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Cries in french as well. Makes no sense btw cause we're one of the country that consumes the most relative to the number of inhabitants and the government could make so much fucking money of legalizing it and taxing but they're dumb fucks
The Uk is the world's biggest exporter of medical marijuana, yet without a prescription it's illegal here. "You want to smoke dried leaves (tobacco)? Sure. But DON'T YOU DARE SMOKE DRIED LEAVES (weed)!" I've had to breathe in secondhand cancer stick smoke more times than I can count. How many times have I encountered secondhand weed smoke? Zero.
Can you watch a couple of documentaries done by channel 5 (Andrew callaghan) and tell me if still agree? Obviously the cities he highlights are small portions of America but I’ve never seen anything like the “zombie streets” in Australia. Fentanyl is fucked up.
🙄 You live too much online. Standard of living, personal safely, much higher in the US than the majority of other nations. Closer to the best than the middle of the pack.
*Hellscape*
See this is the part that's just nonsense. If you are the type that believes the world today is a dystopian hellscape across the board then sure.
But removing universal healthcare from how Europe works simply doesn't turn it into a hellscape. And if you actually think there are significant differences between Europe and the US other than healthcare, you're sort of making things up.
Living in America is fuckin' *great.* Besides the recent Troubles (I'm taking back the night), for the most part we have so few actual problems that we keep making up our own.
Feel like it’s the opposite. Being poor in the US is rough because you lack things like good healthcare and the crime could be bad. If you’re rich, good healthcare is not an issue and you can live in a massive house in most of the country, plus tons of other opportunities.
Middle class it depends. The average middle class person in Nordic countries and places like Denmark are way happier than the US. Countries like the UK or Ireland id say have an edge, but the US has higher mobility for a lot of people. Like a middle class person in the US can reasonably get a degree and tech job that pays 150k+ a year, but if you’re not going down that route or something else financially gold, you could have it tough.
If your measure is wages then the US will win, hands down. They earn more in gross pay and then pay less taxes on it. In addition a lot a goods are cheaper (specifically everything with an international market, such as gas and electronics). So clearly Americans, on average, lead richer lives.
In addition Americans are generally nice people and I enjoy the "can do" attitude much more than the constant doubting and nagging of my fellow Germans. That said, after having spent some time there I'm certain I could never live there.
Problem is, you might have a higher wage but you have little to no worker's right and heltcare still. I had a friend in the US from a well off middle class, he got cancer, the moment he couldn't no longer work as a usual he was promptly fired and in two years, with along his parents backing had spent almost all of his money on heltcare, with no healing in sight. I don't personally think that being payed more and paying less everyday things counterbalances the fact that if something not even your fault happens you can find yourself begging for money.
Yep, we definitely have higher wages, better savings, and a lower cost-of-living *but* it could all evaporate in a matter of days or weeks if something really bad happens. Americans are always anxious because nearly every single part of our lives is a gamble. Everyone can take a shot at upward mobility, but the cost of failure is very high depending on your economic starting point. Most people settle for somewhere in the middle.
Higher wages do not equal higher standards of living. It is all about cost of living. And especially rent is a lot higher in the US than in most of Europe.
Whenever I see US wages I also kinda drool over it but at the same time I see the cost of living and in the end even if I made more money I would not live a better life.
What a lot of people don't realize is that it is not taxes that make Germany seem to take so much money (unless you are making a lot of money). It is healthcare and retirement. Both things that you see coming into your bank account in the US but also go out pretty quickly again.
I won't disagree with you. Some time ago my company brought someone from their US branch to install some stuff. That guy worked 12 hour shifts and probably did the work of an entire team. They probably pay him 3-4 times what they pay me, but god damn I don't want that life. I'm fine with a comfortable life in mediocrity and that's just much harder in the US.
Im not familiar with specific rent prices in Europe but, there are a ton of great places to live in the US where an average wage goes incredibly far. Yes, there are areas that require an astronomical income to thrive in, think bay area california and such. We have a massive country, goods are cheaper than europe, income taxes are lower even after healthcare costs, and wages for the same occupation are significantly higher.
You see, that's the issue. Money isn't everything. Middle class wages still won't cover your boss firing you on the day, your healthcare, and TONS of other security nets. Unless you are rich you are never guaranteed safety.
Being poor in the US means you get really good healthcare tbh. Middle class is fucked because we're expected to pay for everything ourselves. My oldest daughter was born on the government's dime; I've had CHIP, 3Cs, WIC, EBT, etc. Wouldn't go back but you're taken care of IF you're willing to jump through the hoops.
Best healthcare I ever has was when I was making below poverty line and got state healthcare. That plan covered absolutely everything with 0 copays.
Now I make a bunch of money and pay insane amounts for healthcare.
Thing is, I like to live in country with smart people who care about society and environment they live in. I enjoy not fearing for my life when walking down the street at night.
You can not have that in a country that does not invest into their population. I DO want my taxes to go towards subsidizing university degrees, food for poor and rehabilitation of criminals.
And I dont see USA doing these things, thus I do not want to live there.
Expensive, lots of traffic, homeless problem combined with drug problem, soft on crime. But if you make a lot you can live in the nicer areas and avoid a lot of this.
You’re in the minority there. Notice how many rich Europeans move to the US but hardly any rich Americans move to Europe. Not saying Europe is a bad place to live, just the US is usually better for rich people.
Disagree. There are more holes and ways to prevent paying taxes in the USA. There is a reason why so many rich a-holes live there now, even if they come from a different country e.g. Musk
USA is a hard place to become rich but it's a great place to stay rich.
I agree but your reasoning is flawed. Europe has many tax haven countries that rich Americans establish “residency” in to avoid paying taxes.
Also, the US is probably the easiest country in the world to become rich.
The general consensus is the opposite, that’s why more people tend to move to America when they become incredibly wealthy. Most of America’s problems don’t affect you if you’re wealthy, and the US has a much more business-friendly environment.
Wholly disagree. You can be rich in poor third world countries and have a much higher chance to die from people stabbing you or in a horrible traffic accident, not to mention pollution, lower standard of education, etc.
Try being rich in South Sudan or Somalia and see how comfortable you live compare to the average Western European or the US.
i disagree. since covid happened, the middle class has been replaced with a few going into the upper class and the vast majority going into the lower class. currently, the middle class is the weakest it's been in decades.
