USA have higher quality of life than EU on average

[Will be deleted]

Despite all the issues USA have it probably still have the overall better quality of life, like purchasing power is way higher. Although I guess the top countries in Europe are significantly better than the top states in USA.

[Dutchgamer1982]

no they have not.

1 quality of life entails more than just "stuff"
I mean would you enjoy living in poluted air, surrounded by crime, and more parkingspaces than trees.. etc...

usa "car centric cities" are not pleasant places to live
and usa jobs have an very unhealthy work-private balance with a lot of uncertainty about tomorrow, all that makes unhappy..
just to name a few things.

now if we compare material wealth.. what are we going to compare.. clearly usa looses vs nations like my own the netherlands.. but yeah they may defeat the crappy ones like the ones in south europe (that are 1/3th to 1/5h the gdp/capita of netherlands or east european countries (thats like 1/7th to 1/13) our wealth.. and if you factor in ukraine.. boy.. that one is poorer than all but 2 nations in africa...
"europe" is not a nation is is a continent.. so to which nation are you comparing?
for if you add in all the poor eastern european ones.. well if we add mexico and central america to you.. than europe still comes ahead over north america..

-but in general americans do have a little (less than you think) more stuff..
thats not all said.. for ofcourse...
-your houses are bigger but also crappier build.. and in worse state but larger
-usa drive crappier and much older cars.. but americans generally own more cars..
-and usa people have a LOT more personal debt so their neth value is a lot lower than for europeans.

now if you look past that owning "stuff" the quality of american healthcare is on average.. quite crap.. as in the price is 10 times what it costs in europe but the quality of medical care you get for that is like a fifth
your education likewise on average is in the gutter quality wise while costing again 5 to 20 times what it costs in european countries.
pensions.. unemployed benefits.. don't get me started there..

time is money too.. usa is designed so car centric that the average american spends 2 hours more getting just from a to b than the average european, which lets face it.. is crap.

ans speaking of time.,..and europeans work a lot less hours.. their productively is higher..
no wonder you earn more if you work 60+ hours vs europeans 32hr.. but the income difference most defintly is not twice.


when you factor in alll that.. and average out the average person how much they need those services... that for all but the wealthierst and luckiest people.. european especially west european and nordic european countries are a FAR better place to live.

[Will be deleted]

I live in nordic europe and call it a far better place to live in is not true, better on average yes, far better on average no. If you can make $200k USA is significantly better than north europe due to taxes being much lower. At $100k USA is probably still better and under that I guess northen europe is probably better. So about 25% have it better in USA than northen europe and 75% have it worse.

So better yes, but it is not that one sided. Productivity per worked hour between the nordic countries, except Norway and USA is very similar so basically similar good economies.

[Xautos]

Postat inițial de Will be deleted:

Despite all the issues USA have it probably still have the overall better quality of life, like purchasing power is way higher. Although I guess the top countries in Europe are significantly better than the top states in USA.

Japan usually have the highest life expectancy because of the diet the people enjoy, which is usually noodles, rice and fish.

However Finland and Sweden are usually the highest on the life for quality of life and general happiness.

[Will be deleted]

Postat inițial de Xautos:

Postat inițial de Will be deleted:

Despite all the issues USA have it probably still have the overall better quality of life, like purchasing power is way higher. Although I guess the top countries in Europe are significantly better than the top states in USA.

Japan usually have the highest life expectancy because of the diet the people enjoy, which is usually noodles, rice and fish.

However Finland and Sweden are usually the highest on the life for quality of life and general happiness.

I live in Sweden and still USA is better in certain ways, like wages for a lot of professions, even if cost of living is higher, the higher wages do still come ahead.

[Dutchgamer1982]

Postat inițial de Will be deleted:

I live in nordic europe and call it a far better place to live in is not true, better on average yes, far better on average no. If you can make $200k USA is significantly better than north europe due to taxes being much lower.

200k is even in usa quite rare.

and as stated.
avagere american has an income of 33.000 euro (thats average.. the median is lower)
äverage dutch person has an income of 48.000 euro.. with the median being 44.000
factor in the gini index (how equal incomes are spread over the population)

and your chance as an average person with average abilities, average parents etc to make it..
is MILES higher here than in usa..

I compare living in usa vs europe to the difference between choocing a career in acting vs a career in economics or IT.

hardly ANYBODY in IT earns 100k or moire.. but almost ALL earn 50k or more.. and unemployment.. unheared of.. so it on average is a nice jobsecure.. prosperous life with very little risk..

if you go acting.. 99% will be for all their life unemplloyed, or flipping burgers.. only 1 in a million will make it big.. and yeah they might get a 10 million a year acting contract.
but the chance you get one is so astronomical small...

