Advantages and disadvantages of living in the USA?

[CarliCareBear]

I also wanted to mention something that is sometimes weird is in America you can have suburbs and "towns" with no real town area. It's just housing with main chain shopping outlets around it and there is literally no older town area or communal area. I live somewhere like this, the nearest real downtown is about 20 minutes away. Because architecture is so much older in Europe it is much more beautiful and communal.

 

[socitycourty]

I have lived in northern california my entire life. about 10 minutes away from San Francisco. i love it here. we have a mild climate year round, beaches, lots of good food.

it is expensive to live here but doable if you are frugal. i am a sahm and we own a house, my DH is in a union and makes good money & we have amazing insurance. we are just careful with our money

 

[melany]

I am an American who desperately wants to move to Canada. My family emigrated to the US in the 1930's from Canada and I feel like I'm missing a whole part of my culture by not being immersed in the Canadian lifestyle.

The US has many ups but just as many downs. Capitalism is king here. We have people here who have more money than you could dream about but we also have the poorest of the poor, sometimes living in the same town. The juxtaposition of wealth and destitution is sad to me. And the rich just want to get richer, they don't want to help the little man. In fact, most only give to charities to get into a lower tax bracket.

our government is corrupt and like a pp said, most have interest in private companies.

Our healthcare is sad for the people who work part time (which can be 36 hours a week). Employers are cutting hours to avoid paying health insurance. Companies who make billions of dollars in profit every year honestly don't give a rat's ass about the people that work for it, leading many to become complacent.

Mental health in the US is very hard as well. Unfortunately the poorest are the ones who need mental health care the most since they are at higher risk. But getting it and being able to afford it are very hard.

I have lived in NJ and MO and there is a stark difference in the people. In NJ people tell you what they feel, no matter if it hurts or not. They're blunt. In MO they're softer, usually giving a compliment which has a shadowed insult.

If you are a person who cares about equal rights for GLTB, the handicapped or different races other than white, you literally have an uphill battle. "brown" people are scary, the handicapped don't need help, GLTB are going to hell, etc. We have the freedom to say anything and some people take it to a level of extreme hatred and vitriol. We have people who picket the funerals of dead soldiers saying they deserved it and these people can't be charged with anything because they have a right to do so. It's a double edged sword. We can say anything we want and that's a blessing but some people take it too far and that is a curse.

Maybe I take things too seriously, I just hate seeing injustice and people who have no control over who they are being treated as second rate citizens.

I don't know how it is in Europe but I have heard that London is much like NYC, a big melting pot. In placed like NYC you don't see racism as much since it really is such an amalgam of every race in the world, there isn't time to hate them all. But here in MO, everyone is white and if you're not you're treated to insults and blind hate.

Sorry about the rant, but the "niceness" of America is sometimes just an illusion.

 

[mommie2be]

Never lived outside of the US. I live in Robersonville, NC. A tiny town where everybody knows everybody. We live in a 2 bedroom house on 6 acres with a pond and only pay $140 a month. I love it. Minus the hee-hawing donkeys across the street and the cocka-doodle-dooing rooster in the back yard at 7 each morning.

 

[marron]

There is racism and prejudice everywhere in the world. It's not exclusively an American thing.

 

[morri]

Yeah I wouldn't say our health care system sucks. It is more expensive but we get a lot more choices and control over our health care. We can for the most part choose whatever dr we like, we can ask for tests if we want them we have a lot more access to health care. That being said most of us pay out the ass for it.

In germany you can also choose whatever doctor you like, and you don't pay too much , also it isnt tax funded our system but rather half half funded between employer and employee.

Anyway cant say much to the US apart from that their social stuff sucks(from what I know from other americans that I know) , I would always see and research where you d like to go and why, because you maybe in for a big disappointment if it doesnt turn out to be like you expected. it is a big move especially if you don't kow anybody local.

 

[aliss]

There is racism and prejudice everywhere in the world. It's not exclusively an American thing.

It's really bad here in Montreal. The French hate the English, the English hate the French (really, what's changed in 1000 years), and everyone seems to hate anyone from a non-English/French ethnic group.... It's awful! It wasn't so bad back in British Columbia but it still had it's issues.

 

[Shadowy Lady]

There is racism and prejudice everywhere in the world. It's not exclusively an American thing.

It's really bad here in Montreal. The French hate the English, the English hate the French (really, what's changed in 1000 years), and everyone seems to hate anyone from a non-English/French ethnic group.... It's awful! It wasn't so bad back in British Columbia but it still had it's issues.

From my experience of travelling in Canada, USA and Europe re-racism:

1. In Canada, racism is more noticeable in Quebec, northern BC and Alberta. Ontario is much better...in Ottawa for example we don't even have a neighbourhood where ppl of certain ethnicity live. We're all mixed and together. I have never noticed racism here.

2. In US, even in NYC where ppl are more "mixed" racism was still more common than Ontario, Canada. People of different ethnicities are certainly more divided than here. I found even in DC I got much more "looks" because my DH is black and I'm not (I look Italian apparently). That has never happened here in Canada. In California, at least San Fran, things were much better. I've also been to Chicago, Nashville, Indianapolis, Miami,...where I still noticed ppl are guarded towards different races. That being said I haven't exPerienced it personally as ppl can never guess where I'm from, but I've seen it towards friends and DH.

