The Birthplace Lottery

I should consider myself lucky.

<p dir="auto">I won the "Birthplace Lottery". <p dir="auto"><center><strong>By being born Canadian I am one of the lucky few who get to live in a prosperous and peaceful nation. <p dir="auto">Indeed I looked at ChatGPT to see what it considered the "winning ticket" countries were and were given this list: <ul> <li>Nordic Countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway) <li>Canada <li>Australia <li>New Zealand <li>Netherlands <li>Luxembourg <li>Switzerland <li>Singapore <p dir="auto">Overall chance to be born into one of those countries is less than 4% <p dir="auto">I think that means I was lucky enough to be born into a good country. <h1><center>But What If I Got To Choose? <p dir="auto">I stopped to think about what I liked in life and again asked ChatGPT what country it thought would be a good fit for me: <p dir="auto"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/terganftp/23tmjb17n23eGbzPzV958FbrL9UanziFEF57bYrxq1cRbQ3VokyoEBLkAQZhGkohoRfnx.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/terganftp/23tmjb17n23eGbzPzV958FbrL9UanziFEF57bYrxq1cRbQ3VokyoEBLkAQZhGkohoRfnx.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/terganftp/23tmjb17n23eGbzPzV958FbrL9UanziFEF57bYrxq1cRbQ3VokyoEBLkAQZhGkohoRfnx.png 2x" /> <p dir="auto"><br /> <p dir="auto"><center><code>I had a little laugh to myself and then thought it must seem like I'm bragging <p dir="auto">So I had to do some soul searching to think if I got to choose anywhere where would I choose to be reborn? who would I choose to be? <h1><center>I could make the easy choice <p dir="auto"><br /> <p dir="auto"><strong>The Nordic Countries <p dir="auto">How could I go wrong with them? <p dir="auto">Norway, Sweden, Denmark and such. <p dir="auto">Great people. Socially advanced. Technologically advanced. Environmentally aware. Excellent healthcare and standard of living. What's not to like? <p dir="auto"><strong>except that when security is virtually guaranteed where is the challenge in life? <hr /> <p dir="auto"><strong>Or perhaps Japan <p dir="auto">Technologically advanced. Excellent education system. Orderly and clean. Plus they have anime. Breathtaking mountains and longest lifespan on earth. How could I not want to try out Japan? <p dir="auto">Except the crushing weight of social expectation may be too much for me. <hr /> <p dir="auto"><strong>So Many Great Choices <p dir="auto">The culture and history of Italy. The tropical paradise that is Costa Rica. The gleaming city state of Singapore. The technological and manufacturing powerhouse that is China. The economic powerhouse of United States. <p dir="auto">But every country has their problems. There is no perfect place to be. <h1><center>I think I'll Make the Unusual Choice <p dir="auto"><br /> <p dir="auto"><strong>I was going to choose the Ukraine <p dir="auto">To which people would say <strong><em>why on earth would I want to choose a country ravaged by war? <p dir="auto">My answer <strong><em>because when the war is over its a time of healing and rebuilding. A sense of solidarity and purpose. I think I'd like to be part of a country that is healing <p dir="auto"><br /> <p dir="auto">But after a little more consideration I'm going to make a different decision. <h3><center>Nauru <p dir="auto"><center><br /> <img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/terganftp/EpJZbhjMGtYQRKtGN7gYbd4wt5F3qcmportP9AM2pUF7zR3g4L7Ys63CqBDg1ADu8n6.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/terganftp/EpJZbhjMGtYQRKtGN7gYbd4wt5F3qcmportP9AM2pUF7zR3g4L7Ys63CqBDg1ADu8n6.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/terganftp/EpJZbhjMGtYQRKtGN7gYbd4wt5F3qcmportP9AM2pUF7zR3g4L7Ys63CqBDg1ADu8n6.png 2x" /><br /> <br /> <a href="https://pixabay.com/vectors/nauru-flag-country-nationality-156330/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link">Source: Pixabay <p dir="auto">Now my first guess is that you have never heard of this country. <p dir="auto">It doesn't come up on any tourism guides.<br /> It doesn't show up at the Olympic games.<br /> It isn't renounced for any industry<br /> It doesn't have any well known historic or artistic figures <p dir="auto">In fact it is a tiny little country with little to show for itself. <p dir="auto">By simple comparison: The country of Nauru vs the city of Lagos, Nigeria. The city of Lagos is 60 times larger the entire country of Nauru which is only 8 square miles. The population of Lagos is almost 1,400x larger that Nauru which only has 10,000 people. <p dir="auto">Indeed Nauru would barely be considered a small town in Canada and not even a village in many countries. <p dir="auto">It also doesn't have much to show for itself. <p dir="auto">Most of its land is not useable because of prior mining operations. In fact 80% of the landmass is of limited value. It is an island country but again the mining killed off much of the marine life. <p dir="auto">It can't produce enough food to feed itself. It can't produce enough energy to support itself. <p dir="auto">On paper it would be a very sad place to grow up or live in. <h1><center>But <p dir="auto">It is a fully acknowledged country by the United Nations which means it has a true seat on the world stage. <strong>That means something <p dir="auto">It's population is small enough that one person could unite the country. One person could know <strong><em>all the citizens. If one good leader could unite the people to create an environmentally sustainable gem of a country. To take it from being a place that no-one has heard of to one for the record books...now that could get people talking. <p dir="auto">Right now it has one of the fattest populations on earth and the life expectancy isn't great. <p dir="auto"><strong>If a leader changed the people's lifestyle and diet from fat to fit it could make records.... Imagine being known for <strong>fittest country on earth. <p dir="auto"><strong>If a leader could transition from being reliant on other countries for aid to being self sufficient.... Especially if being a net zero pollution revolution. Could you imagine living in a country that was the greenest on earth and totally self sufficient? <p dir="auto">Nauru isn't wonderful.<br /> Actually from what I've read it seems like it would be pretty miserable to be from there as it is now. <p dir="auto">But the country and its population are small enough that it would be possible to get <strong><em>everyone onboard for change. I would love to get a chance to be reborn into that kind of situation where a turnaround of unimaginable proportions could happen <p dir="auto">Side notes: Other advantages of Nauru's small size... <ul> <li>Little / No Wars -- I mean why bother invading? <li>Little / No Organized crime -- Seriously? How much are you going to make and how are you going to hide from law officials. <li>Little / No illicit drugs -- The country is small enough everyone will know if you have a problem and drug dealers will be found out in no time. <li>Low Crime rate -- In a country so small everyone is related or knows each other. Plus it would be hard not to get caught. I mean if you steal someone's car how are you going to explain that one 😄 <p dir="auto">Maybe its silly but if I was reincarnated into the community, kept my inquisitive nature and desire to make things better with zero pollution I think Nauru could make an interesting showcase to the rest of the world to show how you can take something that's been ravaged by mismanagement and turn it into something beautiful. <p dir="auto"><center><strong>Something I think the world really needs to see