What Country To Do You Live In, And Rate It.

[A200 0]

I live in Brisbane, Australia. One of the largest metropolitan cities in the world by size (as the WHOLE of greater Brisbane is governed by the one council, not like in cities like Sydney and London where the main city CBD is governed by the city council and the rest is separate cities all together by urban sprawl) and it is pretty big. That's pretty bad, we have a large city and a relatively small CBD... hmmm. Traffic is a nightmare. Public Transport is a nightmare.Yes, we have a whole series of busways under construction/completed (the SE Busway, Stages 2 and 3 of the INB (stage 1, the most important, opens later this month) and stage 1 of the boggo road busway is complete and functional with the rest of the busway opening in 2009, and the busway to the north (from the inner northern busway all the way until the end of the city) will be finished in 2014, with stage 1 just starting now. hmm... but our series of Busways can only do so much... and eventually will get overcrowded. The SE Busway has already hit its capacity in peak with many bus jams occuring (yes, bus jams). The Lord Mayor is planning on building a whole link of tunnels (he is a very tunnel obsessed man) about 5 in total, but 1 will now be a bridge. All will be tolled, and I can bet you they will do anything to make it as cheap as possible, which will mean cutting corners and reducing effectivity. Then we have the Health System issues... the state government made a big media frenzy stating they are spending $3 billion on hospitals about 2 years ago when we had a massive health crisis, and it still is pretty bad. Education system is bad as well, and pretty corrupt. The government gives 3 times as much money each year to each private school in comparison to each public government funded school. Plus the private schools get $10,000 each year from each student that attends. So the divide between the quality of Private schools and Public (State) schools is pretty big and unfair.Ok OK I go to a private school, but I think they get too much and the school just spends like there is no tomorrow. As well as getting millions of dollars in donations from rich old-boys. So unfair. And I wonder why they end up with a $15 million debt, the school just spends and spends and our school fees just rise and rise. The upper part of our school (which is grades 7 - 12, 6 year levels in total, the prep school has grades R - 6) has around 10 executives. Compare that to the Prep school which has 7 grades and about 5 executives. Some of the roles that are filled are pretty pointless... Director of Philanthropy gets $150,000 a year, then you have the headmaster who probably gets a good $200,000 as well as a school owned mansion and executive cars and free trips overseas and wherever he wants. There is also the head chaplain, head of senior school (grades 10-12) and head of middle school (grade 7 - 9) and all these managers of teaching and learning, thinking (I still wonder why they need a manager of 'thinking'). All these heads I just listed probably get a good $200,000 a year too. Plus each year the school buys new laptops for all the staff, about 100 teachers say? 100 x $3000 laptop = lots of $$$$$. So when you look at it, a lot of our money is being wasted on people on pointless positions and crap. It's unfair, and we can't afford to spend $13,000 each year for my education, but the only alternative is going to a state school, which are severely underfunded and have bad education facilities.And of course the QLD State Government knows about this, they are just as corrupt. Each night you see a minister in court for siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state budget into their own pockets, and then when the public really wants a new thing for their town, the government makes a big lie and says they cannot afford it. The Brisbane City Council is pretty good, but the State Government is sadly ruining our state, and the opposition have no plans for the future either so we have to vote for the devil we know than the devil we don't know. It's horrible.Many Queenslanders hate our government, and its even worse now that the ALP (in power in state) now have control over the whole country. The last time they were in office, interest rates hit 18% because of their horrible policies and they seem to spend a lot and end up in big debts.Some people also had an online petition to get the QLD and NSW State Governments scrapped all together and have those powers given to the local councils, as the NSW Government has done a lot of atrocious things to Sydney too and has no plans or hope at all. So to keep their position strongly, the QLD Gov. simple amalgamated half the councils into super shires without any referendum. Unfair, I know.So that ends my rant on how things are run here. Feel free to comment.

[Misanthrope 0]

I hail from the Great Northwest of the United States of America, and live in a lonely, isolated region often referred to in local vernacular as "the forgotten corner." This is because it is literally on the way to nowhere. But more importantly, the media hasn't promoted it as "the last great place," or, "best place to retire" as they have done with the Northwest towns of Sandpoint Idaho or Kalispell Montana. These towns have all but lost their small town flavor, and are now awash in inflated real estate, traffic congestion and much of the crime of the big city. For this alone I give my particular county a 10, but for reasons I shall go into below, I can't say the same for the rest of the country.