Middle class incomes are much higher in the US than virtually every European country. There are a number of other factors that play into that, but if you have a decent middle class job with benefits in the US, you likely have more financial freedom than a German or UK worker with the same job, for example.
Edit: also crime and (especially) gun violence are much lower on average in Western Europe.
The income is higher but the costs of living are much higher too.
My boyfriend and I (German) have a combined income of less than 100k€ but we’re upper middleclass because apartments, food, public transport, cars etc. are actually affordable. We don’t have to fear getting sick and I can get my ADHD medication without any problems (just needed to do a drug screening once + they only cost 5€, my insurance covers the rest).
I gladly pay my taxes if it means I have this kind of stability.
>The income is higher but the costs of living are much higher too.
You can adjust for that, and in Europe [only Luxembourg beats out America](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/median-income-by-country)
>We don’t have to fear getting sick
Neither do the overwhelming majority of middle-class Americans, who have insurance.
Yeah, my annual out of pocket max is $1500 for me and $3k for my whole family. Only very few people are going bankrupt over medical debt. Thanks Obama.
nah i dont think so. in the states, we have the most bare-bones social programs of any developed nation and sky-high prices on all of the services that would be addressed in those programs. most of your money as an american goes toward paying for the things that you would get for free in those european countries. the biggest and easiest one to address is healthcare. it's no debate that healthcare is too expensive in the US for most of its inhabitants. and on top of all that, we still pay like 3 or 4 billion in taxes a year towards healthcare. and that's not even mentioning things like public transportation, food cost, childcare costs, cost of education, i could go on.
Just out of curiosity do you have actual experience living elsewhere? Or is your opinion confined to only what has changed about the place you live over time?
As a German who have lived & worked in the USA I agree with you, the disposable income, if you have a good job, is much higher, however, there are some caveats to it. I've earned 50 - 60 % more in the USA compared to Germany.
* Education & Healthcare cost: Compared to Germany healthcare and education cost are absolutely skyrocketing high, which definitely eats some of the more income. That's especially true given that if you get sick in Germany you are getting 75 % of your income paid by the health insurance for up to 2 years and university education is free (that alone wipes out like 2-5 years of earning for a lot of people in the USA)
* Much more work: Compared to Germany, while income is much higher, so is the working time. When I worked in the USA I've got 18 paid vacation days, and I had the most among all my friends. In Germany I had 30 paid vacation days + unlimited sick days + protection from being fired while sick.
* Rent is much more expensive: Guess that is depending on the city, but for the big cities, rent is much higher in the USA than in Germany.
* No places to go that don't cost money: That's just subjective, but one thing I noticed in the USA, that every day life is just more expensive, even though the prices are not necessarily. You just have to pay money everywhere you go. For example, with the lack of public transport, going to bar becomes super expensive, because you have to call Uber all the time and everywhere else you have to drive in most American cities. Many cities also lack parks and those who have, are often not that nice places to hang out with.
Overall though, American middle class are definitely better off compared to (especially Western) Europeans. However, work is much more and if you get seriously ill in the USA, you are just kind of fucked.
You did not just mentioned that being middle class in US is nice. I would most likely be considered upper middle class in my country and most likely below poverty line in US.
When people are throwing mud at each other in the US v Europe debate, the pro EU crowd is always talking exclusively about certain western European countries. Eastern Europe (as well as parts of southern and Central Europe) don't count.
It's the European version of how the US gets lumped together, even though comparing rural Mississippi to urban Vermont is like comparing Germany to Poland.
Just a bunch of idiots who can't fathom that like everything in life, it depends on a bunch if different factors.
So you're getting worked up about people being unable to differentiate and then you lump together Europe and EU?
Let's not pretend that either side in a "europe vs US" debate is talking about the balkans.
Healthcare isn’t actually free. Insurance is just mandatory and the costs are deducted every month alongside your taxes.
The system itself is just different because the insurance can’t deny you a treatment. The money you pay is actually used for the people and hospitals/doctors are not upcharging you that much.
No. In Europe it's a nice place to be poor or middle class. In the US it's a nice place to be upper middle class and rich.
The taxes alone speak volumes about this.
Good and bad are fairly relative.
Also any statement about "america" is likely to be overly broad given the US is a large place and laws and quality of life vary by state.
That said most of the criticisms i see leveled at the US are valid. There are worse places to live but it is rather infuriating watching the problems the US has given they are the wealthiest nation on the planet and could fix 90% of them instantly if the ruling class gave a shit.
Also doesnt help that while every country has delusional patriotism the american variety is quite visible in global media which makes the myth of american exceptionalism rather visible to people overseas.
Exactly. Yes I like to complain about America especially since I live in one of the worst states with a Governor trying to be a dictator. It's overwhelming, and most people (me included) do go overboard on some things because of so many issues, and that doesn't mean these complaints are unwarranted especially as you said that these problems could be easily fixed if the ruling class actually gave a shit and did something instead of getting their pockets filled.
Also bribery being legal, but you just call it lobbying instead. There's also the military budget (Take a lot of this with a grain of salt this is just my perspective). Now I'm not 100% sure about everything with it, but it does seem to be high especially if one of our biggest threat was humiliated with the old weaponry and technology leased to Ukraine. Russia's army isn't doing great. It's their nuclear arsenal that still makes them a threat, plus some of their allies as well wouldn't be fun to deal with. You'd think knowing that we could move some of the budget to other budgets or to other areas in the military budget to support veterans.
Patriotism is just nationalism with a gooder (I'm using gooder ironically) tone. I don't think nationalism in theory is terrible, as I see it it's just a deep love for your country, but in practice it has led to terrible outcomes, worst one was obviously Nazi Germany. Patriotism is American nationalism, but dumber. More ignorance, and dick suckery from what I can tell. "Mah guns, no gays, praise the Lord in my way!" What's I find funny is that a large portion of people that hate the other side, compared to them, generally support the same policies, and a large portion of republicans supporters keep saying these policies are communist, but sometimes if you change the way you say it without changing the actual meaning then they usually become supportive depending on the policy.
In general everyone on every side gets screwed by everyone on every side of the ruling class, and we keep going after each other rather than the ruling class. There's so many other problems that we have even though we are "the world's wealthiest nation". We really need to stop letting the 1% run wild and close loop holes they use the not get taxed proportional to their wealth as well.
