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Britain ranked #27 on best countries to be born in 2013, down from #7 in 1988.

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Original post by Svenjamin
In general. It's easy enough to move abroad if people really want to. These surveys only really serve people who want to moan about "the state of the UK today".


I do wonder how they quantify 'cultural characteristic' though. :confused:


Oh right, yes I agree then. And I'm not sure about that bit either :tongue:
Original post by snailsareslimy
Ireland lol.

Ireland is woeful in comparison to Britain (as someone who lives in NI, it's easy to compare them both).
Euro is rubbish, it's generally just a miserable, wet pile of hills... Eg the West. The East is better but still... It's not a "great" place to be born; it's "okay". Plus Dublin isn't terribly great for shopping when you compare it to London or Edinburgh/Glasgow.


NI is not comparable to the Republic of Ireland.

I live in the North, and its safe to say N.I its worse than both ROI and GB.

R.o.Ireland is so high on the list as;

It has free Uni education.
Great Uni's.
Really high wages.
Good welfare state.
High number of high-end jobs in Dublin (admittedly less so outside, but still 1/3 of the population live within commuting distance to Dublin).
A wide sense of political harmony.
A great series of presidents.
No serious problem with racism.

I could go on...

I can't believe people are shocked at how highly ranked the R.o.Ireland is. Do people still think the Irish run about barefoot, living in thatched cottages squinting over gas lamps and eating spuds, struggling to make time to practice river dance?
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by GR3YFOXXX
NI is not comparable to the Republic of Ireland.

I can't believe people are shocked at how highly ranked the R.o.Ireland is. Do people still think they live barefoot in cottages with gas lamps eating spuds and practicing river dance?


I'd actually like that :p: But I agree, I think some people on here are just correlating their own lives...
Original post by GR3YFOXXX


I can't believe people are shocked at how highly ranked the R.o.Ireland is. Do people still think they live barefoot in cottages with gas lamps eating spuds and practicing river dance?


Yes.

...or it could be to do with the recession and lack of jobs. No need to jump to conclusions.
Original post by mosmof
7 behind Israel... 5 behind Kuwait... really?


Oh look some countries in Asia are doing better than some countries in Europe.. big whoop, how surprising. What did you think, that they're all prancing sand monkeys?

Israel makes some of the best scientific contributions in the world considering its size, not much different to the USA, and Kuwait is the 5th richest country in the world. Both of them have free education to all its citizens, human rights, healthcare, and pretty much anything you could think of that the UK also has. Both of them have free media and great transportation. Why wouldn't they be better than the UK?
Original post by GR3YFOXXX
x


Easy there... you forgot the great economic turmoil and lack of jobs available. I'm just surprised that it's that much higher compared to Britain. Oh and, cheers for the unreasonable neg. Will get you back eventually :smile:
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 26
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22
Original post by k9markiii
It's behind united states we can now safely write this off. I don't know what they are basing those scores on. Maybe better for money or lack of tax or something but not best quality of life.


What is behind the US? The UK? That's hardly surprising. Their GDP is loads higher, and land prices especially are so much lower as its such a big place. The lowest in their society are a lot lower than ours, but average quality of life? Amongst the highest in the world, surely?
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Dragonfly07
Oh look some countries in Asia are doing better than some countries in Europe.. big whoop, how surprising. What did you think, that they're all prancing sand monkeys?

Israel makes some of the best scientific contributions in the world considering its size, not much different to the USA, and Kuwait is the 5th richest country in the world. Both of them have free education to all its citizens, human rights, healthcare, and pretty much anything you could think of that the UK also has. Both of them have free media and great transportation. Why wouldn't they be better than the UK?


A lot of people have sterotypes, probably saw Israel and though 'Oh, must be somewhere near that Gaza strip that's always been mentioned be the BBC and Daily Mail' :fatcontroller:
Original post by Aristotle's' Disciple
A lot of people have sterotypes, probably saw Israel and though 'Oh, must be somewhere near that Gaza strip that's always been mentioned be the BBC and Daily Mail' :fatcontroller:


I think it's actually because Israel is often in war with the Palestinian territories.

What people don't realise is that this war is not much different to the war of America with Iraq. It's pretty much a strong, democratic state, fighting against a third world country which stubbornly refuses to let go of its medieval beliefs and thinks that, with god's superpowers on their side, they could defeat the evil rebellious (against god) state with just swords and some keys.
I woud never want to live in U.A.E, I dont care how high up on this list it is, I like my freedom of speech and general rights thanks. Obviously that wasn't one of the components of the formula.
Original post by GR3YFOXXX
NI is not comparable to the Republic of Ireland.

I live in the North, and its safe to say N.I its worse than both ROI and GB.

