Yes and no. American salaries are great but our cost of living is insane. The amount of time wasted in the US doing basic stuff also can't be discounted. Our cost of healthcare adds up, as does the cost of everything here.

I think this data shows that a lot of Americans are waking up to our brand of "freedom" being bullshit. The American dream is a bit of a myth nowadays.

Americans lie to ourselves. If one isn't wealthy in the US, think top 15%, you're better off living outside the US. But Americans are "not yet billionaires" so most of us don't realize this. Our media pumps our hubris and egos using "freedom" and nationalism. Most Americans never travel outside of the US and believe our lives here are infinitely better than anything else in the world. It's something I see constantly when I talk international stuff with rural Americans(and the suburban cosplayer), an absolute fantasy version of the world.

▲

keiferski 11 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Cost of living in comparable EU cities is very high as well, except salaries aren’t really correspondingly higher.

The American dream is and has always been kind of a national myth but honestly if you limit it to purely making a lot of money by working hard, I think it’s still quite true, and the best place in the world to do so.

▲

markoman 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

When you say that EU cost of living is comparable, are you taking into consideration the cost of health and higher education? In the U.S., if you're not currently priced out on those two points, just give it time & you will be!

The U.S. isn't the shining-city-on-the-hill beacon it once was. I think that's pretty clear.

	▲	keiferski 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Sorry if my comment was confusingly written, I didn’t mean that certain cities are the same price, just that comparable cities (e.g. similar populations and amenities) are still expensive and that the salaries are lower too. I think realistically a person with a good job has about the same financial experience in both the US and EU; except they’re making more money in the US to pay for more expensive things.

▲

queenkjuul 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> if you limit it to purely making a lot of money by working hard, I think it’s still quite true,

Wholeheartedly disagree. I see countless hard workers struggling immensely to get by here. Costs and inflation have spiralled the last 5 years while healthcare and education have been pricing out the middle class for over a decade. The job market is awful and getting worse by the day.

▲

_DeadFred_ 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean the America dream was real in the past to a lot of immigrant/recent immigrant Americans. It's cool that Europe has caught up. It's amazing that China has lifted their people up.

Let's continue improving quality of life for everyone. Europe doing better/being a viable alternative doesn't necessarily mean the USA is all bs. I'm pretty sure every country's people are more comfortable of how their country lives than foreign countries. Not sure why rural American's have a special carveout on that take.