Hey guys,
For those who have lived in the USA , which country do you think is the best to live in, if you are a foreigner? Why?
I know it sounds very broad, but I sincerely not so sure when I hear people quickly jumping to say "Switzerland is way better" or "... any EU country is better because of free health care...". I love Switzerland but many things are better in the USA, such as career and entrepreneurship opportunities, spacious houses, economic dynamism, etc.
I have been to some places in the US that I particularly like a lot:
1 - Orange Country in California: amazing weather all year round.
2 - New England (in general): beautiful place with probably the best health care in the world.
3 - Texas (Austin & Dallas): cheap and big houses; you can find a decent job at every corner.
If someone is poor, than perhaps a country like Germany is better, but other than that...
Sorry if it's a very broad question, I'm just curious since this is an "English forum".
Thanks!
If I thought that the US was better, I'd be living there, not here.
If my daughter had thought that the US was better, she wouldn't have returned after 4 1/2 years of living in LA.
Tom
That is indeed a broad and by the way weird question. My kids asked me things like this all the time, e.g. "who's best, me or my brother". Or when they asked me: "what do you prefer, elephants or blue?". That one got me good.
I did live in the US, VERY close to Orange County (in San Bernardino county, a stone-throw away from Pomona). Weather was great, it was like summer all year-around, and with Disneyland a 20min. drive away, it was like Disneyland all year-around.
Immigration policies were a nightmare, and the IRS took over 4 years to finally acknowledge that my kids (2 of them attended public school) existed, so that I could legally declare them a tax deduction, was a "treat". Going to the DMV was also an interesting experience: the MFK equivalent used to take me around a half a day (and because I exchanged my car twice, I had to do it 3 times in total). And as a foreigner, with no prior Credit History, getting to open a bank account, an account with the trash collection company, leasing a house, getting a credit card, etc, etc, etc...well, it was an interesting learning experience.
Ironically none of that was an issue when I first moved to Switzerland. So I'd say that I prefer living here than there.
Did you just land from a different planet or wake up from a deep coma?
I do love the "NE has the maybe the best health care in the world".
Well, I'm a US citizen so I won't face immigration hassles, but since I'll have lived in Switzerland 25 years by the time I return to the US I guess I'll pretty much feel like a foreigner...
The question has so many variables, you can't take other people's experiences and preferences as relevant to yours so I am not sure meaningful answersto your question are possible. My experiences living in Chicago are likely vastly different from yours in Orange County - just as my experiences in Schwyz are likely vastly different from those of folks who live in Geneva, Zürich, and of course Tessin. (pace, Tom. )
I've loved many things about my time in Switzerland, and hated others. I feel the same about the US - I love many things, hate others. I will be sad to leave Switzerland, but happy to finally be home.*
The things I prioritize when defining what is necessary to live a happy life are not available to me in Switzerland, so the scale tips to the US, where those things are readily available*. But that's me. Others could not care less about what is important to me, and so feel differently about one or both countries.
tl;dr: All of the above, or none of the above.
* Assuming it hasn't all gone up in flames by 2024...
EVERY Country in the world has its positives and negatives so at the end its just a personal choice one makes....
Neuchâtel, are you sure
OP- depends very much where in Switzerland, and where in USA- surely.
by best healthcare do you mean most expensive?
But some have a lot more negatives than positives so would therefore be less desirable to live in.
North Korea, Syria and a few others, for example, but yes, for the individual it is subjective.
Going back to the OP - if you live in Dallas, Texas and drive for a few hours in any direction, you're still in Texas.
If you live in Switzerland and drive a few hours in any direction; you can be in France, Germany, Austria, or Italy where everything is very different so is great if you fancy a change.
THIS!
I'm so bored now that I am back in the US.
Oh Look! A strip mall!
Of course, for some, that sort of variety is positively terrifying; they appreciate the fact homogeneity of the States. "USA, where nobody needs a passport!" (especially since they have the Eiffel Tower, a pyramid, parts of Venice and Rome and God knows what else in Vegas alone).
Hey all, thanks for the discussion.
Indeed, it's a broad question and perhaps I should have narrowed down to a more specific demographics.
I think it's very dependent on age & level of education.
A young person with a STEM, medicine, law, finance, business, etc., will prefer the USA whether someone working on unskilled jobs will prefer Switzerland.
But to me where it's more advantageous in the USA is entrepreneurship & people willing to take risks. Switzerland and Germany are way less dynamic in this regard, lot's of regulations, and the market doesn't seem to be open to novelties. In the USA if you invent something different there will be always people willing to consume it.
On the other hand, someone with a good job or business in Switzerland with not much ambition might prefer the stable and steady-stead course of things
I agree with you, public services work way better in Switzerland, even in Ticino.
No, I am not. I have never heard of a place with so many great hospitals and medical services like in Boston.
Expensive yes, but great too. Perhaps I was spoiled because of the top university hospitals I used.
Exactly. That's why I said initially I don't think it's correct to say right away that Switzerland is the best, it depends on each ones condition and preferences.
Sorry but I think Germany is a bit of a boring place. I love the German cities, their architecture, museums, fast cars and autobahn, but other than that...
That's exactly one big plus for me in Switzerland: I love to travel and would get bored in Texas.
However, the housing affordability there is ridiculously: a house that costs 400k there is probably 2M in Switzerland, but wages are not much different. Also, every time I travel to Texas I feel astonished by the way the economyis dynamic there, all of a sudden in an empty land there is a new gigantic shop for hot rods parts, a new factory of something else, etc.
I think the implied question was why you would think it a good place to live if you were poor. It's not renowned for a low cost of living, AFAIAA.
Oh, because if you are poor, in Germany they will provide you with a lot of free stuff, e.g., school, housing, etc, whereas in Switzerland or in the USA it's much tougher.
You clearly haven ́t lived there
Switzerland has pretty mountains and the USA makes the world's best squirty cheese, but for me the best country in the world has to be the tiny principality of Erizo.
With free healthcare in a gorgeous hospital located in a 12th century monastery, a university which has given the world more Nobel Prize winners than the University of Wisconsin, free beer (yes, you read that correctly!) from the fountain in Constitution Square, and zero pollution on account of the largest solar farm in Europe, it's about as close as anywhere on this planet gets to paradise.
Best not to mention human rights, but hey - the Prince usually pardons the condemned when he sobers up! And there hasn't been a public execution for almost a fortnight.
I can get you an introduction to the Prince if you like. My rates are quite a lot lower than most Introducers. Just let me know.
I think you "may" just get some opposition here. What's that place called in CH... does that collider thing... CERN...
The US also produced PT Barnum... and his famous take on his punters... just sayin'