is it poorer? richer? better? worse? Is European internet cheaper? are EU food prices outrageous? Is European healthcare better? Is Europe safer?
I like the usually-better public transit systems. You have an advantage over us in that many of your biggest cities were established long before cars even came about, so they are not planned out as car-cities first and foremost. I’m in California where the automobile was a reality by the time most everything was being built. And in those days, people were excited by cars and the liberty they brought. Cars are much more fun when there aren’t too many of them and you have the open landscape before you. So the region I live in was planned as a love letter to cars and now we are living with all the downsides of that model being overloaded.
Obviously the whole picture is more complex than this - European cities have been rebuilt and replanned, sometimes after WW2 mass destruction. But still I think the effect of having an earlier establishment does make a difference in this way.
Boring. Got into cab at Heathrow and wasn’t given a firearm for protection by the driver for whatever reason. Rented a car later and they didn’t have any lifted trucks. None of the cars could even roll coal!
I went to go and insult random teachers on the street, and people didn’t join in with me and threaten their lives. They even defended them! Needles to say that made me even angrier I wasn’t issued my standard citizen firearm.
In France, no one spoke English even though I spoke loudly and slowly. Naturally, I told them to go back where they’re from. I poured oil on the ground and lit it on fire as a signal for other patriots, but sadly I was alone.
The one thing I liked about Europe was how they talked about and treated immigrants. Closest to home I felt during the whole trip. How disgusting and evil immigrants are was the one conversation where I could see who the real Americans are over there.
Do those things actually happen on the US? Because they all look like things that happened once and the media run away with them.
There are for more guns than people in the United States. I had someone “roll coal” on me a few weeks ago while riding my bike. It was as awful as you’d expect. People are awful to teachers and we pay them very little. And anti-immigrant sentiment is pretty strong at the moment. So, yes, basically everything referenced occurs in the US. Unless I’m missing something in particular you’re talking about.
We don’t usually pour oil on the ground and try to light it though. That’s pretty hard, we usually just use gasoline.
We don’t pour oil on the ground to light it, we pour it into smudge pots and light it. But only after we’re drain it from our trucks oilpan after the recommend 1000 mile interval
Unless I’m missing something in particular you’re talking about.
No, I’m really asking that. I’ve heard about “rolling coal” happening, but the other ones are hard to imagine. (To be fair, rolling coal was also hard, but it’s well evidenced.)
Well put it this way: Kamala Harris, the democratic presidential nominee, just made clear in the debate that she and her VP nominee Walz are both gun owners because it will help their campaign. So…
Trolling. And I have seen it so much better.
Satire =/= trolling
Excuse you, on the internet they’re known as shit posts.
I bet you’re fun at parties
I love Europe. It’s my favourite country. I’m currently learning European so I can speak to Europeans more and enjoy European culture and European food. I love the policies enacted by the European government and I think Europe has a good head of state. I hope to be a European citizen someday and get a European passport. Then I’ll start to learn African and see if the African government will give me a visa to visit Africa
By the same token, people shouldn’t over-generalize about the US either. It’s a big place with massive differences from place to place.
I love Europe. It’s my favourite country.
Is your one in the southern or northern parts of England?
I like the European parts of Europe
Poorer? No. Richer? Also no. Cheaper? Some things, like housing and wine. Other things, same or more expensive (such as electronics) Healthcare was at least as good but easier to get into.
I was constantly surprised just how normal/at home I felt. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I’m from California, been on various trips around Spain, and France, with under a week spent in both Italy and Switzerland.
I love everywhere I’ve been. I’d be happy to live somewhere in western Europe.
I don’t know if European healthcare is better, but it’s far more civilized in its availability. I haven’t seen much difference between EU and USA for equivalent-quality grocery prices, with the exception of Zurich. I’ve found Europe to be generally safe. There seems to be more “sneaky” crime, whereas the States has more confrontational crime.
Freeway etiquette is far better in France and Spain than California. Trains, of course, are better too.
One major difference is labor laws. The EU has far more protection, but far less mobility. I remember telling a German friend that I had gotten a new job operating a fairly large power system, after working in a tangentially related field, without any additional study or licenses, and his response was “Only in America!” I hadn’t even considered that this move would be far more difficult in other countries.
One major difference is labor laws. The EU has far more protection, but far less mobility. I remember telling a German friend that I had gotten a new job operating a fairly large power system, after working in a tangentially related field, without any additional study or licenses, and his response was “Only in America!” I hadn’t even considered that this move would be far more difficult in other countries.
Also very German to rely a lot of degrees and certifications. Other countries like the UK (European still even after Brexit) would care more about experience than degrees.
Certainly. Germany is an extreme example.
Depends where you go.
Western Europe is pretty safe tourism wise.
Further south you go cheaper things are.
internet, food, and healthcare is also per country.As an American who has been to the EU I can say with certainty that each one of those factors changes within an hour drive from my home. Making them a US v EU debate on an individual scale is meaningless. There’s nice parts and bad parts of both.
On top of that we’re asking a random assortment of Americans to compare where they live with the places they visit on vacation. Watch your wallet in Europe, people are saying. Duh, yeah, when you are a tourist in a tourist area. That’s universal, folks.
