amrocha

I lived in Connecticut for 6 months if you care.

And Canada is relevant because I visited the US multiple times per year for both work and pleasure and got to see what living in different cities would be like. And it was awful.

I only have 1 friend that has a car where I live. It’s pretty great.

Yeah, every country has its problems, but that doesn’t mean they’re all as bad as each other.

Yes, Japan has a problem with allowing police to hold suspects for 3 weeks with no outside contact. But the reality is that very few people are ever arrested, to the point that nobody is afraid of police.

The same can’t be said for the US, where black parents have to tell their kids to not trust cops.

In my experience Japan is pretty great, so that’s where I live.

Other places I consider top tier are Holland and Scandinavia. Western Europe and developed Asia is tier 2, some of Eastern Europe and Canada are tier 3, USA and most of South America are tier 4, and any other countries I wouldn’t live in.

If you think that’s for the benefit of the rest of the world then I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

Yeah dude, you’re just rich. Most people aren’t, and wouldn’t be even if they were in the US.

People choose guns because they’re very lethal. If a gun wasn’t around they might not choose that route, and eventually get out of the dark place they’re in.

I lived in Connecticut too!

Yeah sure, the US is better than India and it has a large scale immigration program, doesn’t mean people would choose to move there if they had other choices.

Really happy for you mate! This isn’t theoretical for me either :)

I’m glad your experience was good, but I don’t think that holds true for most people.

Ok, well I’m a person and not a household so i’ll stick with my number.

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That’s not really true anymore! Japan works on average less hours than the US does at this point, especially if you’re in tech like me. I’ve never worked more than 40 hours per week here.

And Japan actually has more time off for people to enjoy the fruits of their labor too!

As far as moving goes, I wouldn’t be so sure. Plenty of people start off their career in their home country before moving to HK or Singapore or Tokyo, skipping the US entirely.

Yes, Tokyo is WAY more affordable than any city in Canada or the US.

And I lived in Connecticut too btw, but Canada was longer and more relevant since I visited a lot more of the US while living in canada.

The difference is that I’ve never met a Canadian who hasn’t been to the US at least once. The same can’t be said for US citizens, as evidenced by you.

I lived in Connecticut for 6 months too for what it’s worth. Awful place.

Canada is much better, but has its problem. These days I live in Tokyo and love it.

If salaries weren’t so high nobody would choose to work for Google in the US vs in other places.

Your quality of life points boil down to being rich. If you’re saying that you’re more likely to end up rich in the US then sure, but most people don’t end up rich.

I have literally lived in the US before. I spent 12 years in Canada, right next to the US as well. Awful place to live.

And of course your multinational coworkers want to move there. They’d make a lot of money to insulate them from the awfulness. Not to mention a huge raise compared to working in their home country.

You earned it, you spend it. Not your children. They’re gonna have to work too!

Those homes are so expensive that only high income earners can afford rent. Hence my comment.

I don’t think you’ve ever biked in a city if you think 10km is 20 minutes

It’s just an acknowledgement of the spread of cults in the US. Just look at Utah.

Yes, it’s literally fake. Japan issues government bonds and instructs the central bank to purchase them and uses that to fund its spending. It has been doing that for decades. Any other country could do the same thing.

> Are you on the outside looking in, and this is what the US looks like to you?

No, I lived in Canada for 12 years, my family lived in the US for 6 years, and I regularly visited for work and pleasure. My first hand experience is that the US is a shithole.

> Pick one. Wages trend higher where it’s expensive. Wages trend lower where it’s not.

No. Slightly higher wages do not offset the incredible cost of living in cities. And likewise, if you live in a cheap area you still have to compete with everyone else for certain goods.

> Japan doesn’t have a safety net either. Is it “horrible”?

Japan does have a safety net.

> The US has a substantial safety net via charity

lol. Guess I'll die unless Jeff Bezos decides to give me money.

> Fwiw, health insurance is federally subsidized for low income folks.

It should be federally covered for everyone in the country.

> None of my friends, family, or acquaintances in my entire life have been a victim of gun violence

Yes, that's statistics for you. I'm Brazilian but I haven't been murdered even though lots of people are murdered in Brazil.

> I know of three people who committed suicide with their own guns

This is gun violence.

> it’s just not part of the day-to-day reality for most people.

It literally is. A ton of people own guns for "protection", because what if the other person has a gun. There are areas of cities you avoid because they're dangerous. If you get stopped in your car by a cop, there's a non-zero chance you will get shot. Kids literally have active shooter drills in school. It literally is part of day-to-day reality for most people. You're just in it so you don't realize it.

> The system of checks and balances baked into the US system is failing tragically at the moment, but we are not at the level of a dictatorship yet.

Yes you are. You get a choice between two parties who are basically the same. 70% of the country's vote is thrown away in federal elections. A vote in Wyoming counts for 4x more than a vote in California. Counties are gerrymandered so badly your vote doesn't matter even in local elections. Voter suppression is table stakes. That's not a democracy.

You're the one that thinks "it's as old as time" is a good enough reason to keep doing it

It means people literally don't want to live there, but choose to because the west coast is too expensive.

Go for a walk where? On the side of the stroad? With your friends who live 10Km away and have to drive to meet you because there's no public transport?

The US certainly does not subsidize drugs for the rest of the world. It literally would rather enforce patents than save lives.

And there are no long queues for healthcare where I live. Service is cheap and insurance is nationalized.

And most of that money goes to higher food prices, health insurance and cars.

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Keep in mind median income is 37K, 50K in cities. If you think you can live a fulfilling life on that income then I’d be impressed.

I personally would like to live somewhere where all the starbucks are comfortable. That’s why I live in Tokyo.