traveling open your eyes to how terrible the US is in many ways?

[Anonymous]

They may look shiny and well run but don’t open your mouth about the government or they shoot you in front of an open grave and you’ll disappear forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was recently in Japan and felt the same way.

Japan is amazing as a white expat. Clean, safe, pretty, amazing food, nice people. But socially it's still basically 1960 there and has been for decades. Still very patriarchal, women are expected to serve and clean and stay home when they have kids. Lots of discrimination against non-white expats, including Southeast Asian workers. Extremely conformist society. You may be technically free to say a lot of things but you will be ostracized if you do.

I lived there for years and loved it but knew I'd never do it permanently.

[Anonymous]

No it’s the opposite.

Americans have a unique sense of optimism and ambition that is rarely seen in other countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No it’s the opposite.

Americans have a unique sense of optimism and ambition that is rarely seen in other countries.

those days are over. we're on the back end of this republic.

[Anonymous]

I think you are missing a few things:

1. Both Taiwan and Thailand have a cohesive society in terms of race and culture.

2. Dramatic socioeconomic inequality in both countries mean the nice stuff tourists enjoy (great food, transportation, cheap healthcare, etc) are out of reach for many/most of the locals.

3. And the sex trafficking and child prostitution in Thailand that drives a significant part of its tourism is astounding. The fact that locals couldn’t care less speaks volumes. The abject poverty there isn’t in your face at your fancy hotel in the expensive (to them) areas tourists see.

You didn’t see the real Taiwan or Thailand.

Having said that, yes, our standard of living in the US has changed. We are more populated and far more diverse, and that diversity comes with some very real negative impacts on our social safety net, hospitals, schools, etc. But some of our issues were created by policy decisions made decades ago. As much as globalization helped us, it also negatively impacted our job market. It’s not a coincidence that economic inequality is growing in the US while other countries are making good strides: we’ve sent union jobs, manufacturing, and other blue collar industries abroad. Sigh.

And we’ve basically poisoned our food with toxins. On the upside, nobody is starving in the US. Trade offs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Recently went to Taiwan, where they rank higher on the freedom index than even the US. It's amazing how things function when everyone obeys the law and it is clean everywhere. Never worried about crimes and guns anywhere. Public transport? Amazing. Regional railways that took over one hour long cost a grand total of about $2.80 FOR TWO TICKETS. Amazing when infrastructure is not built around cars and catering to car culture. Food, much higher quality. Next stop was in Thailand, where one in our party got sick. Went to the hospital and was seen immediately. Got checked out by the attending physician, took a stool sample to determine if there was an infection, and had the results in less than one hour. All of this without using insurance cost a grand whopping total of $83. Imagine how terrible it'd be in the US. Probably at least over $2000 for the same treatment and it'd take triple the amount of time. Even Thailand is so much safer with respect to gun violence and crime. Traveling really opens your eyes to how terrible the US has gotten. I honestly think we are borderline 2nd world. We aren't really that free, healthcare is unaffordable, zero guaranteed vacations, high cost of living, toxic food, terrible infrastructure, severely obese population, and out of control crime and gun problems.

Look beyond the surface and the main economic issues that dominate Taiwan are the same as those in the U.S. - high cost of living, affordable housing, lack of employment opportunities, lack of quality health care. From someone who has been visiting Taiwan since the 1980s, the comparisons are not always what they seem.

