
Why Don’t Americans Understand How Poor Their Lives Are? - rhapsodic
https://eand.co/what-do-you-call-a-world-that-cant-learn-from-itself-58ae28cefd23
======
padseeker
This article starts off terribly. It does not get contain enough real
substance till it gets to the point about the differential in life expectancy
and discusses the point about 'the myth of exceptionalism in America'. The
whole line about the difference in entertainment is utter drivel. Big Brother
started in the UK, there is plenty of garbage culture coming from Europe.

For the record I've met quite a few Europeans (French and Germans) and I've
asked them about what compelled them to come to the US. At times it does seem
like Europe is a less stressful place to live. And the answer I get typically
amounts to this;

"In France (or Germany or UK) security is much better than the US. But the
opportunity in the US is much better."

I find it strange to mention Spain, and really all the PIIGS nations who not
long ago were in financial dire straits and Greece has still not escaped.

The lack of a decent safety net in the US scares the crap out of me. The
richest nation in the world should not have this poor a safety net. But to
make Europe seem like some workers paradise is laughable.

~~~
GiorgioG
> The lack of a decent safety net in the US scares the crap out of me.

What kind of safety net? No you're not going to lose your job and draw
unemployment benefits equal to your salary for years on end. This is also the
land of personal responsibility. It can be scary at times. My 6 year old son
has a chronic illness (type 1 diabetes) and his supplies cost an exorbitant
amount of money. If somehow I was unable to find employment, drained all of
our savings, etc. he wouldn't die, he just wouldn't get the absolute top of
the line equipment (insulin pump / continuous glucose monitor / sensors /
etc.) Medicaid would provide him insulin and needles. It's not ideal, but I
don't expect everyone else to pay for my family's bad luck / misfortune.

~~~
soVeryTired
Medical bankruptcy isn't really a thing in the rest of the world. That's part
of the safety net, and it's hard to reconcile with the notion of 'personal
responsibility'.

> I don't expect everyone else to pay for my family's bad luck / misfortune

If you take out an insurance contract, that's exactly what you're doing.

~~~
GiorgioG
> Medical bankruptcy isn't really a thing in the rest of the world.

Agreed, it's a problem, but for the average person with a job who elects an
insurance plan (the vast majority of Americans,) it's not an issue. My sister-
in-law spent 4 years being treated for cancer before passing away last year.
Despite running up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bills between
chemo, multiple surgeries, etc, it did not bankrupt her family because they
had health insurance.

> If you take out an insurance contract, that's exactly what you're doing.

Except we're explicitly buying-in. Until we have universal health care, I
don't expect others to pick up the tab because I prefer that my son have the
absolute best current tech available.

~~~
Mouse47
It _is_ an issue for the rest of us, though.

From: [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/study-fewer-employers-
offe...](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/study-fewer-employers-offering-
health-insurance/article/2615450)

>Nationwide, 83.8 percent of workers in 2015 had jobs that offered insurance

In other words, 16.2% of workers have jobs that don't offer insurance. That's
3 in 20.

~~~
GiorgioG
I don't say this to demean these people but I would guess that a majority of
that 16% are low-skill/minimum wage jobs. When you don't have skills that are
in demand, employers less likely to offer benefits. Businesses are just like
people, if they can get away with paying less, they will. I'm not saying it's
right.

I'm hoping the Republicans manage to screw things up enough to lose Congress
in 2018. If that happens, Trump will go all-in on single-payer/universal
healthcare. He has no loyalty, and in the past (prior to running for office)
he was pro-single-payer. So we'll see what happens.

~~~
thecolorblue
> When you don't have skills that are in demand, employers less likely to
> offer benefits.

And there is the difference. The US is about survival of the fittest.

~~~
GiorgioG
Edit: I originally responded to the wrong parent.

This isn't about survival of the fittest, if you have no skill, then you are
going to have trouble finding a job that has good benefits. No one is stopping
you from acquiring a skill (outside of cases when you're sick...obviously.)
You can become a plumber, carpenter, electrician, etc. and make a decent
living.

~~~
mgkimsal
and... we'll just give a big 'fuck you' to everyone else who gets sick at some
point, and can't go back to work, or has skills that get passed by in the
marketplace. hey - just go back to school for a few years, juggling some low
wage jobs while you get _more skills!_ so that you can win some approval from
some employer where _yay_ you can pay extra money to have some insurance so
you can afford medicine to keep yourself alive. whew! That doesn't sound like
"survival of the fittest" AT ALL. not sure that the OP was thinking about.

The word "benefits" just irks the hell out of me in the first place. Maybe the
entire concept of "benefits" being synonymous "things that give you access to
something that keeps you alive and healthy", and tying said stuff to
"employment" (something very much at the whim of people and factors often
outside your control - handicaps, geography, family obligations, etc) we could
think about the issue a bit differently.

