Are you on the outside looking in, and this is what the US looks like to you?
My commentary as someone on the inside who has also been on the outside looking in:
> Incredibly expensive, low wages
Pick one. Wages trend higher where it’s expensive. Wages trend lower where it’s not.
There are also tough-to-see subsidies like prop 13 and rent control in CA (as an example).
Currently the US appears expensive from the outside due to a strong dollar.
From the inside, it’s more nuanced — specifically, the distribution of wealth across the capital class and the worker class is skewing much more towards the capital class than at any time in our lives, but is trending towards a common state if looking at a longer time scale.
> no safety net,
No European-style safety net.
Japan doesn’t have a safety net either. Is it “horrible”?
The US has a substantial safety net via charity. Most of the people seen in the news who need it (e.g., homeless folks) choose not to use it, since it comes with restrictions like not being on drugs.
> car and health insurance are mandatory,
Yay?
Fwiw, health insurance is federally subsidized for low income folks.
Car insurance is a good thing, imho.
> homelessness everywhere,
In many cities, yes. Outside of those… not really. If you don’t live or work in a city, this is only something you see on TV.
> gun violence is rampant,
None of my friends, family, or acquaintances in my entire life have been a victim of gun violence. I know of three people who committed suicide with their own guns (which is counted in “gun violence numbers”), but I don’t think that’s what you’re referring to.
I realize that’s a class issue, and that there is more gun violence in the US than in Europe, but it’s just not part of the day-to-day reality for most people.
> and the government is a dictatorship disguised as a democracy
Objectively not true, at least for now.
The system of checks and balances baked into the US system is failing tragically at the moment, but we are not at the level of a dictatorship yet.
> No one would actively choose to live there if it wasn’t for high salaries in certain fields.
I don’t think that this is universally true.
I know plenty of immigrants who make their money, retire, and choose to stay in the US. Some people go back, but a lot stay, and with purpose.
Realistically I think the guy is centering on the experience of the poor only and using that as the quality of life index.
In another comment he talks about car insurance and food costs as if those are even major expenditures?
For a European moving to the US the only actual difference is health insurance, and even then, at low income you probably end up paying about the same or slightly more as European taxes, at a higher income you come out significantly ahead.
I also don't know a single person in the entirety of Europe/UK who doesn't own a car outside of the megacities like London, Paris etc, so it seems like a daft comparison given that car insurance rates are fairly similar in UK and US.
>Cars are seen as a burden, so only people that need one buy one.
I don't know where exactly you are located but it sounds like a delusional place. Can't name one first-world country where getting a car is seen as 'a burden' and not 'a massive improvement of one's life'
>None of my friends, family, or acquaintances in my entire life have been a victim of gun violence. ... I realize that’s a class issue, and that there is more gun violence in the US than in Europe, but it’s just not part of the day-to-day reality for most people.
I'm curious roughly how old you are. I grew up in a fairly well off suburb of Seattle and am in my mid 30s. At some point around 2020 I realized that among my friends, parents/kids of friends, and coworkers there had been 8 or 9 incidents of newsworthy gun violence in my fairly close contacts. In a way I would consider myself as having grown up fairly sheltered and so it was a surprising realization.
Newsworthy used to avoid digression about mass shootings vs shootings, as you did about suicide. I think most were reported as mass shootings but I'm not certain now.
*posted from a new account while traveling, I'm not meaning to come off as a troll jumping in to focus on guns as a topic. It just stood out to me as I was reading.
Note that I grew up around guns, and most areas I have lived in while in the US are gun friendly.
In my family and peer group, gun safety was taught at a very young age, and it was taught strictly — guns weren’t to be treated like toys, don’t even appear to mishandle a gun (e.g., by flagging someone, even if obviously unloaded), and don’t wield a weapon unless you’re willing to pull the trigger and neutralize/kill them (n.b., avoiding the situation or running away is often the best option).
That said, I know of three people (not close to me, but in my wide circle of acquaintances) who have had their guns confiscated by LEOs, each time by a spurned spouse who alleged that they were in danger or the gun owner was a danger to themselves, and each time was a generous interpretation of the circumstances, imho.
> there had been 8 or 9 incidents of newsworthy gun violence in my fairly close contacts.
If you don’t mind me asking, was there a common theme to the incidents, or was it just random stuff?
> I'm not meaning to come off as a troll jumping in to focus on guns as a topic.
I've mostly lived in places that you might consider gun unfriendly. I don't own a gun and am not always comfortable in places where they are too present. I know enough about safety from friends that I've avoided shooting with certain people in my greater friend circle. That said, living in the mountain west friends of mine own guns, hunt, and one set of friends owned a gun related business for several years.
