civilized?....I can't believe you are using this word in this context.. US has one of the highest crime rates in the world... makes me wonder how "civilized" are the people living there? If u want to live in the most civilized place in the world, it's Japan definitely... with a history of few hundred years, I don't think the US is even a civilization....
Bern, Switzerland Ottawa, Canada Florence, Italy Aix-En-Provence, France St. Thomas US Virgin Islands
It's really how you define "civilized". If you define the most civilized humans to be the ones whose individual thought processes and behavior are most different from other apes', the US is definitely not the most civilized country. But if you measure the degree of civilization by the amount of energy wasted per human per day, then this is the apex of civilization. Think about it: We eat 3000 calories more per day than would be necessary or healthy, so we have to go to the gym. Did I say "go"? I meant drive to the gym after taking the elevator to get from the 3rd floor to the ground floor. At the gym, we walk up an escalator-like device for an hour, wasting some electrical energy, drive back home using a couple of gallons of gas, take the elevator up to our 3rd floor place, which is awaiting us at 55 degrees when it's 74 outside. Of course, we suffer from terrible sinus pain (I wonder why, it sure couldn't be the icy funk blowing at us all day out of the fungus culture in the A/C filter, could it?) But not to worry! There is a prescription for sinus pressure relief! It tends to upset our stomach, so we need another prescription for that, which happens to cause headaches. But, you guessed it, now there is fast-acting headache relief without a prescription! And for the intestinal cramping it causes, we drink that brown goo, whose side effect is a stuffy nose. Anti-histamines and steroids are indicated! Side effects like sore throat or death are generally mild. All those pills are making me depressed. I think I need something to go "back to being me again". I just hope it doesn't keep me up all night, otherwise I'll have to have that prescription refilled. Needless to say, there are "sexual side effects", but now our men finally have help to "get back into the game". Now imagine how bad an Asian farmer's life must be without all that relief!
I think your choice depends on your age and your lifestyle. Canaries is better imho for not very young people, great climate all year round, deserted beaches , buy a yacht and forget about the rest of the world, your bones and lungs will thank you for sure. Vancouver,Geneva,Wien are always on the top five UNESCO's list as the best cities in the world to live in and I agree Barcelona is wonderful , great food, beaches, mountains, Museums, Architecture,international schools, economic growth , amazing night life etc. Paris is Paris period Ibiza (Balearic) is my current choice. 300 days of sun a year, you can choose to be in the best clubbing scene of the world, crowded long beaches with chiringuitos (bar on the beach) futuring the best djs from around the world and lots of people dancing all day long ,or hidden coves with amazing snorkeling areas and isolated villas in the middle of a wonderful environment . The winter is mild and la isla becomes a nice place to relax and recover from summer craziness. Thailand food is very good ,yum yum, people is very friendly (sometimes too much), environment ... (well ,have you seen the movie" the beach" starring Di Caprio?...) the first time I went there , something weird happened to me, I felt like the whole energy of the universe was coming to me (sorry, barrier language is a problem to describe properly) and I cried like a baby. I ll never forget what my heart was telling me( you belong here, you stupid wannabe a millionaire with a big house and a big car) I also like London, but forget about it in winter, Costarica, lived there 1 year, but you'd better carry a gun with you despite what they say,if you live outside tourist resorts. The same goes for Rio de Janeiro. I've never been to Japan, but i'd really like a try.
Mark1 you seem to have traveled a lot!? Thanks a lot for your insightful responses. I am curious , how old are you and where do you live now? Is your curent locale, your preferred locale or are you there for other reasons? Thanks again.
The wealthiest people probably demand a high quality of living and in the US most of them live on the west coast...