USA Bashing

[nodegree]

Yeah tall buildings are no attraction in NYC as rest of the world has caught up. You got gleamy and artistic skyscrapers in Dubai, HK and Mumbai.

If NYC is a dump, BA is getting worse. It is still clean but traffic is a nightmare. Public transport is close to nil or you got the last mile problem. So everyone ends up in a car clogging the freeways. Last few years I had wfh, so I could escape the pain. Then CoL has gone out of control. Nowadays a basic SFH costs $2M and up. Actually you need $3-4M for something spacious and in nice neighborhood with good schools. This forces both H&W to work in top companies like FAANG or Nvidia. Then you should be lucky to get RSU and options at low price and sell them high. Alternatively if you go up to VP level then may be you can afford these homes. Otherwise forget it - you will be stuck in a 1100 sqft apartment paying $4K-$5K.

With Desi family lifestyle of multiple classes there will be nothing left at the end of the month. One can move to TX or other states but the opportunities in BA for IT is unmatched. With all companies asking RTO, location matters. It is a financial stress and always worried what if you get laid off. Can you afford mortgage with single income? If you go further out, your commute will be 2 hrs one way. During Covid many Desis bought big SFH in Mt House and Tracy thinking they will wfh forever. Now they are crying as the commute is a killer.

Bay Area (and US overall) is an endless rat race. I recently was in Europe. People make 40-60k Euros there and somehow look better, dress better, seem happier and more relaxed. I think one way to get ahead in the US is to move to low COL and take 2 or more remote jobs. They are still out there, especially if you are willing to entertain desi consultants. Plenty of jobs in the 120-150k range and you can easily do two at a time (unless you need visa). No benefits or job security, but then again, Full time also has no job security nowadays.

They do have more walkable cities and don't have a car centric lifestyle. There's no doubt Europe has a better quality of life, but I don't know about happiness - it's very subjective. I remember reading Nordic countries have some of the highest suicide rates.

Without the rat race in the US how will corporations post their record profits, produce unprecedented growth and create more billionaires? Europe is a museum as they say in finance..

[r2somewhere]

They do have more walkable cities and don't have a car centric lifestyle. There's no doubt Europe has a better quality of life, but I don't know about happiness - it's very subjective. I remember reading Nordic countries have some of the highest suicide rates.

Without the rat race in the US how will corporations post their record profits, produce unprecedented growth and create more billionaires? Europe is a museum as they say in finance..

Its my anecdotal experience and that of many others. People are easy going and happier in Europe. Now you could say thats just in tourist bubbles. But go to any tourist spot in US, like NYC and see how happy people look. They look miserable. In Europe, people are smiling and greeting each other and tourists.

[nodegree]

They do have more walkable cities and don't have a car centric lifestyle. There's no doubt Europe has a better quality of life, but I don't know about happiness - it's very subjective. I remember reading Nordic countries have some of the highest suicide rates.

Without the rat race in the US how will corporations post their record profits, produce unprecedented growth and create more billionaires? Europe is a museum as they say in finance..

Its my anecdotal experience and that of many others. People are easy going and happier in Europe. Now you could say thats just in tourist bubbles. But go to any tourist spot in US, like NYC and see how happy people look. They look miserable. In Europe, people are smiling and greeting each other and tourists.

They have to! Tourism is the only industry Europe's got . Have to crank up the quaint and talk up the rich history.

[r2somewhere]

They have to! Tourism is the only industry Europe's got . Have to crank up the quaint and talk up the rich history.

Tourism is 8-12% of GDP of western Europe. I suspect there is something else happening in that remaining 88-92%?

[nodegree]

They have to! Tourism is the only industry Europe's got . Have to crank up the quaint and talk up the rich history.

Tourism is 8-12% of GDP of western Europe. I suspect there is something else happening in that remaining 88-92%?

I suppose they still sell champagne and expensive luxury hand bags.

Edit: Just checked, tourism barely makes 2% of USA GDP. So it's definitely a bigger deal for Europeans than Americans.

[SAPPORO]

They have to! Tourism is the only industry Europe's got . Have to crank up the quaint and talk up the rich history.