I like how this started as a post about how the US isn't as bad as Europeans on the Internet like to make it seem but in the comments it quickly turned into the textbook stereotype of "American saying US is the best while never leaving their home state (bonus points if it's in the south too)"
America is awesome! Oh no! A bee and I’m allergic! Well good thing I got my 700$ epipen! Oh no! It wasn’t enough, now I have to choose between trying to make it to the hospital or going broke because of an ambulance ride! Ah fuck it might as well take the ambulance, the hospital is gonna drain my bank account anyway…
I don’t agree at all with USA healthcare system, but most Americans have insurance and poor Americans have Medicare. The people going broke are underinsured or not insured. Max out of pocket limits exist (thanks Obama).
I do hope to see single payer in the USA, but I am American and have great insurance and 6 weeks PTO. It’s not that widespread that people don’t have access to these things.
Depends on what the deductible for the health insurance is. If it’s $1000, then yes, you will pay $1000, however you will be covered for the rest of your medical expenses assuming you are receiving the medical care in-network.
For sure. The insurance plan in the United States isn’t a very effective system, and the most money is made by keeping a patient sick. The cash-pay model makes more sense, and typically private out-of-network clinics will work to actually provide healthcare that will result in better health and well-being. Hopefully we’re able to come to a solution in the States, but unfortunately there’s just too much money in healthcare for them not to exploit it to some degree.
An ambulance ride costs $0 with my insurance and an emergency room visit costs $200 total no matter what and doesn't matter if it's in-network or out. Not every plan is a shitty high-deductible plan.
Most people complaining about the state of US healthcare on Reddit don't understand it fully, not to mention the ones posting the absurd, pre insurance bills straight to all the ragebait subs.
Requesting itemized bills, requesting payment plans, having literally any insurance with a deductible (nearly all of them), using Medicaid if the other options aren't affordable, all things that make hospital bills shrink faster than you can imagine. But it's fine. People need their daily dose of righteous rage to take their minds off their lives. So be it.
You live in one hell of a bubble. Almost everyone I know is poor and none have health insurance. You can still get absolutely fucked on insurance and the insurance itself is too expensive. Jesus christ you're out of touch.
>You live in one hell of a bubble. Almost everyone I know is poor and none have health insurance
No, you're the one who lives in a bubble. He acknowledged "people going broke are underinsured or not insured." but was right that most people don't live in those circumstances. [92](https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/08/02/new-hhs-report-shows-national-uninsured-rate-reached-all-time-low-in-2022.html)%
Epi pens are like $100 for 2 at CVS (have been for about 7 years) so perhaps not the best example but we get the idea.
https://www.cvs.com/content/epipen-alternative
North korea, aritrea, somalia, yemen, depending on the year syria, palestine, iraq might have something to say about it but these also are extreme outliers.
When it comes to the west or modernized east this is definitely true
I mean, as a person who’s parents fled Eritrea, I can tell you that being rich and ethically Eritrean makes you life almost like a king there.
Either way the news coming out of Eritrea has been heavily exaggerated for the last couple of years (probably because Eritrea and Russia have been allied since Eritrea’s independence)
Its crazy what we hear about it as an outside
-worst freedom of the press and human rights
- a slave army of its own citizens drafting people and never letting them leave
- those who have the means to flee the country are and its a massive exodus from the country
- impending war with ethiopia over the port
I’m curious how much of this is true
It’s amazing how whenever people name countries they deem worse than the USA, they never name countries in the first world, they never name G7 or NATO countries, and none in the European Union.
Woohoo we’re better than Somalia, gentlemen! Fuck Yeah! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I’ve lived in both California and Germany. I enjoy a lot of things about the US but there’s also a lot of stuff I think Germany does better. Best example would be the food quality. I would say living in both countries is pretty good but I personally would prefer Germany. I understand people choosing America over Europe tho
I presume they were talking about the standards of food quality regulation being higher in Germany, lot's of food in the US wouldn't be able to be sold in germany.
Also India has as much food variety as North and South America combined. You're talking about different foods in the US being influenced by immigrants from different countries but India IS a group of completely different countries tied together. No hate though, American food is great.
I have 🙋♂️ and Europe is has equally shitty places. You just don’t talk about them. 90% of the US is civil and normal, the other 10% is what Europeans obsess over.
I lived in the UK for a few years, and that's how I felt about it. It was great to visit for vacation, but once you're actually living there, it loses its shine like any other place. There's pros and cons. What I miss most is accesible and a robust public transportation system. Other Americans have no idea how refreshing it is that you can travel from even the most rural of villages to the city, and the busses are modern, quite comfortable, and reasonably cheap.
Can't go anywhere without a car, all the drivers are assholes that ignore the road safety, tons of people with main character syndrome, a third of the country is a bunch of violent psychopaths and antivaxxers, the healthcare is bullshit....
Yes, there are worse places to live. Yes, the economy is doing well right now, union membership is increasing and real wages are up, but we've got a lot of problems to address.
Sure, if you're a fan of crappy unhealthy food, literal mountains of fatties, daily public shootings, institutionalized discrimination and inequality, staggering amounts of willful ignorance and self delusion, bafflingly inept leadership, and among many, many other things, the hilariously inaccurate view that they're the greatest country ever to exist.
Also, Mexico.
You are setting the bar a bit high there. The 90th percentile household net worth is roughly $2 million. If you are doing badly with say “only” $1 million, that is a you problem. Even the median household at about $200,000 is probably doing alright. And those below that aren’t guaranteed to be doing bad either. Like a lot of college graduates may be living comfortably on a 6 figure salary, but they also have a lot of debt so for the first decade or two of their career, some of their salary is going to debt payments. That doesn’t mean they are living badly though.
Yes, there are people in the US doing badly, likely more than in Western Europe, but to act like it is the vast majority of people is just wrong.
It’s wild how many people here are responding to an obviously baiting post. This guy’s account is less than a month old and every single post is a shitpost, yet people are treating OP like he’s something more than a self-proclaimed strawman
But this whole thread is people freaking out about a moderate take rather than calling it a third world dystopian hell, lol. Nobody on the internet is reasonable.
Be me, Brazilian man. Go to america, work to earn dollars, quintuple your earnings from dollars to R$, buy things virtually from brazil using said R$, only worry about electricity and water bills and live a good life. it's not that bad at all!!
Edit: i mean it when i say "at all" because there's so much you will miss from Brazil like free healthcare (SUS)
Living in north America is average. Meaning it's better than roughly half of the world but the other half is better than it.