Our closest metropolis isn't really a city in the true sense, but rather a big hick town with a corrupt, inbred government and an even bigger inbred population. Strike one. And it's a good two and half hours away, thank God. A half hour north are the picturesque, postcard towns of British Columbia's beautiful Kootenai region that, while lovely and culturally rich, are not a huge attraction for the average American tourist who's not going to venture too far out of his way for something not advertised in the slick pages of a magazine. The engineered oil/gas shortage will discourage even the most ardent traveler from crossing the border. And don't even get me started on the falling dollar. Why, in my day (*hobbles along on cane*), folks in these parts could drive up to Canada and have lunch (with a Molson's beer, eh?) for pennies on the dollar. Nowadays, you're more likely to see Canadians drive down here to take advantage of the pitiful, falling dollar.

I fear for the state of a once great nation that's been hijacked by the federal reserve and the elite banking cartel who pulls its slippery strings. When Nixon took the country off the gold standard in 1971, inflation via the federal reserve exploded in the 70's to the very levels of insanity we're suffering under today. Shut down American industry through "free" trade and initiatives for globalization (think NAFTA and WTO) and you've got a recipe for an economic depression of the worst order. Strike two. We survived the depression of the 30's because much of the population of the time was agrarian. Now, of the small percentage that live in rural communities, an even smaller percentage is actually involved in some manner of food production, be it growing a small family garden or producing goat cheese for the local food co-op. The people of this country have lost touch with their farming roots - much to their peril. Strike three.

But it gets worse. Big agri-business (affectionately referred to as "big agra") has done a bang-up job of usurping the traditional American farmer and dissuading future generations from working the family farm. Franken-food giant Monsanto, among other evils, sues small farmers for having the audacity to use their own seeds, and time after time these monsters who force feed the population genetically altered food and Bovine Growth Hormone are supported by our corrupt Food and Drug Administration. Strike four. Foreign interests are purchasing our water rights, and the NAFTA superhighway (owned in part by a Spanish corporation) is being quietly built by the Bush *gasps* administration. Strike five. Somehow, this endeavor of huge proportions and ramifications to the American public manages to stay off the media's radar. Nothing to see here, sheeple. Move along now whilst we fill your mind with depraved images of Britney Spears and Whores Gone Wild. In this once great land, the media gatekeepers have decided your thoughts should be focused on sexual deviancy, not the takeover of your country. Indeed, your average citizen can name the latest American Idol winner, but can't point out the United States on a map. Strike six.

I suppose that shouldn't come as a total surprise, though. Don't quote me, but just ten years ago I believe there were around 50 media corporations in this country. Since that time the number has shrunk to just one fifth of that. We now have but a handful of commercial media operations that control, censor and disseminate what we are allowed to see on TV, hear on the radio, and read in the newspapers. Strike seven. I'm speaking of the major outlets, of course. These conventional channels of censorship are now being challenged by alternative news sources on the internet, so there is hope - until they figure out some way to shut down the internet as we now know it.

The once great United States of America has, for the last several decades, been a pawn in the hands of an old, banking gentry who - through economic means - have used the military might of America to police the world to achieve their own, filthy ends. Strike eight. Now that we have served our purpose, it's time to assimilate us into a proposed entity called the North American Union - which will be serviced by the NAFTA super-highway now under way. Globalists are fond of referring to this highway as a "corridor," insinuating it's not owned by the nation it flows through. We will be brought to our knees by a "conspiracy of scarcity," wherein this banking cartel will use contrived food/oil/water issues to put citizens into a fear mode. They create the problem, then they offer a draconian "solution." Strike nine. When people are worried about where their next meal is coming from, it's much easier to strip them of their sovereignty and force them to go along with the program. The program in this case will be ridiculous environmental taxes, more state control, acceptance of a new currency: The Amero, and ultimately, submersion into the North American Union.

These tactic are nothing new. Revisit the Bolshevik revolution of 1913 also funded by the same banking elite. Their puppet, Joseph Stalin, used food as his weapon of choice in bringing the dissenters to their knees, and starved out 14.5 million people. Think about it. History seems to have a cyclical nature to it, and those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. Let's not forget what those who seek great wealth and power are capable of.

That leads me to my rating of a paltry one. We would be well advised to adopt the Austrian economic model touted by Congressman Ron Paul, thus ridding America of the parasitic entity that calls itself the federal reserve. This must happen if we are to bring the United States up from my rating of 1 to 10. The only presidential candidate addressing the reality of our economic peril is Ron Paul. And he's the only candidate qualified to do so. And now you understand why the controlled media choose to ignore him.

Edited May 3, 2008 by Misanthrope (see edit history)

[Watermonkey 0]

North America.
I give it a 8/10. The reason is because freedom and everything and I've been learning in my history class what they did to create this country.

