While for most of my life I took comfort in the superiority of the USA, as I age I am more attracted to the features of other cultures: National Health Care, less violent crime, more embrace of subtle culture, arts, cuisine, more respect for the environment and an elevated tone of collaboration with neighbors. The US is too much “survival of the fittest” for my delicate temperament.

(Though some TMV folks, obsessed with chocolate, might consider that a high point of civilization in the UK's favour).

Truth be told: The English blame the deep-fried Mars Bar on the Scots, who would probably eat their grandmothers were they deep-fried in beer batter.
The Scots invented haggis as a national dish, after all, so one can imagine anything of those savages (altho I must say haggis isn't really that bad, provided one has had a few pints beforehand).

It is always important to consider the criteria used to measure these studies.

One statistic, overlooked by the UN, the authors of the study, and Angela, trumps the study: the UK is now the 2nd highest emigrant exporting nation on the planet (only Mexico exports more of its population).

Native born Britons are leaving the UK in droves, primarily for Australia, the US, New Zealand and Canada. The only reason the population of the UK is at all stable (moderately increasing) are large numbers of immigrants from Eastern Europe and former Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia.

If Britons…who know the country best presumably…are leaving in record numbers, something is clearly up.

As anyone who has been the UK recently can attest, crime rates are skyrocketing, despite the UK having a CC camera on every street corner (shades of Big Brother). The Home Office last year had to admit the scandalous – though widely suspected – fact that it has been underreporting real crime rates for years.

I suspect Switzerland got hammered because of its recent anti-immigrant vote in the election (the UN liberal authors of the study being presumably pro-immigrant).

Switzerland is possibly the most stable and prosperous country that has ever existed.

When the UK beats Switzerland on almost any measure…aside from beer drinking, good TV, and the quality of fish and chips…you know the fix is in!

Our system needs to change to make it safe for open minded pragmatists to get elected.