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Europe is a sinking sh*thole, and a nightmare for your average working man who just wants to enjoy life a little. Don't believe any of the propaganda fed to you by the leftist media.
What exactly is it that you're taking?
I think the average working man in Western Europe and the US are equally well off. Lower class is probably better of in Europe, upper class better in the US, but definitely not bad off in Europe either.
My family back in Germany is solidly middle class, they all have 6 weeks of paid vacation plus 10 public holidays or so (I would KILL for that in the US). They all have cars, their own houses or at least their own apartments. Can't spot a nightmare there and if that were the result of leftist media propaganda, I'd happily take it.
The depency on cars - i.e. constant gas tank fillups, maintenance of cars, insurance for cars, etc....is probably the most stressful part. One problem there, a DUI for example, and you could be history. You can't even get to work, can't go anywhere, etc.
When you go to other countries, people can live on much less, as they have access to 100s of restaurants, stores, plazas, you name it, they can socialize and walk around and enjoy life.
I think what adds to the American stress is people basically work to keep the house payments and car payments...and without that car, you can't walk to that mall or to work...so it keeps on adding the stress.
I love the idea of walking everywhere, not relying on a car just to get to where I want to go. A friend from Lithuania said most people there don't even own cars- walking is the norm. When she got here she was shocked that its the opposite here. And the concept of actually enjoying life without the mentality of MORE MORE MORE stuff, really is appealling to me. Less work time, more fun time, cheaper living, sounds like paradise
I think what adds to the American stress is people basically work to keep the house payments and car payments...and without that car, you can't walk to that mall or to work...so it keeps on adding the stress.
There is truth to this. However, I feel it's simplistic to say that things are bad for Americans across the board. That's not really an accurate picture.
Educational attainment is a very important factor to economic success and quality of life. Those who are highly educated are faring pretty well even in this economy. Their incomes are higher and their unemployment rate is much lower than the national average. They don't worry about health/medical insurance. As for vacations, well, those of us who were smart enough to decide to work for the government aren't faring badly in that department either. :-)
It's about doing the right things at the right times in one's life.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 09-18-2011 at 08:24 AM..
I love the idea of walking everywhere, not relying on a car just to get to where I want to go. A friend from Lithuania said most people there don't even own cars- walking is the norm. When she got here she was shocked that its the opposite here. And the concept of actually enjoying life without the mentality of MORE MORE MORE stuff, really is appealling to me. Less work time, more fun time, cheaper living, sounds like paradise
When you take away all the public space like you'd have in Europe, South America, Asia, etc. - than you really are left with nothing better to do than drive around and stop at malls, wal-marts, drive-thru's, etc.
So, I can see why rampant materialism becomes the only interest.
There is truth to this. However, I feel it's simplistic to say that things are bad for Americans across the board. That's not really an accurate picture.
Educational attainment is a very important factor to economic success and quality of life. Those who are highly educated are faring pretty well even in this economy. Their incomes are higher and their unemployment rate is much lower than the national average. They don't worry about health/medical insurance. As for vacations, well, those of us who were smart enough to decide to work for the government aren't faring badly in that department either. :-)
It's about doing the right things at the right times in one's life.
Hmm...u.s. government and longer vacations....you're selling me more on DC than I already am!
Regarding the wealthy/highly educated. True, across the board, in every country. Particularly the more 3rd world countries, but certainly true in the case of the U.S. as well.
There are incredibly dense walkable everything in the U.S., you just need to have a lot of money to afford them, or the opposite of a very high toleration for crime - depending on the two types of predominating urban u.s. neighborhoods.
I love the idea of walking everywhere, not relying on a car just to get to where I want to go. A friend from Lithuania said most people there don't even own cars- walking is the norm. When she got here she was shocked that its the opposite here. And the concept of actually enjoying life without the mentality of MORE MORE MORE stuff, really is appealling to me. Less work time, more fun time, cheaper living, sounds like paradise
It depends on where "here" is. New York City is as walkable as any city in the world. You can live a car-free lifestyle in many other cities as well - Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia.
Many people feel that Chicago and Philadelphia are where you get the most bang for your buck. Because they have the lowest COL of these cities and are still urban and have good public transport.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 09-18-2011 at 09:04 AM..
What exactly is it that you're taking?
I think the average working man in Western Europe and the US are equally well off. Lower class is probably better of in Europe, upper class better in the US, but definitely not bad off in Europe either.
My family back in Germany is solidly middle class, they all have 6 weeks of paid vacation plus 10 public holidays or so (I would KILL for that in the US). They all have cars, their own houses or at least their own apartments. Can't spot a nightmare there and if that were the result of leftist media propaganda, I'd happily take it.
Germany does pretty well, but what about the other countries in the Euro-zone they're having to bail out? Obviously it isn't working out for them as well.
Just for the record, I work in the private sector and I get 22 days paid vacation plus all federal holidays. And I don't work weekends.
I think that putting the U.S.'s work ethics and environment in a "one size fits all" is not as simple. I work 35 hours a week, have four weeks paid vacation plus other personal and sick days. Simirlarly, my wife has five weeks vacation plus other days and a very well paid job in Manhattan. We have been ten and sixteen years on the job respectively. My friends in Europe don't have a job and a lot of them don't get paid well. Then again, that reality does not apply to everyone in Europe just the same way that some of the perceptions of the U.S. worker does not apply to every American.
I'm soon to be 26, and worked for a little less than 8 years now, and received maybe 2 or 3 paid vacation days in my entire life.
I don't know anyone who has over 5 weeks of paid vacation per year, and even for that 5 weeks, you have to be with the same company for quite some time. Also, since the wages in Finland are super low and the cost of living, or the cost of even just getting by is horribly high and getting worse, most people elect to get a second job and work their vacation time.
Europe is a sinking sh*thole, and a nightmare for your average working man who just wants to enjoy life a little. Don't believe any of the propaganda fed to you by the leftist media.
I lived and worked in Germany for 18 years. You are misinformed.
It depends on where "here" is. New York City is as walkable as any city in the world. You can live a car-free lifestyle in many other cities as well - Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia.
Many people feel that Chicago and Philadelphia are where you get the most bang for your buck. Because they have the lowest COL of these cities and are still urban and have good public transport.
There are a few walkable cities in the US but with the exception of SF they all have crappy weather (at least for me), and SF is super expensive. It´s one of my main reasons for not living in the US. No warm weather walkable city.
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