3 ms·

The US is a big place and it really depends on the regions that you lived in. Much like you can't judge all of China based on Beijing or Shanghai. For example,

by pyre 12y ago

The US is a big place and it really depends on the regions that you lived in. Much like you can't judge all of China based on Beijing or Shanghai. For example, there are regions in China that are predominantly Muslim. That said, it also depends on what you view as downsides to living in a place. For example, South Korean isn't considered backwards by any means, but you do have mandatory military service, which the US does not have (to the point that even a Korean born & raised in another country might be forced into service when going back to Korea to visit relatives).

madaxe_again 12y ago
In the US, I lived in (in descending order of time spent there) Illinois, Chicago and rural. Virginia, several locations. New Jersey. New York. LA, Norcal. Ohio New Mexico Which I'll grant isn't "everywhere", but is a decent sample of East, West, Midwest, and various shades such as "mountain man" and "rust belt" between. Fully aware, I've been to Xi'an and parts of China most folks don't even know exist - driving across large swathes of the planet is one of my favourite hobbies. Driving west to east across Russia is great, as you barely notice the change as you go, as it's HUGE, but you couldn't mistake, say, Ulan Ude for Novosibirsk in a million years. Conscription is a potential downside, yes, but I look more at things like "do the people seem fundamentally happy, or neurotic and really messed up?". In the US and Russia, the latter applies. In the US, they all take prescription meds. In Russia, they drink until they don't care any more. Not symptoms of healthy, happy societies. I don't know where I actually would say is "better" - most of the places I've been to where I've gone "this is nice" have been devoid of humans. We have a knack for turning things to shit.

3 ms·

The US is a big place and it really depends on the regions that you lived in. Much like you can't judge all of China based on Beijing or Shanghai. For example,

by pyre 12y ago

madaxe_again 12y ago
In the US, I lived in (in descending order of time spent there) Illinois, Chicago and rural. Virginia, several locations. New Jersey. New York. LA, Norcal. Ohio New Mexico Which I'll grant isn't "everywhere", but is a decent sample of East, West, Midwest, and various shades such as "mountain man" and "rust belt" between. Fully aware, I've been to Xi'an and parts of China most folks don't even know exist - driving across large swathes of the planet is one of my favourite hobbies. Driving west to east across Russia is great, as you barely notice the change as you go, as it's HUGE, but you couldn't mistake, say, Ulan Ude for Novosibirsk in a million years. Conscription is a potential downside, yes, but I look more at things like "do the people seem fundamentally happy, or neurotic and really messed up?". In the US and Russia, the latter applies. In the US, they all take prescription meds. In Russia, they drink until they don't care any more. Not symptoms of healthy, happy societies. I don't know where I actually would say is "better" - most of the places I've been to where I've gone "this is nice" have been devoid of humans. We have a knack for turning things to shit.