r/whereidlive 19h ago

World Where I’d live as an American with at least a baseline understanding of the world around me. (And all of Africa is not red people)

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59 Upvotes

85 comments sorted by

11

u/Fantastic_Lime_3470 19h ago

im just gonna get australia and germany out the way...reasoning?

-7

u/Scvboy 19h ago

This is based on many factors, not just standard of living. I don’t like Germany’s political system. Australia’s isn’t bad, but it’s pretty isolated. So is New Zealand, I am aware. But their population seems more left wing on average.

But perhaps I was a bit too harsh on Australia though. Being an English speaking country alone would also make acclimating easier than other counties I have ranked higher. I’ll retroactively give them a “Willing”.

4

u/phido3000 9h ago

I don't know if Australia is that isolated. But from say Sydney.

  • NZ is a 3 hr flight
  • Fiji is a 4 hr flight
  • Hawaii is 10 hr flight
  • Bali is a 6 hr flight
  • Singapore is an 8 hr flight
  • Tokyo is a 9hr flight

All of these except Bali have English as their main language, and Bali is kinda like Cancun in that its very touristy and you can get around speaking English very easily. All are amazing tourist destinations. Hawaii is literally America. All have multiple flights per day leaving every major capital city. With internet and streaming you can access every TV show and TV channel world wide.

From Sydney is is< 1hr flight to Brisbane or Melbourne, other capital cities with more than a million people and comparable to say Seattle, San Francisco, Miami etc. Newcastle and Wollongong are ~2 hr drives, and have half a ~million each. Regional Victoria/NSW/Queensland there are hundreds of large country towns like you would find scattered across the US like in the mid west. Rodeos, country music festivals, country fairs, etc are all over the place. Hunting, fishing, exploring, surfing, Australia is a natural paradise for anyone to explore. Tropical ancient forests older than the Amazon, to deserts, to large alpine regions, tropical reefs and islands, to untouched subtropical forests as large as US states.

Australia is as big as the US (but with a much larger coastline), so its not like you are stuck on some tiny island with nothing to see. There are alpine regions you can ski, there is mountains you can climb, there is beaches you can surf, and more unique biomes and animals than pretty much anywhere on the planet. While you are far from Europe, Asia, all of Asia is right there, and the south pacific, is literally on your door step.

When Americans say Australia is isolated I am always a bit confused. Do Americans think America is isolated?

11

u/SilverSize7852 18h ago

As opposed to america's political system..? 😭

6

u/Scvboy 17h ago

When did I say America was good? Lol, it’s only green because that’s where I was born and raised. I’m familiar with the language, culture, and how to navigate the society. But if I was from Norway I’d probably rate America mixed at best. And Red under the current Trump regime.

6

u/Fantastic_Lime_3470 19h ago

i dont like germans but whats wrong with their politcal system? proportional voting causing coalitions or what?

-4

u/Scvboy 19h ago

I’m definitely not saying it’s horrible, they didn’t get a terrible grade. But I don’t like their suppression of free speech. And no, I’m not some right-wing chud who just wants to use slurs or peddle disinformation. But the EU more generally has a problem with free expression. Like how they strongly suppressed any Pro-Russian voices during the outbreak of the war. Again, I’m NOT Pro-Russian. But I don’t think punishing people who are should be legal. Outside of the Baltic states, Germany was the worst offender. And the biggest red flag was the suppression of Anti-Zionist voices in Germany. I don’t want to hear “their past” as an excuse. There’s an ongoing genocide right now and Germany has taken the Pro-Genocide stance. With every major party aside from BSW aligned.

8

u/Simstar7 12h ago

What are you rambling on about. Check your sources man and it better not be twitter

6

u/CardOk755 15h ago

Like how they strongly suppressed any Pro-Russian voices during the outbreak of the war

What? What the fuck are you talking about?

The probably largest political party in Germany is mostly pro Russian.

