Us-eu GDP gap and life expectancy gap are widening so rapidly in opposite directions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Europe is poor. So many Americans are woefully unaware of how extremely low salaries are in Europe. Life expectancy is low in the US, but ours is also dragged down because the US deals with a lot more complicated births that'd be terminated in Europe. When kids die below 2 years old, it drags down the mean life expectancy by a lot.

Do you get 6-8 weeks vacation a year? How many of your friends and relatives do?

I currently have 400+ hours of vacation.

Why in the hell would I want 8 weeks vacation? That's why Europeans are poor. Their productivity is trash, they barely invent anything anymore, and life for them is about coasting by with your bare essentials met. Hey, if mediocrity appeals to you, move to Europe.

All of the vacation and time off in Europe is so overrated. The trade off are often salaries that are nearly half of what you'd get paid in the US. I don't want or need 8 weeks off. Pay me more money please, thanks.

You know you can’t take it with you, right? Everyone dies. No one brings their bank account to the afterworld.

This is how bums, non-inventors, and lazy people think. Living in the UK, for example, making $50k salary that you'd easily get paid $100k for in the US sucks. People in Europe constantly scrape by because of extremely low salaries, stagnant exonomies, and incomes thst just never grow. It's almost as if you missed the yellow vest protests in France. Buy hey, at least you got 8 weeks of vacation while you're poor.

Lol.

My European friends might live in somewhat smaller homes than most Americans (1800-2000 sq ft vs 2500) but you know what those lazy bums have that most Americans don’t? High quality building materials and fixtures. Real masonry. Solid walls and doors, not hollow. High end, better efficiency windows, not the crappy kind most American homes are built with. Sturdy, long-lasting door handles and locks that would only be found in high end custom built American home. Their bathrooms and kitchens have only high quality materials, not cheap plastic parts or low grade sinks and countertops. Their homes are built to last and are energy efficient. This is true even of friends who live in condos.

And they still get 6-8 weeks off a year. Plus they never worry about a medical crisis driving them to bankruptcy.

Poor lazy bums!

What good is a high quality building when you have a family of 4 living in a 600 sqft 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment. And driving an 80 hp Renault hatchback.

What good is several thousand square feet of garbage construction and poor quality materials?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Europe is poor. So many Americans are woefully unaware of how extremely low salaries are in Europe. Life expectancy is low in the US, but ours is also dragged down because the US deals with a lot more complicated births that'd be terminated in Europe. When kids die below 2 years old, it drags down the mean life expectancy by a lot.

Do you get 6-8 weeks vacation a year? How many of your friends and relatives do?

I currently have 400+ hours of vacation.

Why in the hell would I want 8 weeks vacation? That's why Europeans are poor. Their productivity is trash, they barely invent anything anymore, and life for them is about coasting by with your bare essentials met. Hey, if mediocrity appeals to you, move to Europe.

All of the vacation and time off in Europe is so overrated. The trade off are often salaries that are nearly half of what you'd get paid in the US. I don't want or need 8 weeks off. Pay me more money please, thanks.

You know you can’t take it with you, right? Everyone dies. No one brings their bank account to the afterworld.

This is how bums, non-inventors, and lazy people think. Living in the UK, for example, making $50k salary that you'd easily get paid $100k for in the US sucks. People in Europe constantly scrape by because of extremely low salaries, stagnant exonomies, and incomes thst just never grow. It's almost as if you missed the yellow vest protests in France. Buy hey, at least you got 8 weeks of vacation while you're poor.

Lol.

My European friends might live in somewhat smaller homes than most Americans (1800-2000 sq ft vs 2500) but you know what those lazy bums have that most Americans don’t? High quality building materials and fixtures. Real masonry. Solid walls and doors, not hollow. High end, better efficiency windows, not the crappy kind most American homes are built with. Sturdy, long-lasting door handles and locks that would only be found in high end custom built American home. Their bathrooms and kitchens have only high quality materials, not cheap plastic parts or low grade sinks and countertops. Their homes are built to last and are energy efficient. This is true even of friends who live in condos.

And they still get 6-8 weeks off a year. Plus they never worry about a medical crisis driving them to bankruptcy.

Poor lazy bums!

