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For me it was the money and opportunities. I turned a blind eye to the power abuse, human rights violations and corruption, and moved to the US anyways.

j_shi 8y ago
lmao. kernel of truth to be sure but in fairness American legal system and democratic governance do strictly result in more liberty and security for individuals by and large, corner cases notwithstanding
- koala_man 8y ago
  Definitely. The fact that I can even make such a joke strongly supports that.
jimrhods23 8y ago
"I turned a blind eye to the power abuse, human rights violations and corruption" I'm not sure how you can compare the US, which does have it's problems, but is one of the least racist (and offers many more opportunities to people that start with nothing) countries in the world to China, one of the most corrupt and authoritarian. In China, for example, you need to include your head shot on your resume and I've known people that were told the were too fat to work at a company. If people actually cared, they would look at the gross human rights abuses by the Chinese government. You just don't see things like this: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/china-and-tibet https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/china... In the US.
- 49531 8y ago
  You don't see reports like that about the US because of US hegemony, and most things that do come up is usually by the UN and isn't taken seriously. I'm not saying china is perfect by any means, but things ain't great in the US either. They just seem normal to us because we're used to it.
  - wolco 8y ago
    Only someone who has never lived elsewhere would say that.
  - refurb 8y ago
    What? The media thrives off of "the US is crap", especially international media. There is no lack of negativity about the US.
  - jimrhods23 8y ago
    "You don't see reports like that about the US because of US hegemony" I've see so many negative news reports about the US, that if it were even 1% as bad as you say it is, it would be shoved down our throats. "They just seem normal to us because we're used to it." When you live outside the US, you will quickly see the amount of poverty and corruption that just doesn't exist here. It's why I moved back and have no plan leaving again. Corruption in many countries is normal and accepted. It happens in the US, but it's certainly not accepted. Have you seen what the EU is doing lately in terms of the freedom of speech on the Internet? China has already cracked down considerably and many other countries are using the same technology to suppress free speech and the EU is in the process of passing laws that do the same. "I'm not saying china is perfect by any means," 'not perfect' is an understatement. In terms of freedom, China is a horrible place to live. If you have money, it's great. You can buy yourself out of anything...including prison time.
- MandieD 8y ago
  To be fair, employers in Germany expect headshots with your resume, as well as your date and place of birth and family status (married, kids...) Job-hunting as a married, but childless 30-year-old woman was super fun. That said, I love living and working in Germany. Somewhat higher taxes, somewhat lower salaries, far more time to enjoy life (5-6 weeks vacation! Legal limit of 48 working hours in a given week! My boss gets in trouble if I forget myself and work over 10 hours in a day more than a few times per year!)
- ubercow13 8y ago
  What's having to include a headshot on your resume got to do with corruption and authoritarianism? China isn't the only country where that is normal.
wolco 8y ago
From Finland? Why bother when you have such a high quality of living.
- refurb 8y ago
  Apparently not when it comes to money and opportunity!
  - koala_man 8y ago
    I mean, it's true. (Norway, though) The Nordic countries are probably the best places in the world to be average or below, but I'm willing to claim that the US is better for the top 10%.
    - adventured 8y ago
      You could safely draw that line at the top 25%, in terms of the US being competitive. If you look at income, wealth, employment, education, healthcare, life expectancy, infant mortality, there's a very large difference in the US between the 25% line and the median. If you don't think you can get into that top 25% bracket in the US, pick another country if you can like Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, etc. 40%-45% of the world's millionaires reside in that top 25%. Full-time employment will get you $80,000+ at the 25% bracket cut-off. Healthcare is broadly high quality and easily accessible for the top 25%. Economic opportunities are abundant and unemployment is always very low outside of deep recessions. You can also hit that $80,000 income line in dozens of cities, depending on profession (much easier in tech, energy, healthcare, banking/finance). Household net wealth skyrockets from about $100,000 at the median to $425k-$450k at the 25% line (and to $1.2 million at the 10% line). Just consider software developers in the US. 1.25 million of them with a median income of $103,000 for 2017 (per the BLS). So there's probably ~650,000 software developers in the US earning six figures for 2019. That's more than the rest of the world combined. The biggest downside to being in the US if you're in the top 25%, is that many of our largest cities aren't nearly as livable or safe as those in other developed nations. This also assumes a city to income match, where you're not making $90,000 trying to live well in San Francisco or New York (in which case you're generally going to struggle).
patrickg_zill 8y ago
I take it that you are not a Uyghur Muslim...
dang 8y ago
"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

j_shi 8y ago

lmao. kernel of truth to be sure but in fairness American legal system and democratic governance do strictly result in more liberty and security for individuals by and large, corner cases notwithstanding

koala_man 8y ago
Definitely. The fact that I can even make such a joke strongly supports that.