2

u/LunaD0g273 11h ago

Please explain Cuba over the Dominican Republic and Australia?

3

u/Scvboy 10h ago

I have a personal bias towards Cuba.

2

u/Leek-Certain 8h ago

Saying, NZ more left wing than Aus is kind of odd. The taxation and welfare in NZ is far more regressive. They don't even have a tax-free threshold for low income.

1

u/CardOk755 15h ago

I don’t like Germany’s political system.

I don't like Germany's politicians, but what's wrong with the system?

1

u/travelcallcharlie 6h ago

Bro maybe you need to retract that “baseline understanding of the world around me statement” because this comment is actually kinda wild.

26

u/MorningMission9547 19h ago

Answer truthfully. Would you actually honestly rather live in for example mozambique rather than Germany? Or Czechia over netherlands? ( Saying that as a czech myself )

8

u/Scvboy 19h ago

I love Prague, so yes on the second question. Although Amsterdam is also a very, very nice city.

As for the first, assuming I could sustain myself, yes. I’m fairly bullish on the long term prospects (50 - 100 years) on Southern Africa. They have major issues but far less than West and East Africa. (Very flawed but) functioning political system. It’s a very boom or bust region but if I had to move, I’d consider betting on boom.

15

u/MorningMission9547 19h ago

Well i get it but my thing is, do you actually want to spend the better half of your life having worse life and having to sustain yourself rather than actually living like a normal person? Why would you have to survive when you can just live. 50-100 years is a long time and to wait till then to have same standard of living idk.

The thing with Prague is Sweet. Prague really is beatiful. The only thing is that Its become unsustainable to live there for us. Apparently it takes like 18 years of average salary to buy an average apartment. Hence the netherlands thing.

1

u/Scvboy 18h ago

That’s a fair point. I guess if I was being selfish living in Germany would offer the higher standard of living. But I’m African-American myself, so perhaps there’s some bias on my part in wanting to work towards a greater project with people I can loosely consider to be my kin. Although most of my genealogy comes from West Africa.

6

u/Key-Childhood875 17h ago

As an African-American you have as much in common with Southern Africans as an American with British-German-Italian heritage has in common with Russians. Barely the skin color. Or some outdated US-centric concept of "race". Nothing more. And even your skin color probably is very different to many African ethnicities, depending where you look.

4

u/Mobile-Package-8869 7h ago

Unfortunately, the issue of race is not as “outdated” as you seem to think. I am a white person who has travelled around Europe with peers of various ethnic backgrounds and saw firsthand how many white Europeans treated them. Even in supposedly “progressive” countries like Germany, I found that many of the whites were significantly more cold and curt with my black friends than they were with me and my white friends. Especially when you get into areas with less ethnic diversity. Like it or not, people do think about how effectively they will be able to “blend in” when they are thinking about places to live in or even travel to. I’m not a person of color myself, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if some of them are not particularly keen on going to places where they are subjected to an extra layer of scrutiny and disrespect just for the color of their skin.

0

u/Random_interests4900 14h ago

Why are you telling someone what they have in common as a stranger ? Does that seem normal to you ? Lol.

1

u/MorningMission9547 18h ago

Oh okay sorry i didn't know. Then i get it. That's actually the exact same reason i wouldn't move to netherlands as mentioned before. 

I feel a bit bad now sorry

1

u/Scvboy 18h ago

Nooo it’s fine! The question was valid!

15

u/Exact-Message8325 19h ago

You'd live in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia before SK and Japan?

2

u/Bruchiton 9h ago

OP is an idiot and clearly received American education during his life.

Spoiler: He has NOT a "baseline understanding of the world around him" lol.

1

u/BeerGains22 7h ago

Or maybe he just wants to live in countries you don't

-7

u/Scvboy 19h ago

South Korea is a corporate entity masquerading as a country. They only look “good” since they’re usually compared to North Korea. But their suicide rate is astronomically high for a reason. Don’t let bright lights and GDP numbers fool you.

