What is the point of living in the US?

[Anonymous]

We are moving to Switzerland for work.

I currently get 3 months paternity leave here in the U.S. at my job.

In Switzerland? I get 10 days.

So yeah, while those grass is literally greener in Switzerland, the paid leave sucks.

But I also get 32 vacation days plus 12 national holidays. That's a lot - over 8 weeks paid vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Switzerland for work.

I currently get 3 months paternity leave here in the U.S. at my job.

In Switzerland? I get 10 days.

So yeah, while those grass is literally greener in Switzerland, the paid leave sucks.

But I also get 32 vacation days plus 12 national holidays. That's a lot - over 8 weeks paid vacation.

I lived in Switzerland. Geneva is super expensive and even the homeless needed to carry a minimum cash amount at all times. The mountains are nice and the skiing is great, but the winds off Lac Leman are killers in winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "American Dream" is just a fantasy sold to others abroad and here. The US is really a backwards country

It’s not backwards, it’s just a big country full of flawed humans. But it has successfully branded itself as something exceptional. As there is no common ethnicity or land to tie it together, only the shared love of god and gold. That makes for a pretty shallow culture.

The US actually is/has been exceptional by virtually every important metric. Scientific and economic innovation, economic growth, human rights, international power, to name a few.

You can argue that we've regressed and/or that the rest of the world has caught up, but it's silly to ignore this country's importance and exceptionalism over the last 200 years.

Objectively speaking, the US is meaningfully different from Serbia or Ghana or Paraguay.

This. Most technological advances, new medications and inventions come from the US. In addition, almost every genre of modern music. We also have a robust film industry. There is our patent and legal system that has supported most of our achievements.

I am not convinced by American exceptionalism. So...a group of outsiders come to a physically vast and resource rich land and appropriates basically everything, uses free and low paid labour to take advantage of it and builds a powerful economy at a time when the critical mass of your domestic economy was all-important, builds up wealth that then supports a flourishing of the arts, sciences and learning. I mean, this has happened time and time again throughout history, right? Greece, Egypt, China, Rome, the UK. They all had their time. Even the tiny Netherlands was one of the most powerful countries in Europe back in the 1500s. Isn't the only difference that the US has happened in recent history? I'm not sure the US has regressed or whether the pattern that you see throughout history has just been repeated, ie none of these exceptional places stays exceptional forever.

You're posting like the Belgians stayed in the Belgian Congo, and didn't just exploit the natural resources.

I wasn’t posting a criticism. I was just saying, if you look at the big picture, there have been many ‘exceptional’ countries or civilisations throughout history which therefore means none of them was actually exceptional. That doesn’t make the US a better or a worse place to live in. But this myth of exceptionalism seems to really blinker some people to other viewpoints.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "American Dream" is just a fantasy sold to others abroad and here. The US is really a backwards country

It’s not backwards, it’s just a big country full of flawed humans. But it has successfully branded itself as something exceptional. As there is no common ethnicity or land to tie it together, only the shared love of god and gold. That makes for a pretty shallow culture.

The US actually is/has been exceptional by virtually every important metric. Scientific and economic innovation, economic growth, human rights, international power, to name a few.

You can argue that we've regressed and/or that the rest of the world has caught up, but it's silly to ignore this country's importance and exceptionalism over the last 200 years.

Objectively speaking, the US is meaningfully different from Serbia or Ghana or Paraguay.

This. Most technological advances, new medications and inventions come from the US. In addition, almost every genre of modern music. We also have a robust film industry. There is our patent and legal system that has supported most of our achievements.

I am not convinced by American exceptionalism. So...a group of outsiders come to a physically vast and resource rich land and appropriates basically everything, uses free and low paid labour to take advantage of it and builds a powerful economy at a time when the critical mass of your domestic economy was all-important, builds up wealth that then supports a flourishing of the arts, sciences and learning. I mean, this has happened time and time again throughout history, right? Greece, Egypt, China, Rome, the UK. They all had their time. Even the tiny Netherlands was one of the most powerful countries in Europe back in the 1500s. Isn't the only difference that the US has happened in recent history? I'm not sure the US has regressed or whether the pattern that you see throughout history has just been repeated, ie none of these exceptional places stays exceptional forever.

