How do you get to that?

Are you the best person you know? I'm not and I know few people who would say they were, even out of false modesty, which in itself would disqualify them from being the best person you know. Talented people should be able to acknowledge their gifts. So unless you are one in a million, which means in the US there are 300 just like you; better odds than in China where some 1500 people would have equal attributes, you probably didn't answer the question in the affirmative.

So is your neighborhood the best neighborhood in your town or city? Most of us like or love where we live, if not for its inate charm and infrastructure then because it's where we live and familiarity fosters security and attachment. However, most, though I suppose not all, would not rate his or her neighborhood as "the best" they know. Tree lined streets, great schools, expansive parks, enjoyable bars and restaurants or friendly neighbors. There are a number of criteria we use to judge such rankings and invariably somewhere else has something else, something your few blocks or cross streets don't.

But perhaps your town or city is the best in your state? This is obviously colored by the size of the state and proximity to neighboring state and thus neighboring towns and cities. Regardless, similar concerns come to mind and we start to wonder whether there isn't a better place somewhere not so far away. Whatever the universe to sample from a confident postive reply is not so easy to find.

Obviously the next question pertains to whether you believe the state you live in to be the best in the union? Since you aren't a tourist in your own state, the criteria has to go beyond beaches and mountains to many of the questions that entered into our deliberations about neighborhood or town or city. And then you start to question not what you think of your own state's qualities, but what the other guys have. Sure North Carolina is supposed to be a great place to live, work and raise a familiy, but are its schools really better than mine? Is its local and state government as responsive (or as unresponsive) as my state's? I suspect there are a few that would issue a proud yes with little contempation, but once you start comparing they might not see their bank balance as full as they thought.

So why is it that the vast majority of people in this country insist, with little thought or hesitation, that the USA is #1! That America is the greatest country on the face of the earth. How do you make that leap? What criteria go into making that claim? What information do you have about the Netherlands, New Zealand or Sao Tome that allow you such unrestrained confidence that is hard not to take as arrogance if you are on the receiving end? How do you get to that?