Also... society needs people to be doing low-end crappy work. Are they just
deserving enough to find a job that has "good benefits"?

~~~
GiorgioG
> and... we'll just give a big 'fuck you' to everyone else who gets sick at
> some point, and can't go back to work, or has skills that get passed by in
> the marketplace.

Capitalism doesn't care if you get sick. It only cares if you have time/skill
to trade. That's the cold hard reality. In this country, capitalism trumps
just about everything else. It has its advantages and disadvantages for sure.
By the way, I'm not saying all of this is morally "right" \- it's just the way
it's always been, capitalism/business comes first in the USA.

I agree that society needs people to be doing low-end crappy work, but maybe
if there were fewer low-skilled laborers in the job market, there would be
more competition for their services (i.e. the employers would have to offer
better benefits.)

I'm all for universal-healthcare and frankly my family would be a primary
beneficiary.

As far as safety nets go, how far do we go? If I got sick, I wouldn't expect
you (and everyone else collectively) to pay my mortgage, grocery bills, etc.
for potentially years on end. Where do we draw the line? How do we prevent
people from gaming the system? I know people in Europe who have been "sick"
for years.

~~~
webvictim
The drain on the systems in Europe from those who are “gaming the system” and
who are long term sick pales into insignificance when you consider the overall
savings due to the collective bargaining power of a nationalised healthcare
system.

------
tabeth
This is the ultimate question -- which is superior: individualism or
collectivism? Personally I think collectivism is far superior -- however the
forces that be want people to believe individualism is superior, especially in
America.

This results in people, individuals, denying their fellow peers access to
things. As for the question the title poses, there's no answer, because it
depends on who you ask.

I don't think Americans will ever be convinced collectivism is superior until
there's some organization or company created within the States that ends up
being far superior to everything else. Only then will people see the
overwhelming advantage that comes with the "spread", which is the main
advantage of collectivism (meaning the spread of burden and the spread of
fortune).

The Musketeers said it best:

All for one and one for all.

~~~
libertyEQ
Considering the entire premise of the founding of the US was based on
individual liberty, and throwing the yoke of power off from the centralized
power of a monarchy across the ocean, I don't see why we need to be convinced.

Why does the whole world need to be homogeneous? Why can't some places on the
earth (with ~7B people) value individualism and some value collectivism. Maybe
neither one is superior, just different?

~~~
lmm
There are genuine tradeoffs to be had, and space for cultures to take
different positions on the Pareto frontier, sure. But there are also
deadweight losses, unforced errors where one culture's approach is just worse
by every metric, and those would seem to be cases where we could learn. E.g.
US healthcare seems to somehow manage to be uniquely bad - more expensive on
average, while excluding or bankrupting people, without offering patients a
meaningful kind of choice in most cases. Things like a patient not being able
to afford non-emergency treatment until their condition develops into
something that needs more expensive emergency treatment (which hospitals
aren't allowed to refuse) seem lose-lose.

------
hartator
Except hapiness statistics are superior in the US than in EU [1] while suicide
rates are higher in the EU than in the US [2].

1:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report)

2: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/world/suiciderate.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/world/suiciderate.html)

Maybe we shouldn’t use vacation anedoctes to try to find what the best
political system is?

~~~
AstralStorm
Happy people tend to not choose demagogues as their leaders.

Please read the actual report with its casual analysis rather than look just
at the numbers. Aspirations play a huge part here. perceptions of stability
and social net too. (As opposed to actual quality thereof.) Input data for
numbers is additionally flawed by taking averages, which is unfortunate.

As for suicides, take a peek at all cause mortality instead and you will find
a less interesting though much more informative picture. (Homicide rate in the
US for one.)

------
GiorgioG
The author must live in an alternate universe. I'm a dual-citizen (US/France)
due to my mother being born in France.

"so they already look half-dead — order coffee and a croissant, both of which
are fairly tasteless"

Sorry, but there are plenty of places where croissants don't suck (give
Wegmans a try) - and I'd be hard-pressed to believe that those major US cities
don't have bakeries run/owned by real frenchmen.

"Everything I consume in the States is of a vastly, abysmally lower quality.
Every single thing. The food,"

Really? Everytime I go to europe, the meat tastes like crap in comparison to
US-raised meat, it's tough as a shoe-sole and it's overpriced.

"So my quality of life — despite all my privileges..."

There you have it, this guy has homes in London AND New York. Ask the average
EU citizen (I'm not talking about techies, I'm talking about the blue-collar
workers) how good they have it.

I compare my upbringing in the States (we lived in France for a year when I
was young and it just wasn't for me) and life is far easier on the blue-collar
worker in the US if you could find a decent job.

An uncle of mine spent 4 years out of work (machinist) before he found a new
job in France. My father worked in a factory in the US for 37 years. This is
obviously too small a sample to be significant, but other family have had
similar outcomes and difficulties. My mom (who still barely speaks english)
wouldn't go back to live in France.

This is still the land of opportunity for those who are willing to work their
butts off and take risks. The only thing I wish we had in the US is universal
healthcare. It's coming, when the republicans manage to lose congress in 2018.

So yeah, if you're rich a rich hipster, Europe might be "better."

I'll keep my guns, my F150, and my 4,000 square foot (372 sq. meter) house,
merci beaucoup.