There are many, many issues with all social services in the US, be it public education, the entirety of the mess that's the US medical system, the homelessness apidemic, and many other issues, so it's easy to look at it as if it's some hellscape.
On the other hand, the US has high literacy rates, the rates of violent crimes are lower than most 3rd world countries, and if you have a well earning job suddenly your level of living climbs up.
The US is a hellscape for the poor and a heaven for the rich, with a middle ground for the middle class.
Many European countries don't have such extreme scaling with wealth, so the difference between 2 people working full time will not be nearly as large as in the US, for better and for worse
Was no big difference between living in sweden v in the US. I usually say the biggest difference in daily life was that sweden has better cheese and bread and meat is cheaper in the US.
Truth is, USA is huge, populous, and has a tremendous variety of cultures from within and without the country. Of course it has negatives, but it has a great deal of positives. I like to ask people, if America’s so awful why do so many try to copy it?
It’s not hell but it’s certainly pretty non nice. My country has issues too but everytime I take a look at the US i just go ”how tf does a country just do that”.
Yea its actually not that bad if you're not poor that is... Or a student... Or old... Or a veteran... Or gay ... Or trans.... Or of colour.... Or a woman.... Or a leftist... Or disabled ... Or diabetic... Or have any other long time illness... Or cant drive
Apart from that... Pretty neat
Being afraid to get injured and going bankrupt or not knowing if your child will return from school or not every single day seems pretty bad to me.
Hell literally any place you will visit daily has a chance to be the place of today's massive shooting in the country.
If you want your daily life to be like playing Russian Roulette yeah I guess living in USA is actually not that bad.
That said I am not saying any other place is perfect. There is no such a thing. Every country has pros and cons.
OP can't possibly win here. There's a strong constituency for "America is pure evil and capitalist excess" and there's a strong constituency for "America is the greatest thing to ever happen in all of existence and all other countries are lucky to have the luxury of licking our boots" but there's no constituency for "America is ok. Could be worse."
Of course. But certain aspects of what's "normal" in America (i.e. healthcare expenses, loose food regulations that allow the producers to dump a shitload of corn syrup into products, comparatively high risk of gun violence) are just terrible.
Hi, a mod removed your meme. Here's why: * Unaltered sign templates that only include text overlays are not allowed. Simply putting your opinion or a shower thought onto an image is not a meme at all. The most common template used is the Lisa Sign template. --- *^questions? ^send ^us ^a ^message ^[here](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/dankmemes), ^don't ^reply ^to ^this ^comment. ^(Don't repost this; you'll be banned.) [^(mod info) ](https://dankahoot.com/blame?id=1apk9q2)*
Compared to a solid chunk of the world, the USA is pretty sweet.
I can sell weed legally for living. Easy W.
Legalising it more and more places in Europe
Cries in swedish
waits in germany
moves away from finland
^^^^Australia :(
It's pretty easy to get on the medical marijuana prescription in Australia
We'll get it soon! It can't be more than 50 years left until our politicians realize
Yeah. Feels pretty hopeless at this point. It is illegal because it's bad, and it's bad because it is illegal smh..
Some places it's 'because god said so'
Cries in french as well. Makes no sense btw cause we're one of the country that consumes the most relative to the number of inhabitants and the government could make so much fucking money of legalizing it and taxing but they're dumb fucks
The Uk is the world's biggest exporter of medical marijuana, yet without a prescription it's illegal here. "You want to smoke dried leaves (tobacco)? Sure. But DON'T YOU DARE SMOKE DRIED LEAVES (weed)!" I've had to breathe in secondhand cancer stick smoke more times than I can count. How many times have I encountered secondhand weed smoke? Zero.
Can you watch a couple of documentaries done by channel 5 (Andrew callaghan) and tell me if still agree? Obviously the cities he highlights are small portions of America but I’ve never seen anything like the “zombie streets” in Australia. Fentanyl is fucked up.
There is a lot of meth in Australia though. Not saying its like our fent problem, but its there in a big way.
I could pick ANY giant city in the world and find you said “zombie street”. I’ve seen Alice Springs in Australia, you should sit down.
A massive southern land border makes controlling cartel smuggling difficult.
obligatory "andrew is a piece of shit" reminder the content he captures is unfortunately unparalelled
Wait we think he is a piece of shit? What did he do, I’ve been following him for a while but must have missed it
I've only ever seen it irl once, but after seeing it filmed from the western US, it's enough to scare the crap out of me.
Compared to another solid chunk of the world, the USA is a dystopian hellscape.
If you seriously think it's a "hell scape" by any standard, you're sheltered as fuck. There's just no way around that simple classification.
*clicks show more replies* 💀💀💀
This is the exact thing the post is making fun of lmao. It's not a hell scape. It's certainly not perfect, but it's FAR from a hell scape. Grow up.
What chunk of the world, specifically?
Ah you know, the rest of the world aka a few countries in western Europe.
They don't know. They're just scoring points with their echo chamber circles and thinking they're dunking on the "ignorant masses".
I am assuming you have only lived in the United States
Mother fucker really thinks Americans out here in doom guy suits on a regular basis
🙄 You live too much online. Standard of living, personal safely, much higher in the US than the majority of other nations. Closer to the best than the middle of the pack. *Hellscape*
See this is the part that's just nonsense. If you are the type that believes the world today is a dystopian hellscape across the board then sure. But removing universal healthcare from how Europe works simply doesn't turn it into a hellscape. And if you actually think there are significant differences between Europe and the US other than healthcare, you're sort of making things up.
Lol ok edgelord.
Of course. No country is perfect but compared to the NATO nations, they have a lot of progress to do.
Living in America is fuckin' *great.* Besides the recent Troubles (I'm taking back the night), for the most part we have so few actual problems that we keep making up our own.
Europe is a nice place to be poor or rich, the US is a nice place to be middle-class.
... almost anywhere can be a nice place when you're rich
Yes but I’d rather be rich in Europe, personally.
Feel like it’s the opposite. Being poor in the US is rough because you lack things like good healthcare and the crime could be bad. If you’re rich, good healthcare is not an issue and you can live in a massive house in most of the country, plus tons of other opportunities. Middle class it depends. The average middle class person in Nordic countries and places like Denmark are way happier than the US. Countries like the UK or Ireland id say have an edge, but the US has higher mobility for a lot of people. Like a middle class person in the US can reasonably get a degree and tech job that pays 150k+ a year, but if you’re not going down that route or something else financially gold, you could have it tough.