3. In Europe, I didn't see any sign of ppl being guarded towards other races. Paris is a different story though especially if you don't speak French (I do). In Italy there was much racism again not towards me as I look Italian but towards anyone else really.

Also I don't think it's always racism. Sometimes it;s just ppl not being used to other ethnicities.

On the topic of GLBT rights, I don't think US, even its more liberal states, come close to comparing to Canada. There is some homophobic here but def much much less thankfully.

 

[Samiam03]

On the topic of GLBT rights, I don't think US, even its more liberal states, come close to comparing to Canada. There is some homophobic here but def much much less thankfully.

The US is the country where people will wait two hours in line to buy from chick-fil-a as an anti gay statement.

 

[AllyTiel]

On the topic of GLBT rights, I don't think US, even its more liberal states, come close to comparing to Canada. There is some homophobic here but def much much less thankfully.

The US is the country where people will wait two hours in line to buy from chick-fil-a as an anti gay statement.

Side note:
I was in that line
It wasn't a hate statement or anything like that, but a statement of freedom of speech. You can choose to believe marriage is between one man and woman, and there is nothing wrong with it. I find it hypocritical when people that are pro-gay think that they can be the only one with an opinion.
You can believe one, or the other. Great to have the freedom where you can be for or against something and not forced to embrace something you don't agree with.
Another great thing about America to me.

 

[CarliCareBear]

^^ hahaha. case and point.

 

[bumpbear]

Good grief....

 

[maisie78]

Hmmm...

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

My friends emigrated to Acton, (Mass- I think?) in August and are absolutely LOVING it. Its not for me though x

 

[bubbles123]

I'm British but lived in US for 2 years. Main advantages over UK are much cheaper cost of living and more space (if you live outside of big cities). Main disadvantages are lack of free health care and the cost of medical and dental care (their private care is much more expensive than private care is here) and they have a much smaller welfare state than us so if you fall on hard times you have much less support than you would have here. Also they have much looser employment law and fewer weeks leave, no statutory maternity pay or leave and more expensive university education. Despite that I love America but the UK is better in many ways I think.

 

[Daisy_Delayne]

https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/09/health/international-health-report/index.html

 

[LeoLeah77]

Thank you for the informative replies all! It's been so interesting reading these

 

[greenbeans12]

I was born and raised in Florida, one of the "harder" states to make it in. My OH is from the Bavarian side of Germany.

We have had many arguments pertaining to which country is better and honestly you can't compare two separate countries. Europe and the US are like two different planets.

First off, getting citizenship here is beyond difficult (it will take you 10+ years) and obtaining a visa is too. Me and my OH thought about him making the move here and it was going to cost us over 7 thousand in lawyer fees, paperwork fees, and that doesn't even include the flight. They can and will deny you for the smallest reasons here and no such luck coming in unless there is a very solid reason such as immediate family, work, etc. My OH has been searched, harassed, and questioned by FBI twice when he has come into the US on a visit. They asked him if he was related to Hitler and so on. INSANE. They stopped him over 6 times in the airport and asked for ID and searched the bag he had on him. He would literally get a few feet and someone else would stop him. He was so frazzled when I got him from the airport. It was unreal. They questioned his bank accounts (wanted to know his credit card limit), his work, and everything else. He has no criminal background at all!!!

If you compare our health system to yours IMO it's even steven. We have medicaid which is offered to anyone living in the US. It's great for children but adult's not so much. Only a small percentage of doc's here will accept an adult under state insurance and our private insurance is beyond expensive. To give you an idea my sister, hubby, and her 2 kid's pay 900 dollars monthly for their private insurance. Unless you're given insurance through work and you're at a really good company expect to go broke paying for health insurance.

Another issue is schooling. It's difficult to get a scholarship here and 75 percent of the young aged people in the US are in debt already because of all the loans they have taken out for schooling. Unless your kid's get perfect GPA's in school and are involved in a million extracurricular activities expect to literally refinance your home to pay for ONE semester of their schooling.

Working in the US (especially when coming from a different country) is difficult. Good luck finding a job making more then 1,200 monthly and working over 30 hrs weekly. None of your qualifications from your country will count here either. You must have 5+ years of experience in any field to get hired on and a good portion of companies want bilingual persons who speak spanish and english.

The cost of food here is horrible. To eat healthy the government has made it really difficult. Fresh veggies and fruit are sooo expensive as is fresh and high quality meats. Most of our foods are pounded in salt and pumped with chemicals. My OH always gets sick when he comes from the food AND drinks. When his family came they all had trouble showering here and drinking our soft drinks because our water has chlorine in it.

All in all, as much as I am an American by heart, this is a country that will eat you alive if you're not wealthy or from here. Not saying you wouldn't be happy but please understand living here will be more then just a cultural shock - it may be a disappointment.

 

[LeoLeah77]

I think I've changed my mind about moving to America now... Lol! It seems to be almost impossible to afford healthcare and education. Plus me and OH are just regular people with regular salaries with help from benefits too.

 

[greenbeans12]

LOL, did not mean to scare you!