4 ms·

My sister in law is from Spain, had a guaranteed government job at a state run hospital (or some affiliated org) for life, and could retire in her 50s. She chos

My sister in law is from Spain, had a guaranteed government job at a state run hospital (or some affiliated org) for life, and could retire in her 50s. She chose to bail and come to the US. She hated her boss (who could never be fired), the work was boring, the take home pay was awful, and she lived in a village where she grew up in a tiny apartment. Sure she had enough to eat and wasn’t going to be homeless. But she decided that life really wasn’t very exciting and she had no opportunity for growth whatsoever, just waiting for her boss to retire so she could take over her similarly boring job. But hey she could take double the vacation that an average US employee gets!

badpun 3y ago
The stats look much better if you compare the number of hours worked. When accounting for that, US is at the level of Scandinavian countries. Obviously, Spain is still seriously lagging.
- monero-xmr 3y ago
  OK, well how about we compare New England to Europe? Or just Connecticut and Massachusetts? If you start cutting out this and that country from the EU then you need to cut out Mississippi and Idaho from the US. People always compare the US holistically but conveniently pick and choose which part of the Eurozone they want when it benefits their argument.
  - badpun 3y ago
    Finland and Sweden and Denmark are countries though, just like US or say Mexico.
    - monero-xmr 3y ago
      So we should not make any comparison to the US and the EU? Massachusetts has a larger population than Norway.
  - fvdessen 3y ago
    Materially, the USA is better off, that’s for sure, but in the west we’re well past the point where being better materially means having a better quality of life.
genocidicbunny 3y ago
> But she decided that life really wasn’t very exciting and she had no opportunity for growth whatsoever Dirty little secret in the US is that for very many people, there's no opportunity for growth whatsoever either. It's a relatively small section of society that even gets access to that opportunity. A lot of people in the US would trade their 'exciting' life of working 80+ hours a day to barely be able to pay the bills for the boring job your sister left. > But hey she could take double the vacation that an average US employee gets! Uh, if she could take vacation _at all_ she was already head and shoulders above a huge chunk of the workforce in the US.
- qeternity 3y ago
  Ah yes, spoken like someone who has never lived outside the US. I’m American but I’ve been an expat most of my adult life. I love the rest of the world. But Americans simply do not realize how good they have it.
  - genocidicbunny 3y ago
    > Ah yes, spoken like someone who has never lived outside the US. Remember assumptions make an ass out of you and I. I've lived a big chunk of my life outside the US. I have plenty of experience with life outside the US. I also have plenty of experience with life in the US, including that outside the wealthy insula of the major cities.
  - RoyalHenOil 3y ago
    As an American who immigrated to Australia, but still travels back home a lot to visit friends and family, this is not my take at all. Moving overseas revealed to me how much lower income Americans are getting a raw deal. Yes, it could be a lot worse, but it could also be a lot better (especially considering that the US could handily afford it). I don't think Australia is the nicest country to live in by any means, but it's far better to be middle class or lower class here than in the US.

badpun 3y ago

The stats look much better if you compare the number of hours worked. When accounting for that, US is at the level of Scandinavian countries. Obviously, Spain is still seriously lagging.

monero-xmr 3y ago
OK, well how about we compare New England to Europe? Or just Connecticut and Massachusetts? If you start cutting out this and that country from the EU then you need to cut out Mississippi and Idaho from the US. People always compare the US holistically but conveniently pick and choose which part of the Eurozone they want when it benefits their argument.
- badpun 3y ago
  Finland and Sweden and Denmark are countries though, just like US or say Mexico.
  - monero-xmr 3y ago
    So we should not make any comparison to the US and the EU? Massachusetts has a larger population than Norway.
- fvdessen 3y ago
  Materially, the USA is better off, that’s for sure, but in the west we’re well past the point where being better materially means having a better quality of life.

genocidicbunny 3y ago

> But she decided that life really wasn’t very exciting and she had no opportunity for growth whatsoever Dirty little secret in the US is that for very many people, there's no opportunity for growth whatsoever either. It's a relatively small section of society that even gets access to that opportunity. A lot of people in the US would trade their 'exciting' life of working 80+ hours a day to barely be able to pay the bills for the boring job your sister left. > But hey she could take double the vacation that an average US employee gets! Uh, if she could take vacation _at all_ she was already head and shoulders above a huge chunk of the workforce in the US.

qeternity 3y ago
Ah yes, spoken like someone who has never lived outside the US. I’m American but I’ve been an expat most of my adult life. I love the rest of the world. But Americans simply do not realize how good they have it.
- genocidicbunny 3y ago
  > Ah yes, spoken like someone who has never lived outside the US. Remember assumptions make an ass out of you and I. I've lived a big chunk of my life outside the US. I have plenty of experience with life outside the US. I also have plenty of experience with life in the US, including that outside the wealthy insula of the major cities.
- RoyalHenOil 3y ago
  As an American who immigrated to Australia, but still travels back home a lot to visit friends and family, this is not my take at all. Moving overseas revealed to me how much lower income Americans are getting a raw deal. Yes, it could be a lot worse, but it could also be a lot better (especially considering that the US could handily afford it). I don't think Australia is the nicest country to live in by any means, but it's far better to be middle class or lower class here than in the US.