You're posting like the Belgians stayed in the Belgian Congo, and didn't just exploit the natural resources.

I wasn’t posting a criticism. I was just saying, if you look at the big picture, there have been many ‘exceptional’ countries or civilisations throughout history which therefore means none of them was actually exceptional. That doesn’t make the US a better or a worse place to live in. But this myth of exceptionalism seems to really blinker some people to other viewpoints.

I agree the USA is far from the only country, either now or historically, that has looked at itself as exceptional and that such thinking may invite people to turn a blind eye to its flaws.

Having said that, one of the aspects in which it is unusual, if not exceptional, is the extent to which people feel free to emphasize its flaws and criticize its leaders - and believe with some reason that doing so likely enhances, rather than detracts from, their standing in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "American Dream" is just a fantasy sold to others abroad and here. The US is really a backwards country

It’s not backwards, it’s just a big country full of flawed humans. But it has successfully branded itself as something exceptional. As there is no common ethnicity or land to tie it together, only the shared love of god and gold. That makes for a pretty shallow culture.

The US actually is/has been exceptional by virtually every important metric. Scientific and economic innovation, economic growth, human rights, international power, to name a few.

You can argue that we've regressed and/or that the rest of the world has caught up, but it's silly to ignore this country's importance and exceptionalism over the last 200 years.

Objectively speaking, the US is meaningfully different from Serbia or Ghana or Paraguay.

This. Most technological advances, new medications and inventions come from the US. In addition, almost every genre of modern music. We also have a robust film industry. There is our patent and legal system that has supported most of our achievements.

I am not convinced by American exceptionalism. So...a group of outsiders come to a physically vast and resource rich land and appropriates basically everything, uses free and low paid labour to take advantage of it and builds a powerful economy at a time when the critical mass of your domestic economy was all-important, builds up wealth that then supports a flourishing of the arts, sciences and learning. I mean, this has happened time and time again throughout history, right? Greece, Egypt, China, Rome, the UK. They all had their time. Even the tiny Netherlands was one of the most powerful countries in Europe back in the 1500s. Isn't the only difference that the US has happened in recent history? I'm not sure the US has regressed or whether the pattern that you see throughout history has just been repeated, ie none of these exceptional places stays exceptional forever.

You're posting like the Belgians stayed in the Belgian Congo, and didn't just exploit the natural resources.

I wasn’t posting a criticism. I was just saying, if you look at the big picture, there have been many ‘exceptional’ countries or civilisations throughout history which therefore means none of them was actually exceptional. That doesn’t make the US a better or a worse place to live in. But this myth of exceptionalism seems to really blinker some people to other viewpoints.

I agree the USA is far from the only country, either now or historically, that has looked at itself as exceptional and that such thinking may invite people to turn a blind eye to its flaws.

Having said that, one of the aspects in which it is unusual, if not exceptional, is the extent to which people feel free to emphasize its flaws and criticize its leaders - and believe with some reason that doing so likely enhances, rather than detracts from, their standing in the country.

Do you think so? People in most modern democracies freely criticise their leaders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "American Dream" is just a fantasy sold to others abroad and here. The US is really a backwards country

It’s not backwards, it’s just a big country full of flawed humans. But it has successfully branded itself as something exceptional. As there is no common ethnicity or land to tie it together, only the shared love of god and gold. That makes for a pretty shallow culture.

The US actually is/has been exceptional by virtually every important metric. Scientific and economic innovation, economic growth, human rights, international power, to name a few.

You can argue that we've regressed and/or that the rest of the world has caught up, but it's silly to ignore this country's importance and exceptionalism over the last 200 years.

Objectively speaking, the US is meaningfully different from Serbia or Ghana or Paraguay.

This. Most technological advances, new medications and inventions come from the US. In addition, almost every genre of modern music. We also have a robust film industry. There is our patent and legal system that has supported most of our achievements.

