> europe's quality of life is better it's really not. many europeans are poor and can barely afford living expenses. there aren't many high paying jobs, and even very senior roles don't pay that much more than the junior ones. healthcare may be "free" but its low quality and takes forever to see a specialist. if you aren't a total brokie, you'll have to pay for private clinics, so your high taxes are essentially for nothing. public transportation exists but its slow - eu car ownership rates are almost the same as the us, though miles driven is lower because everything is closer.  don't get me wrong, american job benefits suck ass for the most part. i'm happy that i live in california and enjoy more job protections than people in red states where they can be fired with no notice, for no reason, and have barely any recourse or benefits to rely on beyond the federally mandated ones. after the 26 weeks of unemployment benefits are up, you're fucked if you haven't found something. american pto sucks. even my employer, who is pretty good, only offers me 15 days of pto after 3 years of working here. as a result, i usually adopt a very hostile work strategy wherever i get started. in the first 2-3 years, i work extremely hard and monopolize a large part of a core function of a business under me. once that happens, i can twist my employer's arm about things that i want and always end up receiving special treatment because i make myself unfirable. in this way, i usually enjoy another 2 weeks of 'stealth' pto where i simply decide not to work those days and no one says anything. this also gives me flexibility in my working hours where i can take the kids to school, pick them up in the middle of the day, and resume work later in the evening (or not, if i don't feel like it). we do what we need to to survive.
United States