411–420 of 424 posts
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With the only caveat being to get that next contract. Not that I'm disagreeing with you, it is the way to go. You just need the constant stream of work, which is easier said then done.
...and the other caveat of trying to obtain medical coverage.
No heathcare, no vacation, can get fired with no notice, crap public transport, astronomical crime rate, dubious legal freedoms. Why is it you guys pay your government again?
But that's all I can think of. And you missed "slow broadband".
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The US and UK are both bad examples. Here in Aus we have universal healthcare and private - if you want to jump waiting lines or have carpet on the waiting room floor, pull out your wallet and go private. There are a few problems, but there is no perfect health system as there is always more demand than supply.
Interestingly, on the European continent, carpet is considered a bit shit.
No heathcare, no vacation, can get fired with no notice, crap public transport, astronomical crime rate, dubious legal freedoms. Why is it you guys pay your government again?
High salaries; cheap consumer goods; teenagers on the street are polite, and shop assistants can count and spell. But that's all I can think of. And you missed "slow broadband".
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Interestingly, on the European continent, carpet is considered a bit shit.
Your ideas intrigue me ... seriously, I'd like to know more about this. Which nationalities are you speaking for, and in which contexts? For example, I believe Americans think Brits are very odd for having fitted carpets in bathrooms.
We Irish have for a long time tended to avoid carpet in bathrooms, but maybe we just don't piss as straight.
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High salaries; cheap consumer goods; teenagers on the street are polite, and shop assistants can count and spell. But that's all I can think of. And you missed "slow broadband".
Okay - 1 and 2 make sense; teenagers: are they really polite? my sarcasm detector is off - if comparing it to the scumbag quotient of the British Isles then I totally see where you are coming from; can shop assistants count and spell better?
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Okay - 1 and 2 make sense; teenagers: are they really polite? my sarcasm detector is off - if comparing it to the scumbag quotient of the British Isles then I totally see where you are coming from; can shop assistants count and spell better?
I am indeed thinking of the British Isles (glad you spotted that: I suspected I needed to qualify that claim somehow). I'm convinced that Americans spell their own language better than the British (or the French), who can misspell any handmade sign however simple. I probably don't have enough anecdotal evidence to make the counting claim compelling, but I've never managed to confuse an American cashier by overpaying…
I must try that next time I am over. Perhaps they are better at mental arithmetic because they are always adding the tax back on?
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and now you own a place with one bedroom, that can be sold for 2/3 (if you are lucky) of the price you paid in full for the mortage. if you spent the same in rent, you would have lived in a 2-3 bedroom for 20 years, moving every time you changed jobs 20yrs is a LOT of time to be living in the same place you can afford downpayment when you are 20yr old. and a LOT of time to work/study on the same area
At the end of that twenty years, you can keep renting for another twenty years. Or you can spend the remaining thirty or forty years of your life in the home you own clear and free without paying rent or mortgage any more. I sure as hell don't want to still be making out a monthly check for a place to live when I'm 50, 60, or even 70 (not that I seriously think I'm going to live to any of those ages).
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I've heard that Medicare + Medicaid actually cost a bigger part of your national budget than in Europe, yet it ends up creating a weaker coverage health service coverage for only part of your people, compared to covering everyone in most of the European countries. There's differences between countries here obviously, but US healthcare seems to be less efficient than the European systems.
Medical in the US cost more but there is "more" available. If I were at my doctors office right now (3:13 Central time) and he felt I needed a MRI, I could have one before 5:00. I've often heard that in a non-emergency situation there can be weeks of waiting to get an MRI in some European countries. I have also seen a comment from a guy in the UK who had to have his arm re-broken for a cast to be put on because it ha…
Very simply, this country was founded by people with the Protestant Work Ethic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic and it has become a part of our national identity.
I do not think it is that, since the parts europe that is protestantic have more vacation than the catholic parts, in average.