I mean I am high IQ mensa 2d tier.. and I am glad I not have to participate in that american gamble. (for very often it's not even the smartest in a society that earn the most)

this also translates that most of the high earning jobs in usa are NOT people born in usa.. but migrants.. usa has one of the LOWEST class mobility of any developed nation./.

what usa is good in in just let other nations like those in europe carry the burden of a good healthcare system and good urban planning to raise families in etc.. and than leech away their best for higher wages.. and for those that qualify for that and who have no problem with betraying their own country yeah that can leave to a higher standard of living.

but the fact is they never would have gotten to that point if they were born in the usa.

[Will be deleted]

About 5% of americans seems to have an income of $200k or more. Median salary for a software developer in USA is about $130k, top 10% about $200k and bottom 10% about 70k.

USA is better than europe to be a software developer in, if you can manage the comptetition, lack of job security and probably worse work hours.

[Good Night Owl]

If you work hard enough, you could become president. Can't really say that about many other countries, but is that the average person? No. And there's not enough laws restricting all the nasty chemicals they put in our food, so it's not perfect.

[Will be deleted]

Postat inițial de Good Night Owl:

If you work hard enough, you could become president. Can't really say that about many other countries, but is that the average person? No. And there's not enough laws restricting all the nasty chemicals they put in our food, so it's not perfect.

You can only become president in USA if you are a natural born citizen.

Anyway nordic countries are overrated, they are not particular great, good but not great. USA is probably underrated by many, sure social and economic issues are real but it is not like bad for 99% and good for 1%, more like a 50/50 split.

[Good Night Owl]

Postat inițial de Will be deleted:

About 5% of americans seems to have an income of $200k or more. Median salary for a software developer in USA is about $130k, top 10% about $200k and bottom 10% about 70k.

USA is better than europe to be a software developer in, if you can manage the comptetition, lack of job security and probably worse work hours.

From what I've heard, many developers are treated as commission workers, though. So no paid vacation, no sick time, and in the gaming industry, devs get fired by the hundreds after a game releases, and the company gets record profits. So that's a big 'if'

[Original Cast Recording]

Postat inițial de Will be deleted:

About 5% of americans seems to have an income of $200k or more. ....

It may be that's more common in the USA, but I believe many EU countries would have better low-end incomes or higher minimum wages. So I guess the curve would be flattened somewhat, but that wouldn't prevent the "brain drain" for the jobs you mention.

Also, it could be some statistics only count salaries while others include stock options and other compensation.

[ZZZZZ]

it seems u focus too hard on money in that discussion

[Dutchgamer1982]

Postat inițial de Will be deleted:

Postat inițial de Good Night Owl:

If you work hard enough, you could become president. Can't really say that about many other countries, but is that the average person? No. And there's not enough laws restricting all the nasty chemicals they put in our food, so it's not perfect.

You can only become president in USA if you are a natural born citizen.

with 330 million people in usa.
and about 4 million baby's born per year
and only 1 president per 4 years and often elected twice..
that makes your chance to EVER become president 1 in 32 million

but the actual chance is much lower..
1 all presidents came from the same few families.. (related) usa DOES have a "royal family" of sort. check the bloodlines..
2 all presidents were already millionaires before they ran for office..
3 all presidents were born in millionairy families, since getting rich in usa has become incredible difficult (millionars do become billionaires.. but casual poor joe does not become a millionaire)

so keep on dreaming..
I prefer reality.

as we dutch say better 1 bird in the hand than 12 in the air.

[Will be deleted]

Postat inițial de Maximum Disambiguation:

Postat inițial de Will be deleted:

About 5% of americans seems to have an income of $200k or more. ....

It may be that's more common in the USA, but I believe many EU countries would have better low-end incomes or higher minimum wages. So I guess the curve would be flattened somewhat, but that wouldn't prevent the "brain drain" for the jobs you mention.

Also, it could be some statistics only count salaries while others include stock options and other compensation.

Better at lower end, yes but USA is better at higher end and people at higher end is probably the ones that actually can move between USA and EU in legal ways.

[AdahnGorion]

Postat inițial de Will be deleted:

Despite all the issues USA have it probably still have the overall better quality of life, like purchasing power is way higher. Although I guess the top countries in Europe are significantly better than the top states in USA.

Its weird to swoop the entire EU in with this comparison, that would be the same if we tried to compare EU to North America or even just All of America.... then try to say it has meaning for the avarage US citizen.

We could also break down the federation into states.
If we look at Central and/or North Europe, then the US is far far far away from the same standard of life.. if we take eastern and south eastern europe, then its another talk ofc.. then again..

Imagine if I tried to look for Quality of life between Mississippi & Norway. Then tried to project that to avarage American standards and avarage European standards.. it makes no sense.

Lets look at a few indexes, just for fun.
https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/standard-of-living-by-country

[Pieshaman]

By looking at the Quality of Life Index by country 2024

1. Luxembourg
2. Netherlands
3. Iceland
4. Denmark
5. Finland
6. Oman
7. Switserland
8. Norway
9. Austria
10. Estonia
11. Japan
12. Germany
13. Spain
14. Sweden
15. USA
16. Slovenia

the worst ranked right now are Nigeria(85), Bangladesh(84) and Sri Lanka.(83)