I live in Switzerland and have also lived in Germany, France and The Netherlands. I was shocked at the poverty in the US when I went there and I am not sure if it's really first world.
Some people literally live in tin shacks, as in some third world African countries. Not even proper houses. Their are huge numbers of homeless people living in filth on the streets in some cities. They are actually pooping on the street. The education system is poor. A lot of people can't afford proper healthcare. The public transport in many areas is terrible and not clean. Infrastructure is poor in general with things like el ctrucity cables not buried underground and no foot/bicycle paths. Life expectancy is 6 years lower than in Switzerland. Most people only have one home and have to rent somewhere for summer or winter skiing holidays. Food is cheap but a lot of the cuisine is very basic level so it isn't prepared well.
Although houses are very very cheap. You can buy a 5 bedrooms luxury house in one of those suburbs for the price of a small apartment in Zurich or Geneva suburb. I know several people here in Switzerland who are just average in terms of prosperity who have a large house in Florida that they keep for holidays. I've also noticed that some of the luxury hotels in the US are not that clean.
I've also noticed that quite a number of Americans are not well behaved in public - their manners are not good. They are too loud and boastful and if they get into an argument, they quickly start using low language which here indicates that you have no education or maybe come from a family of criminals. I see at the world indoor championships some of the American medallists were behaving in a rather brash, ignorant way, as if no one had ever won a medal before.
The reason the us healthcare system sux is bc they eat at applebees, taco bell, mckdonalds and drink coke and are diabetic and fat. Then they whine when the healthcare system isn't free.
I have lived overseas for most of my younger adult life. Quality of life depends on how you measure it. Free college sounds great, but not everyone can go. You actually have to be academically proficient. And don’t all blame our school system, some people are just dumb.
Some European countries have mandatory national service; in our country we want our student loans paid back without doing anything to earn it.
If almost everyone in 🇳🇴 Norway is Norwegian, it’s much easier to have a society net. Some feel we are a racist nation, we have nothing compared to Europeans.
Best health care system in the world. It's almost a miracle how unhealthy we are and yet we have the technology to keep them alive till their 70s or 80s. We even get advertisements on TV for drugs to ask our doctor about. In countries with socialized medicine, if you want some heart or brain medication, the system makes you visit a general practionioner and there's a very high bar to get referred to a specialist and get perscribed a medication and you might have to wait months and months. In the U.S., you can go straight to any doctor and he'll be happy to provide any necessary or unnecessary service you want to pay for.
America is nowhere near the top in life expectancy. Japan is around 83 years, the U.S. is not even in the top 20 with 77 years.
As for the "you can go straight to any doctor" part, you're going to go bankrupt going to an out-of-network healthcare provider unless your net worth is at least 7 figures.
I've spent time in Paris, Brest, Munich, Constance, Salzburg, Zurich, Barcelona, Rome, Split, Dubrovnik, and a some other smaller European towns I'll just stop there. I considered living more long term, but my profession wouldn't pay as well there.
My thoughts are you can have a better above average life in the U.S. more easily than in Europe.. Good jobs pay better in the U.S., and in general I feel the quality of things at the top end are better in the U.S. In Europe houses are much older, apartments are tiny and basic, to get the equivalent quality as the U.S. you would paying a ton of money in Europe, and it's tough to get that extra money as the earning potential is a bit lower at the upper end there. You are taxed higher and as I said the good jobs pay less so you don't have much extra money to upgrade your life. If you have a below average or barely average job, then Europe could be better for you because they give you your basics and it makes it easy. But if you want a higher quality life, it's more possible in the U.S.
Many many countries have a lot of immigrants coming in (or trying to). Please don't make the dumb assumption that means the country is great or has a high standard of living. Most don't.
Many many countries have a lot of immigrants coming in (or trying to). Please don't make the dumb assumption that means the country is great or has a high standard of living. Most don't.
Many many countries have a lot of immigrants coming in (or trying to). Please don't make the dumb assumption that means the country is great or has a high standard of living. Most don't.
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