This is actually backwards. American houses have excellent insulation and people live through the winter. In Europe, houses lack insulation and people die every winter from cold.

http://globalag.igc.org/health/world/cold.htm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cold-weather-uk-winter-deaths-europe-polar-vortex-a8224276.html

https://jech.bmj.com/content/57/10/784

Some folks in TX died during the freeze last winter. Their houses weren't insulated for the freeze. Several died in their homes due to hypothermia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Europe is poor. So many Americans are woefully unaware of how extremely low salaries are in Europe. Life expectancy is low in the US, but ours is also dragged down because the US deals with a lot more complicated births that'd be terminated in Europe. When kids die below 2 years old, it drags down the mean life expectancy by a lot.

Do you get 6-8 weeks vacation a year? How many of your friends and relatives do?

I currently have 400+ hours of vacation.

Why in the hell would I want 8 weeks vacation? That's why Europeans are poor. Their productivity is trash, they barely invent anything anymore, and life for them is about coasting by with your bare essentials met. Hey, if mediocrity appeals to you, move to Europe.

All of the vacation and time off in Europe is so overrated. The trade off are often salaries that are nearly half of what you'd get paid in the US. I don't want or need 8 weeks off. Pay me more money please, thanks.

You know you can’t take it with you, right? Everyone dies. No one brings their bank account to the afterworld.

This is how bums, non-inventors, and lazy people think. Living in the UK, for example, making $50k salary that you'd easily get paid $100k for in the US sucks. People in Europe constantly scrape by because of extremely low salaries, stagnant exonomies, and incomes thst just never grow. It's almost as if you missed the yellow vest protests in France. Buy hey, at least you got 8 weeks of vacation while you're poor.

Lol.

My European friends might live in somewhat smaller homes than most Americans (1800-2000 sq ft vs 2500) but you know what those lazy bums have that most Americans don’t? High quality building materials and fixtures. Real masonry. Solid walls and doors, not hollow. High end, better efficiency windows, not the crappy kind most American homes are built with. Sturdy, long-lasting door handles and locks that would only be found in high end custom built American home. Their bathrooms and kitchens have only high quality materials, not cheap plastic parts or low grade sinks and countertops. Their homes are built to last and are energy efficient. This is true even of friends who live in condos.

And they still get 6-8 weeks off a year. Plus they never worry about a medical crisis driving them to bankruptcy.

Poor lazy bums!

What good is a high quality building when you have a family of 4 living in a 600 sqft 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment. And driving an 80 hp Renault hatchback.

DP.. I like having a large home, but the happiest countries are those tiny countries where people live in tiny homes. US doesn't even crack the top 10 happiest countries. We may have larger homes (not all of us do, thought), but we seem more miserable.

So what good does a large home do when you are miserable regardless

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Europe is poor. So many Americans are woefully unaware of how extremely low salaries are in Europe. Life expectancy is low in the US, but ours is also dragged down because the US deals with a lot more complicated births that'd be terminated in Europe. When kids die below 2 years old, it drags down the mean life expectancy by a lot.

Do you get 6-8 weeks vacation a year? How many of your friends and relatives do?

I currently have 400+ hours of vacation.

Why in the hell would I want 8 weeks vacation? That's why Europeans are poor. Their productivity is trash, they barely invent anything anymore, and life for them is about coasting by with your bare essentials met. Hey, if mediocrity appeals to you, move to Europe.

All of the vacation and time off in Europe is so overrated. The trade off are often salaries that are nearly half of what you'd get paid in the US. I don't want or need 8 weeks off. Pay me more money please, thanks.

You know you can’t take it with you, right? Everyone dies. No one brings their bank account to the afterworld.

This is how bums, non-inventors, and lazy people think. Living in the UK, for example, making $50k salary that you'd easily get paid $100k for in the US sucks. People in Europe constantly scrape by because of extremely low salaries, stagnant exonomies, and incomes thst just never grow. It's almost as if you missed the yellow vest protests in France. Buy hey, at least you got 8 weeks of vacation while you're poor.

Lol.

My European friends might live in somewhat smaller homes than most Americans (1800-2000 sq ft vs 2500) but you know what those lazy bums have that most Americans don’t? High quality building materials and fixtures. Real masonry. Solid walls and doors, not hollow. High end, better efficiency windows, not the crappy kind most American homes are built with. Sturdy, long-lasting door handles and locks that would only be found in high end custom built American home. Their bathrooms and kitchens have only high quality materials, not cheap plastic parts or low grade sinks and countertops. Their homes are built to last and are energy efficient. This is true even of friends who live in condos.