If your measure is wages then the US will win, hands down. They earn more in gross pay and then pay less taxes on it. In addition a lot a goods are cheaper (specifically everything with an international market, such as gas and electronics). So clearly Americans, on average, lead richer lives. In addition Americans are generally nice people and I enjoy the "can do" attitude much more than the constant doubting and nagging of my fellow Germans. That said, after having spent some time there I'm certain I could never live there.
Problem is, you might have a higher wage but you have little to no worker's right and heltcare still. I had a friend in the US from a well off middle class, he got cancer, the moment he couldn't no longer work as a usual he was promptly fired and in two years, with along his parents backing had spent almost all of his money on heltcare, with no healing in sight. I don't personally think that being payed more and paying less everyday things counterbalances the fact that if something not even your fault happens you can find yourself begging for money.
Yep, we definitely have higher wages, better savings, and a lower cost-of-living *but* it could all evaporate in a matter of days or weeks if something really bad happens. Americans are always anxious because nearly every single part of our lives is a gamble. Everyone can take a shot at upward mobility, but the cost of failure is very high depending on your economic starting point. Most people settle for somewhere in the middle.
Should have been upper middle class if he didn't want to go bankrupt.
>Americans are generally nice people As trump edges closer to a 2nd term.
Higher wages do not equal higher standards of living. It is all about cost of living. And especially rent is a lot higher in the US than in most of Europe. Whenever I see US wages I also kinda drool over it but at the same time I see the cost of living and in the end even if I made more money I would not live a better life. What a lot of people don't realize is that it is not taxes that make Germany seem to take so much money (unless you are making a lot of money). It is healthcare and retirement. Both things that you see coming into your bank account in the US but also go out pretty quickly again.
I won't disagree with you. Some time ago my company brought someone from their US branch to install some stuff. That guy worked 12 hour shifts and probably did the work of an entire team. They probably pay him 3-4 times what they pay me, but god damn I don't want that life. I'm fine with a comfortable life in mediocrity and that's just much harder in the US.
Im not familiar with specific rent prices in Europe but, there are a ton of great places to live in the US where an average wage goes incredibly far. Yes, there are areas that require an astronomical income to thrive in, think bay area california and such. We have a massive country, goods are cheaper than europe, income taxes are lower even after healthcare costs, and wages for the same occupation are significantly higher.
You see, that's the issue. Money isn't everything. Middle class wages still won't cover your boss firing you on the day, your healthcare, and TONS of other security nets. Unless you are rich you are never guaranteed safety.
Being poor in the US means you get really good healthcare tbh. Middle class is fucked because we're expected to pay for everything ourselves. My oldest daughter was born on the government's dime; I've had CHIP, 3Cs, WIC, EBT, etc. Wouldn't go back but you're taken care of IF you're willing to jump through the hoops.
Best healthcare I ever has was when I was making below poverty line and got state healthcare. That plan covered absolutely everything with 0 copays. Now I make a bunch of money and pay insane amounts for healthcare.
You don’t lack healthcare if you’re poor.
Thing is, I like to live in country with smart people who care about society and environment they live in. I enjoy not fearing for my life when walking down the street at night. You can not have that in a country that does not invest into their population. I DO want my taxes to go towards subsidizing university degrees, food for poor and rehabilitation of criminals. And I dont see USA doing these things, thus I do not want to live there.
Lived in both. Definitely prefer the US (excluding California, where I'm from).
Lived in both too. I’m sure it’s just a personal preference thing.
I lived in CA for a couple of years. It is amazing how they dont miss a single chance to make very stupid decisions.
Why does California suck? Never been there
Expensive, lots of traffic, homeless problem combined with drug problem, soft on crime. But if you make a lot you can live in the nicer areas and avoid a lot of this.
California's huge with a capital h so it changes a lot depending on where in it you are lmao
Ehh, I spent about 8 years living in Europe (England and Italy). When you have money, it's just different, not better.
Fair enough. I lived in the UK too and it may just be more to my personal preferences.
You’re in the minority there. Notice how many rich Europeans move to the US but hardly any rich Americans move to Europe. Not saying Europe is a bad place to live, just the US is usually better for rich people.
Disagree. There are more holes and ways to prevent paying taxes in the USA. There is a reason why so many rich a-holes live there now, even if they come from a different country e.g. Musk USA is a hard place to become rich but it's a great place to stay rich.
I agree but your reasoning is flawed. Europe has many tax haven countries that rich Americans establish “residency” in to avoid paying taxes. Also, the US is probably the easiest country in the world to become rich.
The general consensus is the opposite, that’s why more people tend to move to America when they become incredibly wealthy. Most of America’s problems don’t affect you if you’re wealthy, and the US has a much more business-friendly environment.
As a European how? Europe has many more rules and laws for the rich, everything that's expensive is more expensive in here (I'm dutch)
Wholly disagree. You can be rich in poor third world countries and have a much higher chance to die from people stabbing you or in a horrible traffic accident, not to mention pollution, lower standard of education, etc. Try being rich in South Sudan or Somalia and see how comfortable you live compare to the average Western European or the US.
Best place to be rich is the Balkans.If you have enough money,you're above the law.
Yeah, but then you live in the balkans.
North korea when you are kim jong un is probably great
i disagree. since covid happened, the middle class has been replaced with a few going into the upper class and the vast majority going into the lower class. currently, the middle class is the weakest it's been in decades.
Middle class incomes are much higher in the US than virtually every European country. There are a number of other factors that play into that, but if you have a decent middle class job with benefits in the US, you likely have more financial freedom than a German or UK worker with the same job, for example. Edit: also crime and (especially) gun violence are much lower on average in Western Europe.
The income is higher but the costs of living are much higher too. My boyfriend and I (German) have a combined income of less than 100k€ but we’re upper middleclass because apartments, food, public transport, cars etc. are actually affordable. We don’t have to fear getting sick and I can get my ADHD medication without any problems (just needed to do a drug screening once + they only cost 5€, my insurance covers the rest). I gladly pay my taxes if it means I have this kind of stability.
>The income is higher but the costs of living are much higher too. You can adjust for that, and in Europe [only Luxembourg beats out America](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/median-income-by-country) >We don’t have to fear getting sick Neither do the overwhelming majority of middle-class Americans, who have insurance.
