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# Finding the best country in the world to live in
- URL: https://werd.io/finding-the-best-country-in-the-world-to-live-in/
- Published: 2024-03-07T16:28:33.000Z
- Updated: 2024-03-07T16:28:33.000Z
- Author: Ben Werdmuller
- Tags: #Import 2025-06-13 09:20

People are sometimes a little taken aback by my criticism of the US, just as they used to be about my criticism of the UK when I lived there. In both cases, it’s not that I don’t like the place — I just see all kinds of opportunities for them to be *better*.

I sometimes wonder what a perfect place to live might look like. Some things I’d like to see:

- Universal healthcare
- A solid social safety net
- Integrated, well-run public transit
- Walkable cities
- No guns
- Progressive, inclusive policies overall

Which describes a few social democratic countries really well. But then I’d like to add:

- Good weather
- Delicious, fresh food
- Affordable housing
- No state religion (officially or effectively)
- No monarchy
- Permissive immigration
- Low discrepancy between rich and poor

And it all starts to fall apart a bit more. I think there will be countries that tick all of those boxes (maybe some do already); over time more and more places will become this.

But if you leave aside the obvious ties of family and friends (not small reasons to stay in a place), and toss aside patriotism and nationalism (which are two cultural values that I genuinely think are useless), where’s the best place to be *now*?