> I feel for the people of Europe; they deserve better. So many of the smart, lovely people you meet here are stuck on absurdly low salaries in countries without any obvious future other than managed decline.
That's funny, because I feel similar for people in the US.
Sure, people in tech have high salaries, but then you have to deal with the insane health care, idiotic prison system and half the country supporting an openly fascist and lying president (among other things).
What continent do you think of when you say Italy (Meloni) or Hungary (Orban)? Also last I checked, Europe had dictators until 70's (Greece, Portugal, Spain) and communists until 80's (Warsaw pact countries). So doesn't look so nice out there.
What does 40 years ago have to do with ‘not looking so nice’ today? School shootings, crack zombies everywhere, massive imprisonment and capitalist healthcare look a bit worse from this side actually today. Actually if I would not travel to the US often for work, I would think it is a PKD story.
> What does 40 years ago have to do with ‘not looking so nice’ today?
GP comment ("You don’t really think Turkey or Hungary when you think of Europe") is ignoring the reality even today. And also shows a lack of geographical /cultural knowledge, that they deny Hungary being a part of Europe.
Yeah this is the double standard here. Whenever US haters on HN compare the US to Europe they only compares it to France, Germany, Sweden, etc. to prove that the EU is a better place to live, but forget that the EU also has Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, etc.
But then the other side needs to stop comparing the highest living standard states to all of Europe.
HN Americans like to talk about the tech salaries in CA, WA, and maybe NY and conveniently forget the problems in MS, LA, WV.
Either way it's a slightly lopsided comparison, because Europeans see their nation as a bit more sovereign than the average American sees their state. Except maybe Texans.
Especially with the language barriers a lot of Europeans never consider moving "states". If I move from Germany to Switzerland I might face racism. If an Oregonian moves to California they probably won't.
This comment here is proof that europe is stuck in the past. The countries you mentioned are all vastly more developed than most of the world yet somehow you feel the need to remind folks that they lag behind others in europe. And no wonder they do considering how hostile europeans are towards them.
> Europe is very diverse and I'm comparing the US to the Scandinavian countries, as that's where I live.
Sweden somehow had an even worse policy than the US for dealing with COVID. Scandinavia is home to some of the largest white nationalist movements in the world.
Let's not pretend it's all roses here in Europe. Britain keeps electing Tories and effectively elected Boris Johnson. France damn near elected Marine le Pen. Nationalists control Hungary and Poland. About a quarter of Italy's parliament is far-right.
Don't get me wrong, I emigrated from the US in large part because of the political landscape, but Europe is not immune, or even close. And, really, the US is also "very diverse" -- plenty of states are generally well-governed.
That's funny, because I feel similar for people in the US.
Sure, people in tech have high salaries, but then you have to deal with the insane health care, idiotic prison system and half the country supporting an openly fascist and lying president (among other things).