But, the reason it's only an 8 is because not everything is peaceful and harmonic here. The things with terosist and stuff doesn't make this country that safe..

Uh, I know this is ancient history, which makes it even more curious, but, since when is "North America" a "Country"??? Oh, this must be a time traveler from aboot 18 months from now when the great Economic (Slave Nation) Power known as the "North American Union" is Formalized and unified while the millions of police (slaves) with full-automatic machine guns control the populace (slaves) for their masters (who will kill them nearly as fast as they kill the rest). Excuse me while I go buy some more "resistance" to give to the Chinese Army when they go door to door looking for rebels...

[travstatesmen 0]

It is nice to see so many others from "downunder" here on the Xisto forums, such as X3r0X (Australia), qingtian (although you don't specify that you're actually from Aussie), campainer (Middle Earth / New Zealand), eiteljoh (an expat American living in Australia), terminal2k (Australia), dementeddemon (Sydney, Australia), antwill (Australia), Panzer (New Zealand), arnz (Australia), -Nero- (do you actually live in Aussie, or do you just like it there?), scan06disk (oi! oi! oi! somebody had to do it!), Carson (third person from New Zealand), jack_flamer (while Hawaii is technically part of the USA, it is also part of "downunder", in the South Pacific), the need for speed (Fiji), A200 (Brisbane, Australia), and now also my wife and I, travstatesmen and radiochick, as we live in Auckland, New Zealand.

 

So often we from "downunder" are marginalized on the Internet, as you Northern Hemisphere people seem to dominate a lot to the most popular sites, including the USA, the UK, Europe, and Asia. At least, that's my view anyway. So it is nice to see so many of my fellow Southern Hemispherites on the Xisto forums.

 

We're not at the top of the list for anything bad(crime, poverty etc.)

I would actually disagree with you on this, Carson, as there are two shameful statistics that New Zealand does lead the world in, (or are high on the list, anyway). That is in both teen suicide, and infanticide. There are so many babies in NZ that are dying. See, for instance, this report by UNICEF from 2006, entitled New Zealand is shamed by our child abuse record says UNICEF NZ as UN Global Study on Violence Against Children is released, or this selection of comments left by readers of the online New Zealand Herald article entitled More debate on child abuse from 2007, or, more recently, this article by Christine Rankin, the Chief Executive Officer of For the Sake of Our Children Trust", from January 2008, entitled 'Another one bites the dust'... Another baby is dead.

 

While I am extremely proud of my country, and all the positive things that others have said about the scenery, the lack of pollution, the scenery, the friendly people, the scenery, and.... the scenery, I am less than proud of these horrifying statistics. While overall I would rate New Zealand a high 9.5 out of 10 as being the best place in the world to live, I can only realistically give it a mediocre 6 out of 10 because of this, because we are a nation of child abusers!

[madless 0]

Hi. And I'm from Ukraine. Does anybody know where it is? Not all of you. It's the former Soviet Union. I'll rate it like this:perspective - 8/10law - 5/10bureucracy - 8/10economy growth - 6/10 (and finance 2/10 - we do have a crysis now..)entertainment sector - 6/10and so on...As you can see, Ukraine is only a little bit higher than the average 5. It's a pity...But nevertheless - welcome to Ukraine! It's beautifull...

[EdgabtheGreat 0]

I Live in the UK and I give it a 7 out of 10.I used to live South Africa I give that a 3 out of 10. There's no decent public transport, it's too dangerous to walk anywhere. The crime rate is exceedingly high. South Africa is a wonderful place to go on holiday but just make sure you keep safe.

[Evolke 0]

I live in Australia and I definately give it 10/10

 

In Australia we have saftey people can walk the streets at night with not worry of being raped, attacked or murdered. We have a very good security system. Our country is proected from disease, and our board security always protect us from any harm that may try enter the country. We are a country on our own. We have no worry of surrounding countries fighting us for land rights, or begining wars.

 

Women and men have equal rights. In the workplace, in government voting, and in the house. Women are not titled the 'Carer of the House' and work in full time jobs. The male does not rule the house.

 

We have an excellent government that is very open with itself. We are aware ofanything that is happening, and our country leaders care for the country and its people. Not for money or themselves. We are able to critique and joke about our country leaders with no worry of punishment. (Take Rove for example an Australian Comedy show. It has a whole segment on our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd turning the weekly happenings into a hilarious event. Its truely hilarious. Mr Rudd himself appeared on Rove and laughs about the segment) What sort of country allows you to publicly joke about its leaders without the worry of punisment or shaming your self. Not many!

 

We are free to live where we want when we want how we want. If we want to move to the country. We can! If we want to live in the city we can! Families are able to have as many children as they want, there are no child restriction rules such as that of Chinas.

