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In case some Americans wonder what might be wrong with their country it's pretty well explained in these lyrics. These are simple lyrics and i hope many Americans will get the point.
Each country/ each culture should be proud of their lifestyle. The point is that "Europe" is in no way one country or one culture. Lifestyle in Sicily has nothing to do to lifestyle in Britain or in Denmark...
It is amazing how so many threds on this forum always try to compare one country (the US) with 27 differebt cultures with completly different languages, lifestyles or even religion... "Europe" doesn't have more one unique lifestyle as Argentina, Mexico, Cuba or Canada have (being all part of the "americas" doesn't give them a unique "American" culture or lifestyle. That's the same for "Europe"...)
Sorry about my lack of explanation. When I say Europe, it's basically only around part of the countries located in northwestern corner plus nordic.
We have automobiles in Europe and a high car ownership rate.
I don't know why some north American have the idea that everything in Europe is done by public transport when cars are also the main way of transport here.
I noticed this as well. Particularly across Sweden without including the Old Towns in places like Stockholm. But much of it looked like traffic jams, car-centric, and large parking lots with strip malls, just like anything you'd find in the U.S. For that matter, Warsaw stuck out in that way as well.
A person does not need to move to the U.S. to have a car-centric lifestyle. Plus there are plenty of big cities in Europe that are quite a deal, like Berlin.
If a person is thinking living a NYC or LA lifestyle is cheap, they'll have a rude awakening when they try to live it.
jayway View Post
I want one of those GIANT jars of Nutella. (11 lb/ 5 kg) Next time I visit the continent I am also going to taste test Nutella from Italy vs Germany. The giant jars are dark brown plastic, not clear right? I wish they were clear - not sure why...
I'd like to visit a Waitrose when in the UK next too.
Fresh & Easy (part of Tesco) is here in the US. The stores are larger than a convenience store but smaller than a chain grocery store. (similar to the Walmart neighborhood grocery offshoot) I observed with interest their 'pre-staged' meal packs - marinated meats, stuffed but uncooked items, etc. I don't buy them though - price premium not worth it. I like the UK food items (McVities Biscuits!) being so convenient to get - "Spotted Dick". I bought a jar of Marmite - still working on it - acquired taste! My nearest F&E just went to 24/7 (used to be 8am to 10 pm?) and the staple item I got there seem to have increased in price to above parity against my "full size" grocery store. <sad>
You can get those giant jars of Nutella in Costco, an American chain with vast retail units in the UK and Europe.
Other US Chains in the UK include Walmart which owns the Asda Supermarket Chain, T.J Maxx which is known as T.K Maxx in the UK along with Canadian company HomeSense, whilst Apple has a number of UK outlets and Victoria's Secret also has shops in the UK. The US Organic Food Chain Whole Foods Market also has a number of UK Supermarkets. Other US retail chains in the UK include Gap, Forever 21, Banana Republic, Aeropostale, American Eagle (opening soon), Hollister, True Religion and Abercrombie & Fitch.
There are also numerous US Fast Food and Coffee Chains.
British Chains such as Asos, Boden, Primark, Oasis, Top Shop, All Saints, Ted Baker, Space NK, Superdry, Ben Shermanm, Hotel Chocolat etc are currently targeting the US Market.
However not all US moves in to the British Market and vice versa are successful, as well as Tesco's venture in to the US Market, the US Electronics company Best Buy tried unsuccessfully to move in to the British Market.
Interesting data comparing disposable income distribution between the U.S. and Sweden. In Sweden, the upper limit of the lowest income quintile is $30,875. The lower limit of the highest income quintile is $81,348. In the U.S., the upper limit of the lowest income quintile is $20,431 and the lower limit of the highest income quintile is $160,864. Perhaps one reason why there are so few people in the US and UK that make the leap from the lowest to highest income quintile is that they have a lot more ground to cover. The wealthier a nation becomes, the more unequal the income distribution tends to be.
Income inequality is not in and of itself a bad thing. There's relative and absolute income after all. Income distribution is unequal in America, but Americans have higher incomes than other OECD nations in an absolute sense.
It's also worth noting that income and wealth distribution are very different things. Sweden has more income equality than the U.S., but its wealth distribution is about the same or worse. This blog sheds some light on this fact:
Interesting data comparing disposable income distribution between the U.S. and Sweden. In Sweden, the upper limit of the lowest income quintile is $30,875. The lower limit of the highest income quintile is $81,348. In the U.S., the upper limit of the lowest income quintile is $20,431 and the lower limit of the highest income quintile is $160,864. Perhaps one reason why there are so few people in the US and UK that make the leap from the lowest to highest income quintile is that they have a lot more ground to cover. The wealthier a nation becomes, the more unequal the income distribution tends to be.
Income inequality is not in and of itself a bad thing. There's relative and absolute income after all. Income distribution is unequal in America, but Americans have higher incomes than other OECD nations in an absolute sense.
It's also worth noting that income and wealth distribution are very different things. Sweden has more income equality than the U.S., but its wealth distribution is about the same or worse. This blog sheds some light on this fact:
The problem is really in the first two deciles. 22,167$ and $30,875 for Sweden, and $8,223 and $20,431 for the US. So the lowest-****-poor Swede would be in decile 2. in the US. That $8k is shocking, I find it as insulting and barbaristic. And there's a huge difference between 20k and 30k.
Income inequality becomes a bad thing if it's allowed to grow too much. And the "the wealthier - the more unequal" is complete rubbish as well. Norway and Finland were terribly poor in 1800, and the income disparity is at similar levels as in Sweden.
That blog sheds no light, it just states as there's a lot of old money in Sweden. The wealth distribution is seen on those figures, 22k vs 8k and 31k vs 20k.
The percentage of poor people is 16% in the US and 13% in Finland, which doesn't seem like a big difference, but it's the poverty level that matters. In the US it was set at $23,850 this year for a family of four. In Finland it's $19,111 per person. And I rather have it this way, thank you very much.
The USA has a huge "underclass" of people with next to nothing, which doesn't seem to exist in the Nordics. It also is much easier in the USA to slide backwards from middle class prosperity into what is essentially poverty. You don't hear about people being financially ruined by medical emergencies in any other countries, Nordic or not.
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