhere to live. The north/south divide. Brexit. I could go on.

    BUT we do have it a whole lot better than parts of the world so I have absolutely no right to complain. I have food, water, shelter, power, free care and some amazing countryside.
    Government incompetence is the only real issue.

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    • Funny. I could say what you said verbatim about the USA except for the part about not having enough money to investigate crimes.

      You guys have allowed a lot of immigrants in lately. Has crime gone up with the influx?

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      • SwickDinging

        This is a common misconception - we've actually always had a steady influx of immigrants since 1940s. The only real difference now is that most of the immigrants are Muslims and they don't always assimilate well into our culture, so people are noticing it a lot more. And on a totally 100% unrelated note the amount of terrorist attacks have gone through the roof.

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        • 100% unrelated.

          Do they expect you to conform to their culture? That's what they sometimes seem to expect of us in the USA.

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          • SwickDinging

            I have lots of Muslim friends who are cool, and they don't expect any of that nonsense from me. However I've realised that all of my Muslim friends who have assimilated well into the community are all considered to be "bad" Muslims by their own people. So... I don't want to tar everyone with the same brush cuz people are unique but from my own personal experience the "good" Muslims do expect you to conform to their culture and are disgusted by British culture. Which is hilarious because it's like why the fuck would you even move somewhere if you hate it hahaha

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          • RoseIsabella

            I think the ones in Dearborn, Michigan want that.

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            • For some reason Muslims (and other immigrants) seem to think they should not have to meet our expectations and societal norms but expect such from us. If I were to go to, say, Saudi Arabia, they would expect me to conform to and adapt to their ways of doing things. And I should/would. But they don't think adaptation should be required of them.

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        • factcheck

          Only if you have a very narrow definition of terrorist attack.

          And a very loose definition of through the roof.

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    • I am an immigrant living in the UK. You don't know what corruption is until you live in Eastern Europe or Africa.

      Also I am pro-Brexit and I don't understand how this is bad for you, unless you work in a sector that deals with EU trade or so.

      As a Romanian who lived in a country with one of the most incompetent governments ever (Even the half-german president declared it so) I can say that the UK has a pretty competent and effective government and I am so grateful for it.

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      • Boojum

        It's sounds like you've acclimated to the UK so well you've adopted a very British viewpoint: "I'm in now, so raise the drawbridge and keep the scum out!"

        It's nice you're happy here, and it's a good thing you made the move before the anti-immigrant yahoos vented and voted in the way you approve of so much. What you should be doing now is trying to figure out how you can change your nationality to British. Just because you're allowed to stay here at the moment, there's nothing to say that some future populist twat in Downing Street might decide to have another referendum about whether people like you are allowed to live here.

        You may love Britain, but I know for a fact that an awful lot of Brits don't love you based solely on where you were born, and they'd be thrilled to shove you on a France-bound ferry.

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        • I respect the nationalist British people who dislike and isolate me more than I respect the welcoming ones, because I think they're wiser while the others are making mistakes that the conservatives have to pay for.

          Not sure how sarcastic you are with this reply, but there is no such thing as changing your nationality. I am considering citizenship in the future indeed.

          However, you said: "I'm in now, so raise the drawbridge and keep the scum out!". This is inappropriate and hurtful to me, implying that I'm scum and now that I got in, I want the rest of the scum out. FALSE. The truth is I'm one of the respectable immigrants who want the policies to support solely people like us. I didn't benefit from something to end up taking it from others. I've benefited only from honest government loans and I want others to get them too. This will happen after Brexit as well, according to officials who said that they keep the education out of the political sphere. And indeed, they still offer them and they will keep doing so.

          The vast majority of immigrants however come with different mindsets, and usually commit frauds for personal gains. These are the ones I never approved and I want them out; I never did this and I'll never do it. However, we, University students, are a separate category. We don't do that. It's not me benefiting from aid and then wanting others not to, it's me always being very harsh against misery and continuing to do so for the rest of my life. It's me finding a cleaner house, building on top of it and wanting to place tanks around it to protect it. You call this a British (and apparently undesirable) approach, I call it integration and self-preservation.

          I want the leftist mentality eliminated from Europe. I want it destroyed completely. I don't want people to go far-right against it, but I want Europe to place protection on the first place. When achieved appropriately, this shouldn't affect me since I'm an honest man and I do not represent a threat. I am sick and disgusted by the state-enforced diversity & equality. We do not think that way and we will never adopt that. Immigrants can come, but the state must make sure they are here to help, not to turn it into a Britanistanic shithole. They need tight immigration policies and I will contribute to that one day.

