What is the point of living in the US?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because no country is perfect or ideal. The US has many flaws. So do many European countries worshipped by self hating Americans.

This. Nobody in this thread is brainwashed. But try moving out of your little bubble to see that there are flaws everywhere. I live in the West Village of NYC. My neighborhood is beautiful, walkable, friendly, has some of the best restaurants in the world, and my kids go to amazing schools. New York City and the US also have a lot of problems like crime, gun violence, republicans, etc.

I also lived in London for 10 years. It had its share of beautiful qualities and a great quality of life and also its share of hardships and imperfections. I wouldn't move if someone offered me a flat in London just as I wouldn't expect someone who established a life in London to move in next door to me.

How much do you earn and how big/expensive is your apartment/house?

We earn a lot. More than we would elsewhere. Our apartment is 2,600 square feet.

So you basically have no clue what it's like to live in the US.

Last I checked NYC was an American city…the US is the best place in the world to earn lots of money and be at the top of your field.

I doubt it, but even so, very few people make tons of money and/or are at the top of their fields. So whatever advantages the US provides in that respect does not apply to 99.9%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because no country is perfect or ideal. The US has many flaws. So do many European countries worshipped by self hating Americans.

This. Nobody in this thread is brainwashed. But try moving out of your little bubble to see that there are flaws everywhere. I live in the West Village of NYC. My neighborhood is beautiful, walkable, friendly, has some of the best restaurants in the world, and my kids go to amazing schools. New York City and the US also have a lot of problems like crime, gun violence, republicans, etc.

I also lived in London for 10 years. It had its share of beautiful qualities and a great quality of life and also its share of hardships and imperfections. I wouldn't move if someone offered me a flat in London just as I wouldn't expect someone who established a life in London to move in next door to me.

How much do you earn and how big/expensive is your apartment/house?

We earn a lot. More than we would elsewhere. Our apartment is 2,600 square feet.

So you basically have no clue what it's like to live in the US.

Last I checked NYC was an American city…the US is the best place in the world to earn lots of money and be at the top of your field.

I doubt it, but even so, very few people make tons of money and/or are at the top of their fields. So whatever advantages the US provides in that respect does not apply to 99.9%.

So tell us, what county is better for a top person in their field to earn a lot of money? Hardship assignments don’t count.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because no country is perfect or ideal. The US has many flaws. So do many European countries worshipped by self hating Americans.

This. Nobody in this thread is brainwashed. But try moving out of your little bubble to see that there are flaws everywhere. I live in the West Village of NYC. My neighborhood is beautiful, walkable, friendly, has some of the best restaurants in the world, and my kids go to amazing schools. New York City and the US also have a lot of problems like crime, gun violence, republicans, etc.

I also lived in London for 10 years. It had its share of beautiful qualities and a great quality of life and also its share of hardships and imperfections. I wouldn't move if someone offered me a flat in London just as I wouldn't expect someone who established a life in London to move in next door to me.

How much do you earn and how big/expensive is your apartment/house?

We earn a lot. More than we would elsewhere. Our apartment is 2,600 square feet.

So you basically have no clue what it's like to live in the US.

Last I checked NYC was an American city…the US is the best place in the world to earn lots of money and be at the top of your field.

I doubt it, but even so, very few people make tons of money and/or are at the top of their fields. So whatever advantages the US provides in that respect does not apply to 99.9%.

So tell us, what county is better for a top person in their field to earn a lot of money? Hardship assignments don’t count.

Who cares? I don't want to have to earn loads of money just to keep my kids upwardly mobile.

[Anonymous]

Saying "the U.S." as if every part of the country is the same as every other part is patently preposterous. Yes, the official language is the same, and so is the currency, but in virtually every other respect the 3.5+M square miles and 331M people in the country encompass a huge variety in every social, professional, geographic, and economic dimension. However, if it all looks the same to you, and you don't like anything you see, by all means find another country where you'll more easily achieve your particular and apparently peculiar ambitions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because no country is perfect or ideal. The US has many flaws. So do many European countries worshipped by self hating Americans.

This. Nobody in this thread is brainwashed. But try moving out of your little bubble to see that there are flaws everywhere. I live in the West Village of NYC. My neighborhood is beautiful, walkable, friendly, has some of the best restaurants in the world, and my kids go to amazing schools. New York City and the US also have a lot of problems like crime, gun violence, republicans, etc.

I also lived in London for 10 years. It had its share of beautiful qualities and a great quality of life and also its share of hardships and imperfections. I wouldn't move if someone offered me a flat in London just as I wouldn't expect someone who established a life in London to move in next door to me.

How much do you earn and how big/expensive is your apartment/house?

We earn a lot. More than we would elsewhere. Our apartment is 2,600 square feet.

So you basically have no clue what it's like to live in the US.

Last I checked NYC was an American city…the US is the best place in the world to earn lots of money and be at the top of your field.

I doubt it, but even so, very few people make tons of money and/or are at the top of their fields. So whatever advantages the US provides in that respect does not apply to 99.9%.

So tell us, what county is better for a top person in their field to earn a lot of money? Hardship assignments don’t count.

Who cares? I don't want to have to earn loads of money just to keep my kids upwardly mobile.

