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Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

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Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#331

Post by nickpp »

tomxor wrote: post #246
TameAntelope wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've lived in the US my whole life, I've been to LA once for a wedding, and I really don't see a single similarity between what's going on in LA and what's going on where I live (Northwest Arkansas). My air is clean, my commutes are traffic free, the people here generally suck, and I have access to world class... everything, if I want it (well, maybe not transportation, but my car is nice, German even!, and I can get…

> Because I'm wealthy, I can afford all of the things you get for free in Germany without it negatively affecting my way of life, which probably helps substantially, but that's part of America too. As an outsider, this looks like the biggest problem in the US. The EU is no utopia, but standards of living, environment and way of life is pretty good for the "not-wealthy". In the US, it looks like you can also have a pr…

> The EU is no utopia, but standards of living, environment and way of life is pretty good for the "not-wealthy".

Romania and Bulgaria are part of the EU. Some 25-30 million people in total. Do you think the standards of living are "pretty good" for the non-wealthy Bulgarians?

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#332

Post by busterarm »

shankr wrote: post #319
busterarm wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can but most people will give you shit for not speaking German. Some of them are extremely rude about it too. Even/especially if you're quite obviously a tourist. And where the hell are the non-smokers hiding? That said...NY's Central Park doesn't have shit on Tiergarten. Literally one of the most beautiful places I've been on the planet.

> That said...NY's Central Park doesn't have shit on Tiergarten Someone said it too! I have had few arguments with people, mostly New Yorkers, over this.

Well, I'm a New Yorker and they're dead wrong.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#333

Post by pintxo »

jzellis wrote: post #15

I'm just outside London, moved here to marry my English wife from Vegas. I work part time doing basic IT for a US law firm due to health issues after heart surgery, and Yankee dollars are worth jack shit here - I'm not making serious tech industry money, but over here it's barely enough to survive on. Housing is always smaller than you'd get in (at least the western) US for the same price, and I'd bet that's true pre…

> at least they're not on the brink of civil war here

lets see how much the Scottish want to get back into the EU

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#334

Post by wbsss4412 »

jimbob45 wrote: post #248
the_lonely_road wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Florida is a shithole? You spend too much time on the internet. Florida man is a literal meme that came about because of laws that all state collected data should be publicly available causing the media to get most of its fun crime stories from the very large population there. You realize that a large portion of the richest Americans chose to move there for their retirement? Very large swaths of southern Florida cont…

I was going to write exactly this. Florida is the proverbial city on a hill for its progressive crime transparency policies. I'm tired of the ignorant fools giving it a bad name because they're going to drag down a very healthy policy with them. I'm convinced that other states and countries try to smear Florida because they're terrified what would happen if they themselves had the bravery to commit to Florida's level…

How do you consider it “progressive” that Florida makes it easy to publicly shame people in the press for their transgressions?

Most of the time it’s just punching downwards.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#335

Post by eternalban »

pintxo wrote: post #329
eternalban wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's funny about the tap water. Remember my first visit to France as a kid (~late 70s) and the whole family wondering at the stuff floating in Paris tap water. We did not touch it, and drank bottled water. Btw, this was in a very nice rented flat near Etoile on Ave. Victor Hugo.

Mostly the water provided by the municipality is drinking water quality in Europe. But sometimes the building and its water pipes will be so old that the pipes leak metals into the water.

No metals, this was white fluffy stuff floating in the water. And it was relatively a luxury apartment. Again this was 1977 so that's almost ancient history.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#336

Post by lm28469 »

nexuist wrote: post #326
lm28469 wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

European Union countries* For basic things like vacations, parental leaves, access to basic healthcare, &c. I've seen skidrow in LA and some parts of SF and NY, this is third world country tier, it looked like war times refugees camps

That's just moving goal posts. European people are still European even if they're not EU citizens. Compare New England averages to European Union averages if you want a fair assessment - you'll find that not only are New Englanders making more money, they also have equivalent or higher quality of life than many EU countries do.

> That's just moving goal posts.

It's not, I just didn't specify it because for me it's logical, I highly doubt OP wants to move to Belarus, but yeah go ahead and pick the absolute poorest and least likely countries anyone would immigrate to when they say "Europe" and tell me about moving goal posts ...