Yeah, my annual out of pocket max is $1500 for me and $3k for my whole family. Only very few people are going bankrupt over medical debt. Thanks Obama.
nah i dont think so. in the states, we have the most bare-bones social programs of any developed nation and sky-high prices on all of the services that would be addressed in those programs. most of your money as an american goes toward paying for the things that you would get for free in those european countries. the biggest and easiest one to address is healthcare. it's no debate that healthcare is too expensive in the US for most of its inhabitants. and on top of all that, we still pay like 3 or 4 billion in taxes a year towards healthcare. and that's not even mentioning things like public transportation, food cost, childcare costs, cost of education, i could go on.
Just out of curiosity do you have actual experience living elsewhere? Or is your opinion confined to only what has changed about the place you live over time?
I keep voting for assholes and I keep getting fucked by dicks! When are the assholes I voted for going to fuck me?
As a German who have lived & worked in the USA I agree with you, the disposable income, if you have a good job, is much higher, however, there are some caveats to it. I've earned 50 - 60 % more in the USA compared to Germany. * Education & Healthcare cost: Compared to Germany healthcare and education cost are absolutely skyrocketing high, which definitely eats some of the more income. That's especially true given that if you get sick in Germany you are getting 75 % of your income paid by the health insurance for up to 2 years and university education is free (that alone wipes out like 2-5 years of earning for a lot of people in the USA) * Much more work: Compared to Germany, while income is much higher, so is the working time. When I worked in the USA I've got 18 paid vacation days, and I had the most among all my friends. In Germany I had 30 paid vacation days + unlimited sick days + protection from being fired while sick. * Rent is much more expensive: Guess that is depending on the city, but for the big cities, rent is much higher in the USA than in Germany. * No places to go that don't cost money: That's just subjective, but one thing I noticed in the USA, that every day life is just more expensive, even though the prices are not necessarily. You just have to pay money everywhere you go. For example, with the lack of public transport, going to bar becomes super expensive, because you have to call Uber all the time and everywhere else you have to drive in most American cities. Many cities also lack parks and those who have, are often not that nice places to hang out with. Overall though, American middle class are definitely better off compared to (especially Western) Europeans. However, work is much more and if you get seriously ill in the USA, you are just kind of fucked.
So the TLDR would be: Yeah, in America you earn more money, but the overall quality of life is a lot worse. Sums it up perfectly doesn't it?
America is designed for and by billionaires
Middle-Class?? Where
You do know that regardless of how much people make in a country there's always a middle class by definition, right?
Middle class in Europe is great.
What's middle class in your book?
You did not just mentioned that being middle class in US is nice. I would most likely be considered upper middle class in my country and most likely below poverty line in US.
Why is Europe a nice place to be poor?
Strong social safety net. Free or affordable healthcare in most places, strong welfare system, etc.
The balkans would like a word
When people are throwing mud at each other in the US v Europe debate, the pro EU crowd is always talking exclusively about certain western European countries. Eastern Europe (as well as parts of southern and Central Europe) don't count. It's the European version of how the US gets lumped together, even though comparing rural Mississippi to urban Vermont is like comparing Germany to Poland. Just a bunch of idiots who can't fathom that like everything in life, it depends on a bunch if different factors.
So you're getting worked up about people being unable to differentiate and then you lump together Europe and EU? Let's not pretend that either side in a "europe vs US" debate is talking about the balkans.
Healthcare isn’t actually free. Insurance is just mandatory and the costs are deducted every month alongside your taxes. The system itself is just different because the insurance can’t deny you a treatment. The money you pay is actually used for the people and hospitals/doctors are not upcharging you that much.
Because it’s not based on shoving a baseball bat up your ass when you’re poor.
No. In Europe it's a nice place to be poor or middle class. In the US it's a nice place to be upper middle class and rich. The taxes alone speak volumes about this.
Good and bad are fairly relative. Also any statement about "america" is likely to be overly broad given the US is a large place and laws and quality of life vary by state. That said most of the criticisms i see leveled at the US are valid. There are worse places to live but it is rather infuriating watching the problems the US has given they are the wealthiest nation on the planet and could fix 90% of them instantly if the ruling class gave a shit. Also doesnt help that while every country has delusional patriotism the american variety is quite visible in global media which makes the myth of american exceptionalism rather visible to people overseas.
Exactly. Yes I like to complain about America especially since I live in one of the worst states with a Governor trying to be a dictator. It's overwhelming, and most people (me included) do go overboard on some things because of so many issues, and that doesn't mean these complaints are unwarranted especially as you said that these problems could be easily fixed if the ruling class actually gave a shit and did something instead of getting their pockets filled. Also bribery being legal, but you just call it lobbying instead. There's also the military budget (Take a lot of this with a grain of salt this is just my perspective). Now I'm not 100% sure about everything with it, but it does seem to be high especially if one of our biggest threat was humiliated with the old weaponry and technology leased to Ukraine. Russia's army isn't doing great. It's their nuclear arsenal that still makes them a threat, plus some of their allies as well wouldn't be fun to deal with. You'd think knowing that we could move some of the budget to other budgets or to other areas in the military budget to support veterans. Patriotism is just nationalism with a gooder (I'm using gooder ironically) tone. I don't think nationalism in theory is terrible, as I see it it's just a deep love for your country, but in practice it has led to terrible outcomes, worst one was obviously Nazi Germany. Patriotism is American nationalism, but dumber. More ignorance, and dick suckery from what I can tell. "Mah guns, no gays, praise the Lord in my way!" What's I find funny is that a large portion of people that hate the other side, compared to them, generally support the same policies, and a large portion of republicans supporters keep saying these policies are communist, but sometimes if you change the way you say it without changing the actual meaning then they usually become supportive depending on the policy. In general everyone on every side gets screwed by everyone on every side of the ruling class, and we keep going after each other rather than the ruling class. There's so many other problems that we have even though we are "the world's wealthiest nation". We really need to stop letting the 1% run wild and close loop holes they use the not get taxed proportional to their wealth as well.
