Society Is there anything that makes life better in the US than in Europe?

[Maciamo]

Here is another video of American expats living in Europe —this time in France— explaining how surprised they were that the quality of life was so much better in Europe than in the States. They say that their surprise came mostly from the fact that they have been brainwashed since their childhood to saying that America was the greatest country in the world and that therefore life couldn't possibly be as good —let alone better— somewhere else.

Personally I don't care what Americans do with their lives. If they prefer to live in the US good for them. What annoys me is hearing almost on a daily basis (on TV or on social media) Americans claiming that their country is so great and so superior to the rest of the world. It seems that the only people who say that are those who have never lived abroad.

Just to prove I'm not imagining things, according to Pew Research the vast majority of American think that the US is one of the greatest countries in the world or clearly stands above all other countries. It's a bit more true of Republicans, but even a majority of Democrats think so. That percentage is slowly going down year after year though.



A few comments from YouTube:

"I’m a Brit and I lived in Texas for a couple of years and found that, at least in Texas, societal expectations were so ingrained practically everybody was chained to achieving the expected goals and, to my eyes, were far from being free because of it. I also came to realise that a civilised society is at least partially defined by how the “haves” treat the “have nots” i.e how, as a society, we support those in need. The USA, sadly, falls far below what most of Europe would regard as civilised in this respect."

"As a retired member of the US Armed Forces serving the United States Navy I think I had one view of the country that I grew up with. However, 12 years ago, I decided to change jobs when I got divorced and I went to work for Carnival Cruise Line on board ships. I lived and worked with people from Europe and Asia and got their perspective on things. It made me a much better person. It gave me a much different perspective on other cultures as a whole. This last election I think has brought out some of the worst in America. the thought of American exceptionalism left me many years ago as I learned more about other cultures. so I enjoy videos like yours. They give a perspective of somebody who was raised here but now lives abroad."

"My eyes were opened when I got a job with a German company and had to spend a lot of time in Germany on business. I started seeing that America isn't first in anything except the belief that we're first in everything."

"The US is not a country. It’s a business."

"I don't argue with Americans anymore because they are brainwashed on a central system that fires commercial at them everyday. But after visiting 81 countries, working and living in 4 ,now in France there is just no comparison, gladly over 9 million Americans are now living abroad, good for them good for you, and good for me. Salut!"

 

[ssha_cha7]

I returned to this thread surprisingly since I agree with the premise. However, taking any excuse to post this video, I'll do an "analysis".

Life in the US is okay for football, outer-space (declining), muscle cars, and shipping containers (definitely better in China anyway). Everything else is probably better elsewhere.

I'm just happy for free citizenship to Alaska and there are Eskimos in Canada.

 

[ssha_cha7]

As an un-ironic talking point, I am happy living in a leader of foreign aid. More an intrinsic point.

And I would personally say the counter argument of "percentages" are fairly irrelevant since you cannot assume it will remain constant with growth. But opinions will vary. Per capita as well probably scales in confusing ways.

I feel comfortable in a land of usually good intentions.

In this regard, whatever the statistics say, this overall spirit (not the charitable spirit; something else) is only matched by the Chinese and Russians in my opinion. Part of that may be from living in imperialism.

Americans, Chinese, and Russians as many ethnic groups, ultimately fly one flag. Europeans ultimately fly their own. So it appears from way over here.

 

[moonlitedr]

No. It's only going to get worse with the rise of the Christian Taliban. I'm applying for a passport when the new year starts.

 

[Maciamo]

Life in the US is okay for football, outer-space (declining), muscle cars, and shipping containers (definitely better in China anyway). Everything else is probably better elsewhere.

American football is one of those sports that never really caught up outside its country of origin. It's odd as most sports are found almost everywhere on Earth nowadays, but not American football. So listing American football among the things that are better in the US is like saying that the US is the best place to meet American people and eat American food.

Not sure what you mean about shipping containers. China owns 50 to 60% of all the world's containers. The US owns only 5-10% ( less than Japan). Anyway how does that impact your quality of life?

The US is indeed a leader in aerospace (alongside the EU, Japan, China and even India). But once again what role that is play in your quality of life as a US citizen?

You could have mentioned that the US is excellent at making money. American companies are among the most innovative and profitable in the world. But one reason they are so profitable is that they always find new ways of squeezing every possible cent out of their workers to achieve greater corporate profits. That's exactly part of the problem and the reason why quality of life has deteriorated so much in the US since the 1980s.

 

[Maciamo]

As an un-ironic talking point, I am happy living in a leader of foreign aid. More an intrinsic point.

And I would personally say the counter argument of "percentages" are fairly irrelevant since you cannot assume it will remain constant with growth. But opinions will vary. Per capita as well probably scales in confusing ways.

I don't see how being a citizen of a country that is a leader is foreign aid improves your own life. But even if it did on some psychological level, the truth is that Americans donate far less than other rich countries in per capita term. The US has the sixth highest nominal GDP per capita in the world, but ranks 17th in foreign development aid per capita. Each American donate only about $95 per year, 8 times less than Norwegians and 3 times less than British people, who have much less disposable income.

I feel comfortable in a land of usually good intentions.

I am glad that you said you were talking in an unironic way.

If there is one country in the world where people usually don't have good intentions and you have to watch your back all the time for all kinds of scams, it is the U.S. Examples? Religious cults, twisted marketing, lawsuits, food companies selling you food that makes you sick to increase the sales of drugs, and so on. Add to that a much higher chance than in any other developed country to be assaulted, mugged, car-jacked... No, it's not really my definition of a land of usually good intentions. For that I would rather look at Japan or Nordic countries.

 

[ssha_cha7]

I don't see how being a citizen of a country that is a leader is foreign aid improves your own life. But even if it did on some psychological level, the truth is that Americans donate far less than other rich countries in per capita term. The US has the sixth highest nominal GDP per capita in the world, but ranks 17th in foreign development aid per capita. Each American donate only about $95 per year, 8 times less than Norwegians and 3 times less than British people, who have much less disposable income.

View attachment 17531



I am glad that you said you were talking in an unironic way.

If there is one country in the world where people usually don't have good intentions and you have to watch your back all the time for all kinds of scams, it is the U.S. Examples? Religious cults, twisted marketing, lawsuits, food companies selling you food that makes you sick to increase the sales of drugs, and so on. Add to that a much higher chance than in any other developed country to be assaulted, mugged, car-jacked... No, it's not really my definition of a land of usually good intentions. For that I would rather look at Japan or Nordic countries.

In all honesty it's not really a conversation I want to continue.

Edit: sorry for getting upset

 

[ssha_cha7]

I don't see how being a citizen of a country that is a leader is foreign aid improves your own life. But even if it did on some psychological level, the truth is that Americans donate far less than other rich countries in per capita term. The US has the sixth highest nominal GDP per capita in the world, but ranks 17th in foreign development aid per capita. Each American donate only about $95 per year, 8 times less than Norwegians and 3 times less than British people, who have much less disposable income.

View attachment 17531



I am glad that you said you were talking in an unironic way.

If there is one country in the world where people usually don't have good intentions and you have to watch your back all the time for all kinds of scams, it is the U.S. Examples? Religious cults, twisted marketing, lawsuits, food companies selling you food that makes you sick to increase the sales of drugs, and so on. Add to that a much higher chance than in any other developed country to be assaulted, mugged, car-jacked... No, it's not really my definition of a land of usually good intentions. For that I would rather look at Japan or Nordic countries

Fair enough. I do agree. Honestly I grew up in a pretty "sheltered" region of the US, so it shows