"average", "money", yeah sure, the average american probably make more money. And yes you're right, the poorest Americans make more money than the poorest Europeans, but money isn't all. Otherwise nobody would ever complain, they'd be as happy than Norway, which is obviously not the case. https://fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20-of-americans-are-ric...

If quality of life = being able to afford material goods then sure, but I guess that's were Europeans see the world in a different way. I'll take min wage, job security, healthcare, free education, more vacation days, paid sick leaves, paid parental leaves, guaranteed minimum incomes, &c. If you're a min wage worker in the EU you have a much less stressful life than in the US, it's not even comparable. They're at least half a century late in term of social/workers right

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#337

Post by nickpp »

oaiey wrote: post #138
teakettle42 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vienna is one of the nicest and wealthiest cities in Europe. LA is a car-centric sprawling cesspool. Even for the US, it’s uniquely terrible. If you’d moved to some of the less desirable locations in Europe, you’d probably find them to be a shithole, too. Your lack of perspective (“how much of a shithole the USA really is”) is something I’d only expect from someone half your age on their first backpacking tour of Eur…

I come from a normal German city, nothing fancy, and have been overall roughly a year in the US. Boston, Princeton, Philadelphia, NY state. I am wealthy, privileged and was guided safely I can absolutely confirm the sentiment of the OP, not coming from worst to best but coming from mid range to mid range. Europe has the better package. The amount of homeless, the amount of wasted landscape, the amount of beton, the c…

You’ve travelled the US but maybe you should travel more at home in Europe, too. Don’t compare the entirety of the USA to just Western Europe. Go east, my friend, go east…

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#338

Post by wbsss4412 »

nafizh wrote: post #305
boffinAudio wrote: post #4

I've done it, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. WHERE: I'm Australian, moved to LA when I was 18 and lived there for 15 years. Then, I moved from Los Angeles to Germany (Duesseldorf), and then to Vienna, Austria. WHAT SACRIFICE: No more In 'n Out Burger, no more decent Mexican/TexMex food, no more LA food trucks. These are literally the only things I miss about the USA. Literally every other aspect of…

Lets not forget the fact that OP is white. I am not a race baiter, and hate identity politics. But as a non-white person, I would rather live in US than Europe. Forget about the social media takes, and lets talk about ground reality. US (and probably Canada), with all its fault, is one of the few countries on earth, where immigration and immigrants are normal and expected. I can also practice my religion with freedom…

Have you spent much time in Europe?

I’m white myself, but I actually heard the opposite from non white Americans while I was living in Spain(ie they preferred it there)

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#339

Post by sbarre »

brianwawok wrote: post #205
sbarre wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Geez someone hit a nerve, eh? I'm a Canadian and I've travelled most of Europe, and most of the US (among other parts of the world). The simple fact that the US doesn't have universal healthcare, and refuses to do anything real about it, or other endemic self-inflicted issues like gun violence - problems the rest of the modern world solved long ago! - kinda puts you at the bottom of the list of modern/developed count…

> The simple fact that the US doesn't have universal healthcare, and refuses to do anything real about it, What is funny, is how many Canadians come to the US for faster or better treatment. No more 3 month wait list to get a basic procedure. It's almost like there are pros and cons to every system, eh?

You mean people who can _afford_ to do it, right? Of course you do.

Well that's certainly not the majority of people, and I did say _universal_ health care, not "health care for those who can afford it".

Look, I get it... In the US, your worth as a person - and your access to essential services - is tied to your wealth.

And while that's a horrible and cruel way to be, it's all you know, so you don't see that it is, particularly if you've never been on the wanting end of that deal.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#340

Post by nickpp »

kuschku wrote: post #179
tacostakohashi wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The German culture's proclivity for peace-making I had hitherto been unaware of this proclivity, thanks for educating us all.

It’s actually become somewhat of an issue nowadays. Germany has such low acceptance of any military action that even in a situation like right now, where Ukraine is at risk of being invaded, the vast majority is against any action. Germany is still doing cleanup of WW2 damages today, everyone has experienced at least one evacuation due to old leftover bombs being found. It’s hard to support war when its damages are s…

Germany is refusing to help protect Ukraine because its industry is completely dependent on Russian energy, not because of some lingering WWII guilt.
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