Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Europe has a monolithic culture. Much fewer immigrants sucking off its teat. Many Europeans are self-sufficient and are content with living austere lifestyles. Smaller houses, no A/C, minimal heating.
They aren't anywhere near the consumer driven economy we are, they don't have the money so they don't spend it. I could probably do okay over there, I don't spend alot either.
Europe has a monolithic culture. Much fewer immigrants sucking off its teat. Many Europeans are self-sufficient and are content with living austere lifestyles. Smaller houses, no A/C, minimal heating.
Exactly. Most European nations do not have a huge underclass of lazy citizens just laying around making babies to milk the government. From what I've seen of my many travels to various European countries, most citizens (both rich and poor) have a higher level of self pride and work ethics than their US counterparts.
Where do you get the idea that Europeans are poor as in "they don't have the money?" Seriously.
They buy expensive, but good cars; any Saturday in any store is quite crowded. Stores are not open in Germany on Sunday and that will have some effect.
In other European countries, Sunday hours are an option.
The Brits are as consumer oriented as the Americans. Rents are much higher in English cities than in the US for the most part.
The British Pound and Euro are both stronger than the US Dollar.
Eastern Europe, the old communist bloc countries are much less affluent than Western Europe, but that, too, is changing.
I just spoke with one of my staffers who is German and has lived in the US.
He thinks that the biggest difference is the use of credit.
German sensibilities are that you don't buy something if you don't have the cash. This is changing, but still the prevalent attitude.
Whereas Americans buy without money.
We've destroyed our own economy.
Europeans also got over maintaining overseas military empires as they found out the empire costs far more than it makes. Now they are satisfied with overseas financial empires. Keeping military costs under control helps to keep the money at home. Universal health care provides a healthy and productive workforce.
BTW - I have, since visiting a couple of decades ago, wondered how Europeans could afford to live in Europe and why the population of Sweden doesn’t move en mass to Italy.
Where do you get the idea that Europeans are poor as in "they don't have the money?" Seriously.
They buy expensive, but good cars; any Saturday in any store is quite crowded. Stores are not open in Germany on Sunday and that will have some effect.
In other European countries, Sunday hours are an option.
The Brits are as consumer oriented as the Americans. Rents are much higher in English cities than in the US for the most part.
The British Pound and Euro are both stronger than the US Dollar.
Eastern Europe, the old communist bloc countries are much less affluent than Western Europe, but that, too, is changing.
I just spoke with one of my staffers who is German and has lived in the US. He thinks that the biggest difference is the use of credit. German sensibilities are that you don't buy something if you don't have the cash. This is changing, but still the prevalent attitude. Whereas Americans buy without money. We've destroyed our own economy.
Yes, I've heard the same thing. I also understand that in Europe (particularily in Italy) it is rare to buy a house on credit - a mortgage - people save until they can buy one outright. Very, very different then in the US.
In a off-shoot of the "Why does NE do okay?" thread, I want to ask:
Why does Europe do okay with liberalism? We have worse social indicators than they do, so what gives?
Well Europe and America are not THAT different from each other. Both are capitalist, with America marginally more liberal economic-wise. Both have social welfare systems, with Europe's marginally more generous.
Where they differ: America is a very large, dynamic country with an ever-growing population- very hard to centralize. European countries are smaller, with diminishing populations. Americans revel in risk while Europeans revel in stability. Both have their merits.
And Europe is not always as liberal as you think if you think if take a close look. America is much more advanced in many areas.
While the comparison is fun and I suppose also inevitable, it really is kind of silly. I mean comparing one rich democracy to bunch of other rich democracies?
What people never ask is why Europe succeeds while Saudi Arabia, the Congo, Somalia, Honduras, Burma, Bangladesh, and others are basket cases.
That would make for a good discussion. Take America out of the calculus and ask that.
Europe has a monolithic culture. Much fewer immigrants sucking off its teat. Many Europeans are self-sufficient and are content with living austere lifestyles. Smaller houses, no A/C, minimal heating.
Europe has plenty of immigrants ( legal and illegal , not a day go by without a hysterical headline in the papers) and Western Europeans hardly have austere lifestyles ( having lived in quite a few European countries over the past few decades I know) . Houses are smaller because land is scarcer, Air Conditioning is not prevalent because we don't get quite the extremes of temperatures and it is also seen as incredibly wasteful and un-environmentally friendly. And our heating is fine thank you very much.
We don't sit there in Winter shivering with 10 layers of clothing on though we value efficiency where possible . Wastages of energy are not considered something to be proud about. Our cars and houses have been far more efficient for years for example.
Simply because our lifestyle is different does not mean we are poorer. I would say that a bigger proportion of Western Europeans enjoy a good middle class lifestyle as compared to Americans. House sizes and A/C have little to do with it. Western Europe is still incredibly consumerism orientated though maybe as ChielGirl mentions our saving grace is a certain distrust towards credit.
People tend to spend more time on holidays ( paid holidays are the norm here a minimum of 4 weeks , far more in many countries) for example and to me that puts Europe way ahead in terms of lifestyle. We have the same gadgets as Americans, computers, MP3, Broadband, DVD players, HD /Flat screen TVs, ect.... Our cars are smaller because most of us don't see the need to have huge gas guzzlers when a medium size vehicle is perfectly good.
Houses prices are more expensive because of land scarcity ( especially in the UK) but on the other hand we get Universal Healthcare( cheaper than the US system) , and a generous social contract to which all are entitled.
We have poor people like every country but from my experience of living in the US and Europe, the proportion is much lower and the gap between poor and rich not so gigantic. Being poor is not seen as a crime or a failure.
Money is not everything after all.
Eastern Europe is in some parts very poor indeed but other places like Estonia or the Czech Republic have blossomed into incredibly modern and Westernised countries.
I have always found it odd that someone would define austerity as having a smaller house. I don't need a big house, in fact I would not want one.
Neither do I want a huge car.
What I want is time to spend with my loved ones, enjoying their company, and enough money to travel , go out to dinner, the theatre, the Opera, concerts, Art galleries etc... and I have that.
My house is pretty small but I love it, I don't feel deprived in any way. We take 2 or 3 foreign holidays a year and some UK breaks too( on a very normal salary - I don't work so only one pay-packet) . We go out a lot, and enjoy a good level of comfort and modern amenities. A/C would make no sense to me apaprt from the one week a year when it is really hot. And in hotter parts of the continent like Southern Europe , people have just adapted their lifestyles to the heat and their houses are naturally ventilated for example.
All of Europe is Capitalist and most countries are led by right wing governments .
I have often considered moving to the US for a few years ( I lived there for 3 years) but the lack of universal healthcare, paid holidays etc... is just too off putting.
I know that should anything ever happen to us in the US we would just not have the social net we enjoy here.
I am more than happy paying higher taxes to know that everyone is covered. It is a price well worth paying .
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