I am not convinced by American exceptionalism. So...a group of outsiders come to a physically vast and resource rich land and appropriates basically everything, uses free and low paid labour to take advantage of it and builds a powerful economy at a time when the critical mass of your domestic economy was all-important, builds up wealth that then supports a flourishing of the arts, sciences and learning. I mean, this has happened time and time again throughout history, right? Greece, Egypt, China, Rome, the UK. They all had their time. Even the tiny Netherlands was one of the most powerful countries in Europe back in the 1500s. Isn't the only difference that the US has happened in recent history? I'm not sure the US has regressed or whether the pattern that you see throughout history has just been repeated, ie none of these exceptional places stays exceptional forever.

You're posting like the Belgians stayed in the Belgian Congo, and didn't just exploit the natural resources.

I wasn’t posting a criticism. I was just saying, if you look at the big picture, there have been many ‘exceptional’ countries or civilisations throughout history which therefore means none of them was actually exceptional. That doesn’t make the US a better or a worse place to live in. But this myth of exceptionalism seems to really blinker some people to other viewpoints.

No other country has been responsible for so many inventions and advancements that improve QOL. The airplane, computer, car, sending people into space, modern medicine, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "American Dream" is just a fantasy sold to others abroad and here. The US is really a backwards country

It’s not backwards, it’s just a big country full of flawed humans. But it has successfully branded itself as something exceptional. As there is no common ethnicity or land to tie it together, only the shared love of god and gold. That makes for a pretty shallow culture.

The US actually is/has been exceptional by virtually every important metric. Scientific and economic innovation, economic growth, human rights, international power, to name a few.

You can argue that we've regressed and/or that the rest of the world has caught up, but it's silly to ignore this country's importance and exceptionalism over the last 200 years.

Objectively speaking, the US is meaningfully different from Serbia or Ghana or Paraguay.

This. Most technological advances, new medications and inventions come from the US. In addition, almost every genre of modern music. We also have a robust film industry. There is our patent and legal system that has supported most of our achievements.

I am not convinced by American exceptionalism. So...a group of outsiders come to a physically vast and resource rich land and appropriates basically everything, uses free and low paid labour to take advantage of it and builds a powerful economy at a time when the critical mass of your domestic economy was all-important, builds up wealth that then supports a flourishing of the arts, sciences and learning. I mean, this has happened time and time again throughout history, right? Greece, Egypt, China, Rome, the UK. They all had their time. Even the tiny Netherlands was one of the most powerful countries in Europe back in the 1500s. Isn't the only difference that the US has happened in recent history? I'm not sure the US has regressed or whether the pattern that you see throughout history has just been repeated, ie none of these exceptional places stays exceptional forever.

You're posting like the Belgians stayed in the Belgian Congo, and didn't just exploit the natural resources.

I wasn’t posting a criticism. I was just saying, if you look at the big picture, there have been many ‘exceptional’ countries or civilisations throughout history which therefore means none of them was actually exceptional. That doesn’t make the US a better or a worse place to live in. But this myth of exceptionalism seems to really blinker some people to other viewpoints.

I agree the USA is far from the only country, either now or historically, that has looked at itself as exceptional and that such thinking may invite people to turn a blind eye to its flaws.

Having said that, one of the aspects in which it is unusual, if not exceptional, is the extent to which people feel free to emphasize its flaws and criticize its leaders - and believe with some reason that doing so likely enhances, rather than detracts from, their standing in the country.

Do you think so? People in most modern democracies freely criticise their leaders.

Not to the extent as we do in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am an immigrant, so the question is highly relevant to me. The real estate is so expensive that it entirely negates the point of earning high salaries. Schools are garbage, crime is rampant, nothing is walkable... once upon a time at least you could get a huge house to compensate for that. Not any more. I am now embarrassed to show tiny old houses with low ceilings and vinyl siding that go for million+.

I'm an immigrant too and though i do exercise my right right to criticize my government and system as i earned it after paying taxes and earning citizenship, it was a great decision to move here. Its not perfect but no country is. I cant move anywhere because my children were born here and love it but even if i had the option of moving back or moving to a third country, i wouldn't. Its home now, thorns and all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am an immigrant, so the question is highly relevant to me. The real estate is so expensive that it entirely negates the point of earning high salaries. Schools are garbage, crime is rampant, nothing is walkable... once upon a time at least you could get a huge house to compensate for that. Not any more. I am now embarrassed to show tiny old houses with low ceilings and vinyl siding that go for million+.

