Perhaps more interesting is the USA is ranked 8, just behind all the obvious Nordic, Swiss and Singaporean contenders. The general tone of most mass media and internet commentary would suggest it should be somewhere behind Russia and Mexico.
That's American exceptionalism for you. I imagine it gives us a sense of purpose to believe we live in the most corrupt, illiterate, violent country in the world.
In my experience, the people who talk about America being the most violent, the most corrupt, etc. are the ones who also like to decry 'American exceptionalism'. And if you think that non-Americans don't think about Americans that much, I suggest you listen to the BBC.
> In my experience, the people who talk about America being the most violent, the most corrupt, etc. are the ones who also like to decry 'American exceptionalism'.
That's my point, yeah? "We're so stuck up" is just as ignorantly self-centered as "We're so industrious" or whatever else Americans say about ourselves. We're mostly just normal.
