16 Ways Europeans Are Just Better At Life - Because They Pay More in Taxes

[pampango]

Last edited Tue Oct 8, 2013, 10:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Here are a few arenas where the U.S. could learn a thing or two from the old country.

1. HEALTH CARE

Europeans:

As the U.S. Congress plows into gridlock again over Obamacare, Europe offers a number of examples of far more efficient health care systems. According to a Bloomberg study, four European nations rank in the top 10. Apparently, the U.S. could learn something from Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Sweden.

Americans:

In fact, of the 48 nations surveyed, the U.S. ranked 46, edging out only Serbia and Brazil.

3. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Europeans:

Across the pond, larger cities flaunt extensive metros and buses circumnavigate nearly every town. Granted, the U.S. takes three days to drive across, but a high-speed train in Germany is the closest thing to being in "Star Trek" as any mode of transport in this half of the 21st century.

Americans

What's that? You don't live in New York/Washington/Chicago and don't have a car? OK. Enjoy waiting for your transfer bus for the next three hours.

7. VACATION TIME

Europeans:

The top seven nations in the world, in terms of time off? All European. Austrians get 35 (35!) paid days off per year. Nobody criticizes them for being lazy.

Americans:

Meanwhile, the U.S. is the sole developed nation that requires no paid vacation time or holidays by law.

12. FUEL-EFFICIENT CARS

Europeans:

In Europe, nobody laughs at the guy driving the car that's only slightly larger than a bathtub...because they're likely driving those cars, too.

Americans:

Meanwhile, here's a familiar sight from an American parking lot: A gas-guzzling SUV, probably parked over the lines at the grocery store, with one of those stick figure family decals in the back window. Because gallons of milk need to be transported in tanks.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/07/16-ways-europeans-are-just-better-at-life_n_3950351.html

[uppityperson]

1. You get more, you pay more.

[eqfan592]

3. Not really. We pay more for our healthcare than any of those countries, for example.

If you combine up what we spend privately as well as what we spend publicly and nobody is even close.

[uppityperson]

4. sorry, I am typing in shorthand. I would happily pay more taxes to get more benefits. I would like

people to understand (or to know, or to be informed of) what their tax dollars are going towards.

[coldmountain]

2. What stifles American advancement is the ex-Confederacy, they hold us back

What stifles American advancement is the ex-Confederacy, they hold us back like the Taliban holds back Pakistan and Afghanistan

[mnhtnbb]

5. I know someone who moved from Kansas City to Lyon (France) last June

to marry the love of his life (gay) whom he met the year previously
when he was there for summer study working on yet another master's degree
to add to his expertise as a teacher.

Well, he is SO happy. I can't say that I blame him! He was offered
several jobs--he's a teacher--and he ended up accepting a position
with a private, international school. He speaks French, German, and, of course,
English.

He was posting recently on fb about kids at his school who were talking
about an upcoming field trip--to Spain. One Monday morning he
asked his students what they had done over the weekend, and
several of them had been to Paris. What a difference compared
to student lives in the U.S.!

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Some of those are legit, some are kind of wacky

Sure, "American" cheese is crap, but I can certainly buy all sorts of European-style natural cheeses that are made in the USA, especially Wisconsin and Vermont.

Public transportation? Europe is more densely populated than the US. Germany, for example, has 82 million people living in an area slightly smaller than Montana. So public transportation is, consequently. much more economically feasible in much of Europe.

Soccer-- So what? Watching a bunch of overgrown boys run up and down the field, sometimes kicking each other in the nuts, and getting a final score of 0-0 is not terribly appealing to a lot of Americans.

Chocolate-- Geez, it's not like there is no mass-produced chocolate in Europe. And it's not like there is only mass-produced chocolate in the US.

Sexy accents?

Metric system-- If you're not a scientist, what difference does it make if you measure temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius, as long as everyone knows what the number means? If I measure gas mileage in miles-per-gallon, my mileage is not going to improve by switching to kilometers-per-liter. I don't suddenly get a better price if I buy food in 100-gram units, rather than pound units. And if my land deed is denoted in square feet or acres, there's not going to be one single, solitary benefit to converting that to square meters or ares.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Spelling error.

"Because" misspelled as "but".

[pampango]

9. Great point. I corrected it. n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. "pay more in taxes" is to some extent a myth

Taxes in European countries go to pay for things like a national healthcare system and subsidised higher education. American healthcare costs are much higher and there's no universal healthcare; tuition fees at top-tier universities are also much higher. (Oxford and Cambridge tuition is £9000, or about US$14.5K, a year for UK residents; the most direct US comparison would be with Harvard, Yale, et al, where tuition is $40K a year). It's really misleading to look at upfront taxation without taking into account all of the things that those higher taxes support that would otherwise be coming out of one's income in the form of medical insurance and student loan repayments and so on.