~~~
JPKab
Thanks for this comment.

The arrogance of this rich yuppie with homes in New York and London (my god,
can you be any more of a stereotype?) comparing a densely populated continent
to a mostly rural, sparsely populated nation is astounding.

I love Europe, and I collaborate with the devs out of our office in Prague all
the time. I love visiting, and like the people. Half of our team would love to
move here. Why?

They have kids, and they'd love to live in a place where the food (yes, even
quality food) is half the price, the land is less than half the price, the
culture isn't antagonistic to ambitious people, and where they can affordably
run a business.

The US sucks if you're not fortunate enough to possess valuable skills. But
it's pretty great for those of us who are fortunate in that sense. Not saying
Europe isn't, but certain countries in the EU have policies that are outright
cruel to small businesses, particularly NEW small businesses.

~~~
cthalupa
Having spent extensive time in NYC and London, I don't understand how someone
with the money to eat out all the time (like someone with homes in both
obviously would) can say that the US loses out on quality of food. Having been
all over the world, without hesitation, I would say that New York City is the
best city in the world for food. It doesn't have the most Michelin stars, but
the everyday options for people eating out are phenomenal, and the diversity
is unmatched. Nowhere else in the world can you go and get so many different
types of food that are well prepared. You can't do it in London. You can't do
it in Berlin. You can't do it in Tokyo. You can't do it in Hong Kong. You
can't do it in Paris. Hell, food diversity in Houston is better than all of
those other cities. Why? Because America is a lot more diverse than Europe in
general. In absolution population, the US has more minorities than Europe on
the whole, despite having half the population - the relative amount is double!

And that's also why I immediately am so skeptical on the claims about things
like art, etc, as well. There's far fewer cultures having an input on them,
and things like art are elevated by having a diversity of influences and
influxes of ideas.

------
skybrian
Maybe it's because personal experience is usually not enough to make such
sweeping generalizations? All we know is this person liked the places they
lived in Europe better than the places they lived in the US. But what about
the places they haven't lived yet?

European cities are not all the same. Similarly for US cities.

~~~
franciscop
I have been in most capitals in Europe, and in quite a few cities of USA, and
totally agree with the story. Of course there are some individual exceptions,
but he is talking about the feeling from different cities, the state of public
transportation or healthcare, which IMHO is fairly generalizable.

~~~
skybrian
You are doing it too.

Our lives are not random samples.

~~~
FabHK
But is it fair to say that observers with more samples have a better vantage
point than observers with fewer?

~~~
skybrian
Yes, of course experience can be very valuable! However, it's rather tricky to
share with people you don't know. You can't just make a bare assertion:

"Life is much better in Europe than in the US."

"How do you know?"

"Someone said so on the Internet."

You see? It doesn't transfer.

I think it makes more sense to tell stories of specific things that happened
to you, and let people make their own generalizations.

------
aesto
As a German living in the US, I wholeheartedly agree with this article,
especially the bit about everything being somewhat lower quality.

And despite the lower quality, things usually are considerably more expensive
anyway. If I might just add one more example: housing. Rent prices in the U.S.
are generally about twice what they are in Germany for comparable units, and
yet the houses here are incredibly flimsy (walls made out of plywood and
windows without proper insulation - you just don't see that in Germany) for
anyone but the upper class.

And if the comments here are any indicator, the article is also right about
the fact that Americans are never even going to realize how poor the quality
of life is in comparison to Europe. Instead, they just placate themselves with
myths about collectivism, socialism or communism in Europe (none of those are
even remotely a thing).

Which is all the more heartbreaking because there are some things about the US
that I absolutely love.

~~~
cthalupa
Your claims are not backed by reality.

[http://www.nationmaster.com/country-
info/compare/Germany/Uni...](http://www.nationmaster.com/country-
info/compare/Germany/United-States/Cost-of-living)

You can dive into each individual metric, but the purchasing power is probably
the single best one to look at for determining how economically empowered
people are, and the US is significantly better than Germany - 2nd in the
world, in fact, beaten only by Switzerland.

Looking at housing in particular, "Double" is flat out incorrect for rent
prices. In the US it is a bit higher, but only about 10%. Double IS correct
for purchasing housing... but in the opposite direction of what you're
claiming.