Tourism is 8-12% of GDP of western Europe. I suspect there is something else happening in that remaining 88-92%?

I suppose they still sell champagne and expensive luxury hand bags.

Edit: Just checked, tourism barely makes 2% of USA GDP. So it's definitely a bigger deal for Europeans than Americans.

Every small town including even Pisa, especially in Italy have a luxury street gawking all kinds of designer stuff. The luxury lane itself is surrounded by filth all around.

[r2somewhere]

I suppose they still sell champagne and expensive luxury hand bags.

Edit: Just checked, tourism barely makes 2% of USA GDP. So it's definitely a bigger deal for Europeans than Americans.

Just goes to show that they enjoy life . They have the Americans, Chinese and Indians hustling for them

[Returning_Indian]

They have to! Tourism is the only industry Europe's got . Have to crank up the quaint and talk up the rich history.

Tourism is 8-12% of GDP of western Europe. I suspect there is something else happening in that remaining 88-92%?

Its not about tourism. Even in touristic areas you will not find over commercialization. It's about being content with life. They live in smaller houses, small roads, small cars, nearby vacations, smaller eating portions etc etc. They are not aspiring to live life king size. In addition, they are concerned about environment. They recycle lot more and try to limit their consumption. I noticed their view of life is not over consuming. I also noticed they do not glamorise rich lifestyle. They are more concerned about hapiness and living life and not amassing wealth. Plus they build safety net for society. I also noticed that they take good care of their homeless and poor than America. Family values are much more prevalent. Religion plays bigger role. Evryone takes their vacations very seriously. 1 month of leave during summer is absolutely must. Then another couple of weeks here n there and then during Christmas. US would not give anything more than 2weeks. France gives you unemployment for 2-3yrs if you are laid off. Paternal leaves are very long. Overall philosophy of life is different. Hustle to go somewhere is just not there.

I always felt Americans know how to make money by selling everything everywhere. Europeans on other hand know how to live life. Desi mindset is more aligned with US as we are in race to hoard money without any objective.

[nodegree]

Hey, there's no denying that Europeans created nice walkable cities and enjoy an overall relaxed lifestyle. I too wish Americans ditched them guns and other entrapments like SUVs & McMansions, but here we are.

It's futile to compare Europe and America. It should be noted that the aristocratic families still control most of the wealth and power in europe whose lineages can be traced back to the middle ages. In the states, wealth is much more dynamic and changes hands frequently. The Vanderbilts owned most of America in the 19th century and yet poor Anderson Cooper (who is a Vanderbilt) today has to work every day at CNN to make his millions.

It's nothing new, Alexis De Tocqueville observed the same difference in behavior even back in 1830s. His astute observation was that give a European hustler one million pounds, he shall retire as a clerk living comfortably the rest of his life. Give an American one million, he shall go back to the hustle trying to make ten million.

[r2somewhere]

Its not about tourism. Even in touristic areas you will not find over commercialization. It's about being content with life. They live in smaller houses, small roads, small cars, nearby vacations, smaller eating portions etc etc. They are not aspiring to live life king size. In addition, they are concerned about environment. They recycle lot more and try to limit their consumption. I noticed their view of life is not over consuming. I also noticed they do not glamorise rich lifestyle. They are more concerned about hapiness and living life and not amassing wealth. Plus they build safety net for society. I also noticed that they take good care of their homeless and poor than America. Family values are much more prevalent. Religion plays bigger role. Evryone takes their vacations very seriously. 1 month of leave during summer is absolutely must. Then another couple of weeks here n there and then during Christmas. US would not give anything more than 2weeks. France gives you unemployment for 2-3yrs if you are laid off. Paternal leaves are very long. Overall philosophy of life is different. Hustle to go somewhere is just not there.

I always felt Americans know how to make money by selling everything everywhere. Europeans on other hand know how to live life. Desi mindset is more aligned with US as we are in race to hoard money without any objective.

Agreed on everything except a big one - religion plays a much smaller role in Western Europe than America. The US, being rural, has always been more religious.

Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads ... europeans/

Even Italy, the home of the Vatican has a smaller %ge of religious people than the US.