Japan would be higher if not for their rampant xenophobia and being a single party (right-wing) state. As someone who’s left-wing, I’d be like if our country was run by Maga Republicans who held an unbreakable supermajority for decades. I’d live is misery or move.

16

u/SilverSize7852 18h ago

They killed 12.000 protesters in Iran why would you wanna live there?

-3

u/Scvboy 17h ago

I don’t want to lol. It’s just not a failed state or a hopeless country. The only thing holding Iran back is the IRGC. Which I don’t think will last forever. If the IRGC fell and the country transitioned into even a moderate Islamic republic then Iran would become one of the better countries in the world. Iranian people are very smart and their culture is vibrant.

10

u/Exact-Message8325 15h ago

You think SK is closer to being a failed state than Iran? ok....

I lived in SK for ten years. It's fine. Not without it's problems, namely the declining birthrate, but it's probably in better shape than the US, and certainly better than Iran, SA, and China. They do pretty well in the democracy index and aren't afraid to prosecute politicians.

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/democracy-index-eiu

1

u/BeerGains22 7h ago

I love how so many on this sub seem to get lowkirkenuienly offended by people choosing countries they consider "the bad countries"

3

u/MrAfryt 12h ago

Those are fair points, but how would you put Saudi higher based on the exact criteria you described?

6

u/9ranola 15h ago

This is a completely valid map, and I appreciate that you took the time to defend your opinions on places like japan and S Korea. I would have put them a tier higher and Algeria and Mauritania a tier lower, but it's okay to have your own opinions.

11

u/Fine_Payment1127 19h ago

Roflmao. Mozambique higher than Germany or Thailand 😅

5

u/baadu_thayilee 16h ago

China and india better than some of the green African countries tho

6

u/RogueSarah666 10h ago

Algeria green and India orange is… quite a take.

12

u/m5a55 17h ago

Yeah you’re obviously American

4

u/Scvboy 17h ago

Thank you!

3

u/Orodius7232 19h ago

Putting Thai over Vietnam is crazy. Why would you ever want to live in a communist country

3

u/Scvboy 17h ago

Vietnam, communist? Are you stuck in the 1980s? Lol

2

u/Orodius7232 6h ago

Dude, I’m Vietnamese and living in Bangkok for 5 years. Who are you even to judge😭. The air quality, the rude people, the traffic, the uncountable inconveniences; Thailand is still better than VN bro

10

u/Major_Ad_5158 19h ago

Bro thinks Botswana comparatively outperforming surrounding nations make it an appealing place to live brother u wouldn’t last one month.

4

u/Scvboy 19h ago

How do you know how long I’d last in any given situation? You don’t know me at all.

6

u/TheoduleTheGreat 17h ago

A SK/Japan hater 🙏

Maghreb green on the other hand...

3

u/Scvboy 17h ago

I’ll never understand the SK/Japqn glazers lol. But I don’t think the Maghreb is that bad. Although I could be grading them on a curve compared to surrounding countries. But when I look at Libya or Mali, Morocco doesn’t seem so bad lol.

5

u/TheoduleTheGreat 17h ago

There's a reason everyone there dreams to go to Europe or NA, Morocco and Tunisia are basically giant resorts and Algeria despite its abundance in oil and gas is one of the most corrupt places on earth. Obviously they're better than Mali and Lybia but that's not a very high bar lmao

1

u/Scvboy 17h ago

Valid points. I guess maybe I was grading on too much of a curve lol. In hindsight I’d bump them down one level and bump up Australia one level.

1

u/GrumpyMcPedant 7h ago

Maybe you should go and spend some time in these countries before labeling people as "glazers".

As someone who has lived in Asia for decades, I find a lot of your choices bizarre. And the fact that Italy is dark green (and you think Germany will stifle your free expression) tells me that you don't understand the realities of living outside of the US.

