It gets harder and harder to return to the U.S. after every trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you have to come back to horribly inferior food quality, obscene prices for everything and sooooooo much crime. It’s amazing when you can travel to a major city in the world and see ZERO gun deaths for literally days and weeks on end. There’s better public infrastructure that embarrasses the U.S., things are a lot more walkable, healthcare is way more afford, and things just work. Man, it gets harder and harder to return after every trip abroad. The only thing worth retuning for are the salaries and that’s about it.

I agree with you on healthcare, college, infrastructure and gun safety…the prices doesn’t really make sense. Maybe Thailand, Malaysia are what you are referring? I guess prices are low and while it’s not national healthcare…out of pocket and insurance is very low.

Europe, clearly you pay through the nose for gas, groceries, booze, etc…but that does fund the other social benefits.

Even in Japan, dining out is cheap for the Japanese earning Japanese yen. We literally stayed at our friend’s house there and talked about it. Yes, sure, you can spend a lot on elite dining in Tokyo, but there are soooooooooo many cheap to middle level options fir dining that are out of this world and way more affordable even by Japanese standards. And no tipping. The food quality at the grocery stores in all of those countries is superior, which is inexcusable given that the U.S. has vastly more room to grow food than an island nation like Japan. The quality of fruits in Thailand blows anything out of the water in the U.S., and you can buy like 2 kg of oranges for about $3, which is cheap even by Thai standards.


We also needed an ER visit in Thailand for a broken wrist. The wait time was less than 30 minutes. X-rays, cast, medication and a follow up visit: grand total of $314. And that was completely out of pocket with zero insurance. So, soooooo much better than getting bankrupted for HC in the US even when you have insurance.

Yes, but you are mixing and matching. I get that Thailand is cheap, but the infrastructure is not the same as SK, Japan or Singapore.

I have no idea on out of pocket healthcare in SK or Japan or Singapore. Is it cheap?

You have to admit though that people are fundamentally unhappy about something in the Asian systems when it comes to children. Birthrates are nonexistent and women are always complaining about the inequality they face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound like a candidate for surrendering your citizenship.

+1 immediately

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you have to come back to horribly inferior food quality, obscene prices for everything and sooooooo much crime. It’s amazing when you can travel to a major city in the world and see ZERO gun deaths for literally days and weeks on end. There’s better public infrastructure that embarrasses the U.S., things are a lot more walkable, healthcare is way more afford, and things just work. Man, it gets harder and harder to return after every trip abroad. The only thing worth retuning for are the salaries and that’s about it.

OP, i could have written this post after our winter break trip to northern europe. even my teens commented on these things after returning. not sure of the future here, TBH. many, many countries have way surpassed the US in terms of quality of life and infrastructure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What country was so magical that it prompted you to post? Truly curious.

Japan. South Korea. Thailand. Singapore.

Zero tipping. Cheap healthcare. Zero gun deaths on the news in Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. Amazing quality food in all of them. Public infrastructure that’s about 80 years more advanced than the U.S. in SK, Singapore, and Japan.

Those countries have high trust societies. We don’t have that in the US. We used to, but we don’t anymore.

I like South Korea and Japanese expectations of social order and decorum. I was riding the Seoul Subway once and there was a group of young GIs being extremely loud, using foul language, loudly playing rap music, and even sitting in the seats reserved for pregnant, elderly, and disabled passengers (a huge no no in Korea). A middle aged Korean woman started to berate the group on their lack of manners and disruptive behavior (I speak Korean fluently). One of the females in the group cursed at her, tried to push her, and then spit on her. A number of other passengers then got the Korean women away from the danger. At Samgakji Station, Seoul police boarded the car and dragged out the GIs.
Imagine that happening on the DC Metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What country was so magical that it prompted you to post? Truly curious.

Japan. South Korea. Thailand. Singapore.

Zero tipping. Cheap healthcare. Zero gun deaths on the news in Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. Amazing quality food in all of them. Public infrastructure that’s about 80 years more advanced than the U.S. in SK, Singapore, and Japan.

Those countries have high trust societies. We don’t have that in the US. We used to, but we don’t anymore.

Is it trust or conformity/homogeneity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you have to come back to horribly inferior food quality, obscene prices for everything and sooooooo much crime. It’s amazing when you can travel to a major city in the world and see ZERO gun deaths for literally days and weeks on end. There’s better public infrastructure that embarrasses the U.S., things are a lot more walkable, healthcare is way more afford, and things just work. Man, it gets harder and harder to return after every trip abroad. The only thing worth retuning for are the salaries and that’s about it.

