A week ago I asked my readers what they thought would be the best country for men in 2015. I also sent an email to my private mailing list (if you want to join, see the form on the right). I received a ton of answers, both as comments (50+ responses) on the blog post and direct responses via email.
Two things happened that I didn’t expect.
The first surprise was the wide range of countries submitted. If you’re a regular reader on MT, you know that we mostly praise countries like Brazil and Russia for their anti-Western cultures that create the perfect environment for real men to behave like men.
The readers’ experience and imagination, however, spanned much further than those two countries. People chose countries not only in South America and Eastern Europe but in East Asia and Central Europe. Well over 60 different countries were represented.
The second surprise is that very few people actually had the one favorite country; readers usually listed anywhere from 2 to 5 favorites. That shows the sophistication of the audience in recognizing that there’s rarely the best country for every man. It truly depends on what you’re looking for.
There was also a submission for a country that MT readers rarely expect: Norway. Norway isn’t typically on a list of countries that a free man chooses to voluntarily visit. First, it’s crushingly expensive. Second, it’s not exactly known as a country where a man can feel like a man. Quite predictably, Norway was the only Scandinavian submission.
Since most people didn’t submit just one country, but several, I needed to take that into account when calculating the overall grades. Thus, instead of just listing the countries in the order of the number of times they were submitted, I gave more weight according to the person’s choice; their first choice received more weight than their second, which received more weight than the third.
The result was the list of the best countries for men in 2015:
The top 5 countries (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Thailand) managed to represent just under 50% of the weighted results. Apart from Thailand, these countries are all in Latin America.
It’s a bit surprising that none of the Eastern European countries made it in the top 5. Or maybe not all that surprising given that they’re super depressing with really crappy weather.
On the other hand, there’s absolutely no surprise seeing Brazil up there as the overwhelming favorite. Is there any other place in the world that brings so much happiness to a man’s life? (That’s a rhetorical question.)
God bless Brazil for saving my sanity. And it will certainly do the same for countless other Western men who’re helplessly trapped in toxic Western cultures.