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      • paramore93

        Glad you found a home here :]
        I know it's not as bad as many places but considering we're supposed to be a developed first world country, it's kind of a shambles. We have our share of corruption and hypocrisy. There's the bigger picture then my own personal reasons for thinking this. Everybody has their own opinions on the government and brexit, all we can really do is wait and see I guess!

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        • Yes you do have your share of corruption and hypocrisy. Every government has. But let me tell you some things you might not know:

          The United Kingdom contributed greatly under the European Union to poorer countries, just to receive injustice in exchange.

          1) The EU funds:
          Romania has received an enormous amount of funds from the EU, which, of course, came from stronger countries, such as the UK.

          Take the Farmers' funds for example. Local authorities and some local farmers falsely declared that they have hundreds of animals, while they barely had any. All the money - hundreds of millions of euros - went right into their pockets, while the production continued to decrease. This is common to many other eastern states.

          Take the example of fake companies and freelancers. They anonymously make "contributions" to an NGO and then use this money to "pay" the "freelancers" that are then able to claim for freelancing & entrepreneurship funds. So are the owners of the NGOs to claim hundreds of thousands of euros for the "excellent" work they do in promoting entrepreneurship for a brighter future.

          Billions of euros are stolen ANNUALLY from these funds, with no possibility for them to generate profit and actually return to the EU in one way or another.

          2) The EU's influence on multiculturalism:

          We all know how sorry and guilty Westerns nations are for the imperialistic policies of the 20th century. As a result, they wanted to change their global image by accepting millions of Africans inside my beloved Europe.

          The main leaders behind this mass immigration - Merkel, Cameron and Sarkozy - admitted that multiculturalism has failed. It lead to terror and islamisation in a country that was once saved with the blood of our European crusaders who died to keep us safe from the terrorist vermin.

          People still refuse to believe it, and they all struggle to make this place welcome for everybody, hopelessly hoping that people will instantly change their mindsets once they step into the UK and leave all their mentalities behind. What a joke...Here's the truth: it will NEVER happen.
          People think that immigrants immerse into their culture. We're not. I was born and raised this way, I will never change my mind and I will NEVER adopt a warm and welcoming British lifestyle over my harsh, brutal and conservative Eastern European one. Luckily, I am not a threat, I am on the Europeans' side, I demand justice and I could potentially be part of your salvation, but most aren't, and that's very bad news for you.

          What was once a beautiful continent of modern values and peace is now poisoned with terrorism and filth, and Westerns want to be tolerant and to force us to do the same. I will never do it. Cultural assimilation doesn't work this way.

          The EU threatens countries to take immigrants so they can have a better and cleaner image and also minimize the damage by spreading viruses to others, and that's miserable.

          3) The internal EU immigration:

          The EU enabled people to travel freely and to exploit other countries' resources with little to no restriction. Guess what happened. 96% of the cyberfrauds in the UK are commited by Romanians. I grew up around one of the most dangerous cybercriminals who went on journeys around the whole world to steal and copy cards and to withdraw money illegaly. Their profits were mostly spent on gambling, ending in some rich guys' pockets. Why is this happening? Because the EU makes it so easy for everybody to travel. I saw these things with my own eyes. Don't even try to change my mind. They were all gypsies or mixed gypsies. You and your non-racist leftist policies will never work on me. I can clearly see you suffering. I won't hold my views towards someone who is decent, and here people of colour are educated and well-behaved. As a result, I will have no bias towards them, but things are very different when we talk about immigrants and people from my own country for example. It gets very complicated and only a fool would think that a brusque and enforced "tolerance" will solve the conflicts that societies have been holding for thousands of years.

          So, if you were joining a society and say that you want to create a fund for the benefit of everybody, then people steal your money, rape you, kill you or your family, ruin your life, would you still go? Because that's what's happening with the EU. Farage is so right about everything.

          I am an immigrant and I demand justice. My studies are funded by the British government and my loan is granted by the EU. I am pro-Brexit, even if it's against myself. I found a home here and I am not going to let it turn into the shithole I came from. British people are thinking differently, they mostly told me how they were against Brexit to welcome me. I told them I am pro-Brexit to protect them. I am proud of my choice.

          Thanks for reading until here.

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          • paramore93

            Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. I think it's a mistake but it's not for me to try and change your mind. None of us will really know until a while after it's happened. Hopefully everything will turn out okay anyway.

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            • Understood. Just bear in mind that I tell you these truths from a side of the world that many pro-EU enthusiasts and friendly civilized people are barely aware of. The aids received by the EU fed corruption and mafia enormously, failing to reach their objective, but encouraging them to break more windows as nobody stops them.

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