Us immigrants are too concerned of what other thinks, if it works for me, i'll be proud of my hard earned home with vinyl siding and low ceilings. Yes, we should criticize and work to change it but not so we can impress others but to give our kids a better future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "American Dream" is just a fantasy sold to others abroad and here. The US is really a backwards country

It’s not backwards, it’s just a big country full of flawed humans. But it has successfully branded itself as something exceptional. As there is no common ethnicity or land to tie it together, only the shared love of god and gold. That makes for a pretty shallow culture.

The US actually is/has been exceptional by virtually every important metric. Scientific and economic innovation, economic growth, human rights, international power, to name a few.

You can argue that we've regressed and/or that the rest of the world has caught up, but it's silly to ignore this country's importance and exceptionalism over the last 200 years.

Objectively speaking, the US is meaningfully different from Serbia or Ghana or Paraguay.

This. Most technological advances, new medications and inventions come from the US. In addition, almost every genre of modern music. We also have a robust film industry. There is our patent and legal system that has supported most of our achievements.

I am not convinced by American exceptionalism. So...a group of outsiders come to a physically vast and resource rich land and appropriates basically everything, uses free and low paid labour to take advantage of it and builds a powerful economy at a time when the critical mass of your domestic economy was all-important, builds up wealth that then supports a flourishing of the arts, sciences and learning. I mean, this has happened time and time again throughout history, right? Greece, Egypt, China, Rome, the UK. They all had their time. Even the tiny Netherlands was one of the most powerful countries in Europe back in the 1500s. Isn't the only difference that the US has happened in recent history? I'm not sure the US has regressed or whether the pattern that you see throughout history has just been repeated, ie none of these exceptional places stays exceptional forever.

You're posting like the Belgians stayed in the Belgian Congo, and didn't just exploit the natural resources.

I wasn’t posting a criticism. I was just saying, if you look at the big picture, there have been many ‘exceptional’ countries or civilisations throughout history which therefore means none of them was actually exceptional. That doesn’t make the US a better or a worse place to live in. But this myth of exceptionalism seems to really blinker some people to other viewpoints.

No other country has been responsible for so many inventions and advancements that improve QOL. The airplane, computer, car, sending people into space, modern medicine, etc.

Actually, I’d like to thank the Phoenicians for the alphabet, the German Gutenberg for the printing press, and Aussie and Brit pathologists for injectable penicillin. I think you’ll find the first car and the first computer weren’t invented in the US. But does it matter?

[Anonymous]

I came from Japan. It’s a super safe country, excellent social healthcare, good food and nice place to live. However, schools are tough pressure cookers. Your careers are pretty much determined before you enter high school. If you are female, your job prospects are limited and you are pretty much expected to quit your job and be a stay home once you have kids. There is no work-life balance. The US has more opportunities for myself and kids. That’s why we choose to make a life here.

[Anonymous]

This country still has so much untapped potential, only if we and specially our politicians and billionaires can get their act together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Switzerland for work.

I currently get 3 months paternity leave here in the U.S. at my job.

In Switzerland? I get 10 days.

So yeah, while those grass is literally greener in Switzerland, the paid leave sucks.

But I also get 32 vacation days plus 12 national holidays. That's a lot - over 8 weeks paid vacation.

That’s the thing about America, though. Benefits vary widely company to company.

My DH works for a big company with loads of benefits that rival small Scandinavian countries. My sister works for a small proprietor-owned business who nickel and dimes her down to the half-hour and actually asked if her partners company offers health insurance.

I work for a new company that’s still relatively small and they offer slightly better than average for PTO, but below std for health insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "American Dream" is just a fantasy sold to others abroad and here. The US is really a backwards country

It’s not backwards, it’s just a big country full of flawed humans. But it has successfully branded itself as something exceptional. As there is no common ethnicity or land to tie it together, only the shared love of god and gold. That makes for a pretty shallow culture.

The US actually is/has been exceptional by virtually every important metric. Scientific and economic innovation, economic growth, human rights, international power, to name a few.

You can argue that we've regressed and/or that the rest of the world has caught up, but it's silly to ignore this country's importance and exceptionalism over the last 200 years.

Objectively speaking, the US is meaningfully different from Serbia or Ghana or Paraguay.

