DR Congo Worst Nation?

[TRF_Cymro]

As the Democratic Republic of Congo prepares for just its second general elections in four decades on 28 November, Congolese affairs analyst Theodore Trefon considers whether this failed state, still recovering from a war which led to an estimated four million deaths, can ever be rebuilt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15775445
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[psychic duck]

not a great country but Somalia beats every nation for the ***le of worst nation, they have drought, long running civil war, poverty and is run by extremist terrorists

 

[Sker]

T.i.a :/

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Read a few books about the SAS involvement in the Congo, and yeah.....not nice....

 

[LittleGuy]

Zimbabwe has to be in the running for any worst nation disscussion, in my hemisphere Haiti takes the ***le and did so even before the earthquake.

 

[gingergenius]

I think Wales is the worst nation.

 

[nickdnz]

At one point Hati had the lowestlife expectancy at just 42 years old. I'm not sure what it is now.

 

[Seaton]

not a great country but Somalia beats every nation for the ***le of worst nation, they have drought, long running civil war, poverty and is run by extremist terrorists

Indeed, gotta be the favourite with all the stuff going on there.

Honourary mentions to Liberia, Mauretania, Sudan, South South, Eritrea, Djibouti, Nepal, Wales, Niger, Afghanistan and Cambodia.

To be heard, there are many big countries like Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico Indonesia and Malaysia where most of the population live in areas and conditions that would be considered equally abject s those listed above if they were independent countries.

 

[LittleGuy]

At one point Hati had the lowestlife expectancy at just 42 years old. I'm not sure what it is now.

It has been the worst country to live in for those in the Western Hemisphere since its independence in 1804, which was after the only ultimately succesful slave revolution in human history.

 

[nickdnz]

The HDI (Human Development Index) which is used by the UN seems to be the best way of measuring. Better than the Quality of Life Index.

1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Netherlands
4. United States
5. New Zealand
6. Canada
7. Ireland
8. Liechtenstein
9. Germany
10. Sweden
11. Switzerland
12. Japan
13. Hong Kong
14. Iceland
15. South Korea

The bottom 15

1. Democratic Republic of Congo
2. Niger
3. Burundi
4. Mozambique
5. Chad
6. Liberia
7. Burkina Faso
8. Sierra Leone
9. Central African Republic
10. Guinea
11. Eritea
12. Guinea-Bissau
13. Mali
14. Ethiopia
15. Zimbabwe

 

[formerlyfastwing]

T.i.a :/

having been to africa, that make so much sense, "white man builds it black man breaks it".

it is a crazy place

 

[gingergenius]

The HDI (Human Development Index) which is used by the UN seems to be the best way of measuring. Better than the Quality of Life Index.

1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Netherlands
4. United States
5. New Zealand
6. Canada
7. Ireland
8. Liechtenstein
9. Germany
10. Sweden
11. Switzerland
12. Japan
13. Hong Kong
14. Iceland
15. South Korea

The bottom 15

1. Democratic Republic of Congo
2. Niger
3. Burundi
4. Mozambique
5. Chad
6. Liberia
7. Burkina Faso
8. Sierra Leone
9. Central African Republic
10. Guinea
11. Eritea
12. Guinea-Bissau
13. Mali
14. Ethiopia
15. Zimbabwe

It's incredible how all those countries are in Africa. Not even Somalia makes the list, and the countries I've been to that really should be low down on the list (largely due to US inciting/ funding/ prolonging civil wars), like Cambodia and Nicaragua, aren't there either.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I'm really really surprised that the USA is 4th best place to live! Thought it'd be way further down the list

 

[User1245]

Indeed the white elephant in the room is that the top 15 countries consist of mostly white people and the bottom mostly black people.

There must be a reason for this that goes beyond culture? I mean Haitians were exposed to technology and sophistication in some form, yet they happy to live like they do. Not sure this discussion can happen though, not very 'PC' at all.

BTW South Africa's life expectancy is 52

 

[LittleGuy]

I'm really really surprised that the USA is 4th best place to live! Thought it'd be way further down the list

The upper end is extremely well off, probably bringing up the averages of inner cities and failing small towns in the rust belt.

Many of the Canadian reserves for natives are basically in third world conditions, not all of them but some are aboslutely dreadful, one chief had to declare a state of emergency recently.

 

[Me 1]

It's incredible how all those countries are in Africa. Not even Somalia makes the list, and the countries I've been to that really should be low down on the list (largely due to US inciting/ funding/ prolonging civil wars), like Cambodia and Nicaragua, aren't there either.

I would imagine Somalia's not there because there probably aren't any official records for it. I don't know how it would be possible to manage to measure the data there. If it were there I bet it would be number 1.

And as for Wales being the worst country, have you ever been to Runcorn

 

[Seaton]

On the other hand you can look at the list of the top 15 as either being European or Far Eastern, the hot beds of technological, medicinal, scientific, economic and social change in the last two millennia, with the outliers of the US, Aus and New Zealand being countries where many (not sure about NZ though), in fact the vast majority of the indigenous people(s) were killed off, whilst purposeful settlers moved in with all their respective technologies, and were kept in touch with advances in other fields because countries (primarily Britain of course) had vested interests in these countries resources and colonies.

In most cases with colonisation, the technologies brought by the arriving colonisers (stupid auto-correct) were largely denied, kept from or not immediately accepted by the locals, for obvious reasons like mistrust, reluctance to change and ginergenius' favourite, religion. The best example of this is South Africa. The controlling minority were able to do very well for themselves and set-up infrastructure in 'their' population centres which two decades on would put 1st world eastern European countries to shame. Of course if one looked at places like Darwin, one would see a similar pattern, but the country wide affect is negated as the once majority native population was exterminated.

Honestly, for the life of me I cannot see how what happened in Apartheid was as bad as what happened to the Aboroginies and Native Americans. Those were bloody genocides yet in comparison to the stick white saffas get for a regime few had anything directly to do with, those matters are swept under the rug by the global media.

 

[dullonien]

I think Wales is the worst nation.

Of course it is, it's allways raining! Civil Wars, pfft, try living with 24/7 drizzle.





Just incase of silly people, that was sarcasm.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I'll have you know that it hasn't rained for, ooooooooohhhh, about 9 hours

 

[gingergenius]

Indeed the white elephant in the room is that the top 15 countries consist of mostly white people and the bottom mostly black people.

There must be a reason for this that goes beyond culture? I mean Haitians were exposed to technology and sophistication in some form, yet they happy to live like they do. Not sure this discussion can happen though, not very 'PC' at all.

BTW South Africa's life expectancy is 52

that is a salient point, but from an anthropological perspective 'development' is judged by european/ western standards and expectations in these cases, and we're also generalising by nation. For example, the USA is 4th but we all know plenty of examples of US districts which don't smell of roses. And there's plenty of literature about relative happiness in so-called primitive hunter-gatherer societies.