Britain has the fourth highest quality of life in the world

Stop laying your posts out like this, it's really awkward to reply to.

Dont cry. Are my posts too hard for you to understand? This is a public forum so please do not try and dictate to me how to reply.


A small amount of people incredibly lucky and talented in the USA go on to become successful - regardless of the terrible public education system, not because of it. The vast majority of the population remain undereducated, ignorant and apathetic, just like the UK, Oxford and Cambridge don't stop this being true. And the fact universities only cater to the elite obviously negates your assertion that the fact they exist means the education system is good.

Well tell me a better system because obviously their seems to be a lot of intelligent Americans getting into the top companies all over the world. Obviously a lot of the population is going to be undereducated because of the sheer amount of people in the USA. Obviously the schools, colleges and universities are not going to be able to cater for all of them. Plus, a lot of Americans, especially in the South, do not even attend schools that are equivalent to the level of those in the North, through choice and nothing else. I also love how you can say the vast majority remain ignorant and apathetic yet you've only been their for one month. I've stayed in Vegas for a year and plan on going back when I graduate.


I spent 1 month in NYC and spent another month travelling through most of the East coast and Midwest, I don't claim to know everything about the USA based on this experience but I saw quite a lot.

Yes they really are - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/05/earlyshow/health/main5064981.shtml - the majority of bankruptcies can be put down to the extortionate cost of medical insurance. Also you really don't understand the housing market at all.

So what? That reflects the whole of the USA does it? No it really doesn't. CBS is equivalent to the biased media in this country. Stop reading everything you seen in tabloids, especially those from the American media which is extremely biased in its stories.

I do understand the housing market and American's should be able to cope as they have a better cost of living than here. If a house costs $70,000 then the mortgage is going to be a lot lower than a house here. Then you have to factor in their earnings which are often good compared to their expenditures and the price of food, fuel, etc is cheap. Its all about living within your means, as my auntie has done in the US. She's never had an issue at all and she has a medical condition but as she pays for insurance she's covered. The average annual premium for insurance is $3000 per person or you can get a package for between $6000-7000 for the family, as my auntie has done as she has a young daughter. Plus, you can also get insurance from your employer. $3000 is not much to insure yourself is it when teenagers can pay around £1500-2000 per year to drive in the UK. I'd much rather insure my health. Considering they also get taxed less and the cost of living is cheaper as well, it probably balances out if you spend within your means. The only ones who suffer from it are those who are irresponsible, as I've already stated.



Britain is indeed terrible but so is the USA, as I have said, the methods for defining and recording "violent crime" are completely different - in the UK any affray or threat of force is considered violent crime, in the USA someone has to be physically injured. What don't you understand? And I mentioned back people because you said it didn't matter, as it happened in deprived areas, it doesn't matter because the people who do it are poor and the people worst effected by it are poor - and in the USA discussions of crime and poverty implicitly involve race - it doesn't matter because it's black people who are worst affected.

The healthcare that is available in the US is arguably the best in the world. Access is their only issue, and that affects only a minority (I'm highly dubious that a quarter of children have no coverage).

They gave France a score of 100 for culture. France. That says it all.

Dont cry. Are my posts too hard for you to understand? This is a public forum so please do not try and dictate to me how to reply.

Well tell me a better system because obviously their seems to be a lot of intelligent Americans getting into the top companies all over the world. Obviously a lot of the population is going to be undereducated because of the sheer amount of people in the USA. Obviously the schools, colleges and universities are not going to be able to cater for all of them. Plus, a lot of Americans, especially in the South, do not even attend schools that are equivalent to the level of those in the North, through choice and nothing else. I also love how you can say the vast majority remain ignorant and apathetic yet you've only been their for one month. I've stayed in Vegas for a year and plan on going back when I graduate.

The UK's statistics don't even include rapes, attempted rapes, cautions for drug possessions or crimes such as petty theft and still it was higher than the US in terms of population density. Crime does happen in deprived areas in the US, as it does here, so whats the issue? No its not just black people either. I've seen people in Vegas sleeping down alley ways and they're not only black, there is white people too. Okay, you may have some black dominated areas such as the projects in New York but their neighbourhoods and livelihoods are based on illegal activities. The police do a far better job at tackling those illegal activities than the police here who in some cases are actually scared to go into areas where gang activity is known. It even occurs in South Wales so god knows what its like in Manchester, London and Liverpool.

No it doesn't. Those countries lock them up and keep them locked up for the sentence imposed on them. Over here they get released on a half sentence nine times out of ten with good behaviour. The UK is the only country in Europe where you can get a ! that is truly disgusting and shocking. The police and government are far more concerned with meeting targets to make themselves look good than actually dealing with the real issues. Also, Thailand is strict as hell when it comes to drugs so why is it that their reoffending rate for drug convicts is around 20-30% yet in the UK it is more than double that? Its because we are a soft touch. In the US, you commit a murder intentionally you're getting life or the death penalty. In the UK you're getting life and in the majority of cases you'd be out in just over 10 years. Back into the streets ready to snap again and ruin someone elses life. The problem with the system in this country is that they cannot understand that some people just simply cannot be rehabilitated.

So what? That reflects the whole of the USA does it? No it really doesn't. CBS is equivalent to the biased media in this country. Stop reading everything you seen in tabloids, especially those from the American media which is extremely biased in its stories.

I do understand the housing market and American's should be able to cope as they have a better cost of living than here. If a house costs $70,000 then the mortgage is going to be a lot lower than a house here. Then you have to factor in their earnings which are often good compared to their expenditures and the price of food, fuel, etc is cheap. Its all about living within your means, as my auntie has done in the US. She's never had an issue at all and she has a medical condition but as she pays for insurance she's covered. The average annual premium for insurance is $3000 per person or you can get a package for between $6000-7000 for the family, as my auntie has done as she has a young daughter. Plus, you can also get insurance from your employer. $3000 is not much to insure yourself is it when teenagers can pay around £1500-2000 per year to drive in the UK. I'd much rather insure my health. Considering they also get taxed less and the cost of living is cheaper as well, it probably balances out if you spend within your means. The only ones who suffer from it are those who are irresponsible, as I've already stated.

What a scary place Canada must be.

Why do people persist in thinking Britain is a **** hole. We are very lucky to live where we do, in one of the best nations in the world. These lists always go on about Scandinavia but I wouldn't want to live there, its too cold, you get taxed to hell and a pint of beer can be as high as 8 quid.


Most of Canada is has an arctic climate that can kill a unprepared or even a prepared person quite easily.

How can Austria's climate rank worse than ours?

The fact that they've got the most roads in the world, the most cell phones per capita, highest number of airports etc.

Our violent crime is worse than the US's, and the health ranking seems accurate as well when you consider that it's based on the number of people per doctor, the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people, the percentage of the population with access to safe water, the infant mortality rate, life expectancy, and public health expenditure as a percentage of a country’s GDP.

I've noticed that this ranking didn't make the press, unlike last year's where we came 25th and it was plastered across the tabloids. I don't trust Quality of Life surveys, and would still feel that I live in one of the world's best countries regardless of what it said, but what do you think of the findings?

By the way, when I say we came fourth, I meant according to the final score in the table where several countries achieved the same.

http://www1.internationalliving.com/qofl2011/

Because the list is pure rubbish.

It's really obvious when you see how far down the Scandinavian/Nordic countries are. Insane really .. Norway is always on top 5 on these lists, and it wasn't greatly affected by the recession. One of the few
countries in Europe with little economic problems.