If you went from living outside of the city in Germany to living inside a
major city in the US, then yeah, I could see things being more expensive, but
comparing the two countries against each other, it's just completely
incorrect.

~~~
aesto
I will concede that you make some good points, however:

These statistics simplify things a little because they rely on measures of
central tendency - mostly the mean, from what I can tell. Purchasing power is
the best example of that. Yes, salaries in the U.S. are on average higher than
in Europe, even Germany. However, as we all know, the mean is heavily
influenced by extreme values, which occur far more often in the US due to
greater inequality. So yes, you can buy more with the average salary, but
there are less people who have an average salary.

As for the housing stuff: Yes, 'double' was probably an exaggeration (it just
happened to be true in my case - although I'm not living anywhere near a major
city). However, depending on the size of the apartment, the stats you posted
show that the difference can be up to 35%, and as I said, the SIZE of the
apartment doesn't necessarily correlate with quality. Apartments and houses
can more easily be bigger in the US because there is more space.

You are correct that some things are more expensive in Europe. Buying houses,
definitely (although it also depends on the country, Germany is a particularly
extreme example in that regard (so is the US, though)). However, it doesn't
always work out that way. For example, the metrics you posted show that power
is 40% more expensive in Germany. That does reflect my own experience.
HOWEVER, appliances etc. here in the US are often so crappy (i.e. power
hungry), that in the end, you somehow end up paying more anyway.

On paper, the US compares pretty well against Europe in terms of standards of
living, but my experience is that in practice, this is only true for people
from the upper middle class onward.

------
tbirrell
Because the money we put into Defense, Europe puts into the comunal programs
that boost said quality-of-life indicators. Perks of being a superpower I
guess. Love it or hate it, the argument could be made that without America
choosing that path, Europe would not be able to enjoy the quality-of-life they
have now.

~~~
te_chris
I think part of your argument is true: Europe benefits from being in the
American sphere of defence, but, I also think this is a red herring as the USA
is more than rich enough to have both a strong military and look after its
population.

~~~
uoaei
The defense spending isn't necessarily the issue, it's the meteoric rise of
allocation in the budget year after year to defense spending. We are
overspending, and it only gets worse for the citizens.

~~~
tbirrell
I think this is a result of never truly leaving a wartime economy. We had
WWII, then the Korean War, then the Cold War (with Vietnam in the middle) all
on top of each other and justifying the expense for almost 50 years. I don't
think America knows how to cut defense without losing military dominance. As
te_chris said, Defense spending might be a red herring, but I would say it is
almost certainly the foundation of the problem.

The other major budget problem is welfare/comunal programs. These have been
hyperinflated over the last 20-30 years or so. I personally believe one of the
reasons it works so much better in Europe is the fact that any given program
is orders of magnitude smaller than American attempts. To improve quality-of-
life to the level the article wants, I think America need to trim (trim, not
cut) military spending and stop welfare spending entirely and let the states
handle it (with parameters of course, but it would be a far less unwieldy
beast for them handle).

~~~
TheAdamAndChe
Cutting military spending would also hurt the American economy massively.
There are over two million soldiers in the military, with an unbelievable
number of nonsoldiers building equipment that they use. If we scale back, all
of that money injected into our economy would be lost.

------
somethingsimple
> There is a myth of exceptionalism in America that prevents it from looking
> outward, and learning from the world

In my experience, this is not exclusive to America. It seems to be a feature
of very large and diverse countries. I’m an immigrant from Brazil and I saw
the _exact_ same thing there. When a country is large and diverse enough,
people seem to think that all that there is to be seen is in their own land,
and nothing outside can be much different from that. I had friends that
refused to accept that life in other nations was objectively better. They
claimed it was just “different”, but that quality of life was the same
everywhere. Evidently, they had never traveled abroad.

~~~
cr0sh
I wonder if religion, particularly evangelical Christianity, has anything to
do with this?

America is deeply enthralled in it; in fact, atheists are considered "lowest
of the low" in certain polls (like whether one would vote or elect such a
person, for instance).

Brazil - correct me if I am wrong - has a similar enthrallment, but more of
the "evangelical Catholicism" variety. It is (like many "south of the border"
countries, if you will) is highly religious and Christianity is on display.

I tend to wonder how these similar trends play into the disparity, as Europe
(as a whole) is known to not be as religious, and what religion there is, is
relatively downplayed...?

------
golergka
I've moved between countries with different work habits and cultures a few
years ago. In the old country, I arrived in the office in the morning and
routinely stayed there until 10 or 11; in the new, work shuttle made sure that
I never stayed in the office longer than 8 hours. Instead of weekends of
crunch time, I got labour laws. Instead of everybody around me constantly
talking about work, I got relaxed people going to the beach every day,
discussing art, just "living the life".

For a couple of years, it was a great, relaxing experience. But on the third
year I travelled back for a few days to realize that I miss it like hell - and
moved back a month later.

