freedom, liberty
With costly healthcare, a stereotype of obesity and a culture of creatively fatty foods, "healthy" probably isn't the first word that comes to mind when you think of the United States.

But according to the Legatum Prosperity Index's findings for 2015, the U.S. is the healthiest country in the world.



Comment: That's actually rather surprising considering the low rankings given by other studies which rank American healthcare and health:
The USA is number one...but only when it comes to violence

In a 2014 study of healthcare (including infant mortality, healthy life expectancy, and mortality from preventable conditions) in 11 advanced industrial countries, the Commonwealth Fund concluded that the United States ranked last among them. According to the World Health Organization, the U.S. healthcare system ranks 30th in the world. Other studies reach somewhat different conclusions, but all are very unflattering to the United States, as are studies of American health. The United States, for example, has one of the world's worst cancer rates (the seventh highest), and life expectancy is declining compared to other nations. An article in the Washington Post in late 2013 reported that the United States ranked 26th among nations in life expectancy, and that the average American lifespan had fallen a year behind the international average.

However, when it comes to freedom, an ideal most Americans pride themselves on, the U.S. falls to 15.

So what's the country with the most personal freedom? Canada, followed by New Zealand, Norway, Luxembourg and Iceland.

Personal freedom, as defined by the London-based Legatum Institute, measures a nation's performance at both guaranteeing individual freedom and encouraging social tolerance. Canda was ranked No. 1 due to 94 percent of its citizens saying they believed they had the freedom to choose the course of their own lives and 92 percent saying there was tolerance for ethnic minorities and immigrants.

Overall, the U.S. was ranked the 11th most prosperous country out of 142, with Norway snagging the top spot. Other areas measured are the economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, social capital and safety and security.

The U.S. was ranked highly in all categories except safety and security, where it has dropped to number 33. In fact, in the study's key findings, it said the U.S. is "an increasingly dangerous place."


Comment: America is now considered to be so violent and dangerous that many countries have warned their citizens against travel to the U.S.


"It is also the only Western country to register high levels of state-sponsored political violence," the study says. "According to Amnesty International the country has the same level of political violence as Saudi Arabia."

The safest countries are Hong Kong, Iceland, Finland, Ireland and Sweden.