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Whenever I read discussion threads online whether its here, reddit, from people from countries in Western Europe, Canada, Australia etc expressing a desire to move to the US, I often see a reaction of surprise or even bewilderment from many Americans themselves. Like "Why would you give up your free healthcare, paid annual leave, maternity leave, lower crime, lower college tuition to move here for?!".
I get the US as a society has some serious flaws (like any country really), but there obviously things the US does just as well if not better than other countries.
Do Americans find it a bit surprising when they hear Canadians, Europeans, Aussies etc going to great lengths to try to move to the US?
OP, you make it sound like there are the equivalent of huge "caravans" of people from Canada, Australia, and Western Europe who want to come here. There aren't.
The relatively small numbers of them who want to come, do. But ever notice that the overwhelming majority of immigrants come from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East?
Why do you think that is?
Because people from stable, calm, peaceful countries with high QOL don't want to come to a country as socially/politically unstable as ours. DC is in lockdown right now; we're being told to stay at home for the next few days. Total madness. You'd think the US was a freaking banana republic.
There are reportedly 8,000 Hondurans heading our way right now. Not 8,000 Canadians. Not 8,000 Australians. Not 8,000 Western Europeans. Because, for the Hondurans, the instability here is nothing compared to what they're coming from.
I find that this type of response comes from left-wing Americans who have idealized Europe into some sort of utopia without really knowing a ton about Europe.
My family is made up of European immigrants, and I know that there aren't many Europeans clamoring to come to the US (or to Canada). For the most part, they're very happy where they are.
Not really. West Europe, Canada, Australia and even Japan aren't perfect and sometimes, a move to the USA is a step up. But it's definitely not common and I'd say a bit rare.
Where as immigration to the US from majority of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Central America, Caribbean and South America are much more understandable as there's more dysfunction in those areas than the US.
The US has a few great advantages. It's a huge and varied and uncrowded country where you are free to wander. And it is a populous market where economy of scale keeps costs down. And Americans are pretty nice.
It's very difficult to move permanently to any other country legally. Keep that in mind. And if one has family ties to a country it's even more difficult.
So it's always interesting to me to find out someone is from a foreign country but I wouldn't say I am SURPRISED. I'm more curious than surprised.
I know that no place is perfect but I love the US and I love being an American.
If you can’t become economically successful in the United States, then you probably won’t make it in any other country either.
Another truth: Even a moderately successful, hard working American who suffers a catastrophic illness or accident is likely to go bankrupt and set back the economic mobility of their family for a generation or two.
For the most part, such a fate is not something most Europeans worry about, much less have a reasonable chance of facing.
If you are not economically successful in the United States you will suffer, possibly die under a bridge, or at the very least live the last months or years of your uneccesarily shortened life as a pauper while your children scramble, having to start from scratch while paying to keep you alive.
On the plus side, the upper management and CEOs of American health insurance and pharmaceutical companies have some of the most luxurious lifestyles in the world. They have so much money they don't know how to spend it!
Oh please, the middle class in the US is huge. "In spite of" all the supposed economic hardships, including but not limited to a worldwide pandemic. It's the largest class of people in the US (52 percent according to Pew Research). 19 percent (right at 1 in 5) of Americans are upper class, with a median income of nearly $190,000. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tan...come-families/
If you can’t become economically successful in the United States, then you probably won’t make it in any other country either.
How do you know this "truth"? Have you ever lived outside of the US?
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