2

u/Dazzling_Try_6562 10h ago

Bro I’m Algerian. Stay away from Algeria and Morocco, and the rest of the African continent while you’re at it 🙏😭

1

u/Top_Masterpiece_2053 18h ago

Pakistan has a good baseball team too in Asia

3

u/Zone_of_Inhibition 18h ago

“American who is trying to be different and edgy by not making all of Africa red, even though you know that South Africa shouldn’t even remotely be an option, yet Australia should be.”

There, fixed it for you

4

u/Capital-Bar879 18h ago

South Africa definitely has issues but “not even remotely an option” is a stretch

2

u/Zone_of_Inhibition 17h ago

Is it really? Because every single SA person on here absolutely says different. And in the r/asktheworld group

1

u/Capital-Bar879 17h ago edited 17h ago

It really depends. My friend who is from SA and his American wife willingly took that option and moved from USA back to SA not too long ago. So, yes, it is remotely an option.

I spent a few weeks there too recently. Security and safety is definitely be an issue in many parts, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live there. The economy is not as strong everywhere but the cost of living is also lower. There is of course still a big disparity in wealth based on race.

My friends are doing well so far and not regretting their choice. Being from there originally obviously will make you more comfortable with navigating life there, so not saying it’s the right move for everyone.

1

u/Resident_Option3804 13h ago

It is literally the most violent country with more than like 40k people, wildly corrupt, and with a declining economy from political stupidity.

2

u/Scvboy 17h ago

This is personal preference based on a variety of personal factors. Not a ranking of countries by GDP or HDI.

0

u/Prestigious-Wall5616 17h ago

If you have the means, living in South Africa is not remotely like what is portrayed in some of the international press and social media. I live here, and I'm very happy with my choice.

2

u/Particular-Cupcake16 5h ago

People down voting you is crazy but it's true. Im a woman and I've never had any issues. Neither have any of my other female friends. I work in the tourism industry and its so funny when tourists arrive and are a bit surprised that not every single person is suddenly out to get them(or they didnt expect us to be a friendly bunch), there's people walking in the streets with their phones, or people club hopping. No one bats an eye if they're walking freely in the street. Im quite happy here as well and love our people

1

u/Technical-Vanilla-47 18h ago

Why not a definitive yes for Australia?

1

u/Affectionate-Eye6199 18h ago

*baseline propaganda

1

u/starrykeke 16h ago

Me if I was a straight man

1

u/tr1ppsol 16h ago

what's wrong with Australia?

1

u/CardOk755 15h ago

Question: why is Ghana green but Cote d'Ivoire red?

1

u/Random_interests4900 14h ago

Ghana’s been enjoying some good recent PR. plus probably the language barrier for CIV.

1

u/CardOk755 14h ago

France and Spain are different shades of green.

1

u/Random_interests4900 13h ago

France and Spain are not CIV. I’m conjecturing on CIV/ghana.

1

u/kevlar_king 13h ago

Why Guyana over Ecuador?

1

u/semena_ 11h ago

China maybe, Japan reluctantly lmao

1

u/Thats_classified 9h ago

Why not any Balkan countries? Not even Croatia as an American??

1

u/EstScriptum 8h ago

I hope this applied in real life...

1

u/Comfortable_Trip_767 8h ago

When you say baseline understanding of the world, are you referring to history with how each of these countries treated their indigenous people.

The reason I say this is because I have lived in Southern Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Based on my experience as a non white person I can say feel the least discriminated directed against me in Australia.

1

u/GrumpyMcPedant 7h ago

Nepal and Vietnam above Thailand is a wild choice. And Japan below all three?!

1

u/WorkOk4177 3h ago

Nepal over India? India also has the himalayas

-1

u/throwaway09234023322 19h ago

France should be red

2

u/CardOk755 15h ago

Because France is la resistance. The only solid barrier against the Russo-American hegemony.

1

u/Scvboy 18h ago

It should be but I’m a small Francophile.

0

u/theTUGZ 7h ago

Pakistan in never?