There's a train, bus, plane and boat that leaves every single day to another country, take one and never come back. No one will miss you

[Anonymous]

It's astounding. We have a much more powerful economy than any of those countries. But the reason we can't have nice things is because of Republicans. They stand in the way of everything. Talk about healthcare or education or infrastructure and they will screech about "socialism" and "we can't afford it" even though the countries that have all those things manage to build it without any of the imagined Maoist-Stalinist garbage the right wing tries to claim, they are able to afford it even though they have less GDP than us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you have to come back to horribly inferior food quality, obscene prices for everything and sooooooo much crime. It’s amazing when you can travel to a major city in the world and see ZERO gun deaths for literally days and weeks on end. There’s better public infrastructure that embarrasses the U.S., things are a lot more walkable, healthcare is way more afford, and things just work. Man, it gets harder and harder to return after every trip abroad. The only thing worth retuning for are the salaries and that’s about it.

There's a train, bus, plane and boat that leaves every single day to another country, take one and never come back. No one will miss you

DP... I'd rather stay here and fix this country - and the only way to do it is to vote out every last regressive puke that you support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What country was so magical that it prompted you to post? Truly curious.

Japan. South Korea. Thailand. Singapore.

Zero tipping. Cheap healthcare. Zero gun deaths on the news in Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. Amazing quality food in all of them. Public infrastructure that’s about 80 years more advanced than the U.S. in SK, Singapore, and Japan.

Is this OP? You have the money to travel to all those places on the same trip, or even on successive trips, and you’re whining about the cost of things?

Doesn't add up, does it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you have to come back to horribly inferior food quality, obscene prices for everything and sooooooo much crime. It’s amazing when you can travel to a major city in the world and see ZERO gun deaths for literally days and weeks on end. There’s better public infrastructure that embarrasses the U.S., things are a lot more walkable, healthcare is way more afford, and things just work. Man, it gets harder and harder to return after every trip abroad. The only thing worth retuning for are the salaries and that’s about it.

We've been suffering through a decline in the quality of leadership running our Federal Government for the past two decades. Leadership does matter. One day we will have a real president again and hopefully with some proper leadership, we'll turn the corner for the better. I still believe in the USA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What country was so magical that it prompted you to post? Truly curious.

Japan. South Korea. Thailand. Singapore.

Zero tipping. Cheap healthcare. Zero gun deaths on the news in Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. Amazing quality food in all of them. Public infrastructure that’s about 80 years more advanced than the U.S. in SK, Singapore, and Japan.

But the culture...

Sure, emigrate if you want to and if you can. But you sound hopelessly naive.

And you sound like an idiot. Hundreds of people shot at a concert in Las Vegas. 6 year olds shot in school. Trillions of dollars spent to blow up goat herders in the Middle East while citizens go bankrupt over healthcare.


Nope, nothing wrong and nothing to criticize here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What country was so magical that it prompted you to post? Truly curious.

Japan. South Korea. Thailand. Singapore.

Zero tipping. Cheap healthcare. Zero gun deaths on the news in Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. Amazing quality food in all of them. Public infrastructure that’s about 80 years more advanced than the U.S. in SK, Singapore, and Japan.

Very interesting

I am not op but I also started a post in “off topic” last week asking why Asian urbanism is so much better than American urbanism

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1178237.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What country was so magical that it prompted you to post? Truly curious.

Japan. South Korea. Thailand. Singapore.

Zero tipping. Cheap healthcare. Zero gun deaths on the news in Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. Amazing quality food in all of them. Public infrastructure that’s about 80 years more advanced than the U.S. in SK, Singapore, and Japan.

Those countries have high trust societies. We don’t have that in the US. We used to, but we don’t anymore.

Indeed.

Even little things you observe over there reveal the truly sick and demented mindset in America. For example, during rush hour in Tokyo, they leave the gates wide open on the entrances and exits for the subway to help speed up the flow of human traffic. And you know what? Virtually no one skips fare or steals rides! Everyone still swipes to pay. Contrast that to the U.S. where the DC metro loses millions because of fare evasion. It’s just sick. Other things are truly remarkable, like how you can see people simply leave their bikes outside of cafes and restaurants in Tokyo completely unlocked because they know no one will steal it. Ha, try that in a city like NY. Kiss your bike goodbye because of our sick, mentally ill society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you have to come back to horribly inferior food quality, obscene prices for everything and sooooooo much crime. It’s amazing when you can travel to a major city in the world and see ZERO gun deaths for literally days and weeks on end. There’s better public infrastructure that embarrasses the U.S., things are a lot more walkable, healthcare is way more afford, and things just work. Man, it gets harder and harder to return after every trip abroad. The only thing worth retuning for are the salaries and that’s about it.