This. Most technological advances, new medications and inventions come from the US. In addition, almost every genre of modern music. We also have a robust film industry. There is our patent and legal system that has supported most of our achievements.

I am not convinced by American exceptionalism. So...a group of outsiders come to a physically vast and resource rich land and appropriates basically everything, uses free and low paid labour to take advantage of it and builds a powerful economy at a time when the critical mass of your domestic economy was all-important, builds up wealth that then supports a flourishing of the arts, sciences and learning. I mean, this has happened time and time again throughout history, right? Greece, Egypt, China, Rome, the UK. They all had their time. Even the tiny Netherlands was one of the most powerful countries in Europe back in the 1500s. Isn't the only difference that the US has happened in recent history? I'm not sure the US has regressed or whether the pattern that you see throughout history has just been repeated, ie none of these exceptional places stays exceptional forever.

You're posting like the Belgians stayed in the Belgian Congo, and didn't just exploit the natural resources.

I wasn’t posting a criticism. I was just saying, if you look at the big picture, there have been many ‘exceptional’ countries or civilisations throughout history which therefore means none of them was actually exceptional. That doesn’t make the US a better or a worse place to live in. But this myth of exceptionalism seems to really blinker some people to other viewpoints.

I agree the USA is far from the only country, either now or historically, that has looked at itself as exceptional and that such thinking may invite people to turn a blind eye to its flaws.

Having said that, one of the aspects in which it is unusual, if not exceptional, is the extent to which people feel free to emphasize its flaws and criticize its leaders - and believe with some reason that doing so likely enhances, rather than detracts from, their standing in the country.

Do you think so? People in most modern democracies freely criticise their leaders.

Not to the extent as we do in the US.

I’m in the U.K. and there are limits to the free press…in that it protects public figures from outright slander and lies. I believe this to be pretty much true in all of Western Europe. Though Germany and Austria do have some laws against Nazi stuff.

However, I am free to stand on any street corner and yell my thoughts on BoJo and the queen and I’d get the same repercussion (disturbing the peace) no matter my stances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "American Dream" is just a fantasy sold to others abroad and here. The US is really a backwards country

It’s not backwards, it’s just a big country full of flawed humans. But it has successfully branded itself as something exceptional. As there is no common ethnicity or land to tie it together, only the shared love of god and gold. That makes for a pretty shallow culture.

The US actually is/has been exceptional by virtually every important metric. Scientific and economic innovation, economic growth, human rights, international power, to name a few.

You can argue that we've regressed and/or that the rest of the world has caught up, but it's silly to ignore this country's importance and exceptionalism over the last 200 years.

Objectively speaking, the US is meaningfully different from Serbia or Ghana or Paraguay.

This. Most technological advances, new medications and inventions come from the US. In addition, almost every genre of modern music. We also have a robust film industry. There is our patent and legal system that has supported most of our achievements.

I am not convinced by American exceptionalism. So...a group of outsiders come to a physically vast and resource rich land and appropriates basically everything, uses free and low paid labour to take advantage of it and builds a powerful economy at a time when the critical mass of your domestic economy was all-important, builds up wealth that then supports a flourishing of the arts, sciences and learning. I mean, this has happened time and time again throughout history, right? Greece, Egypt, China, Rome, the UK. They all had their time. Even the tiny Netherlands was one of the most powerful countries in Europe back in the 1500s. Isn't the only difference that the US has happened in recent history? I'm not sure the US has regressed or whether the pattern that you see throughout history has just been repeated, ie none of these exceptional places stays exceptional forever.

You're posting like the Belgians stayed in the Belgian Congo, and didn't just exploit the natural resources.

I wasn’t posting a criticism. I was just saying, if you look at the big picture, there have been many ‘exceptional’ countries or civilisations throughout history which therefore means none of them was actually exceptional. That doesn’t make the US a better or a worse place to live in. But this myth of exceptionalism seems to really blinker some people to other viewpoints.

Also, the myth of exceptionalism is not unique to America we just export the concept as a brand.

But get to know any Danish person and you’ll discover they actually believe Denmark to have figured it all out. Add a Swede to the conversation and they’d have a good argument on how Sweden is actually the best of American innovation and Scandinavian socialism.