R.o.Ireland is so high on the list as;

It has free Uni education.
Great Uni's.
Really high wages.
Good welfare state.
High number of high-end jobs in Dublin (admittedly less so outside, but still 1/3 of the population live within commuting distance to Dublin).
A wide sense of political harmony.
A great series of presidents.
No serious problem with racism.

I could go on...

I can't believe people are shocked at how highly ranked the R.o.Ireland is. Do people still think they live barefoot in cottages with gas lamps eating spuds and practicing river dance?


I didn't say NI was comparable, I said its easy to compare both Britain and ROI as I live here and therefore in between both of them, essentially.

Ireland has great universities? Okay I'll grant you Trinity and UCD are definitely great, but I couldn't name you another Irish university (mostly because they're fairly unheard of). Secondly, the entry requirements for anyone doing A Levels are often so complex and difficult to comprehend, it puts people off applying and therefore makes these "great" universities much harder to access.
May I also point out that a Britain has much better universities and many more of them, plus their entry requirements are much easier to understand.

Ireland also doesn't have high wages, what planet are you on? Give me some hard statistics proving this and i'll happily take back my words but at the moment that seems to be very unlikely.

High end jobs... More in Britain.

Political harmony... Lol. Really? I noticed you called Northern Ireland the 'North' so you obviously believe NI and Ireland are one entity. Where's the political harmony there?!

The presidents of Ireland are hardly great, either. What exactly did Bertie Ahern achieve? Or Enda Kenny?

Racism... Every country has problems with Racism, Ireland will too. Yes, in London it has been much more publicised but you should consider that London has millions of people moving through it on a daily basis etc. Ireland has a very small population and therefore, percentage wise, less racist attacks should occur.

Please tell me more of your points, as I'm interested. Of course, I accept this is your opinion and that's perfectly fine, I just feel like you view Ireland in an overly high light. The people of Ireland certainly, on majority, don't carry this same passion.

You should also remember the huge amount of issues Ireland has had to deal with in the past, the economy, the declining agricultural sector etc as these all work against the country.
Original post by The Assassin
Easy there... you forgot the great economic turmoil and lack of jobs available. I'm just surprised that it's that much higher compared to Britain. Oh and, cheers for the unreasonable neg. Will get you back eventually :smile:


Someone loves Ireland a bit too much, but it's okay, I'll give you some pos rep to show the love for Britain :wink:
Original post by snailsareslimy
Someone loves Ireland a bit too much, but it's okay, I'll give you some pos rep to show the love for Britain :wink:


Haha clearly. Thank you - I'll be sure to get rep you back later!
What are the 11 indicators used in this?
Health
Trust in public institutes
Wealth
Crime
Geography
These are the ones i see mentioned. What are the others?
We're healthier than the US, the economy is better than Irelands.
Arguably we have less trust in public institutions and I'm pretty sure our crime rate is lower than some of the other countries higher than us.
So how are we behind israel a country perpetually at war with its neighbour? How is france down here with us?
The "places to be born" suggests looking towards the future as opposed to "places to live" being the present.

I don't see how the future outlook for the UK is so negative compared to some of those nations, I mean we are behind Japan, a country which presently is great but has a huge public debt and a horrible ageing population, why would that be a great place to be born now?
Reply 35
Avatar for lulubel
lulubel
the reason why britain has dropped so many places is because it is taking in so many people from the bottom places.
Taiwan, UAE, Israel and Kuwait? This list seems to use some odd categories for ranking. People in Taiwan earn 1/2 as much as those in the UK, USA has worse healthcare and higher murder rate, Israel is surrounded by nations that hate it and would happily destroy it (and regularly try to), UAE is a nice looking police state for those who aren't rich tourists.
Reply 37
Avatar for -aTOMic-
-aTOMic-
1
Ahh, Switzerland... How nice to see you up top with your rip-off prices for meals and damn trains to take you up to the ski lifts! Some of the backwards ways that Switzerland still continues to hold just baffles me and the fact that it seems (from this "research" anyhow) they are content with it!
I guess UAE is high because only the men were allowed to vote on this.
Original post by Dragonfly07
I think it's actually because Israel is often in war with the Palestinian territories.

What people don't realise is that this war is not much different to the war of America with Iraq. It's pretty much a strong, democratic state, fighting against a third world country which stubbornly refuses to let go of its medieval beliefs and thinks that, with god's superpowers on their side, they could defeat the evil rebellious (against god) state with just swords and some keys.

Pretty hypocritical of you to condemn people for having stereotypes of the conflict and then coming out with this. If you don't know a thing about the conflict don't comment. Israel was a country that the allied nation s created on Palestinian soil. Israel has since then created settlements in Palestine and driven Palestinians out of their homes. The Israelis are undoubtedly in the wrong here but no country will do anything because Israel has the support of the USA. That is the true cause of the conflict.

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