-- Posted by Graustein at 1:57 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Ok, we all know no country is perfect. But I've been thinking, which country would you consider closest to being perfect? You can take perfect in any way you want. I, myself, honestly don't know. I just think it'd be interesting and I welcome your views. Please, don't say you can't define perfect or that no nation is perfect, because I know that. I'm asking for an opinion on this matter, not for a philosophical debate on the characteristics of perfection. That said, if you make a response, please give a reason for you thinking that, and don't use "because everywhere else sucks" as that reason. PS: I've posted this in the intellectual forum in the hopes that the responses I get will actually be intelligent. If you don't have an intellectual certificate and would still like to contribute, just PM me with your view and (assuming it fits the guidelines I specified above) I will copy and paste it into here. -- Posted by dreamweaver at 2:00 am on Dec. 8, 2007 None of them... I have yet to find one that deserves to be even considered "closest to perfection." I have yet to see a country, where everyone is happy, no worries about war or crime, and no worries about the economy. Not even close to this... -- Posted by Graustein at 2:07 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Quote: from dreamweaver at 9:00 pm on Dec. 8, 2007 None of them... I have yet to find one that deserves to be even considered "closest to perfection." I have yet to see a country, where everyone is happy, no worries about war or crime, and no worries about the economy. Not even close to this... So there's no nation that you look at and think "well, if it weren't for this, and that, etc, this nation could be, if not perfect, then at least closer to it than anywhere else"? When I think of this elusive utopia, my mind is always drawn to tribal cultures, like the Aborigines or the Native Americans. -- Posted by bend at 2:10 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Ghana actually... seriously.. not because i am a ghanaian.. i live in the netherlands but i do know from the years i spent in ghana that it's a great place -- Posted by Graustein at 2:12 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Quote: from bend at 9:10 pm on Dec. 8, 2007 Ghana actually... seriously.. not because i am a ghanaian.. i live in the netherlands but i do know from the years i spent in ghana that it's a great place What is it about Ghana that makes it so wonderful to you? I'm not scorning your assertion or anything, but I know nothing about Ghana, so I'd love to know what you like about it. -- Posted by Clergyboy at 2:16 am on Dec. 8, 2007 China. Why? History. Other cultures are jokes. No, really. -- Posted by Bagheera at 3:25 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Quote: from Graustein at 10:07 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Quote: from dreamweaver at 9:00 pm on Dec. 8, 2007 None of them... I have yet to find one that deserves to be even considered "closest to perfection." I have yet to see a country, where everyone is happy, no worries about war or crime, and no worries about the economy. Not even close to this... So there's no nation that you look at and think "well, if it weren't for this, and that, etc, this nation could be, if not perfect, then at least closer to it than anywhere else"? When I think of this elusive utopia, my mind is always drawn to tribal cultures, like the Aborigines or the Native Americans. Switzerland... -- Posted by Bacon at 9:01 am on Dec. 8, 2007 The perfect nation? A utopia? Only what the Soviet Union could have been -- Posted by bend at 9:47 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Quote: from Graustein at 11:12 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Quote: from bend at 9:10 pm on Dec. 8, 2007 Ghana actually... seriously.. not because i am a ghanaian.. i live in the netherlands but i do know from the years i spent in ghana that it's a great place What is it about Ghana that makes it so wonderful to you? I'm not scorning your assertion or anything, but I know nothing about Ghana, so I'd love to know what you like about it.   well 1st of all i am proud to say ghana is the most peaceful country in africa.. the people are nice and we have many great stuff plus it was Ghana (the ashanti's) that sold all the black slaves to the white man -- Posted by snowfish at 6:01 pm on Dec. 9, 2007 Quote: from Clergyboy at 2:16 am on Dec. 8, 2007 I shall say China. Any questions?   Well, the reason is nothing close to politics, but what Im talking about is the Chinese culture, the Chinese history. lots of questions: 1) is this a joke? 2) if not, explain to me how you mean this in ANY way. -- Posted by pegger21 at 11:54 pm on Dec. 9, 2007 Quote: from Blank black at 5:25 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Quote: from Graustein at 10:07 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Quote: from dreamweaver at 9:00 pm on Dec. 8, 2007 None of them... I have yet to find one that deserves to be even considered "closest to perfection." I have yet to see a country, where everyone is happy, no worries about war or crime, and no worries about the economy. Not even close to this... So there's no nation that you look at and think "well, if it weren't for this, and that, etc, this nation could be, if not perfect, then at least closer to it than anywhere else"?    