Read and Weep - What It's Like to live in a well-governed country - great read

[malaise]

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180107-what-its-like-to-live-in-a-well-governed-country
<snip>
From Canada to Botswana, these six nations consistently rank highest for their progressive social policies, trust in government and effective justice system.

What makes a country well-run? Whether minimising corruption or spearheading educational and medical initiatives, governments around the world use different policies to facilitate a high-functioning society. To quantify the effectiveness of these policies, indexes like the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index, the World Bank’s Governance Index and the Social Progress Index survey residents, compile publicly available statistics and rank countries based on their performance across different categories.

While each index varies in their precise ranking, certain patterns emerge across all three, with the same countries consistently at the top for their progressive social policies, trust in government and effective justice system.

Still, policies are only as good as the people they affect, so we talked to residents living in some of these countries to find out which factors most influence their daily lives.

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Lots more at link

[longship]

1. Recommended click-through.

Auntie Beeb comes through with an interesting assessment.

[malaise]

6. And here's the great news tonight - New Zealand's PM is pregnant

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has announced she is pregnant with her first child.

Ardern, who was sworn in to office in October, said in a Facebook post that she and her partner, Clarke Gayford, are expecting in June.

“Clarke and I are really excited that in June our team will expand from two to three, and that we’ll be joining the many parents out there who wear two hats,” the 37-year-old wrote.

“I’ll be prime minister and a mum, and Clarke will be ‘first man of fishing’ and stay at home dad. I think it’s fair to say that this will be a wee one that a village will raise, but we couldn’t be more excited.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/18/new-zealand-jacinda-ardern-pregnant

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How appropriate for this to happen in the first country where women voted.

[iluvtennis]

8. Like.

[Bucky]

10. This is not unprecedented. After all, Trump. . .

...looks like he's about to give birth to Putin's bouncing baby scandal.

[malaise]

11. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

[longship]

18. Yup! That's a big part of what's good about a country.

And I have never heard anything bad about Kiwis.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Trump hasn't been doing his homework on Canada re NAFTA

One mistake newcomers sometimes make, however, is thinking Canadians’ courtesy and thoughtfulness makes them pushovers. “They have a sharp sense of fairness and will assess visitors’ behaviour with a clear eye,” Bickson said. “[Canadians] don’t suffer fools gladly, so do your basic homework before arriving.”

[malaise]

3. So true

He will learn

[BigmanPigman]

4. Good post!

I never had the money or time to travel (teaching elem school 50+ hours a week, sick ALL THE TIME and low pay) but I have followed Tony Bourdain on his three shows since 2001 and have learned a lot about various cultures, history, economy, govt, geog., as well as food via his shows. I was really impressed when he went to Sweden and they actually have a word that means "we are satisfied/content". They aren't greedy and don't want more, more, more like Americans do. I recommend his shows...two thumbs up!

[malaise]

7. Go to Denmark at least once

It's lovely.

You nailed it - they aren't greedy.

[BigmanPigman]

12. I WISH!!!!

I have to travel vicariously through my friends, family and TV since my health and finances are my main concern from here on in. It's OK though. I have traveled a little when I could and am very happy I did. Taking my little dog to Nice, France for Carnival for 5 weeks was really great.

[malaise]

13. I hear you

Nice for five weeks - damn that must have been fun

[BigmanPigman]

14. Yeah it was but I wasn't ready for snow (rare there) and

I packed a bikini thinking it was warm (Southern France, Mediterranean climate...). My sneakers fell apart in a week from the freezing weather. Thank God for crazy glue until I got a pair of boots. My dog had a few sweaters but her toes were cold since it snowed 5 times. The theme of Carnival 2005 was "Climate Change"! Perfect!

[lutherj]

5. K&R

[BobTheSubgenius]

15. Living in Canada is great, no doubt about it.

But it's not like we're all farting through silk. There is poverty, homelessness and addiction. The Downtown East Side of Vancouver (just across the Strait) has the largest population of heroin addicts in the world.

No place is perfect, of course, but what the writer says is true. Discussions about the basic humanity of other citizens is so rare, I don't believe I've ever had one. VERY few people, within my experience, deeply resent having their tax money go towards welfare. The health care model is the third rail of Canadian politics - touch it and die - so no politicians do.

On the downside, we have historically treated indigenous people VERY badly - no secret there, no matter which side of the border. Things are expensive here, although I guess that's not uncommon. For instance, a starter home in the city in which I live (Saanich, a muni that's part of Greater Victoria BC) will set you back $550,000 or so.

On the upside, in the same municipality, the median income is about $90,000. Also, the unemployment rate here is about 3%.

One telling interaction I had was trying to marry my now-wife, who is from Western NY (between Buffalo and Cleveland). It nearly required an Act of Congress to get a fiance visa, the second step in the process om the US. The first is an application to see if you might qualify to get an APPLICATION for that visa. All told, up to a year, from start to finish, probably $1000 or more (without a lawyer...enough said) and ZERO guarantee you will be successful. In fact, only 60% of applications ever get through to the actual permission stage.

Crestfallen, I called Vital Statistics here, and was told that, to get a marriage license, one of the couple needed to show up with ID for both of them, and toss them some cash. In the event, we got it at an insurance agent in a mall in 20 minutes for $100.

During that phone call, the agent told me that the process didn't change one iota if one of the couple was American. I said "You're kidding." She said "No, I'm not. We don't care who you marry."

And that's about that. Canadian social standards in a nutshell.

[malaise]

16. Nice post

Even the best countries have problems.
That said both Canada and Denmark are too cold for me.

[waddirum]

19. The housing prices there seems totally unaffordable

Median income of $90,000 and average home price of $550k?

I always heard a guideline of home affordability is 2.5x to 3x one's income.

[Pacifist Patriot]

20. Yikes!

I just used the lower 2.5 and there is no way my husband and I could afford a house two and a half times our combined income. Well, I suppose we could, but then we kind of fancy things like food and electricity.

[yonder]

17. enlightening, thank you, nt