For the incidents 3 were school/university shootings, 3 were in malls or similar public locations, and 1 was a house party. I don't know of any real common theme beyond gatherings of people. One I included in the earlier post was a domestic incident with several deaths and so it might not belong with the others.
I've noticed my 50-60 year old friends and their children in high school are more concerned about school shootings than I ever was. That may just be excessive concern due to increased news coverage, but I think there is also something about the availability of guns and teenage brains that is a real concern for them.
My personal experience has only been hearing gunshots nearby, although one incident involved a death. I don't think of myself as being in dangerous places but it has happened more than a few times. Guns and gun violence aren't something I think about much at all, but when I do it's surprising by how much it touches my life and my friend's lives.
All that said, one thing I do appreciate about this country is the variety of it. A friend who grew up sheep ranching told me they were allowed knives up to a certain length and guns at his school. Meanwhile mine would have had a lock down if students did the same thing.
> Are you on the outside looking in, and this is what the US looks like to you?
No, I lived in Canada for 12 years, my family lived in the US for 6 years, and I regularly visited for work and pleasure. My first hand experience is that the US is a shithole.
> Pick one. Wages trend higher where it’s expensive. Wages trend lower where it’s not.
No. Slightly higher wages do not offset the incredible cost of living in cities. And likewise, if you live in a cheap area you still have to compete with everyone else for certain goods.
> Japan doesn’t have a safety net either. Is it “horrible”?
Japan does have a safety net.
> The US has a substantial safety net via charity
lol. Guess I'll die unless Jeff Bezos decides to give me money.
> Fwiw, health insurance is federally subsidized for low income folks.
It should be federally covered for everyone in the country.
> None of my friends, family, or acquaintances in my entire life have been a victim of gun violence
Yes, that's statistics for you. I'm Brazilian but I haven't been murdered even though lots of people are murdered in Brazil.
> I know of three people who committed suicide with their own guns
This is gun violence.
> it’s just not part of the day-to-day reality for most people.
It literally is. A ton of people own guns for "protection", because what if the other person has a gun. There are areas of cities you avoid because they're dangerous. If you get stopped in your car by a cop, there's a non-zero chance you will get shot. Kids literally have active shooter drills in school. It literally is part of day-to-day reality for most people. You're just in it so you don't realize it.
> The system of checks and balances baked into the US system is failing tragically at the moment, but we are not at the level of a dictatorship yet.
Yes you are. You get a choice between two parties who are basically the same. 70% of the country's vote is thrown away in federal elections. A vote in Wyoming counts for 4x more than a vote in California. Counties are gerrymandered so badly your vote doesn't matter even in local elections. Voter suppression is table stakes. That's not a democracy.
>> I know of three people who committed suicide with their own guns
> This is gun violence.
Huh? Do you count people who hang themselves as victims of "rope violence"? Are people who kill themselves by sucking on the vehicle's tailpipe victims of car accidents? People who jump off of buildings are counted as construction accidents?
People choose guns because they’re very lethal. If a gun wasn’t around they might not choose that route, and eventually get out of the dark place they’re in.
My commentary as someone on the inside who has also been on the outside looking in:
> Incredibly expensive, low wages
Pick one. Wages trend higher where it’s expensive. Wages trend lower where it’s not.
There are also tough-to-see subsidies like prop 13 and rent control in CA (as an example).
Currently the US appears expensive from the outside due to a strong dollar.
From the inside, it’s more nuanced — specifically, the distribution of wealth across the capital class and the worker class is skewing much more towards the capital class than at any time in our lives, but is trending towards a common state if looking at a longer time scale.
> no safety net,
No European-style safety net.
Japan doesn’t have a safety net either. Is it “horrible”?
The US has a substantial safety net via charity. Most of the people seen in the news who need it (e.g., homeless folks) choose not to use it, since it comes with restrictions like not being on drugs.
> car and health insurance are mandatory,
Yay?
Fwiw, health insurance is federally subsidized for low income folks.
Car insurance is a good thing, imho.
> homelessness everywhere,
In many cities, yes. Outside of those… not really. If you don’t live or work in a city, this is only something you see on TV.
> gun violence is rampant,
None of my friends, family, or acquaintances in my entire life have been a victim of gun violence. I know of three people who committed suicide with their own guns (which is counted in “gun violence numbers”), but I don’t think that’s what you’re referring to.
I realize that’s a class issue, and that there is more gun violence in the US than in Europe, but it’s just not part of the day-to-day reality for most people.
> and the government is a dictatorship disguised as a democracy
Objectively not true, at least for now.
The system of checks and balances baked into the US system is failing tragically at the moment, but we are not at the level of a dictatorship yet.
> No one would actively choose to live there if it wasn’t for high salaries in certain fields.
I don’t think that this is universally true.
I know plenty of immigrants who make their money, retire, and choose to stay in the US. Some people go back, but a lot stay, and with purpose.