I see a ton of praise here for Nordic countries, for example. I’ve got nothing against Nordic countries, but the lack of hearing about countries that are, frankly, anything other than relatively homogeneously caucasian does bother me sometimes.
I see a ton of praise here for Nordic countries, for example. I’ve got nothing against Nordic countries, but the lack of hearing about countries that are, frankly, anything other than relatively homogeneously caucasian does bother me sometimes.
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I see a ton of praise here for Nordic countries, for example. I’ve got nothing against Nordic countries, but the lack of hearing about countries that are, frankly, anything other than relatively homogeneously caucasian does bother me sometimes.
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Singapore does pretty well for its citizens. Also, Costa Rica.
Do you mean non-homogeneous countries or non-majority white? Canada is majority white but not homogenous. They seem cool.
I don’t tend to admire countries but rather individual things that has led to good results.
China for instance, has made a ton of progress regarding reducing its poverty and improving quality of life since the 1950s onwards. But I wouldn’t say I admire China per se.
Japan does a lot of really cool stuff. South Korea just impressively threw out a dictator and actually held him accountable. Mauritius is a really fascinating case study in a path to success in Africa, Brazil is an incredible and unique culture but has its issues (as do many cAuCaSiaN countries).
The problem is that most non-white countries are still dealing with the repercussions of European colonialism and weren’t allowed to grow and evolve naturally. It’s the democratic systems and support of the people we like though, not the race of the citizenry.
Off the top of my head, here are a few non-white nations that I think do quite well for their people: Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Japan.
I could even make an argument for China here. Sure, their citizens give up a lot of freedoms, but in return they get some quality of life improvements we couldn’t even imagine here in the states. It’s not a bargain I would take personally, but I can see why some people are quite happy living within their system.
There’s no one country that I think is perfect, but I admire many aspects of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore in the same way that I admire many aspects of European countries.
Why does that bother you?
Korea is great. Strong economy, the people are wonderful, and the food is great. I was stationed there for a year, would love to move back, but it’s heck pricey now.
Botswana, highly underrated country. Most stable democracy in Africa. Highest human rights rating. Medium income, approaching high income by like 2045 I believe.
What do you mean? I admire all peoples for their various cultures and uniqueness.
If you’re asking which government systems I admire you should ask that.
Japan immediately comes to mind. S Korea.
I actually really like how the Chinese people love their country. They really do.
I think Mexico has an incredible heritage.
The Samoa Islands are perfect and heaven in my mind, poverty not withstanding.
I have always liked Mongolia. I know a Mongolian family and they are the hardest working, most kind people.
Any that have gender and queer equality
Brasil the only country in the world that could truly rival the USA. They have an abundance of natural resources of all sorts that no one else has
Indonesia has a huge Muslim population and they don’t seem to deal with some of the Middle Eastern Muslim issues.
I’m not a “Muslim bad” person, I just think its interesting that the MOST Muslim country in the world is never looked at negatively in the media.
Korea owns and I loved my time with Korean Healthcare. Cheap, zero wait times, hospitals had to compete for public health insurance dollars. ER visits cost me like 20 bucks. Loved it.
China hands down. This is a country that had been ravaged by Western imperial forces at the turn of the 20th century, further destroyed by Japan, arguably a Western imperial power, and then destroyed again in a civil war by a separatist group aligned to Western imperial power. Now they are the clear favorite (if not already) to be the world’s new superpower. The amount of discipline and adversity they had to overcome is crazy and, after all of that, they aren’t craven and vindictive even to the countries that have been to them, historically and contemporaneously.
China and Japan. Both certainly have their issues of course (there’s no country in the world that comes anywhere remotely close to ‘perfect’) but they do a lot of things a hell of a lot better than us. They’re both great at building infrastructure and I really admire the sense of selflessness in their cultures that encourages people to take much better care of their public spaces. China’s willingness to hold their billionaires to the same standard as regular citizens rather than exempting them from most laws is also quite based.
Sierra Leone has historically been famous for having a surprisingly low level of strife between religious groups (well, Christians and Muslims, at any rate… in northern Africa those are kind of your only two options). High levels of intermarriage between them and so on.
Japan, south Korea
Mexico. Trinidad and Tobago. Peru. Japan. Israel. Iran. Vietnam. Korea. Ghana. I hear good things about Namibia but honestly don’t know as much about Sub-Saharan Africa. Do Georgians consider themselves “white” or “Asian”? I’m not sure but I like the freedom fighters in Georgia.
Singapore has a lot going for it, as does South Korea, as does Japan.
