For sure Britain is a great country compared to the entire world, sure beat living in most of sub-Saharan Africa for example, but that is an entirely pointless comparison. What one really is interested in is the top countries in the world, say the top 20 and see how does Britian fit in, or if it is really even in the top 20 (I very much doubt it).
Furthermore, every country has its good and bad points, there is no perfect place to live. It is matter of how many good vs bad points there are, what aspects you personally find important (e.g. Uk weather sucks but if you don't care about the weather then this simply isn't a factor). There are also clearly big differences within the country, living in London is clearly not the same as living in Inverness, and to different people either will appeal more.
I don't like Britian personally, it just isn't an attractive place to live for a variety of reasons hence out of the last 8 years I have spent 7 living abroad and have no intention of returning to the UK ever again, although I do really miss the Scottish highlands.
It is also not as simple as taking some of the negative points in isolation it is a non-linear combination of all the negative features that can combine to make a country a non-optimal choice. And I mean non-optimal in a full sense, one should really live in the country that optimizes their life quality given their desires and their abilities.
one of the problems in the UK is that salaries are relatively low for skilled workers, taxes are relatively high for the services received (low government efficiency, wouldn't mind paying Swedish taxes for Swedish services etc.) and furthermore, living costs are relatively high. In any 1 of these 3 categories the UK is not too bad, there are plenty of worse paying countries, higher taxed countries do exist, and someplaces are more expensive to live, but the UK just has a very bad combination. I spent 5 years in Switzerland, much higher saleries, much lower taxes, simliar living costs, much better services. I now
I've in the US, much higher salary, much lower taxes, much lower living costs and an infrastructure better than most of Scotland.
Highly skilled workers just get screwed in the UK unless they joint the financial sector in london, and even then they are barely Only competitive but suffer far higher taxes and far higher living costs. I would get paid half my salary in the Uk, pay more taxes and have to live in lodnon to find any suitable job, and London is just hell on earth IMO.
And that is just the financials. When searching for a job last year I barely found 1 suitable position in the UK, I found dozens upon dozens in the US. I factor quality of life very highly, and part of that is the environ,ent I live in and the activities that I can do within a short drive or walk. Both Switzerland and Oregon where I live now offer far, far better opertunities for me. Being ale to ski on world class mountains within an hour is important to me. Having vast stretches of unspoilt countryside, hundreds of miles of amazing coast parallel by hundreds of miles of mountain wilderness. Climate as well, I love Scotland but just cannot survive the unpredictability. the last time it rained here was early June! In a couple of months I will be skiing on a deep snow pack. Within a days drive I have access to some of the most beautiful, dramatic and diverse scenery on the planet from deserts, ice capped volcanoes, rugged coast line, rain forests, the world oldest trees, tallest trees, and largest trees, old growth first, caves, lava flows, endless sandy behaves, vineyards, some of the world deepest lakes, clearest lakes, tallest waterfalls, tallest vertical rock faces.....