jimrhods23 8y ago

"I turned a blind eye to the power abuse, human rights violations and corruption" I'm not sure how you can compare the US, which does have it's problems, but is one of the least racist (and offers many more opportunities to people that start with nothing) countries in the world to China, one of the most corrupt and authoritarian. In China, for example, you need to include your head shot on your resume and I've known people that were told the were too fat to work at a company. If people actually cared, they would look at the gross human rights abuses by the Chinese government. You just don't see things like this: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/china-and-tibet https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/china... In the US.

49531 8y ago
You don't see reports like that about the US because of US hegemony, and most things that do come up is usually by the UN and isn't taken seriously. I'm not saying china is perfect by any means, but things ain't great in the US either. They just seem normal to us because we're used to it.
- wolco 8y ago
  Only someone who has never lived elsewhere would say that.
- refurb 8y ago
  What? The media thrives off of "the US is crap", especially international media. There is no lack of negativity about the US.
- jimrhods23 8y ago
  "You don't see reports like that about the US because of US hegemony" I've see so many negative news reports about the US, that if it were even 1% as bad as you say it is, it would be shoved down our throats. "They just seem normal to us because we're used to it." When you live outside the US, you will quickly see the amount of poverty and corruption that just doesn't exist here. It's why I moved back and have no plan leaving again. Corruption in many countries is normal and accepted. It happens in the US, but it's certainly not accepted. Have you seen what the EU is doing lately in terms of the freedom of speech on the Internet? China has already cracked down considerably and many other countries are using the same technology to suppress free speech and the EU is in the process of passing laws that do the same. "I'm not saying china is perfect by any means," 'not perfect' is an understatement. In terms of freedom, China is a horrible place to live. If you have money, it's great. You can buy yourself out of anything...including prison time.
MandieD 8y ago
To be fair, employers in Germany expect headshots with your resume, as well as your date and place of birth and family status (married, kids...) Job-hunting as a married, but childless 30-year-old woman was super fun. That said, I love living and working in Germany. Somewhat higher taxes, somewhat lower salaries, far more time to enjoy life (5-6 weeks vacation! Legal limit of 48 working hours in a given week! My boss gets in trouble if I forget myself and work over 10 hours in a day more than a few times per year!)
ubercow13 8y ago
What's having to include a headshot on your resume got to do with corruption and authoritarianism? China isn't the only country where that is normal.

wolco 8y ago

From Finland? Why bother when you have such a high quality of living.

refurb 8y ago
Apparently not when it comes to money and opportunity!
- koala_man 8y ago
  I mean, it's true. (Norway, though) The Nordic countries are probably the best places in the world to be average or below, but I'm willing to claim that the US is better for the top 10%.
  - adventured 8y ago
    You could safely draw that line at the top 25%, in terms of the US being competitive. If you look at income, wealth, employment, education, healthcare, life expectancy, infant mortality, there's a very large difference in the US between the 25% line and the median. If you don't think you can get into that top 25% bracket in the US, pick another country if you can like Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, etc. 40%-45% of the world's millionaires reside in that top 25%. Full-time employment will get you $80,000+ at the 25% bracket cut-off. Healthcare is broadly high quality and easily accessible for the top 25%. Economic opportunities are abundant and unemployment is always very low outside of deep recessions. You can also hit that $80,000 income line in dozens of cities, depending on profession (much easier in tech, energy, healthcare, banking/finance). Household net wealth skyrockets from about $100,000 at the median to $425k-$450k at the 25% line (and to $1.2 million at the 10% line). Just consider software developers in the US. 1.25 million of them with a median income of $103,000 for 2017 (per the BLS). So there's probably ~650,000 software developers in the US earning six figures for 2019. That's more than the rest of the world combined. The biggest downside to being in the US if you're in the top 25%, is that many of our largest cities aren't nearly as livable or safe as those in other developed nations. This also assumes a city to income match, where you're not making $90,000 trying to live well in San Francisco or New York (in which case you're generally going to struggle).

patrickg_zill 8y ago

I take it that you are not a Uyghur Muslim...

dang 8y ago

"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html