And they still get 6-8 weeks off a year. Plus they never worry about a medical crisis driving them to bankruptcy.

Poor lazy bums!

This is actually backwards. American houses have excellent insulation and people live through the winter. In Europe, houses lack insulation and people die every winter from cold.

http://globalag.igc.org/health/world/cold.htm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cold-weather-uk-winter-deaths-europe-polar-vortex-a8224276.html

https://jech.bmj.com/content/57/10/784

Some folks in TX died during the freeze last winter. Their houses weren't insulated for the freeze. Several died in their homes due to hypothermia.

Over 1300 people die in cold houses in London yearly. Ireland, Portugal and Spain all have high numbers of cold death in the winter.

They build lousy houses in Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Europe is poor. So many Americans are woefully unaware of how extremely low salaries are in Europe. Life expectancy is low in the US, but ours is also dragged down because the US deals with a lot more complicated births that'd be terminated in Europe. When kids die below 2 years old, it drags down the mean life expectancy by a lot.

Do you get 6-8 weeks vacation a year? How many of your friends and relatives do?

I currently have 400+ hours of vacation.

Why in the hell would I want 8 weeks vacation? That's why Europeans are poor. Their productivity is trash, they barely invent anything anymore, and life for them is about coasting by with your bare essentials met. Hey, if mediocrity appeals to you, move to Europe.

All of the vacation and time off in Europe is so overrated. The trade off are often salaries that are nearly half of what you'd get paid in the US. I don't want or need 8 weeks off. Pay me more money please, thanks.

You know you can’t take it with you, right? Everyone dies. No one brings their bank account to the afterworld.

This is how bums, non-inventors, and lazy people think. Living in the UK, for example, making $50k salary that you'd easily get paid $100k for in the US sucks. People in Europe constantly scrape by because of extremely low salaries, stagnant exonomies, and incomes thst just never grow. It's almost as if you missed the yellow vest protests in France. Buy hey, at least you got 8 weeks of vacation while you're poor.

Lol.

My European friends might live in somewhat smaller homes than most Americans (1800-2000 sq ft vs 2500) but you know what those lazy bums have that most Americans don’t? High quality building materials and fixtures. Real masonry. Solid walls and doors, not hollow. High end, better efficiency windows, not the crappy kind most American homes are built with. Sturdy, long-lasting door handles and locks that would only be found in high end custom built American home. Their bathrooms and kitchens have only high quality materials, not cheap plastic parts or low grade sinks and countertops. Their homes are built to last and are energy efficient. This is true even of friends who live in condos.

And they still get 6-8 weeks off a year. Plus they never worry about a medical crisis driving them to bankruptcy.

Poor lazy bums!

This is actually backwards. American houses have excellent insulation and people live through the winter. In Europe, houses lack insulation and people die every winter from cold.

http://globalag.igc.org/health/world/cold.htm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cold-weather-uk-winter-deaths-europe-polar-vortex-a8224276.html

https://jech.bmj.com/content/57/10/784

Some folks in TX died during the freeze last winter. Their houses weren't insulated for the freeze. Several died in their homes due to hypothermia.

Over 1300 people die in cold houses in London yearly. Ireland, Portugal and Spain all have high numbers of cold death in the winter.

They build lousy houses in Europe.

I guess TX does, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have friends who make 1-3 million a year in biglaw, finance, running various businesses etc but I’m not jealous of any of them .

Meanwhile I know people making 10-20% that amount in France, NL, and Switzerland and they have jealousy inducing lives

I don’t know if all the work and money made by my friends in dc/nyc translate into real QoL gains.

Europe has a lot of problems but there is a huge disconnect in the us

We have winners and losers here in the US, that's for sure. I figure as long as me and mine can stay on the right side of that divide, I'm fine with being in the USA. It's more vibrant and dynamic if you ask me, but it's definitely not fo everyone.

As a slight aside, do you remember the article awhile back about the large number of unemployed women in the Netherlands? And a commission there looked into it because they assumed it was due to discrimination, but they wound up concluding that, nope, huge numbers of women didn't want to work and were perfectly happy not working.

Yep! I remember that. Dutch women are some of the laziest in the developed world. Huge part-time culture.