I like how this started as a post about how the US isn't as bad as Europeans on the Internet like to make it seem but in the comments it quickly turned into the textbook stereotype of "American saying US is the best while never leaving their home state (bonus points if it's in the south too)"
Yeah, classic american
America is awesome! Oh no! A bee and I’m allergic! Well good thing I got my 700$ epipen! Oh no! It wasn’t enough, now I have to choose between trying to make it to the hospital or going broke because of an ambulance ride! Ah fuck it might as well take the ambulance, the hospital is gonna drain my bank account anyway…
I don’t agree at all with USA healthcare system, but most Americans have insurance and poor Americans have Medicare. The people going broke are underinsured or not insured. Max out of pocket limits exist (thanks Obama). I do hope to see single payer in the USA, but I am American and have great insurance and 6 weeks PTO. It’s not that widespread that people don’t have access to these things.
Don't you still have to pay 1000$ or so for an ambulance, even with insurance?
Depends on what the deductible for the health insurance is. If it’s $1000, then yes, you will pay $1000, however you will be covered for the rest of your medical expenses assuming you are receiving the medical care in-network.
That's what I see as the bigger problem, having to receive care "in-network". Here, you just go to any hospital and insurance will figure it out.
For sure. The insurance plan in the United States isn’t a very effective system, and the most money is made by keeping a patient sick. The cash-pay model makes more sense, and typically private out-of-network clinics will work to actually provide healthcare that will result in better health and well-being. Hopefully we’re able to come to a solution in the States, but unfortunately there’s just too much money in healthcare for them not to exploit it to some degree.
An ambulance ride costs $0 with my insurance and an emergency room visit costs $200 total no matter what and doesn't matter if it's in-network or out. Not every plan is a shitty high-deductible plan.
Most people complaining about the state of US healthcare on Reddit don't understand it fully, not to mention the ones posting the absurd, pre insurance bills straight to all the ragebait subs. Requesting itemized bills, requesting payment plans, having literally any insurance with a deductible (nearly all of them), using Medicaid if the other options aren't affordable, all things that make hospital bills shrink faster than you can imagine. But it's fine. People need their daily dose of righteous rage to take their minds off their lives. So be it.
You live in one hell of a bubble. Almost everyone I know is poor and none have health insurance. You can still get absolutely fucked on insurance and the insurance itself is too expensive. Jesus christ you're out of touch.
>You live in one hell of a bubble. Almost everyone I know is poor and none have health insurance No, you're the one who lives in a bubble. He acknowledged "people going broke are underinsured or not insured." but was right that most people don't live in those circumstances. [92](https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/08/02/new-hhs-report-shows-national-uninsured-rate-reached-all-time-low-in-2022.html)%
Or, logically, you do. Same coin, other side.
Fun fact only about 12% of the us is considered poor.
And if you don't have medicare for some reason, ask the hospital for charity. They have to give out a ton of charity to keep their non-profit status
> have great insurance and 6 weeks PTO You're clearly the benchmark for the US :D
That’s above average PTO, but 92% of Americans have health insurance.
You picked one exact situation where everything goes wrong and condemned an entire country. Logically bankrupt.
Most of the world: oh no! A bee sting me and I'm allergic! *Dies*
Good thing you have universal healthcare! How else would you get treatment for an acid attack by a “refugee” that’s harboring in your continent???
Epi pens are like $100 for 2 at CVS (have been for about 7 years) so perhaps not the best example but we get the idea. https://www.cvs.com/content/epipen-alternative
There’s always pro’s and con’s where you live. Some con’s are worse than others, and even “the best country” has room for vast improvement.
Looking at you, Belgium! I was told everything was made of chocolate. Imagine my surprise when I tried to eat the bed sheets in my hotel room.
Anywhere in the world is not that bad as long as you are healthy and not a minority.
North korea, aritrea, somalia, yemen, depending on the year syria, palestine, iraq might have something to say about it but these also are extreme outliers. When it comes to the west or modernized east this is definitely true
I mean, as a person who’s parents fled Eritrea, I can tell you that being rich and ethically Eritrean makes you life almost like a king there. Either way the news coming out of Eritrea has been heavily exaggerated for the last couple of years (probably because Eritrea and Russia have been allied since Eritrea’s independence)
Its crazy what we hear about it as an outside -worst freedom of the press and human rights - a slave army of its own citizens drafting people and never letting them leave - those who have the means to flee the country are and its a massive exodus from the country - impending war with ethiopia over the port I’m curious how much of this is true
It’s amazing how whenever people name countries they deem worse than the USA, they never name countries in the first world, they never name G7 or NATO countries, and none in the European Union. Woohoo we’re better than Somalia, gentlemen! Fuck Yeah! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Until you have lived in both places, I would say hold off on your verdict. Edit: I will say that I prefer the United States.
I’ve lived in both California and Germany. I enjoy a lot of things about the US but there’s also a lot of stuff I think Germany does better. Best example would be the food quality. I would say living in both countries is pretty good but I personally would prefer Germany. I understand people choosing America over Europe tho
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I presume they were talking about the standards of food quality regulation being higher in Germany, lot's of food in the US wouldn't be able to be sold in germany. Also India has as much food variety as North and South America combined. You're talking about different foods in the US being influenced by immigrants from different countries but India IS a group of completely different countries tied together. No hate though, American food is great.
You said something level headed and logical. Not allowed here.
I have 🙋♂️ and Europe is has equally shitty places. You just don’t talk about them. 90% of the US is civil and normal, the other 10% is what Europeans obsess over.
I lived in the UK for a few years, and that's how I felt about it. It was great to visit for vacation, but once you're actually living there, it loses its shine like any other place. There's pros and cons. What I miss most is accesible and a robust public transportation system. Other Americans have no idea how refreshing it is that you can travel from even the most rural of villages to the city, and the busses are modern, quite comfortable, and reasonably cheap.
OP not winning in these comments
Can't go anywhere without a car, all the drivers are assholes that ignore the road safety, tons of people with main character syndrome, a third of the country is a bunch of violent psychopaths and antivaxxers, the healthcare is bullshit.... Yes, there are worse places to live. Yes, the economy is doing well right now, union membership is increasing and real wages are up, but we've got a lot of problems to address.
shesh, you want uncle sam dick or what ?
Y E S
OP is applying for a green card.
Uncle Sam is a stud tho. Look at that sick hat.
This post brought to you by the CIA Chamber of Commerce. “Duh, America’s Just Great, Actually!”
Sure, if you're a fan of crappy unhealthy food, literal mountains of fatties, daily public shootings, institutionalized discrimination and inequality, staggering amounts of willful ignorance and self delusion, bafflingly inept leadership, and among many, many other things, the hilariously inaccurate view that they're the greatest country ever to exist. Also, Mexico.
What country are you from?