Not really a tourist but…
Netherlands, Ireland, and denmark on par for restaurants and bar pricing. Good sourcing is ubiquitously higher quality. Norway expensive restaurants and bars. In general US has better small/micro-breweries.
In EU, women don’t seem as wary of being alone in public or in the presence of masc presenting people. People seem to care less how others present themselves(they’re not offended by eccentric styles). I feel safer in general. America has a bunch of creeps who care that your shirt is pink or your hair is too long for a good Christian.
Healthcare exists. That’s $3k-$10k+ you don’t have to worry about every year.
Public transit exists. Like good public transit. The best systems in the US are garbage in comparison with the exception maybe of NYC. Though US public transit tends to be cheaper.
Can’t speak for Mediterranean or eastern Europe.
Norway … Brewery
What about distillery?
Are you one of those guys that would insist on ham and eggs brekkie even in Israel?
Actually the liquor is quite high quality, almost certainly better in general. My favorites are Irish and Scottish. But i don’t drink much liquor for safety reasons.
Norway has excellent pilsners and ciders. Ireland has a good brewery in dingle (i think) can’t remember name, was in Gaelic. The Finns have mastered the seltzer.
I think the micro brew culture in the US, PNW specifically, just beats the selection available in any one particular region i’ve visited in EU. I’m sure in aggregate EU has a larger selection. I mean, i haven’t been to Germany yet so…
But for example, it’s common to find only 1-2 smaller breweries on tap where I’ve been in EU, but in US it’s common to have several micro brews in any restaurant. Larger breweries are often mid anywhere you go in the world.
I had a friend who explored every single country in Europe for several years. He very much liked the EU. He never did come back to the United States except when he had to renew his work visa. He liked Prague the best when he was younger, but ended up staying in Israel for a long time when he got older.
He didn’t really have any complaints about any of the countries in the EU. He said food is much cheaper in Eastern Europe, and you can live there pretty comfortably on the cheap.
Healthcare is not better than healthcare in the States if you have money, but if you don’t, then it’s a lot better. He was injured during some Spanish riots and walked into a hospital and got care despite being a foreigner, and it didn’t bury him in debt, so that’s pretty neat.
My friend was a bit of a rebel and a daredevil, so he was in a lot of areas that were definitely less safe than where we lived in the United States. He was jumped a few times, robbed a few times, and got into a few fights. But this is true of just about any first world nation, if you want to be safe, stick to areas known for safety.
Definitely go spend some time anywhere in Europe if you have the opportunity!
Europeans seem to be happier, healthier, and to have a generally better standard of living than Americans. Small towns in Europe have much more personality than US suburbs, which largely consist of strip mall after strip mall. Food in Europe is focused on quality, whereas in the US the focus is on quantity.
Went to Iceland a few years ago and the biggest thing I noticed was how clean everything was. In the US, at least where I am, trash is literally part of the street. Little black “gum” streaks, random paper flying about…
I don’t remember ever seeing any litter of any kind anywhere we went on the island.
I do remember seeing a random piece of raw meat on a meadow but that was it and I’m not sure I’d call that litter.
If you’re from the west coast of the US that seems to be a more West Coast thing. I recently went to Chicago and was amazed at how clean it was. The Lyft driver told me it was the cleanest city in the country (and possibly the world since he grew up outside of the states) but I wasn’t prepared for it. I walked everywhere in the city and there just wasn’t a single piece of trash anywhere. We actively looked too.
You know that all these things are vastly different in different countries.
Switzerland is very different to Slovenia and Iceland is not comparable with Italy. Every one has their own healthcare system, police, internet providers.
And while the US is also big and diverse, you still can’t compare one federated country with a Union of independent countries.
Worse, often felt dangerous. One of my friends got pickpocketed, police did nothing. Made the entire trip hard to enjoy when you knew that someone was looking for an opening to steal your phone or wallet.
If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably had liked it, but I just felt like a target.
In the end, big waste of money. 1/10 would not do again.
Where did you go?
Where else but Rome? I thought it was going to be really cool to check out the history, and it was cool, but the pickpockets and the police encouraging the pickpockets and acting like we deserved to be pickpockets ruined it. Plus it cost a lot of money just to get a wallet and passport stolen
As someone from Rome, I feel you. Pickpocketing is somewhat an issue. In more than 20 years living in the city (before I moved) I never suffered from it, but it’s very common among tourists (especially in the underground and certain bus lines). It sucks and often police does nothing because by the time they catch the people (if they do), everything is gone anyway.
That said, beside pickpocketing Rome is very safe (or at least most of the places where a tourist would go, except maybe the surroundings of Termini station).
Where else but Rome?
You went to a large tourist trap and then complain being picked? BTW, that could as easily happen in any US tourist traps.
No, it really wouldn’t. Pick pocketing isn’t really a thing in America.
I loved seeing all the bike paths, but then on the other hand there weren’t any mountain biking or dirt bike trails that I could see. Beer was cheaper than water, so that was cool too.
Try tap water, it’s even cheaper