As I'm typing this, I have worked two weeks of crunch time without weekend, in
the office late in the evening. For the holidays (which are government
mandated off-days), everybody's going on away on vacation, while I'll be
coming back to office to finally work on a new thing in silence. I'm full of
energy drinks, coffee and sleep deprivation.

I chose this. Not everybody wants a relaxed life. I will die in about 50
years, and I have even less productive ones - I want to spend them making
something, not waste them relaxing, lying around. I'm happy like this.

May be that's what's special about America, too?

~~~
mnm1
Sure, it's a great place for workaholics in just the way you describe.

~~~
golergka
I have only been in US for two weeks in my life, so I don't really know much
about this. But different countries are different, people living in them value
different things, and they optimize their lives for different values.

So, may be it's a national character of people living in this country, and an
attempt to make it more like other counties with other cultures may be a
little misplaced?

------
swarnie_
The article makes a passing mention to the British NHS which is universally
loved by everyone in the UK.

Why do so many Americans object to universal health care yet complain about
insurance premiums? Its something I've never understood as an outside
observer.

~~~
johndevor
>universally loved by everyone

I don't think something can be universally loved. There are many stories of
long waiting times and people going overseas for private healthcare.

People like private healthcare because it aligns with America's love of
freedom - which includes the freedom to fail.

~~~
swarnie_
>universally loved by everyone

Maybe a little strong on my part.

Asked "would you scrap the NHS?" to randoms on the street i bet you would get
a very strong no vote.

~~~
johndevor
Is such a system sustainable though? Isn't England in a massive hole of debt?
And if that debt comes due, what would happen to the quality of the NHS?

~~~
beagle3
Almost Every western country is in a massive hole of debt, the us included.

I think it is more sustainable than other systems, especially the one
practiced in the US.

Also, please note than in the US, public spending on health is already huge,
and there’s a huge private spending as well - iirc about 20% of us GDP is
spent on healthcare, which is double any other western country, and with worse
results to boot. It is already unsustainable.

------
InTheArena
Okay, I travel a lot between the US and Europe (primarily Berlin, Frankfurt
and London) and also between the US and Asia (primarily Japan, India and
Bangkok). I have had my choice in where to live, and I would live in the USA
every time.

American exceptionalism isn't a myth, it's a thing. But it has both positive
and negative side effects. The positive side effects are a big reason why
America still dominates the computer science world - empowering individuals
results in innovation, freedom to experiment, freedom to fail (this in
particular is lacking in the rest of the world) and freedom to chart your own
path. Obviously, this is a range, it's not a binary switch, but over and over,
I consistantly see American engineers take risks and try things that their
foreign counterparts don't often do. Of course, as with everything,
individuals differ, but opportunity exists here. This matters - Americans
routinely identify as happier, less prone to suicide, and have higher
productivity.

The second factor that this author seems blind to is that the rest of the
world has become more and more American - not just western, but American. This
is often sad, the difference between walking down Sukhumvit in Bangkok even
five years ago - with the tuk-tuks and ethnic celebrations and baht's in the
pocket - versus listening to rap, catching a uber from the airport, and using
your US credit card is pronounced. But in general, Americanization (under the
name globalization) has resulted world wide in a world that is kinder, more
inclusive, more humane, less people dying of war & starvation etc. There is a
result of the post-war strategy that American embraced and led the world on
(and is now turning it's back on with Trump). The fact that Europe can focus
on it's own prosperity and not the never-ending regional conflicts is built on
Winston Churchill's call for "A united states of Europe" and the security of
NATO.

Now are there things that should be much better then they are? Obviously yes.
Health care is a obvious one. But again, that also ignores the fact that
Americans are basically fronting the R&D cost for almost all of the world
right now. We have to improve this. We have to improve income disparity, but
without going through the devesation that collectivist systems can impose. We
have to relearn how to compromise, and return to the first principles of
democracy. But this article is mostly the typical European-exceptionalism ;-)

------
jdlyga
This really, really depends on where you live. If you live in New York, you
can get amazing food everywhere. We have things like paid family leave, free
college, universal pre-k, etc that most Americans don't have. Also if you're
working at a high pressure finance job, of course you will work long hours.
But those are the exception. Working from 10 - 6 is pretty common for most
people I know.

~~~
xyhopguy
i wouldn't call new york an example of a "high quality of living." Subways
that barely work? Terrifyingly chaotic traffic? A "me-first" attitude that is
visible everywhere from the people complaining about citi-bikes to the
advertisements literally EVERYWHERE.

Going from coast-to-coast is like walking into a time machine.

~~~
ryanianian
Yes NY subways are in a state of disrepair at the moment, but that misses the
forest for the trees. Public outcry is already starting to force bureaucrats
to address this. I hope people remain outraged here.

But 99% of the time you can get from A->B in NY without much stress. You
hardly ever need a car. You have almost literally the best of anything in the
world within that hour-or-less subway ride.