I agree with you on healthcare, college, infrastructure and gun safety…the prices doesn’t really make sense. Maybe Thailand, Malaysia are what you are referring? I guess prices are low and while it’s not national healthcare…out of pocket and insurance is very low.

Europe, clearly you pay through the nose for gas, groceries, booze, etc…but that does fund the other social benefits.

Even in Japan, dining out is cheap for the Japanese earning Japanese yen. We literally stayed at our friend’s house there and talked about it. Yes, sure, you can spend a lot on elite dining in Tokyo, but there are soooooooooo many cheap to middle level options fir dining that are out of this world and way more affordable even by Japanese standards. And no tipping. The food quality at the grocery stores in all of those countries is superior, which is inexcusable given that the U.S. has vastly more room to grow food than an island nation like Japan. The quality of fruits in Thailand blows anything out of the water in the U.S., and you can buy like 2 kg of oranges for about $3, which is cheap even by Thai standards.


We also needed an ER visit in Thailand for a broken wrist. The wait time was less than 30 minutes. X-rays, cast, medication and a follow up visit: grand total of $314. And that was completely out of pocket with zero insurance. So, soooooo much better than getting bankrupted for HC in the US even when you have insurance.

Yes, but you are mixing and matching. I get that Thailand is cheap, but the infrastructure is not the same as SK, Japan or Singapore.

I have no idea on out of pocket healthcare in SK or Japan or Singapore. Is it cheap?

You have to admit though that people are fundamentally unhappy about something in the Asian systems when it comes to children. Birthrates are nonexistent and women are always complaining about the inequality they face.

Big whoop. Their countries aren’t perfect and have work to do on some social issues. I’ll take a few warts vs the US where you risk your 7 year old being shot in to school, where there is terrible infrastructure that’s behind by 50 years, and being bankrupted by healthcare and university education costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you have to come back to horribly inferior food quality, obscene prices for everything and sooooooo much crime. It’s amazing when you can travel to a major city in the world and see ZERO gun deaths for literally days and weeks on end. There’s better public infrastructure that embarrasses the U.S., things are a lot more walkable, healthcare is way more afford, and things just work. Man, it gets harder and harder to return after every trip abroad. The only thing worth retuning for are the salaries and that’s about it.

I agree with you on healthcare, college, infrastructure and gun safety…the prices doesn’t really make sense. Maybe Thailand, Malaysia are what you are referring? I guess prices are low and while it’s not national healthcare…out of pocket and insurance is very low.

Europe, clearly you pay through the nose for gas, groceries, booze, etc…but that does fund the other social benefits.

Even in Japan, dining out is cheap for the Japanese earning Japanese yen. We literally stayed at our friend’s house there and talked about it. Yes, sure, you can spend a lot on elite dining in Tokyo, but there are soooooooooo many cheap to middle level options fir dining that are out of this world and way more affordable even by Japanese standards. And no tipping. The food quality at the grocery stores in all of those countries is superior, which is inexcusable given that the U.S. has vastly more room to grow food than an island nation like Japan. The quality of fruits in Thailand blows anything out of the water in the U.S., and you can buy like 2 kg of oranges for about $3, which is cheap even by Thai standards.


We also needed an ER visit in Thailand for a broken wrist. The wait time was less than 30 minutes. X-rays, cast, medication and a follow up visit: grand total of $314. And that was completely out of pocket with zero insurance. So, soooooo much better than getting bankrupted for HC in the US even when you have insurance.

Yes, but you are mixing and matching. I get that Thailand is cheap, but the infrastructure is not the same as SK, Japan or Singapore.

I have no idea on out of pocket healthcare in SK or Japan or Singapore. Is it cheap?

You have to admit though that people are fundamentally unhappy about something in the Asian systems when it comes to children. Birthrates are nonexistent and women are always complaining about the inequality they face.

The fertility rate gap vanishes if you adjust for bastard rate for the most part

Having kids out of wedlock is very taboo in Asia

American tfr is 1.6/1.7 but if it had Asian levels of illegitimacy, it would crash down to 1.2/1.3 - similar to Japan