Where do you like to be born?
Many years ago I was enroute to Veyangoda from Colombo Fort in the
Yakada Yaka when a confused passenger got in. He had a load of files. He
carried a huge map probably bought just minutes ago from the pavement.
He unrolled it no sooner than he sat, providing diversion to the
passengers, bored by the long wait.
Then he began peering into it and tracing some places with much
earnestness. As the iron monster finally got started and chugged on past
the concrete tapestry of the mega city and waded into green fields,
pastures and pristine scenery, the man went on with this exercise,
raising his head now and then that exposed an inebriated state via red
eyes. Now a fellow passenger reaching the optimum of his curiosity asked
him what he was earnestly seeking.
"For a place to be born in, other than this country", he blurted out
much to the amusement of the audience captured in that section of the
iron devil.
Then he said, "Almost 15 times I have chugged in this train to get my
pension worked out but it is two years since my retirement and still the
pension is only a dream".
Heavenly abode
This episode was enacted about 25 years back and I presume that the
Pension Department is in a better working order now. Perhaps that
gentleman too would have solved his problem and gifted the large map to
his grandchildren, after finding his El Dorado or not. He could be even
in a heavenly abode now. The incident rose in my mind when I came across
a feature titled "Looking for a country to be born?" The newspaper was
no less a paper than the The Washington Post that covered research done
in this regard by the Economic Intelligence Unit. Eighty countries have
been subject to the research and among the facets taken into reckoning
are economic opportunity, health standards, political freedom, quality
of Life, gender equality, job security, crime situation and climate.
The list of countries chosen, along this criteria is given and yields
unexpected results.
"The USA and Germany, two of the world's top economic powerhouses
have been placed 16th. Japan goes down to the 25th and Britain and
France plummet even further. What countries surprisingly push the above
states further down? You would be surprised to read that war-torn Israel
earns the 20th place and is preceded by the oil-rich United Arab
Emirates.
"The best countries to be born in are small, peaceful, homogenous and
liberal democracies. The Nordic countries too come out on top alongside
Ireland, New Zealand and Canada. The top 15 also include Australia, New
Zealand and Switzerland. The first three in the list are Switzerland,
Australia and Norway. Asia's two super-rich city states are Singapore
and Taiwan with its political freedom and improved health.
Contradictions
There are further contradictions in the picture of that pensioner's
map. Portugal and Spain score highly despite their present troubles. All
the benign policies of the present government seem to have no effect on
international publicity.
China, despite the publicity, is not a great place to be born in. It
ranks 49th out of 80 below Latvia and Hungary. This is paradoxical for
China boasts the largest number of billionaires next to the USA
billionaires and general living standards seem to be two different
worlds. True, states the report, that China has made astounding gains
but the gains have not benefited the massive country equally. The
majority of the population are still below the poverty line and even the
big coastal cities do not project a favourable picture.
A child born in Poland or Greece will have a better life than in
rising economic giants such as Brazil, Turkey or China!
Russia is bottom-ranked but she is not poor. It has a bad record in
the political field and public health. Latin America has an optimistic
future except for Ecuador. The report flaunts a gross omission. It is
mum about India. So, you cannot take this study by the Economic
Intelligence Init as flawless Gospel truth. Its predictions too may go
wrong but it is an interesting attempt which if it fell within the reach
of that pensioner I met way back would have just intrigued him.
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