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You can also arbitrage different strengths and weaknesses of countries to improve your quality of life. I was born in EU where I got access to all the benefi
by deanmoriarty 7y ago
You can also arbitrage different strengths and weaknesses
of countries to improve your quality of life.
I was born in EU where I got access to all the benefits you're mentioning, such as free health care, free computer engineering BS+MS degree for myself, and social security providing for my aging parents. However, job opportunities as a software engineer there were ridiculously bad, both in terms of quality of work, and compensation (99% of my college mates ended up, and are still, working in mind-numbing boring consultancy shops paying less than an average skilled blue-collar job).
So, as a single, young, healthy and educated person I immigrated to the US, where a massive world of opportunities, not possible in EU, opened up to me. I'm blessed to be earning way more than the EU economy, with all its safety nets, would be able to support. And I'm doing very interesting work.
Once I get tired of this, or if a major health catastrophe happens, I will go back to EU with significant
7 figures savings, and keep enjoying the EU benefits.
All I'm saying is: I have lived in EU for 23 years and in the US for 10, and the opportunities for personal growth that the US provides are simply unseen anywhere else, so don't automatically discount the US system as bad, romanticizing the lifestyle abroad. Every individual has their own dreams and expectations for their lives, so to each their own.
- marnett 7y agoFrom an Individualistic perspective, as you loosely outlined, the US is unparalleled. However, from a collectivist perspective, which we are discussing in this thread, the US is empirically and emphatically bad.
- john_moscow 7y agoKinda similar thing here. But ironically, this is eroding the country away. Once you get a considerable amount of job seekers that got free education elsewhere and can retreat back for major healthcare issues, the inflation-adjusted salary levels drop to a point where you can't afford those things off your regular paycheck. So North America is becoming a rather weird place that attracts the brightest people from all over the world only to offer them the conditions where they will likely not afford having a family and will not pass their knowledge and traits to the next generation.
- sysbin 7y agoDo you ever question your moral integrity? You’re in the US taking advantage of a society that doesn’t have good social systems and which is why the wage in the US is high for skilled work. Then whenever you get sick you’ll return to a society with good social support but at the cost of lowering high wages. Seems you’re taking advantage of everything with ignorance and or desire. Whatever the case may be, I’m curious to your thoughts on this and I assume you’ve thought of it before.
- chroma 7y agoHate the game, not the player. If it becomes a big enough problem, then EU countries could change their laws to make government-funded medical care conditional on paying certain amounts of taxes in-country.
- sysbin 7y ago> Hate the game, not the player. I agree with this, I'm not sure why I'm being downvoted for asking though because I think anyone would be curious to read personal testimony of their own situation. I would question myself if taking advantage of being in a country that strips social programs for keeping wages high for skilled employees. It's not like paying taxes negates that reality.
- deanmoriarty 7y agoI would encourage you to read the comment at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20346775 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20346775 and answer that.
- sysbin 7y agoDone, also thanks for writing your views. It's nice to read reasoning and more so from tech people because it's somewhat relatable being the same field as myself.
- luckylion 7y ago
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]