But they are also taller, thinner, healthier than American women so I don’t think we are the ones #winning

It's a valid point, and thanks for commenting. So why are American women so delusional that they think they have to break through the glass ceiling and have it all, etc.? Maybe it's because we are just Americans and that's the way we are? So really you have to ask ... at the end of your days what will you reflect upon -- your achievements or how you were taller, thinner and healthier? I don't know, it's certainly worth thinking about.

Because in America you are wholly dependent on a man's ability to provide for you if you don't work.

But that's true in the Netherlands too, and the women choose not to work. So why do American women think they have to break thru the glass ceiling and have it all etc. The Dutch women don't believe that obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have friends who make 1-3 million a year in biglaw, finance, running various businesses etc but I’m not jealous of any of them .

Meanwhile I know people making 10-20% that amount in France, NL, and Switzerland and they have jealousy inducing lives

I don’t know if all the work and money made by my friends in dc/nyc translate into real QoL gains.

Europe has a lot of problems but there is a huge disconnect in the us

We have winners and losers here in the US, that's for sure. I figure as long as me and mine can stay on the right side of that divide, I'm fine with being in the USA. It's more vibrant and dynamic if you ask me, but it's definitely not fo everyone.

As a slight aside, do you remember the article awhile back about the large number of unemployed women in the Netherlands? And a commission there looked into it because they assumed it was due to discrimination, but they wound up concluding that, nope, huge numbers of women didn't want to work and were perfectly happy not working.

Yep! I remember that. Dutch women are some of the laziest in the developed world. Huge part-time culture.

But they are also taller, thinner, healthier than American women so I don’t think we are the ones #winning

It's a valid point, and thanks for commenting. So why are American women so delusional that they think they have to break through the glass ceiling and have it all, etc.? Maybe it's because we are just Americans and that's the way we are? So really you have to ask ... at the end of your days what will you reflect upon -- your achievements or how you were taller, thinner and healthier? I don't know, it's certainly worth thinking about.

Because in America you are wholly dependent on a man's ability to provide for you if you don't work.

But that's true in the Netherlands too, and the women choose not to work. So why do American women think they have to break thru the glass ceiling and have it all etc. The Dutch women don't believe that obviously.

They have a robust social safety net for things like healthcare, schooling, school supplies, childcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have friends who make 1-3 million a year in biglaw, finance, running various businesses etc but I’m not jealous of any of them .

Meanwhile I know people making 10-20% that amount in France, NL, and Switzerland and they have jealousy inducing lives

I don’t know if all the work and money made by my friends in dc/nyc translate into real QoL gains.

Europe has a lot of problems but there is a huge disconnect in the us

We have winners and losers here in the US, that's for sure. I figure as long as me and mine can stay on the right side of that divide, I'm fine with being in the USA. It's more vibrant and dynamic if you ask me, but it's definitely not fo everyone.

As a slight aside, do you remember the article awhile back about the large number of unemployed women in the Netherlands? And a commission there looked into it because they assumed it was due to discrimination, but they wound up concluding that, nope, huge numbers of women didn't want to work and were perfectly happy not working.

Yep! I remember that. Dutch women are some of the laziest in the developed world. Huge part-time culture.

But they are also taller, thinner, healthier than American women so I don’t think we are the ones #winning

It's a valid point, and thanks for commenting. So why are American women so delusional that they think they have to break through the glass ceiling and have it all, etc.? Maybe it's because we are just Americans and that's the way we are? So really you have to ask ... at the end of your days what will you reflect upon -- your achievements or how you were taller, thinner and healthier? I don't know, it's certainly worth thinking about.

Because in America you are wholly dependent on a man's ability to provide for you if you don't work.

But that's true in the Netherlands too, and the women choose not to work. So why do American women think they have to break thru the glass ceiling and have it all etc. The Dutch women don't believe that obviously.

No, because the Dutch women have socialized medicine, lower cost higher education, and mich better social safety net benefits.
If women in the US also had all these benefits, more of them would decide to stay home with kids as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Europe is poor. So many Americans are woefully unaware of how extremely low salaries are in Europe. Life expectancy is low in the US, but ours is also dragged down because the US deals with a lot more complicated births that'd be terminated in Europe. When kids die below 2 years old, it drags down the mean life expectancy by a lot.

Do you get 6-8 weeks vacation a year? How many of your friends and relatives do?

I currently have 400+ hours of vacation.

