but...don't you tire of the walmart types in this country. i do. o.k. they've got the euro-trash, but come on... if i see one more
I would like to stress the word "some". Another stupid euro-american bashing thread that should be moved to politics & religion
Because European countries are much smaller than American states, distances are also generally closer. Europeans are also more concentrated in cities. The roads are extremely narrow too. Just like New Yorkers take the subway instead of traveling by car, Europeans may prefer to use other transportation as well. I think that Europeans are also more pro-environment/outdoors, so they actually enjoy going on a bike to work.
I'm cycling everywhere and I'm in the USA. The local area is bicycle friendly with bike paths and whatnot, frigging cars get BORING after awhile...... cars as status symbols are for new rich people, I'm old middle class myself, Ill be new rich eventually but the bicycle won't be on the sidelines unless I break a leg.....
Lol - have you looked at a 5 year chart of the Euro recently? And real estate in the EU costs a lot more than in the USA. If Europeans were so poor how come they can afford such high prices? Also have you checked out the social benefits? You see middle class professionals taking 3 years off work on 2/3 or even full pay just to have one kid. Firing someone who has worked for 2+ years is practically impossible in places like France, and expensive enough elsewhere that job security is much higher than the US. Europe closes down for the entire month of August as they take part of their 6-8 weeks mandated annual holiday. Healthcare is either free at delivery or your basic medical insurance is paid for by the state. Compare this to the typical US working stiff with a mere 20 days holiday per year, with a much higher number of average annual hours worked, who faces bankruptcy if he gets some kind of chronic medical condition or emergency, who can be fired because the boss doesn't like his beard or political views. Not to mention the risk of getting sued for your last cent just because someone thinks your coffee tasted sour. As a broadly libertarian individualist, I personally think Europe is batshit crazy for its insanely high levels of socialism, red tape, and taxes. But for your average working family on median incomes, they get a pretty good deal out of it. It's the rich, the self-employed, and the entrepreneurial people who get stuffed by places like France, Italy etc. However, Europe is not homogenous, and you can go to places like Ireland (12.5% corporation tax, low red tape, very pro-entrepreneur), UK (low tax on non-domiciled foreigners, reasonable red tape), parts of Eastern Europe like Slovakia or the baltic states which have low tax, Switzerland with its high wealth and favourable tax deals (if you are loaded enough) or even Monaco which is a total tax haven. Europe has far more to offer in terms of choice than the US. If you are a working stiff on 35k a year then Europe has more stability and safety - you are far less likely to fall into poverty than in the US. If you are an ambitious go-getter then the US is better overall, but Europe still has some places which are competitive, where you can go from nada to stinking rich in 10-20 years without the entire social & legal structure trying to impede you.
Correct. In most large European cities you do not need a car to get around. That's a nice 5-10k saving per annum for the average family, not to mention the cleaner air, less noise, and lower amount of people injured and killed in road accidents. And with oil prices in the triple digit range, the squeeze is on for Americans who live in cities with no adequate public transport (e.g. LA). Also unlike the USA, drivers do not like to gratuitously swear at, spit on, or try to run cyclists off the road.
You sound like Eastern European coming to the US for a month and then becoming big expert of US affairs in his country. Certain type of thinking is unfortunately universal.