Ok but you are remarkably free of concern about gun crime, which is such a pleasure when traveling to many destinations outside of the United States. We are such idiots to tolerate the level of gun crime that we do in this country. It is our country and we don't have to have it. Gun violence is the number one reason our children die. Shame on us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Recently went to Taiwan, where they rank higher on the freedom index than even the US. It's amazing how things function when everyone obeys the law and it is clean everywhere. Never worried about crimes and guns anywhere. Public transport? Amazing. Regional railways that took over one hour long cost a grand total of about $2.80 FOR TWO TICKETS. Amazing when infrastructure is not built around cars and catering to car culture. Food, much higher quality. Next stop was in Thailand, where one in our party got sick. Went to the hospital and was seen immediately. Got checked out by the attending physician, took a stool sample to determine if there was an infection, and had the results in less than one hour. All of this without using insurance cost a grand whopping total of $83. Imagine how terrible it'd be in the US. Probably at least over $2000 for the same treatment and it'd take triple the amount of time. Even Thailand is so much safer with respect to gun violence and crime. Traveling really opens your eyes to how terrible the US has gotten. I honestly think we are borderline 2nd world. We aren't really that free, healthcare is unaffordable, zero guaranteed vacations, high cost of living, toxic food, terrible infrastructure, severely obese population, and out of control crime and gun problems.

Look beyond the surface and the main economic issues that dominate Taiwan are the same as those in the U.S. - high cost of living, affordable housing, lack of employment opportunities, lack of quality health care. From someone who has been visiting Taiwan since the 1980s, the comparisons are not always what they seem.

Ok but you are remarkably free of concern about gun crime, which is such a pleasure when traveling to many destinations outside of the United States. We are such idiots to tolerate the level of gun crime that we do in this country. It is our country and we don't have to have it. Gun violence is the number one reason our children die. Shame on us.

DP

While I’m frustrated by the gun violence in the US, I suggest you google gun violence in Thailand. Hint: they have a big GV problem.

[Anonymous]

Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you aren’t interested in moving to these places, then there is your answer.

+1, I've been to a lot of countries.

Your high US salaries, privileged status as a tourist, lack of awareness of political and economic vulnerabilities give you an incomplete picture.

I have a US friend who bought a retirement oceanview plot of land in Costa Rica. He's planning to sell the land instead of building on it because of increased charges for expats to get local socialized health insurance and water rights issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

[Anonymous]

Taiwan is under constant threat of attack and has mandatory military service. They tried to reduce the time but had to extend it again because of the increased threats from China.

Thailand also has a conscription process. You are required to either volunteer or enter a draft lottery.

By the way, Thailand is also a monarchy where you cannot speak badly of the royal family or you can be imprisoned for up to 15 years.

[Anonymous]

All countries are better and worse in some things.

I’ve always heard how Americans are so dumb and don’t know geography but we seem to do okay economically. With 340 million of us, some are going to be dumb and not curious and others will become titans. Plenty more will do fine earning their $159-500k and taking trips to Europe.

Guns suck. But we have a country with politicians who are paid by the NRA so the gun situation is going to continue.

[Anonymous]

It was a "cheap" trip for you b/c you're stinking rich compared to Taiwan standards.

I'm also guessing the average household income isn't $125k (like it is in MD).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

What country?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I started noticing back in the 1990s that many US cities were 10x more dangerous than any European city. Hearing how others in South America and Caribbean view the US made me realize how silly we look. How we muck things up with the car-centric culture, the lack of accessible health care and child svd elder care, the expense to educate…and now, increasingly, with the huge increase in guns

New York City in the late 90s was magical - clean and safe - and I found it better run than London and Paris at the time by far. Of course, things have changed. Cities don’t stay stagnant as administrators change.

NYC in the 90s was magical? There were more than a 1000 murders a years for the first half of the decade and even in the latter half annual murder rates were more than today.

This absolutely feels like a visiting at the right time of your life or preferring the rhetoric of tough on crime over actual data.

NYC in the early 2000s was pretty magical (aside from 9/11 …). I lived there from 2000-2006 as a young woman and it was so safe I never thought twice about going anywhere late at night. It’s when neighborhoods like Williamsburg were getting popular but before they got completely gentrified and were instead authentically cool. Some of the developments since then were visionary and make the city still a world class city ( pedestrianized areas, high line, west side bike lanes) but the crime and impact of covid are still very real. Apparently Manhattan is now cheaper than Brooklyn!