I know what you mean, it's harder to get "rich" in Europe, but in terms of going from lower class to middle or upper middle class I think that's easier to achieve in Europe compared to the US.
At that point why compare to the US though? If the comparisons exclude former communist Europe and poor Mediterranean Europe from then why not exclude rust belt American and Appalachia from comparisons?
I disagree. Italy is typically included everywhere - it's a G7/G8 country, with a GDP bigger than Canada or Australia, and trumps Spain on pretty much any indicator (let alone Greece). It has its problems but it's not a poor or bankrupt country by any means.
> At that point why compare to the US though? If the comparisons exclude former communist Europe and poor Mediterranean Europe
In terms of population, the EU as a whole is 30% larger than the US. It's somewhat inevitable that there will be some pruning when trying to compare apples to apples. It's just a fact that Eastern Europe is not representative of the larger Union any more than, say, Mississipi, Oklahoma or Alaska are fundamentally representative of the whole US.
This has happened many times and continues to happen. I know a number of people who have done exactly this, and a few of them now own multiple properties. They also send money back to their families in their home countries.
Good luck trying to do the same in the US. If the rents in white collar areas don't kill you, the healthcare costs will.
Also, all bureaucratic issues with the banks and local authorities for setting up a business if you're self employed are also not done in English but in the local language.
Try getting a blue collar job in Germany, and I don't mean a barista in a hip touristic district where all clients are foreigners. You're expected to pick up the local language yesterday.
The US having English as the default language everywhere means much less friction for everyone including foreigners be them employees or entrepreneurs.
There's certainly less language friction in the US.
But there is far, far more economic and class friction.
And most people can pick up the basics of a language.
Edit: In general, I won't disagree with you that language is a real barrier for employment in EU.
What you said is true about tech but a plumber or electrician that crosses borders will start at square 1. They will have to fulfill the licensing requirements in their new jurisdiction. These requirements almost always include requirements that add up to where one must work under person holding level V license before taking test W and then work X years before obtaining license Y which lets them be responsible for work type Z and there will be a corresponding requirement that all job Zs be performed by a party with license Y.
Professional licensing requirements like this are why you have experienced oral surgeons from Taiwan slapping braces on teenagers in California and expert boiler welders from Vietnam building hand railings in London.
Not as true as you might think. I’m from the UK originally, live in Berlin now, and while I can do a lot with English, there are doors closed to me by not being C1/C2-level German.
(I have of course been doing online language courses for ages, but as the locals say: Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache.)
But that's - what - the top 5% of jobs?
Why do think, then, that there are so many homeless people in the US? They aren’t all mentally ill or drug addicts.
If you're not mentally ill or a drug addict, good luck getting someone to think otherwise and give you a job.
I remember this story of this homeless man with an amazing voice. Some radio host gave him a job, it looked like a success story and after a few months he lost everything again due to his addiction
But your chance of success is basically none in half of the EU. Even homeless people in the US have a much better chance, because they have access to the US market.