Why in the hell would I want 8 weeks vacation? That's why Europeans are poor. Their productivity is trash, they barely invent anything anymore, and life for them is about coasting by with your bare essentials met. Hey, if mediocrity appeals to you, move to Europe.

All of the vacation and time off in Europe is so overrated. The trade off are often salaries that are nearly half of what you'd get paid in the US. I don't want or need 8 weeks off. Pay me more money please, thanks.

You know you can’t take it with you, right? Everyone dies. No one brings their bank account to the afterworld.

This is how bums, non-inventors, and lazy people think. Living in the UK, for example, making $50k salary that you'd easily get paid $100k for in the US sucks. People in Europe constantly scrape by because of extremely low salaries, stagnant exonomies, and incomes thst just never grow. It's almost as if you missed the yellow vest protests in France. Buy hey, at least you got 8 weeks of vacation while you're poor.

Lol.

My European friends might live in somewhat smaller homes than most Americans (1800-2000 sq ft vs 2500) but you know what those lazy bums have that most Americans don’t? High quality building materials and fixtures. Real masonry. Solid walls and doors, not hollow. High end, better efficiency windows, not the crappy kind most American homes are built with. Sturdy, long-lasting door handles and locks that would only be found in high end custom built American home. Their bathrooms and kitchens have only high quality materials, not cheap plastic parts or low grade sinks and countertops. Their homes are built to last and are energy efficient. This is true even of friends who live in condos.

And they still get 6-8 weeks off a year. Plus they never worry about a medical crisis driving them to bankruptcy.

Poor lazy bums!

This is actually backwards. American houses have excellent insulation and people live through the winter. In Europe, houses lack insulation and people die every winter from cold.

http://globalag.igc.org/health/world/cold.htm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cold-weather-uk-winter-deaths-europe-polar-vortex-a8224276.html

https://jech.bmj.com/content/57/10/784

Some folks in TX died during the freeze last winter. Their houses weren't insulated for the freeze. Several died in their homes due to hypothermia.

Over 1300 people die in cold houses in London yearly. Ireland, Portugal and Spain all have high numbers of cold death in the winter.

They build lousy houses in Europe.

Austria and northern Italian houses otoh are amazing. Same with Rhône-Alpes region in France

The build quality you find in Bergamo and Salzburg far surpasses what you find in the us.

Those countries mentioned by pp don’t have good building culture. Spain esp has horrific housing building skills (but is excellent at building rail).

🇬🇧 are penny wise pound foolish about housing

Portugal houses are pretty bad but there are some good examples usually if the former owners were French expats and they upgraded the house

[Anonymous]

I have always thought that the US is operating below its potential . Many of the problems this country faces are self inflicted and can be solved if white politicians and their white counterparts ( yes, they're primarily responsible) chose to get rid of their most prized posession: Racism.

Whether it's obesity and the myriad of health problems it causes that eventually shortens life spans , or guns deaths , or suicides , or the for-profit health care system. None of this is some sort of eternal condemnation that the United States has to helplessly endure . And I guess this is precisely where this country differs from western Europe wherein over there, their politicians see their roles as protectors of the well being of the people. Whereas in the United States, white politicians ( right and left ) have acted as the valets of corpate interests, read: rich white people. Naturally , it stands to reason that such a society isn't necessarily going to be a bastion of superb quality of life . As if this wasn't enough , you have to add problematic aspects of American culture that aren't as overtly widespread in Europe such as ; hyper individualism, consumerism, materialism, voracious greed etc .

Having said all that , the fact remains that more europeans still migrate to the United States but Americans don't migrate to Europe. There are hundreds of thousands of French citizens who live in the United States. They've had no qualms about leaving their vaunted health care system and alleged better quality of life to join the American pressure cooker . For most Americans , France is a country that you visit ,nothing more nothing less .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Europe is poor. So many Americans are woefully unaware of how extremely low salaries are in Europe. Life expectancy is low in the US, but ours is also dragged down because the US deals with a lot more complicated births that'd be terminated in Europe. When kids die below 2 years old, it drags down the mean life expectancy by a lot.

Do you get 6-8 weeks vacation a year? How many of your friends and relatives do?

I currently have 400+ hours of vacation.

Why in the hell would I want 8 weeks vacation? That's why Europeans are poor. Their productivity is trash, they barely invent anything anymore, and life for them is about coasting by with your bare essentials met. Hey, if mediocrity appeals to you, move to Europe.