You may not be able to _afford_ all the best-of-everything, but the best X is
there as an option if you decide you'd prefer X instead of rent (or paying
medical bills). Almost always you can turn sweat into $ to buy X without
anybody saying no. Nobody forces you to live in NY, and nobody forces you to
buy X. But it's there if you want it.

(Of course you can argue that X is too expensive or that the sweat-to-$ ratio
is wildly unbalanced but that doesn't change the facts.)

~~~
xyhopguy
They will never be able to address the issues in New York. The whole place is
polluted to hell -- the beaches are gross and dirty. I mean for fucks sake you
have to ASK to not get a plastic bag (usually two). What year is it, 2002? The
place literally smells like hot garbage and piss. The people have no respect
for the land (ever go into prospect park on a summer weekend?). People working
in business al

> You have almost literally the best of anything in the world within that
> hour-or-less subway ride.

Bullshit, You can take a 10 minute Bike/Light rail ride in portland and get to
straight up farm-land or forest. In an hour you can get to the coast, desert,
or mountains. In San Diego you can bike to the beach from anywhere in 10-20
minutes (that arent crowded and over trashed).

------
cdoxsey
Ameericans do realize how unhappy they are. There's an epidemic of opiate
addiction.

That unhappiness is the result of many things: major changes in the job market
leaving millions without opportunities, the collapse of hundreds of small
towns and communities, the disintegration of the nuclear family, etc.

Ironically, materially, Americans are much better off than they were decades
ago, but all that material prosperity has left people unsatisfied.

In my opinion the problem goes much deeper than this, as Augustine said:

> You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it
> rests in you.

But the inadequacy of consumerism is maybe more clear.

~~~
tptacek
Non-medical opiate use is up double digits in Europe as well. The opiate
epidemic is coming to Europe. There's more to it than "life is hard".

~~~
raarts
I think you refer to this article: The Opioid Epidemic Hits The European Union
[1]. Note that the title of that article contradicts the contents though.
There is a big difference between the current opioid epidemic in the US, and
an 'increase in non-medical drug use for prescription painkillers'.. One of
the researchers is even quoted to say: "We can learn much from the E.U. in
terms of how to prescribe opioids in the context of a national healthcare
system"

[1] [https://www.forbes.com/sites/cjarlotta/2016/08/09/high-
rates...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/cjarlotta/2016/08/09/high-rates-of-
nonmedical-opioid-use-hit-european-union/#6a50baf721fb)

------
gumby
I think this is an indeed an unfair jeremiad (despite its disclaimer) yet it
does make a correct point.

The overall objectives in the US are different. So in most countries, for
example, a transportation system is designed to move people around. So a train
line can run to an airport,for example. In most US cities its goals are
seemingly different (spend as little as possible, regardless of externalities?
Punish people who can't afford a car? Make a political point? It's never
clear).

The transaction costs (both in time as well as actual $) of the most routine
things are higher. So yes the taxes are lower but overall costs (the
difference between total and disposable income) usually end up higher.

I do love _working_ in the USA, and have done so for the majority of my (35+y)
working life. The people are friendly (as they typically are most places). But
day to day life in the US is a _drag_ compared to life in other wealthy
countries (I have lived and worked for years in Australia, Asia and Europe).

Part of my objection to that article is that things are more alike than they
are different. Cartels can exert control to maintain rents (taxi unions, for
example -- my train example isn't quite as cut and dried as I made out).

And in in the US when there's a difficult political dispute both sides
typically battle it out, and amp it up, making resolution _harder_ and
fostering public cynicism and apathy. In Europe when there's a difficult
political dispute both sides typically make a muddle, kicking the ball down
the street and hoping the problem will go away, making resolution _harder_ and
fostering public cynicism and apathy. In the parts of Asia where I lived, when
there's a difficult political dispute nothing really happens unless someone is
strong enough to simply make a decision (a strongman perhaps, or the
bureaucracy) which isn't particularly democratic and fosters, at best, public
cynicism and apathy.

------
scythe
>pick up some mass-produced groceries, full of toxins and colourings and GMOs

Seriously? This is an absurd exaggeration. For one thing, GMOs are safe, and
EU policy on them is utterly backwards. For another, this is some transparent
application of the "natural food is safer" fallacy. Food here isn't "full of
toxins", that's mythology invented to support the bottom line of "organic"
grocers -- there are occasional issues, but those also happen in Europe. And
food colorings are much less dangerous than, say, sugar. But Europe has fake
olive oil and the infamous practice of dumping substandard products in Hungary
and other poor countries and probably some other problems I'm not aware of
because I'm not a propagandist.

Should we have a better healthcare system? Absolutely. Everything else in this
article is mostly an issue of lifestyle preference and ideology.

------
rthomas6
This seems oversimplified to me. I think it's fairer to say the graph of
quality of life vs. income in Europe has a lower slope than America. Meaning,
quality of life in America can be much higher for the wealthy, somewhat higher
for upper middle income, lower for middle income, and much worse for low
income.

------
sgwealti
They have no point of reference for comparison.

