Quote:
Originally Posted by scottwww
It is difficult to write about life in America, because it is all so obvious what the middle-class lifestyle is like. Though it may not be so obvious if you don't live here.
What is so great about being middle-class in the United States? - Long life: Life expectancy is 77.9 years.
- Work 5 days a week and have two days off. Paid vacation and holidays.
- As a middle-class family, you can own your home and multiple cars.
- You can pursue your interests freely, whether that is pursuit of career, partying, shopping, protesting, cocooning.
- Individual sports: hunting, skiing, fishing, surfing, biking
- Competitive sports: golf, auto racing, tennis
- Team sports: volleyball, bowling, bicycling
- Spectator sports: football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer
- Recreational vehicles: many kind of motor boat and non-motorized boats, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, motorcycles
- Religious freedom: Christian protestant, Catholic, Judaism, Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, Mormon, new age, atheist, and many others.
- Clubs and civic organizations: Motorcycle and car enthusiasts, parent/teacher associations, charities
- Community entertainment: Concerts, theatre, movie films, comedy, dining, festivals
- Home entertainment: Sattelite and cable television, radio and recorded music, parties, video games, internet
- Keep pets: dogs, cats, birds, aquarium, rodents, lizards, snakes
- You can live in your choice of many very different climates: Tropical Hawaii, subtropical Florida, temperate California, Arizona desert, Washington rainforest, Alaskan tundra, Rocky Mountains, concrete jungle, and many other places.
- There is no restriction for what state you would live in. You can freely travel among the states. There are no tariffs between the states. The states retain many rights of self-regulation and taxation, so if you pursue it, there may be a perfect fit for you.
- Upward mobility: You and your children may be able to rise to higher class living standards.
In the American middle-class, you may not be able to enjoy all these things, but most should be accessible to you. |
Scott,
Some of those are true reasons, some are just wrong. Generally, I do believe that the US is the best place on Earth for the middle class -- the best balanced overall lives for the class. Other countries would not allow you the luxuries we can afford here. However, people are adaptable by nature and they do adapt. Fortunately for them, people in many other (less middle class friendly) countries live and enjoy their lived much better than we do.
So, here are some I disagree with:
Work 5 days a week and have two days off. Paid vacation and holidays.
Actually, many of European countries get at least twice as much of paid vacation as we do. Also, they get about 1 year maternity leave (VERY IMPORTANT in my mind) and a quite lengthy paternity leave (where we get a week or maybe two if your boss is cool.
As a middle-class family, you can own your home and multiple cars.
True, however, again goes with our culture. I greaw up in Europe and our family of 4 was just fine with a single car (VW Golf by the way). City transportation was well organized, and in the US it is rare -- you need a car to pick up the mail from your mailbox!
You can pursue your interests freely, whether that is pursuit of career, partying, shopping, protesting, cocooning.
Again, not true for the other side. You can do all those things in other parts of the world. Actually, your job is much more protected in Europe for example than here. In some countries in EU they cannot just lay you off and give you 1 wk pay per year worked -- you get much more over there. However, that also limits your ability to change jobs late in your career.
Individual sports: hunting, skiing, fishing, surfing, biking
I am not sure I get this one... Do we think those do not exist elsewhere? For example, when I go skiing -- Colorado, Whistler or NE, we usually do 4-6 nights tops. In Europe, I never went for shorter than 2 weeks...
Clubs and civic organizations: Motorcycle and car enthusiasts, parent/teacher associations, charities[*]Community entertainment: Concerts, theatre, movie films, comedy, dining, festivals
Actually, these two are much more common and emphasized elsewhere than here, I must say. And the second one -- I must say with much more taste than here.
You can live in your choice of many very different climates: Tropical Hawaii, subtropical Florida, temperate California, Arizona desert, Washington rainforest, Alaskan tundra, Rocky Mountains, concrete jungle, and many other places.
This is definitely the one we can solely claim -- but the way we keep fighting the wars, more choices could be added -- like bath in the oil pools, and stuff like that... JK
There is no restriction for what state you would live in. You can freely travel among the states. There are no tariffs between the states. The states retain many rights of self-regulation and taxation, so if you pursue it, there may be a perfect fit for you.
Not sure I get this one either. Are there really tariffs going from Quebec to Ontario??? Not that I am aware of any.
Again, most of the advantage the middle class in the US gets is because of the financial freedom and the NET money we take home. Our standard of living is probably the highest in the world. However, it is just the way we do it and the things that are called "fun" for the majority of our middle class that may be the turn off for many.
Here is an example -- my sister lives in a developing country in Europe (Serbia). The country (as some of us know here) went through a lot in the past decade, and it will take decades to recover. The average salary over there (PER MONTH) is about $300 (+/-). BMW328 would cost about $70k over there, a gallon of gas is $6. But, the loaf of bread is 50 cents, milk is cheap, and so on. So, people over there redefine the priorities. She drives a small (relatively new) car that goes at least 45 mpg. She (and her hubby) live in approximately 600 sf. flat that is plenty of room -- to sleep, shower and study or so. But, she gets 6 weeks ov paid vacation. She walks into the doctor's office, and walks out with no bill. She is NEVER at home -- enjoys her life more than I ever did or ever will. She has no worries on her mind -- the life goes day to day (I, by the way already have my ski vacation planned for December). People adapt and prioritize their lives. But again, we do have more options because of $$$. All comes down to $$$.
Oh, by the way she's never been on any anti-depressants or anti-anxiety stuff, she's never walked into the gym... Her life is less worrying and her excercise comes naturally --- walk everywhere and eat a real food, not this fake crap we buy in the stores...
OK, that is it from ne for now.