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Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

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Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#191

Post by Daishiman »

seibelj wrote: post #183
eertami wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are mostly just pointing out the very objective losses to quality of life in the US compared to Europe, which is a fair answer to the original question. And day to day quality of life has nothing to do with geopolitics for most people. US just simply ranks far lower than Central Europe and the Nordics in these measurements. A lot of it is just city planning and infrastructure.

Norway has 5 million people, insane gas reserves, is a monoculture of ethnically similar people, has basically no immigration to speak of, and owns 2% of every publicly traded country worth a damn. I can’t believe anyone would point to this country smaller than a single metro area of the USA as something that is replicable.

Ok, take Spain. Quality of life there is just substantially better than pretty much all of the US.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#192

Post by Daishiman »

etempleton wrote: post #189

Interesting to hear peoples perception of America on here. A lot seems to be based off a short visit or reading online comments of disgruntled Americans. Additionally, some of the issues outlined, such as the gym membership issue, I have never experienced in my entire life nor know anyone who has had that issue. If you have visited you probably went to one of 3-4 cities or a tourist attraction, neither is really indi…

How about us who have lived in the US and have been coming and going since the 90s as well as having done that in a few places in Europe too?

The 90s were peak US. The last 6 years have seen a very, very quick decline.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#193

Post by Daishiman »

binarymax wrote: post #80
guerrilla wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I'm talking about, it's just a completely accurate description and you're freaking out saying it said things that it didn't say! Zero things in it are false, but what you're claiming is: > massive alcohol and narcotic dependency issues This is a fact and it's not "[you're] all drug addicts and burning your own houses to the ground." The only way you can get upset is to straw man it really hard.

I find it hilarious that you think I’m freaking out. I’m laying in bed listening to the birds chirp, trying to provide some level commentary. I read the top comment and chuckled hard. It’s not even close to real. Social media is amplifying some really skewed info. Try living here, it’s beautiful.

It might be beautiful _for you_. Nobody's saying you can't find a lot of beautiful places and experiences in the US. But it's marred by a degree of neuroticism that explains why so many people I know in the US have friends with issues with drug dependency and overuse (prescribes and illegal), health issues, and vibe that goes between depressing and fake.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#194

Post by Daishiman »

parkingrift wrote: post #158
guerrilla wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I'm talking about, it's just a completely accurate description and you're freaking out saying it said things that it didn't say! Zero things in it are false, but what you're claiming is: > massive alcohol and narcotic dependency issues This is a fact and it's not "[you're] all drug addicts and burning your own houses to the ground." The only way you can get upset is to straw man it really hard.

>massive alcohol and narcotic dependency issues >this is a fact Do you actually believe it is a fact that the US suffers from “massive alcohol and narcotic dependency issues?” If so you need to reconsider the definition of a fact and/or reconsider your sources of information. Absurd hyperbole which is outright detached from reality regurgitated by you as fact. And you have the nerve to tell this other person they’re…

It's not absurd. When I was in elementary in the US 20 years ago I was _astounded_ at how medicated children were and how many kids suffered from the most random allergies.

It's not poverty in the classical sense of a third-world country for sure. Doesn't make it any better.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#195

Post by kongolongo »

feet wrote: post #116
guerrilla wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about, health care for the elderly is terrible! I guess you've never had to take care of an old person in the US? And never been exposed to northern European healthcare?

You bring up a good point, even though the US spends the most per capita on health care we actually have the worst outcomes https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0252_health_outcomes_spen...

Every time this stat is brought up I always think it doesn't convey the full context. Even though its in terms of per capita, it's still an absolute amount, I think a better data point to illustrate if the US was overspending compared to outcomes would be what % of disposable income is spent on healthcare vs outcomes.

For example, let's say the US spent 2x on healthcare as some country, but had 4x the disposable income, would this still be overspending or would it be more efficient given the amount relative to income? The closest I can find is health spending as % of GDP but that doesn't capture what a person's income, since it includes government spending too, so it obfuscates whether or not the inefficiency (if any) lies in private or public healthcare in the US.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#196

Post by pkb »

Markoff wrote: post #103
pkb wrote: post #68

Do not go. Here's why: 1) You have no network in the US. You will have to start from scratch. Remember how you started. Multiply difficulty level by 2. And you're not going to be any younger. 2) Salaries for perm positions being "significantly lower" in the US than in EU. This nullifies gains from moving to the US. Add cost of moving everything over long range by plane/cargo ship. 3) Healthcare cost. My friend asked…

who would pay 13000$ for one tooth? that can cover air tickets, vacation, tooth job and extra money to save in most of the world including most EU countries, that's insane price

...that was end user price, after factoring in private insurance plan. For 13000, you can buy tickets in both directions, vacation, tooth job - and buy local car in the target country if renting one exceeds 1000 usd [1].

[1] https://extra.ie/2022/06/12/news/tourists-cancelling-trips-t...

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#197

Post by seibelj »

Daishiman wrote: post #191
seibelj wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Norway has 5 million people, insane gas reserves, is a monoculture of ethnically similar people, has basically no immigration to speak of, and owns 2% of every publicly traded country worth a damn. I can’t believe anyone would point to this country smaller than a single metro area of the USA as something that is replicable.

Ok, take Spain. Quality of life there is just substantially better than pretty much all of the US.

No post body was provided.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#198

Post by serjester »

cameronperot wrote: post #93

I'm an American (Texan) who has been living in Germany for the past 6 years. I would suggest to consider the culture and lifestyle more than the work, as those will play a much larger role in your happiness and satisfaction. It sounds cliché, but money doesn't necessarily buy happiness. I enjoy living in German/European cities significantly more than I did living in big cities in Texas (I can't speak for the East Coa…

As a counterpoint I had a knife randomly pulled on me earlier this week in Munich. I’m sure this could have happened in the US too but I wouldn’t call Germany free from violent crime.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#199

Post by feet »

guerrilla wrote: post #188
feet wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason its not effective is because most of the money doesn't actually do anything, that's literally what profit is Profiteering leeches resources from a system to benefit a small number of people at the expense of the rest of the healthcare system In my opinion, please excuse my language, but it's fucking insane

Unfortunately it's starting to happen here too. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to make these arguments at the rate we're privatizing and contracting out things... Might end up just as bad here in the long term.

It's the whole reason for the UK tube strikes right now too, and the media is trying to paint the union guy as some Marxist villain when they just want decent wages

The whole thing is totally absurd and short sighted, it's damaging to society. This is why there's more stability in some EU countries. We shouldn't be sacrificing stability for profits, that's a terrible idea. We need a stable populace to make stable progress and have a robust system that lasts for generations

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#200

Post by feet »

kongolongo wrote: post #195
feet wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You bring up a good point, even though the US spends the most per capita on health care we actually have the worst outcomes https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0252_health_outcomes_spen...

Every time this stat is brought up I always think it doesn't convey the full context. Even though its in terms of per capita, it's still an absolute amount, I think a better data point to illustrate if the US was overspending compared to outcomes would be what % of disposable income is spent on healthcare vs outcomes. For example, let's say the US spent 2x on healthcare as some country, but had 4x the disposable inco…

Why would that even matter?
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