All of the vacation and time off in Europe is so overrated. The trade off are often salaries that are nearly half of what you'd get paid in the US. I don't want or need 8 weeks off. Pay me more money please, thanks.

You know you can’t take it with you, right? Everyone dies. No one brings their bank account to the afterworld.

This is how bums, non-inventors, and lazy people think. Living in the UK, for example, making $50k salary that you'd easily get paid $100k for in the US sucks. People in Europe constantly scrape by because of extremely low salaries, stagnant exonomies, and incomes thst just never grow. It's almost as if you missed the yellow vest protests in France. Buy hey, at least you got 8 weeks of vacation while you're poor.

Lol.

My European friends might live in somewhat smaller homes than most Americans (1800-2000 sq ft vs 2500) but you know what those lazy bums have that most Americans don’t? High quality building materials and fixtures. Real masonry. Solid walls and doors, not hollow. High end, better efficiency windows, not the crappy kind most American homes are built with. Sturdy, long-lasting door handles and locks that would only be found in high end custom built American home. Their bathrooms and kitchens have only high quality materials, not cheap plastic parts or low grade sinks and countertops. Their homes are built to last and are energy efficient. This is true even of friends who live in condos.

And they still get 6-8 weeks off a year. Plus they never worry about a medical crisis driving them to bankruptcy.

Poor lazy bums!

This is actually backwards. American houses have excellent insulation and people live through the winter. In Europe, houses lack insulation and people die every winter from cold.

http://globalag.igc.org/health/world/cold.htm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cold-weather-uk-winter-deaths-europe-polar-vortex-a8224276.html

https://jech.bmj.com/content/57/10/784

Some folks in TX died during the freeze last winter. Their houses weren't insulated for the freeze. Several died in their homes due to hypothermia.

Over 1300 people die in cold houses in London yearly. Ireland, Portugal and Spain all have high numbers of cold death in the winter.

They build lousy houses in Europe.

Austria and northern Italian houses otoh are amazing. Same with Rhône-Alpes region in France

The build quality you find in Bergamo and Salzburg far surpasses what you find in the us.

Those countries mentioned by pp don’t have good building culture. Spain esp has horrific housing building skills (but is excellent at building rail).

🇬🇧 are penny wise pound foolish about housing

Portugal houses are pretty bad but there are some good examples usually if the former owners were French expats and they upgraded the house

Ireland went through a bit housing boom a couple of decades ago and everyone built houses that look like London county type subdivisions. I think they have the exact same crap houses we do. Historically Ireland has not gotten very cold so probably did not put good hVaC in them though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I have always thought that the US is operating below its potential . Many of the problems this country faces are self inflicted and can be solved if white politicians and their white counterparts ( yes, they're primarily responsible) chose to get rid of their most prized posession: Racism.

Whether it's obesity and the myriad of health problems it causes that eventually shortens life spans , or guns deaths , or suicides , or the for-profit health care system. None of this is some sort of eternal condemnation that the United States has to helplessly endure . And I guess this is precisely where this country differs from western Europe wherein over there, their politicians see their roles as protectors of the well being of the people. Whereas in the United States, white politicians ( right and left ) have acted as the valets of corpate interests, read: rich white people. Naturally , it stands to reason that such a society isn't necessarily going to be a bastion of superb quality of life . As if this wasn't enough , you have to add problematic aspects of American culture that aren't as overtly widespread in Europe such as ; hyper individualism, consumerism, materialism, voracious greed etc .

Having said all that , the fact remains that more europeans still migrate to the United States but Americans don't migrate to Europe. There are hundreds of thousands of French citizens who live in the United States. They've had no qualms about leaving their vaunted health care system and alleged better quality of life to join the American pressure cooker . For most Americans , France is a country that you visit ,nothing more nothing less .

Do you live in the United States? I have a hard time believing you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I have always thought that the US is operating below its potential . Many of the problems this country faces are self inflicted and can be solved if white politicians and their white counterparts ( yes, they're primarily responsible) chose to get rid of their most prized posession: Racism.

