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Those places don't have slums. Slum denotes a certain condition that is not really present in Europe, nor in the US afaik. Places without sanitation, electricity, etc.
Since you mention Leeds, I know Sheffield, which is not far. There certainly are parts of town where I would not want to live, but they are not slums as such.
More than 30 million people live in Europe’s urban slums. They often have little or no access to water or electricity. Dwellers range from members of ethnic minorities to victims of the financial crisis.
Jealousy? Huh? Road, look, I'm a liberal ... actually more of a socialist because I'm left on economic issues, but pretty much libertarian on social ones.... that doesn't mean I'm jealous of anyone. Yes, I think we'd have a healthier society if we had a broader middle class, and I support measures that encourage a level playing field. No, I'm not shaking my fist at people living in McMansions. I'm too busy enjoying a nice life in a European capital to take much notice.
Then why denigrate people who buy large houses in a country club environment.
I don't know, I have never been to Brussels. But it looks like typical wealthy European suburbia. Land is much more expensive than in the US, so naturally homes and gardens are smaller.
In Mediterranean countries wealthy people often have mansions like in the US. The South is more snobbish in this respect, less egalitarian.
In most of Europe you are not supposed to show your wealth, though. There might be a filthy rich person living right next to you and you would never guess.
That modesty of wealth is almost exclusively a Nordic cultural trait. You have no problems in Paris, Lisbon, Madrid, etc. identifying where the wealthy live. The McMansion isn't really a phenomenon because of land costs. Plus the wealthy in Europe tend to cluster in the attractive city centers, which outside of San Francisco and Manhattan is a relatively recent phenomenon in the US.
In most of Europe you are not supposed to show your wealth, though. There might be a filthy rich person living right next to you and you would never guess.
That's true here too. I have a friend worth close to 100 million and he drives senior citizens to their doctor, etc.
In theory, every American gets a public education too ...
It's not just theory. IT's a fact. Anyone who wants an education can get one.
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but in reality, the school you attend is determined by your zip code.
That's not true.
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There's absolutely no comparison between the education a child is going to receive in a public school situated in a wealthy neighborhood to one that's situated in a working class area.
Another common myth.
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That's one of the main reasons why Americans have fallen behind several European nations in social mobility, I think.
More than 30 million people live in Europe’s urban slums. They often have little or no access to water or electricity. Dwellers range from members of ethnic minorities to victims of the financial crisis.
In Lisbon there used to be one, they simply tore it down, no idea what became of the people.
The Roma indeed live in conditions we might not find attractive. But they want it that way. They don't want to lead "normal lives". In my previous town I used to pass by a meadow every weekend where they would camp, with their horses and everything. I don't even think that they send their kids to school.
That modesty of wealth is almost exclusively a Nordic cultural trait. You have no problems in Paris, Lisbon, Madrid, etc. identifying where the wealthy live. The McMansion isn't really a phenomenon because of land costs. Plus the wealthy in Europe tend to cluster in the attractive city centers, which outside of San Francisco and Manhattan is a relatively recent phenomenon in the US.
In Germany and Britain it sure is a real estate price problem. Prices per square whatever in cities are insane.
There are also a lot of building restriction, which also drives up the price for the land that is available.
That too, yes. In Europe living downtown is what many people want. Luckily I live downtown myself now, it is nice, all those people everywhere, everything is just a walk away
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
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I have never seen in slum in Germany either. There is a lot we can learn from each other (true of the whole world) and stupid things stop us from implementing what works (and discarding what doesn't). As an American who goes back and forth from Germany and the US, I would say both nations have problems with this but for different reasons. We (Americans) are so quick to dismiss what works just because we are too proud to accept something we didn't come up with. We deride it as a spawn of socialist thinking (or something of the sort). While Germans (my wife is German and points this out often) just don't accept change as quickly as the younger generation would like ( pluses and minuses to that approach in my opinion). She likes to say that Germans think in a box.
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