When I think of this elusive utopia, my mind is always drawn to tribal cultures, like the Aborigines or the Native Americans. Switzerland... Switzerland is awesome, I would say Norway is right up there too. -- Posted by Iban at 6:28 am on Dec. 10, 2007 I think those very democratic countries in Europe that have very extensive benefit plans are damn near perfect. I cant remember which, but one of the richest countries in the world has like 40% Taxes and amazing care plans for it's citizens. -- Posted by Heavenly Eve at 7:14 am on Dec. 10, 2007 I think I'd have to void my vote... A country may be beautiful... and etc but still there are always dark spots burned into their histories... -- Posted by Radon at 4:35 am on Dec. 11, 2007 Nigeria = happiest people Sweden = the archetypical welfare state Finland = top notch educational system and a lot of intelligent people Japan = an impressive amount of social/cultural cohesion for an industrialized country -- Posted by Iban at 6:16 am on Dec. 11, 2007 Quote: from Radon at 4:35 am on Dec. 11, 2007 Nigeria = happiest people Sweden = the archetypical welfare state Finland = top notch educational system and a lot of intelligent people Japan = an impressive amount of social/cultural cohesion for an industrialized country America = Doughnuts Thank God for our food, or I would move out. -- Posted by Stormblazer at 8:58 pm on Dec. 12, 2007 Quote: from Graustein at 2:57 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Ok, we all know no country is perfect. But I've been thinking, which country would you consider closest to being perfect? You can take perfect in any way you want. I, myself, honestly don't know. I just think it'd be interesting and I welcome your views.   Please, don't say you can't define perfect or that no nation is perfect, because I know that. I'm asking for an opinion on this matter, not for a philosophical debate on the characteristics of perfection. That said, if you make a response, please give a reason for you thinking that, and don't use "because everywhere else sucks" as that reason. PS: I've posted this in the intellectual forum in the hopes that the responses I get will actually be intelligent. If you don't have an intellectual certificate and would still like to contribute, just PM me with your view and (assuming it fits the guidelines I specified above) I will copy and paste it into here. I find the R&P forum works decently for getting more intelligent responses too. That said... To answer this, you need a scale on which to say whether a country is closer to perfection. If you say stability, then there are plenty of relatively stable monarchies to look at, but few would argue a monarchy is the best format for a country. If you mean freedom, then using that reasoning anarchy is best, which doesn't make much sense, because surely stability should be important. Combining the two, you could say social contract. But then there are plenty of people who think you need something more definite and concrete, and in any case, for something the size of a country, government is pretty much required. The government can be based on the social contract, but it still must exist in some form or other, however small or large it might be. So now you have the problem of what forms of government are best. Obviously, a country isn't likely to be made up of a majority of people who are both intelligent enough to make good decisions AND have the time and desire to do all the work and research needed to make those decisions, so a true democracy doesn't work. A monarchy risks corruption, and nothing says hereditary will mean a good king/queen each time, among other problems. etc. -- Posted by Graustein at 10:41 pm on Dec. 13, 2007 Citigurl13 says Japan: it is one of the most densly populated countries in the world and yet holds one of the lowest crime rates- probably due to their amaazing police force and the set cultural code for repect and honor. it almost seems like the people there are oo busy wit THEIR OWN lives to be bothered by ruining others, and they prioritize with family and ethics first and crime and self benefit last. i went there this summer and i was extremely impressd, the united states can learn alot from them -- Posted by rcduggan at 7:50 pm on Dec. 29, 2007 it doesn't exist anymore, but at it's height Poland-Lithuania was a pretty good place to live... they were very tolerant of different ethnicities, religions, etc, a relatively stable democracy,.... I might want to live there. -- Posted by norock at 10:50 pm on Dec. 29, 2007 Quote: from Blank black at 6:25 am on Dec. 8, 2007 Switzerland... X10 -- Posted by Whitelighter at 7:10 am on Dec. 30, 2007 As you said, no country is perfect. I honestly couldn't pick any nation that would even come close. -- Posted by Faoiseamh at 2:42 pm on Jan. 2, 2008 I would not (typo) choose a country. To think of the Christian concept of the Kingdom of God, the beatitudes all reveal traits of the Kingdom of God. Christians strive to bring about the Kingdom of God through what is outlined, by bringing peace, etc., but the Kingdom of God is an impossible goal - there will never be a time when there will not be abuse and suffering.   The Kingdom of God is a pinnacle of perfection, but all we can do is struggle for it - and in the same way, countries can only strive for perfection, but can never acheive it. Even at that, I would never choose a country for "closest to perfect", mainly because I'm not up for saying one country is better than another. "Closest to perfect" is an ambiguous definition that in my opinion, means very little.   Life is an English essay (or whatever your vernacular is), not a maths exam - I don't rate a country based on which is the most efficient, etc., I allow every country to stand alone on it's own merits. Humans everywhere are very similar - hard-working, compassionate, purposeful, and flawed, among other traits. The difference between countries are merely cultural, environmental and developemental. I would say that it's only the way things go if one country is more advanced than another, and I wouldn't call one country closer to perfection than another based on progress, because I feel that it never reflects accurately on the humans that make them. -- Posted by GoloSLB at 8:23 pm on Jan. 2, 2008 Switzerland...Germany also...maybe I'm just partial...but they are good at almost everything. -- Posted by sophos at 10:24 pm on Jan. 22, 2008 The closest example of an ideologically perfect state, would be the United States. Although the noble ideologies upon which it was founded, has not perfectly manifested in practice, you'd be pretty hardpressed to find a better place to live.