Unfortunately Africa is in a bit of a mess right now, although there are definitely positive examples, but i kind of have to go into history for countries I positively admire. There’s a lot to be said for the Ethiopian Empire, Mali and Benin. (Each had their problems, absolutely, but most countries in the same periods did also)
I could also name medieval Persia, ancient Egypt, the Incans, China, at least during certain periods…I can’t possibly be exhaustive in a post like this.
But aggressive colonialism really ruined things for a lot of them and they’re still scrambling to recover.
Mongolia maintains a liberal democracy and a 99% literacy rate despite significant geographical and geopolitical challenges. Interesting history as well.
I see Botswana was already mentioned, but those two countries have quite a few things in common.
Liberal opinions are fact based.. you don’t have to wonder or guess what our positions are, because they are based on the shared common reality of the world. Look at data like this, the countries that do well in all categories are the countries we admire.. the countries that do poorly, no so much.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Press_freedom_2024.svg/2560px-Press_freedom_2024.svg.png
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/democracy-index-eiu
White countries don’t exist. While countries do have a history of being predominantly populated by people of certain “color”, the idea of ‘white countries’ and ‘white people’ as fixed category is made up, it’s not based in biological reality. Race isn’t a scientific fact, it’s an outdated way of categorizing people, often with harmful consequences. When you use terms like ‘white countries,’ it reinforces the idea of racial essentialism, which is the belief that race is an inherent and defining characteristic. Focusing on the diversity within all populations and the complex histories of nations might be a more accurate way to understand them.
Barbados has done A LOT with fairly limited resources and lower tourism revenue than nearby countries. I was very impressed.
Right now, Brazil and South Korea may not be perfect, but seeing them actually hold corrupt people in power to account for anti-democratic behavior has me actively jealous.
I don’t know why people say like Japan, or South Korea or Singapore.
I replied to another post here that Japan is nice to visit and it may seem like they’re super efficient. But they are also very racist, there’s a lot of classism, nepotism and misogyny, and you actually have limited rights, like they can put you in jail indefinitely without charging you. You also can get arrested for criticizing the government.
Not just that but cultural work life balance is quite bad.
Similar for SK and Singapore.
My point is there’s a real difference between – very controlled and efficiently run vs actually embraces true liberal values in government and in society.
Japan
I admire basically all stable liberal democracies. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Uruguay, etc. Not that I don’t acknowledge they have some problems but maintaining liberal democracy under any circumstance is worthy of admiration.
Japan has a lot of good qualities buta lot of bad qualities too. They are at some extremes. They certainly have a very clean, excellent technology, very little scarcity.
But I wouldn’t want to be Japanese. Too much pressure to conform, too much racism and xenophobia, and too much hiding when things do go wrong. And they need more small parks and greenery for children.
Taiwan (whether or not it fits your criteria) since the 1990s has a lot going for it. Their environment is improving despite a huge population density. It’s a pretty good place. They still have some things to work on but it’s difficult because they have been democratic only since the 1990s and much of their politics is unfortunately focused on dealing with the PRC which gets in the way of fixing other issues. It’s similar in a lot of ways to Japan but less extreme.
its because (most) of our countries fucking suck 😭
Costa Rica, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Rwanda come to mind right away
I love Mexico, it’s got some issues, but I would live in Mexico City in a heartbeat
While Europe is getting more diverse with each passing day, I understand what you mean. I personally don’t “admire” any country, but there are certainly some that I like. The top of the list is, probably predictable, filled with Western countries such as the US, France, and the UK. But still, that doesn’t mean I can list a few that interest me.
An example of this is Japan with its rich culture and history (anime, sudo wrestling and martial arts), while African nations such as South-Africa and Ethopia have my particular interest due to its history with apartheid, their clashes/solutions for/with the different ethnicities or Christianity, though that doesn’t mean that I “admire” them.
Japan and South Korea look pretty cool
hell, South Korea is actually willing to hold their authoritarian officials to account, so they’re miles ahead of the US
Peoples republic of china, just look at shanghai and shenzhen
Botswana
Botswanaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Bhutan
Burkina Faso
Tunisia
Oman
More and more of them under Trump
I see America as a below average country these days
To be fair, we’ve been trending that way for decades
…. Uh….
I don’t generally go around admiring countries, just for the sake of them… existing.
japan. though i also find certain aspects of their lifestyles reprehensible, at least from the outside looking in. i hate courtesy. but all in all a very admirable nation.
I think there’s a lot about Singapore to admire and learn from (and a lot of things I wouldn’t want to copy). I also really love Taiwan, for completely different reasons.