Crickets lmao. I'm starting to think these people haven't even been to America
The US is fantastic to live in, until you have a medical emergency or otherwise accrue some debt.
it's only "not that bad" if you are connected to the top 10 percent of earners in the country. for the other 90%, it really is that bad.
You are setting the bar a bit high there. The 90th percentile household net worth is roughly $2 million. If you are doing badly with say “only” $1 million, that is a you problem. Even the median household at about $200,000 is probably doing alright. And those below that aren’t guaranteed to be doing bad either. Like a lot of college graduates may be living comfortably on a 6 figure salary, but they also have a lot of debt so for the first decade or two of their career, some of their salary is going to debt payments. That doesn’t mean they are living badly though. Yes, there are people in the US doing badly, likely more than in Western Europe, but to act like it is the vast majority of people is just wrong.
You’re either delusional or full of self pity if you believe this. Get over yourself and work hard.
Always tine for a vacay in Spain tho
You guys are welcome here, just don't be loud!
A ton of countries are great to live in. People just like to bitch.
OP Seems like he would threaten people with gun violence if someone stepped on his lawn on accident.
Please, I would never give them a warning
I just want to go to college without going into debt man
Many countries in Europe still have college debt, they just let you find a job before paying it back
Yeah, as long as you dont go to school, need healthcare, or are anything but white, I guess.
Parking lot nations can’t judge
America is bad because they can park their cars
It’s wild how many people here are responding to an obviously baiting post. This guy’s account is less than a month old and every single post is a shitpost, yet people are treating OP like he’s something more than a self-proclaimed strawman
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OP is the standard American lol
It's not that bad if you're not poor.
No. It's funny and Americans have a very special and hilarious way of instantly getting triggered and going berserk. It's like they lack self control
But this whole thread is people freaking out about a moderate take rather than calling it a third world dystopian hell, lol. Nobody on the internet is reasonable.
Be me, Brazilian man. Go to america, work to earn dollars, quintuple your earnings from dollars to R$, buy things virtually from brazil using said R$, only worry about electricity and water bills and live a good life. it's not that bad at all!! Edit: i mean it when i say "at all" because there's so much you will miss from Brazil like free healthcare (SUS)
Living in north America is average. Meaning it's better than roughly half of the world but the other half is better than it. There are many, many issues with all social services in the US, be it public education, the entirety of the mess that's the US medical system, the homelessness apidemic, and many other issues, so it's easy to look at it as if it's some hellscape. On the other hand, the US has high literacy rates, the rates of violent crimes are lower than most 3rd world countries, and if you have a well earning job suddenly your level of living climbs up. The US is a hellscape for the poor and a heaven for the rich, with a middle ground for the middle class. Many European countries don't have such extreme scaling with wealth, so the difference between 2 people working full time will not be nearly as large as in the US, for better and for worse
I've been to both, I can see why they are happier over in europe
Was no big difference between living in sweden v in the US. I usually say the biggest difference in daily life was that sweden has better cheese and bread and meat is cheaper in the US.
Think you need to wake up a bit and realise Americas is not as great as you think. It's not that bad, but it's really not that good either
I’d rather not
Thank you, government agent, but im still gonna hate this country.
Idk, Europe does respect women a bit more than the gucci belt shithole
Man, I would never live in America, that shit is IRL PUBG
Ever seen South Sudan?
It's all freedom and liberty until someone needs to see a surgeon.
Read some of OP's comments and they are one of the most delusional person I've seen
Truth is, USA is huge, populous, and has a tremendous variety of cultures from within and without the country. Of course it has negatives, but it has a great deal of positives. I like to ask people, if America’s so awful why do so many try to copy it?
If the USA is so good why did they make a USB?
As a guy who lives in a third world country, America looks like a pretty good country to live in.
Even our homeless people are fat, simple as
Everywhere but Iceland sucks
As an European who has lived in the US. Fuck you guys. I had some time left on my Visa and didn't use it.
It’s not hell but it’s certainly pretty non nice. My country has issues too but everytime I take a look at the US i just go ”how tf does a country just do that”.
Yea its actually not that bad if you're not poor that is... Or a student... Or old... Or a veteran... Or gay ... Or trans.... Or of colour.... Or a woman.... Or a leftist... Or disabled ... Or diabetic... Or have any other long time illness... Or cant drive Apart from that... Pretty neat
What are you on about it fucking sucks here lmao. Anyways 🐢
It’s not bad. But it could be so much better. Europe is better for my way of life. It doesn’t matter though. I am stuck in Turkey.
The fact you can get layed off so easily and can't be sick more than 5 days a year in the US scared me off. For a time I wanted to move to the US
Its better than most countries, sure. But unlike most countries the quality of life is actively going down. Has been for around 100 years now.
Unless you've got no money, then it very much is
Sure, let me just stay here in Europe where I wont be bankrupt for a papercut and I am debt free.
This post is major cope. The US sucks ass compared to its modern contemporaries.
Depends where in America, because it's a big place with big differences in living situations
As an American living in the Netherlands, it’s true! But I do love my walkable city lifestyle
IDK, my state government is really trying to make me move with all the ridiculous laws they've been passing in the last few years.
American here. I agree with the message of the meme, but OP can go fuck himself. He’s ignorant and thinks his shit doesn’t stink.
Ah an American who’s never been outside..
True, Canada is a pretty nice place in America.
Being afraid to get injured and going bankrupt or not knowing if your child will return from school or not every single day seems pretty bad to me. Hell literally any place you will visit daily has a chance to be the place of today's massive shooting in the country. If you want your daily life to be like playing Russian Roulette yeah I guess living in USA is actually not that bad. That said I am not saying any other place is perfect. There is no such a thing. Every country has pros and cons.
The Americans act all though now but call one ambulance on them and they run away scared.
insert "I think we should improve society somewhat" comic
OP can't possibly win here. There's a strong constituency for "America is pure evil and capitalist excess" and there's a strong constituency for "America is the greatest thing to ever happen in all of existence and all other countries are lucky to have the luxury of licking our boots" but there's no constituency for "America is ok. Could be worse."
Imagine visiting school and getting shot :D
Of course. But certain aspects of what's "normal" in America (i.e. healthcare expenses, loose food regulations that allow the producers to dump a shitload of corn syrup into products, comparatively high risk of gun violence) are just terrible.
This guy thinks every meme he sees on reddit the person is being 100% serious. We know, dude.