Whether it's obesity and the myriad of health problems it causes that eventually shortens life spans , or guns deaths , or suicides , or the for-profit health care system. None of this is some sort of eternal condemnation that the United States has to helplessly endure . And I guess this is precisely where this country differs from western Europe wherein over there, their politicians see their roles as protectors of the well being of the people. Whereas in the United States, white politicians ( right and left ) have acted as the valets of corpate interests, read: rich white people. Naturally , it stands to reason that such a society isn't necessarily going to be a bastion of superb quality of life . As if this wasn't enough , you have to add problematic aspects of American culture that aren't as overtly widespread in Europe such as ; hyper individualism, consumerism, materialism, voracious greed etc .

Having said all that , the fact remains that more europeans still migrate to the United States but Americans don't migrate to Europe. There are hundreds of thousands of French citizens who live in the United States. They've had no qualms about leaving their vaunted health care system and alleged better quality of life to join the American pressure cooker . For most Americans , France is a country that you visit ,nothing more nothing less .

Do you live in the United States? I have a hard time believing you do.

Why ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Europe is poor. So many Americans are woefully unaware of how extremely low salaries are in Europe. Life expectancy is low in the US, but ours is also dragged down because the US deals with a lot more complicated births that'd be terminated in Europe. When kids die below 2 years old, it drags down the mean life expectancy by a lot.

Do you get 6-8 weeks vacation a year? How many of your friends and relatives do?

I currently have 400+ hours of vacation.

Why in the hell would I want 8 weeks vacation? That's why Europeans are poor. Their productivity is trash, they barely invent anything anymore, and life for them is about coasting by with your bare essentials met. Hey, if mediocrity appeals to you, move to Europe.

All of the vacation and time off in Europe is so overrated. The trade off are often salaries that are nearly half of what you'd get paid in the US. I don't want or need 8 weeks off. Pay me more money please, thanks.

You know you can’t take it with you, right? Everyone dies. No one brings their bank account to the afterworld.

This is how bums, non-inventors, and lazy people think. Living in the UK, for example, making $50k salary that you'd easily get paid $100k for in the US sucks. People in Europe constantly scrape by because of extremely low salaries, stagnant exonomies, and incomes thst just never grow. It's almost as if you missed the yellow vest protests in France. Buy hey, at least you got 8 weeks of vacation while you're poor.

Lol.

My European friends might live in somewhat smaller homes than most Americans (1800-2000 sq ft vs 2500) but you know what those lazy bums have that most Americans don’t? High quality building materials and fixtures. Real masonry. Solid walls and doors, not hollow. High end, better efficiency windows, not the crappy kind most American homes are built with. Sturdy, long-lasting door handles and locks that would only be found in high end custom built American home. Their bathrooms and kitchens have only high quality materials, not cheap plastic parts or low grade sinks and countertops. Their homes are built to last and are energy efficient. This is true even of friends who live in condos.

And they still get 6-8 weeks off a year. Plus they never worry about a medical crisis driving them to bankruptcy.

Poor lazy bums!

This is actually backwards. American houses have excellent insulation and people live through the winter. In Europe, houses lack insulation and people die every winter from cold.

http://globalag.igc.org/health/world/cold.htm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cold-weather-uk-winter-deaths-europe-polar-vortex-a8224276.html

https://jech.bmj.com/content/57/10/784

Some folks in TX died during the freeze last winter. Their houses weren't insulated for the freeze. Several died in their homes due to hypothermia.

Over 1300 people die in cold houses in London yearly. Ireland, Portugal and Spain all have high numbers of cold death in the winter.

They build lousy houses in Europe.

Austria and northern Italian houses otoh are amazing. Same with Rhône-Alpes region in France

The build quality you find in Bergamo and Salzburg far surpasses what you find in the us.

Those countries mentioned by pp don’t have good building culture. Spain esp has horrific housing building skills (but is excellent at building rail).

🇬🇧 are penny wise pound foolish about housing

Portugal houses are pretty bad but there are some good examples usually if the former owners were French expats and they upgraded the house

Ireland went through a bit housing boom a couple of decades ago and everyone built houses that look like London county type subdivisions. I think they have the exact same crap houses we do. Historically Ireland has not gotten very cold so probably did not put good hVaC in them though.

Yeah the leprechauns don’t have good building culture either.

Bavarians, swabians, Rhône Alpes, piemonte, lombardia, tyrolean, Austrians, Swiss — pretty much everyone who is alpine or alpine-adjacent has good building culture

[Anonymous]

The shoddy building culture has been exacerbated by HGTV.