~~~
naasking
Indeed, and they travel more domestically than abroad [1]. There isn't enough
difference between states to broad those horizons.

[1] [https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-whose-
citizens...](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-whose-citizens-
travel-the-most.html)

~~~
LargeWu
A large part of that is because traveling abroad is prohibitively expensive
for a lot of people (which the article touches on). Especially if you don't
live on one of the coasts. California to London is over 10 hours of flight
time. I don't think Europeans fully appreciate how huge the United States is.
Texas alone is bigger than every country in Europe, save Turkey.

------
at-fates-hands
Another one of these, "Europe is sooooooo much better than the US." articles.

I love how he compares the some of the worst US cities to some the best
European cities. All the while ignoring the issues those European cities are
currently facing (mounting debt, exit from the European Union, mass
immigration) while highlighting all the bad things in the US cities he cherry
picks to prove his points.

I wonder if the author has ever been the Northwest. Has he ever been to
Washington? Oregon, Idaho, or Colorado? I have and they're all amazing states
with many, many cities with their own little cultures and laid back
lifestyles. The scenery is second to none, the air clean, the people
incredibly hospitable.

I won't dissect the entire article, but when you're cherry picking statistics
to prove your points (most of which are subjective and not even factual) it's
easy to say how much more awesome Europe is.

------
coldcode
Bread and circuses worked for the Romans.

------
fre3k
We do, but what are we gonna do about it? We don't really have any ability to
effect these kinds of changes as a common man. Our opinions have literally 0
effect on the legislative process. Our country is bought and paid for by
corporate interests. Multiple studies have shown that our opinions count for
nothing, and that lobbyists control legislation and policy.

We have now descended into the hyper-atomization of the individual as a series
of micro-collectives, for whom we must fight among ourselves against others
with different series of collectives. We now care not for whether our lives
are good, merely that we see the other having a bad time.

Mourn for us, and learn from us - do not follow in our footsteps.

~~~
krapp
>Multiple studies have shown that our opinions count for nothing, and that
lobbyists control legislation and policy.

And yet Donald Trump was basically memed into office.

~~~
fre3k
And? Like 2/5 of the people that voted for him regret it because he isn't
doing what they thought he would. He campaigned for the common man, and is now
fucking him over hardcore.

I think this only provides evidence for my point.

~~~
krapp
Trump's election provides a counterexample to the claim that the opinions of
voters count for nothing, otherwise we'd be looking at Hillary Clinton's
second term or first after Mitt Romney.

Many of the promises Trump made were absurd, irrational and couldn't
reasonably be delivered on, and Trump himself was the easiest candidate to
read in recent American political history. Voters being unwilling to exercise
their power judiciously isn't the same as them having no real power to
exercise.