 

We have beautiful lanscapes. Stunning world known Icons. Our Sydney Opea House is the most recognised building in the world. Yeap, our proudly Australian grown Opera House beat the famous Taj-Mahal, the Pyramids, the Effle Tower. Thats pretty good if you ask me!

 

Australians and Australia have a great reputation in the world. We are known for our loyalty, and our hard work. We do anything to protect our country.

 

Thats some of the reasons why I believe Australia is great. I could go for hours, but that would bore you

[veerumits 0]

I live in india and I give only 5/10 because this is not safe from around the Country. there are so many terrarism here in india even in side the country government try to remove it but not success till now even got so many lost to make the country safe but i live there so i love my india and its great country.there are have poverty, hungry, educational, safe, life style etc problem.but every 100 people one face sure with these problem. so i am also facing.Women and men have not equal rights. In the workplace, in government voting, and in the house. Women are most titled the 'Carer of the House' and work in full time jobs. villager people male make The rule the house.there have every think which you cant thinks but nobody use it due to lack of knowlede government not fully support the people.

[rpgsearcherz 5]

I'm from the USA...I would vote us around a 7. There are just soo many issues I can't begin to start giving a list here or it would be hundreds of pages long.My biggest issue here is our continued loss of privacy.

[y4nzi 0]

I live in Australia! I'd give it a 9/10Positives:Great weather, laid back lifestyle, wonderful beaches, freedom.Negatives:can't currently think of any.

[Digitalidad 0]

I live in Mexico (Mexico City) and I give it a 3The good:The weather.You can buy anything here, like high-tech, Ferraris, etc. (if you've got the money though ).Cultural places.The bad:Rude peopleA lot of corruption - cops, politicians...An awful lot of crime and violence (kidnapping, robbery, etc.)Expensive place to liveHigh taxes on everythingBad public servicesLow wagesOvercrowded - traffic jams all the time, no place to parkThe ugly:The bad seems to get bigger every day?

[puneye 0]

I live in Nepal.

 

I will give 5/10

It has greate silence natural places. Weather is moderate.

It has cooperative people.

This is the place that contains Mr. Everest(Highest peak of the world). Birth place of Lord Buddha.

But this is developing country

So not developed areas, not good modern facility to live.

[Veradesigns 0]

I live in North America in California San Diego<--- yea too much info...

i mention it for a reason there are good things and bad things about North America.

Good Bad

-Weather -Economy

-Surroundings -Cops stop you for no dam reason

-Food -Drugs

-People -Fights

-cars -Horrible afull!!! i mean afull!!! past president AKA -BUSH-

-home -Rent is supper high

-and Friends -Low pay

Last but not EBAY!! SUX

Trully i would rate united states as a 5/10 sorry so low but im hating america!! lol.

Edited February 4, 2009 by Veradesigns (see edit history)

[Polipop 0]

I Live in Chile (Southamerica) and I give it 8/10It's such a beautiful country with sweet people... It's a safe place to grow up, it's the safest place I know. We have a good health system, good professionals. The bad thing it's the education, it's too expensive. And the public education isn't bad but it's not the best.The economy is very stable, it's a Upper-middle-income country, so it's alright, we're growing!!

[rob86 2]

It's kind of hard to judge an entire country in one blanket rating because it's different everywhere. I've so far only lived in a rural eastern canadian province which (I'll assume) is completely different from the big cities of Vancouver and Toronto.. I love my country though it's a bit boring where I live and culturally it's a bit bland as well. I envy people from other countries because they are so rich in culture and there is so much to be proud of. When I read about local history, it's just so uninteresting compared to other countries. Maybe these are weird reasons to rate a country, but it's really all I know. Crime? What's that? I hardly read about any crime in the news and I've certainly never been a victim of theft or assault or anything like that. People? Well, where I grew up everyone was white, it would have been nice to grow up in a more multi-cultural area but I don't think the entire country is like this..just the area I know well. "Experts" say my province in Canada is from what I hear in the same league as a third world country, so that doesn't sound too good.I guess I'd rate Canada pretty high, I find little to be ashamed of, a little bit to be proud of, and it's got a vibrant red flag. We seem to suck up a little too much with US of A though -- we could do to be known as our own country and not a little sister of the United States. I had one eastern person fervently criticize my country for being so militarily aggressive and blowing up iraq and I'm like, uh, I live in Canada not USA.. and they're like, isn't Canada a part of the US? Duh... Knock off points for my area more boring than spending a lifetime in the pits of hell also knock off points for my area still not having broadband internet (third world country is right..) 8/10