Paxx: First off, you have no idea whether "all Iraqi's hate the US". You're passing wild speculations off as fact.
Second, regrettably there are significant standard of living differences between racial groups in the United States. The per capita income of Americans is higher than any other country btw (in 2002).
But the UN statistics take things into account such as likelyhood of being affected by crime for instance. But in the US, over half of violent crime is committed by a relatively specific group that makes up only 12% of the population. Other countries with very distinct cultural and ethnic groups have the same kinds of issues. Even Canada, where you live, has such issues. Countries like Norway, by contrast, do not have these issues because their countries are so homogenous.
The UN stats are so Euro-centric in their way of viewing things. They just close their eyes to reality and do a big old average of all the stats. And that's not realistic.
Now, someone can argue "Hey, that's the way it comes out with averages" but it kills the argument that country X is better than country Y. The fact is, from an economic, environmental, healthcare, and public safety point of view, being a European American (or Canadian) gives you a higher standard of living than someone living in Europe.
But even if that does't convince you, the UN "Stats" are just total conjecture. They're based on all sorts of nebulous things that aren't really measurable. It's politically motivated.
What do real people care about? They care about ability to provide food, clothing, and shelter for their families. They care about the likelyhood of dealing with crime. They care about being able to find a job they enjoy, that pays the bills.
Norway has a 3.9% unemployment rate. Which is good. But they also get paid considerably less for the same kind of work as Americans.
So which is better? Depends on your point of view. That's the whole thing, such arbitrary rankings are based on someone somewhere choosing that one is more important than the other.
