LaLiLuLuCo

50k is more than most Europeans make with 3-6 years of education.... That's my point.

It is low, but the take home in Europe is even lower like 25-30k, 60k before taxes with years of education, and you're still paying €300 each month for public health insurance which takes up 5-10% of your income.

Some of my coworkers with PHDs and post docs and 5-10 years are only pulling 90k before taxes. An electric bike for example still costs €3-4k, and they have to pay for registration and insurance on it.

Money buys quality of life and access to distractions thay may or may not make you happy.

My companies' Pension plan for retirement is one of the best ones left and still pays comparably dog shit to an IRA and 401k. It's irrelevant to me because I'm here to do work that makes me happy.

I certainly enjoy eating at the fanciest restaurant in the area every week because it's what I used to pay for dog shit delivery in SF.

I can travel whenever I want, etc.

The only thing I'm unhappy about is not being in the same timezone as most of my friends.

Edit : like shit, my Mexican intern is struggling with his visa and might need a €10k loan from me to stay in Europe and it's nice I can actually give him that. It's untenable for the rest of the native European people on my team to even entertain such a thing, that was 1 month salary for me years ago in LA.

Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and Greece on the construction methods, AC, and Toliet. Haven't been to Spain in a few years but they are suffering in the heatwave. Italy was 80+F late night last night when I was in Rome.

Healthcare wise my home region has some of the best on the continent. Perks of being the HQ of a national champion of the largest economy on the continent. If I have an emergency the hospital is very well equipped to handle patients from the nearby plants. Was more modern than any hospital I ever saw in the US.

I'll see France in the next few months along with the Netherlands and Belgium. I'm not expecting things to be much different.

The Baltic and Nordic countries still have a mostly cold climate, so maybe things are better there, I'll visit. In my neck of the woods it just never stops raining which has been a mixed bag.

If we want to compare incomes outside of my area than it's even more extremely in favor of the US. I was basing my comparison on my employer's payscales along with IG Metall (largest Union in Germany). We have some of the highest pays on the continent.

The literal only exceptions cost of living wise are cities like Munich which are comparable to NYC, LA, and SF but still cheaper from the time I've spent visiting it. I lived in all three of the aforementioned American cities for years.

Low end of Middle class, 50%, is still making a good college degreed salary (masters equivalent) in Europe. Middle end is making as much as a PhD in a tech company equivalent here.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/04/20/how-the-american-middle-class-has-changed-in-the-past-five-decades/

So 1 in 2 have 6 years of college equivalent income and are making more than most Europeans, and 1 in 10 are comparably rich.

Comparably a good PhD (I. E. Employable) in America can pull 120-150k relatively easily, and 200k after a few years. Making as much as 3 times the European with the same education and experience.

E: European college costs are much lower though so it somewhat depends on how much debt you have to take too.

I had to wait 2.5 months for a simple blood test panel after seeing my doctor which took 2 months from scheduling.

In the US it was always same day at a Lab Corp outlet or on site. Cost a lot but I'd get results into the issue at least. The hospital here in Europe did a whole panel the same day I went to the ER....but my doctor didn't want to bother getting it from them. And imaged me twice too, but again the doctor didn't bother pulling those and ordered some months away.

middle-upper middle class in America = rich in Europe.

I took a 50% pay cut to move to Europe. I'll probably move back.

Edit: the €200 uninsured hospital visit when I got here before my public insurance activated Was nice though. Actually finding a doctor here who can see me on a time scale not measured in Quarters is a problem though. Also drug availability for my issues is real as the public insurance doesn't offer a lot of them. It's still marginally better than the US and a lot cheaper but fuck me I need my medication or to see the doctor more than 3-4 times a year for them to adjust it.

Oh also the lack of AC given climate change is a huge problem. The BS about better insulation is just that. You end up roasting in an oven. The insulation and construction methods are also impossible to do modifications to without a lot of time and specialized equipment. A contractor I hired burned out their impact driver just hanging artwork. The toilets suck too and are embedded in the wall so good luck servicing them.

I moved to Europe, grew up in New York near the City and decided to get a moped here to commute. It's roughly equivalent to an Ebike but was actually cheaper than one and has a 100km range. It's not highway legal as it has a top speed of 45km/h but can go on bike paths as long as I watch the speed.

After 3 months since I got the moped I am going to get a car because FUCK going to the office in the rain with that thing. The trains and/or busses go on strike about once a month, maybe a little less, and between delays and cancelations I can't rely on them for my commute. I've literally been waiting for the bus and the driver just decides not to stop to pick me up too. Also packages don't get reliably dropped off at my front door so I need to go into town or to the supermarket next to the highway to pick up my things which becomes untenable when they are bulky. Instead I'm taking taxis at a cost of €30 each way just to pick up shit that should be left at my door.

The dissonance is strong, I still need a car, and I still need one big enough to move bulky crap at least once a month if not more.

And before someone says rent a car, it's €70+ a day to do so here and I have a preferred account through my employer. I need to book it in advance so it's not a "same day" thing. Oh and the places they drop the packages off have weird fucking opening times and are often closed when they should be open so I've literally spent €60 on taxis to come home with nothing. That time the seller did me a solid and refunded me the €60 as an apology (it was a €350 item).

Or how LGBT relationships and "sissy-men" get censored out the wazzoo in popular Chinese Media and on social media.

Fun fact my mainland Chinese friends started saying "this humiliates China" without any other context on their social media because they weren't even allowed to say they were lonely during lock downs due to censors.

They actually hire companies like Double Verify, an Israeli company, who man in the middle the ad and figure out where it is showing up.

Disney doesn't want their ads on porn sites, and pays a lot to keep it that way.