4 ms·

This reminds me of an entry from The Book of Life, on "Countries for Losers, and Countries for Winners": http://www.thebookoflife.org/countries-for-losers-coun

by hsitz 9y ago

This reminds me of an entry from The Book of Life, on "Countries for Losers, and Countries for Winners": http://www.thebookoflife.org/countries-for-losers-countries-for-winners/ http://www.thebookoflife.org/countries-for-losers-countries-... I live in the U.S., but I think I'd prefer to live in one of the countries for losers.

weisser 9y ago
This is fantastic. For those unfamiliar, The Book of Life is an excellent online publication created with the assistance of Alain de Botton who wrote one of my favorite books, “The Course of Love”
rsync 9y ago
"I live in the U.S., but I think I'd prefer to live in one of the countries for losers." ... from the article: "Here is the list of the world’s top Loser Countries: (.nl, .de, .ch, .no, .dk)" As someone who travels to these countries frequently (rsync.net has a Zurich location) I can certainly get on board with the desire to move to Switzerland. It is a nicer country than the US. However, it is a ridiculous notion that the social success of these countries (and of Japan, which is conspicuously absent from that list) is due simply to some bad legislation here or there ... just a few technocratic choices made the wrong way. In reality, the reason things are so nice in Switzerland and Norway and Japan are because they have extremely homogenous populations and cultural legacies. It's easy to expand your circle of empathy to people whose names are also Lars Larson[1], just like yours is. They didn't invent jazz, though ... [1] Or Hiro Tanaka.
- workthrowaway27 9y ago
  This is absolutely true, and obvious to anyone open-minded who has spent time in those countries, but good luck trying to have any discussion about the downsides of immigration in the US without getting shouted down as a racist.
  - ZeroGravitas 9y ago
    Unless your volunteering to deport your own ethic group to increase homogeneity (which you're obviously not) then you're probably advocating for the textbook definition of racism. Which may explain why you can't say that without being called a racist. Also, I'm not sure the facts back you up. Is the USA really more diverse than Canada? Is the UK really more diverse than Germany?
    - workthrowaway27 9y ago
      I didn't say anyone should be deported. I said immigration has downsides and you can't talk about it openly in the US.
- TheCoelacanth 9y ago
  Switzerland is hardly homogeneous. 29% of residents are foreign born, which is one of the highest in the developed world (double that of the US). It has four main languages with the largest of those only being the first choice for 60% of the population. If anything it is less homogeneous than the US.
  - nathanasmith 9y ago
    >Switzerland is hardly homogeneous. 29% of residents are foreign born. If anything it is less homogeneous than the US. 85% of those "foreigners" are your fellow Europeans. It would be like me saying Florida is less homogeneous because some people from Utah moved there. Except Utah is further away from Florida than any country in Europe is from any other. Switzerland is quite homogeneous.
Noumenon72 9y ago
1 in 785,166 chance of starting a billion dollar company is pretty amazing if true.

by hsitz 9y ago

weisser 9y ago

This is fantastic. For those unfamiliar, The Book of Life is an excellent online publication created with the assistance of Alain de Botton who wrote one of my favorite books, “The Course of Love”

rsync 9y ago

"I live in the U.S., but I think I'd prefer to live in one of the countries for losers." ... from the article: "Here is the list of the world’s top Loser Countries: (.nl, .de, .ch, .no, .dk)" As someone who travels to these countries frequently (rsync.net has a Zurich location) I can certainly get on board with the desire to move to Switzerland. It is a nicer country than the US. However, it is a ridiculous notion that the social success of these countries (and of Japan, which is conspicuously absent from that list) is due simply to some bad legislation here or there ... just a few technocratic choices made the wrong way. In reality, the reason things are so nice in Switzerland and Norway and Japan are because they have extremely homogenous populations and cultural legacies. It's easy to expand your circle of empathy to people whose names are also Lars Larson[1], just like yours is. They didn't invent jazz, though ... [1] Or Hiro Tanaka.

workthrowaway27 9y ago
This is absolutely true, and obvious to anyone open-minded who has spent time in those countries, but good luck trying to have any discussion about the downsides of immigration in the US without getting shouted down as a racist.
- ZeroGravitas 9y ago
  Unless your volunteering to deport your own ethic group to increase homogeneity (which you're obviously not) then you're probably advocating for the textbook definition of racism. Which may explain why you can't say that without being called a racist. Also, I'm not sure the facts back you up. Is the USA really more diverse than Canada? Is the UK really more diverse than Germany?
  - workthrowaway27 9y ago
    I didn't say anyone should be deported. I said immigration has downsides and you can't talk about it openly in the US.
TheCoelacanth 9y ago
Switzerland is hardly homogeneous. 29% of residents are foreign born, which is one of the highest in the developed world (double that of the US). It has four main languages with the largest of those only being the first choice for 60% of the population. If anything it is less homogeneous than the US.
- nathanasmith 9y ago
  >Switzerland is hardly homogeneous. 29% of residents are foreign born. If anything it is less homogeneous than the US. 85% of those "foreigners" are your fellow Europeans. It would be like me saying Florida is less homogeneous because some people from Utah moved there. Except Utah is further away from Florida than any country in Europe is from any other. Switzerland is quite homogeneous.

Noumenon72 9y ago

1 in 785,166 chance of starting a billion dollar company is pretty amazing if true.