Ok let me rephrase. What country grants better upward mobility to kids of people who don’t earn loads of money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saying "the U.S." as if every part of the country is the same as every other part is patently preposterous. Yes, the official language is the same, and so is the currency, but in virtually every other respect the 3.5+M square miles and 331M people in the country encompass a huge variety in every social, professional, geographic, and economic dimension. However, if it all looks the same to you, and you don't like anything you see, by all means find another country where you'll more easily achieve your particular and apparently peculiar ambitions.

Please. All major metros face very similar issues - traffic, schools, crime and soaring real estate prices. And that's on top of college and healthcare costs across the country. I am sure there are various pockets where the tradeoffs are less brutal but no family with kids and jobs can just be jumping around 50 states for a slightly shorter commute or better schools.

[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+.

You mean unlike Geneva, London or Paris? Do tell.

[Anonymous]

The housing stock sucks let’s be real, but the realtors suck far far worse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a poor American, I've always been poor, my combined HHI was never more than about 80K. I'm very happily retired now and living on about 30K plus a small side gig.

My H and I researched where the best schools were in NoVa, then we rented a house there. Eventually we were able to buy a house in that community, it was a small house but we only have two kids. After awhile we traded up to a larger house but not any kind of mcmansion by any definition.

It's a great and very walkable community with great people, great parks, events, services, etc.

So, we managed all you said you couldn't pull off on a low salary just by wanting it bad enough and finding a way. Not sure what the problem is.

If I had a whole bunch of money I'd try living in Australia for awhile but I do know I'd come back here eventually. Love the USA.

What decade did you do these things?

This sounds hard to accomplish in the last 20 years …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so funny. We Americans truly are brainwashed into thinking that our country is soooo special. I think PP had a legitimate question.

There is the United States and the “rest of the world”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because no country is perfect or ideal. The US has many flaws. So do many European countries worshipped by self hating Americans.

This. Nobody in this thread is brainwashed. But try moving out of your little bubble to see that there are flaws everywhere. I live in the West Village of NYC. My neighborhood is beautiful, walkable, friendly, has some of the best restaurants in the world, and my kids go to amazing schools. New York City and the US also have a lot of problems like crime, gun violence, republicans, etc.

I also lived in London for 10 years. It had its share of beautiful qualities and a great quality of life and also its share of hardships and imperfections. I wouldn't move if someone offered me a flat in London just as I wouldn't expect someone who established a life in London to move in next door to me.

How much do you earn and how big/expensive is your apartment/house?

We earn a lot. More than we would elsewhere. Our apartment is 2,600 square feet.

So you basically have no clue what it's like to live in the US.

True... we absolutely live in a bubble. But that wasn't the question. I live in the US because I love the city I live in and I love the life I have here. That's the point of living in America when I have the option of living elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a poor American, I've always been poor, my combined HHI was never more than about 80K. I'm very happily retired now and living on about 30K plus a small side gig.

My H and I researched where the best schools were in NoVa, then we rented a house there. Eventually we were able to buy a house in that community, it was a small house but we only have two kids. After awhile we traded up to a larger house but not any kind of mcmansion by any definition.

It's a great and very walkable community with great people, great parks, events, services, etc.

So, we managed all you said you couldn't pull off on a low salary just by wanting it bad enough and finding a way. Not sure what the problem is.

If I had a whole bunch of money I'd try living in Australia for awhile but I do know I'd come back here eventually. Love the USA.

Congrats! Did you also get your college degree for $10,000?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, you immigrated here. Do you often do "pointless" things?

I immigrated when I was 22 years old. It's not like I was thinking about real estate, kids, schools, etc. If I knew what I know now, I would never come here.

If you did not give up your citizenship, you can return to the country from which you immigrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Parisian here. My Bethesda property is much cheaper per sq ft than my parents' apartment in Paris.

So... depends where you come from.

Me again. I came to the US for grad school, at 20. I love it here, specifically the parts of the US that are cosmopolitan and more left-wing
Since I've lived in many different countries, I KNOW that there is no perfect place. Summers here are way too humid with mosquitoes, for example. There are too many guns, healthcare is too expensive. But then my parents just had a massive heatwave in Paris, without A/C, because Paris didn't use to need A/C in the summer... so the places I used to love have not stayed the same either. And France has more right-wing voters than ever, just like here.

You have to find a "good enough" place, OP. I hope you find it!

Interesting. I find the right wing country parts of the USA to be much more interesting and welcoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Parisian here. My Bethesda property is much cheaper per sq ft than my parents' apartment in Paris.

So... depends where you come from.

Me again. I came to the US for grad school, at 20. I love it here, specifically the parts of the US that are cosmopolitan and more left-wing
Since I've lived in many different countries, I KNOW that there is no perfect place. Summers here are way too humid with mosquitoes, for example. There are too many guns, healthcare is too expensive. But then my parents just had a massive heatwave in Paris, without A/C, because Paris didn't use to need A/C in the summer... so the places I used to love have not stayed the same either. And France has more right-wing voters than ever, just like here.

You have to find a "good enough" place, OP. I hope you find it!

Interesting. I find the right wing country parts of the USA to be much more interesting and welcoming.

Just out of curiosity, are you American-born? I didn’t find the conservative parts of the US welcoming at all. Not while dating a Christian boy from a small midwestern town while in college, and not while traveling to the Bible Belt for work. Probably because I am an Eastern European Jew with a foreign sounding name and an accent.