Having lived in Germany, Austria, Hungary and France, there truly are things that are better on the other side of the pond. Mostly, those are cultural products like art, music, architecture, from their much longer history. When I was younger and lived over there I did like the more compact cities because it made things much easier to go meet with friends in the evening. Now that I’m older and have a dog, I appreciate space much more.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the standard of living in Europe is LOWER than the standard of living in the US. Yes, that is true of even wealthier countries like Germany and Austria. Also, life is nowhere near as convenient in Europe as it is in America and you are not nearly as free. Move to a new address? You’re supposed to go notify the police of your new address. As a gun collector now, you are nowhere near as free to do that. Drive right up and park? Forget it. Being able to shop anytime? Nope. Freedom of speech? Don’t even think about it.
Don’t forget the weird hours shops are open or closed, or the holidays that seem to happen 2-3 times a week.
Speaking of a freedom (not really since we need a license in most states) we have here that is taken for granted...
I am an avid fisherman. I figured there would be great fishing when I lived in Germany since nearly every place I was living had rivers and canals. Especially near Berlin. Where I live now I can walk in to the sporting good shop and pay my yearly fishing license fee. Any foreigner can get a week long license for a few bucks. In Germany. Forget it. It was insanely expensive and complicated.
They actually believe they have free speech....but then go on to defend why ‘some’ speech should be punished, ‘hate speech’ and all. If you tell them that should be ok, you should be able to say almost anything, the most outrageous of offensive things, outside of a call to violence or causing panic that will lead to injury.
They’ll look at you funny. Like, “no, that shouldn’t be allowed”. Then tell them they don’t actually believe in free speech then, that the State has discretion to control their speech. You can see the gears turn.
As someone who was brought up in the UK, it’s the same, we weren’t taught about this stuff.