------
holdenc
In America Europeans are easy to spot because of their clear healthy looking
skin. My theory is their diet is better, but it's likely due to many factors
that relate to a healthier higher quality of life.

~~~
maxxxxx
Come to California coast towns to see some really healthy looking people :-)

------
tici_88
Maybe this is because, as someone once put it, Americans don't see themselves
as worse off. Rather, they see themselves as "temporarily embarrassed
millionaires"?

------
cultureulterior
Completely unnecessary stab at GMOs

------
cthalupa
For some context, I travel about 20% of the time for work. While the amount of
that that is international varies from year to ear, it's usually the majority
of said travel. I've been to every continent on the planet, except for
Antartica. My opinion here is not formed by lack of exposure.

While I generally try to avoid talking like this on HN, I don't see how to
avoid it here:

The author of this piece is a pretentious asshole. Basically every premise he
argues is wrong or purely opinion based. Taking a quick look at his Medium
post history, this sort of article seems to be his bread and butter of writing
subjects, as well.

Some people have to work earlier than 9 or 10am in these countries. (Who does
he think is making the trains run and brewing the coffee he drinks? Do they
not count as people working?) Plenty of people in the US don't have to work
until 9 or 10. Plenty of people go home at 5 in the US.

US food tastes worse? Man, I've been to London. I've been to Berlin. Two of
his examples. I've had a variety of food at each. Were their non-chain cafes
and restaurants better than some of the US chains? Sure. Were they better than
non-chain cafes and restaurants in the US? No. And the US has EVERYWHERE else
beat on food diversity. Not a single city in Europe can hold a candle to the
food diversity you get in New York City, Los Angeles, or even Houston. With
average quality being similar at non-chains, and the absolute diversity being
significantly better in the US compared to anywhere else in the world, the
American diner that wants to eat more than Chile's or Applebee's or whatever
is in a better position than the average diner in the UK. On the top end, in
the Michelin world, I don't think there's a clear winner, but having eaten at
a variety of 3 star places in the US and abroad, I can say it's comparable.

You can't watch documentaries on US TV? Completely false. You can't watch
Swedish crime noir? Well, probably true. But we're also living in a post-cable
world. Things like Netflix and other streaming services open up much more
global access to media. And the idea that America is incapable of producing
quality and interesting media is insane.

Fashion, art, etc? All somehow objectively worse in America? The suppositions
here are just blatantly influenced by personal opinion.

I don't think America is the best at everything in the world. Basically
everywhere I've spent time internationally - and some of that is a lot of
time! - there are specific things that I think are done better than their
American counterpart. But I can also point at things that are done worse. Even
things that people laud a country for. People act like Germany has the best
beer in the world - yet from an objective standpoint they have been largely at
a creative standstill for more than a century. America is clearly at the
forefront of craft beer, experimenting more, creating more, doing more and
better than anywhere else. And beer might seem like a silly thing to measure
anything by, but this whole article kicked off by talking about coffee, so
whatever.

He pulls out one statistic that he can prove - life expectancy - and then
lists a string of others stating that they are the same. Some of them are so
vague as to be meaningless - America is statistically worse at "stress" \-
what does that mean? Others, you look, and sure enough, America isn't on top.
But then you look at something else. Japan is #1 in Life Expectancy - but then
press freedom, another one of the things the author is championing as an
important measurement, Japan is significantly worse than the US. Or the UK is
ranked basically the equivalent. Quality of democracy? The US ranks higher
than portions of the EU, lower than some, but the absolute quality is so
similar that the first 30 points in ranking are largely indistinguishable.

There are things wrong with America. There are very few things I can say that
I think America is best at - though there are some!

But it's a pretty good place to live. And if you look at the balance of all of
these important rankings, the US averages out pretty well, because while it
isn't topping any of them, it'w consistently good to okay at worst, whereas
some other countries that are exemplary of some of what he claims as important
have crazy swings on their rankings and are terrible at others. The US ranks
higher in happiness than the majority of the EU. It ranks lower in suicide
rates. If we're going to look at specific sets of statistics, are these not
important too?

If this article was "Why don't Americans understand that they're not the world
leaders on every single aspect of life", it would make sense. The US could do
with understanding that it is a world leader in very few things. That there is
a lot of room for improvement. But the idea that life on average is so much
worse in America than it is in the rest of the world is stupid.

------
ringaroundthetx
The author's bland food, bland commute, bland coffee and bland entertainment
options can easily be fixed by money.

America's got the choices, they are expensive because they are not subsidized
the same ways or at all.

------
sidcool
This is true of every nation, just the premise changes. In India it's how bad
the corruption is. In many countries it's how their religious leaders are
screwing them.

The cause it seems is propaganda.

------
Isamu
A lot of money is spent keeping American attitudes this way.

------
nunez
> Everything I consume in the States is of a vastly, abysmally lower quality.
> Every single thing. The food,

You're going to the wrong restaurants, friend

------
rvail2
I'm sure the baker who made your croissant didn't go into work until 9am....

------
cyou
Europe is still to some extent enjoying the fruit of capitalism, but probably
not for too long. There is always a day when roman does not have free bread to
hand out any more.

------
rhapsodic
Did this post get flagged? It currently has 83 points in 53 minutes, yet it is
on page 4 at rank 112. Just curious. It currently does not have [flagged] next
to it.

------
kardianos
You lost me at "toxins".

------
nateburke
My understanding is that it's easier to get a culturally homogenous population
to buy into economic collectivism, vs. a culturally diverse population. E.g.
the migrant "problem" that the EU is dealing with--last I checked, most of
Europe wasn't stumbling over themselves to provide social services to all of
their recent arrivals...

~~~
kmm
I'm not sure how that's relevant. The US is remarkably homogeneous for its
size

------
brer
Why don't Europeans understand how little we care what they think? Their
rights have been systematically eroded and their countries stolen right out
from underneath them. That condescending, undeserved attitude of faux
superiority means absolutely nothing to red-blooded Americans. They can keep
their baguettes, I'll be just fine with my 30.06 and my F-250.

~~~
neckhair
I absolutely like how comments like this one confirm most of this article.

------
pmc1
Many comments have this delusion of things being free. Free college, free
healthcare, free this/that, etc. In this world of limited resources nothing is
free. Either your tax money, someone else's tax money, or your govt through
debt is paying for these "free" things.

~~~
DanBC
The UK has healthcare free at the point of delivery. The UK government spends
considerably less per capita on healthcare than the US governemnt.

"Free" healthcare is cheaper to provide than non-free.

~~~
cthalupa
This isn't the whole story, though. Part of the reasons US healthcare costs
are so high is that the majority of all medical research is done in the US.

America needs to do a hell of a lot better on this front - universal
healthcare should be a basic human right! - but it doesn't immediately solve
the issue.

