I'm biased as well, being American. I think I'd much rather be middle class in Europe than the USA as well. Middle class in the US is a constant feeling of the ladder dissolving just beneath you.
I haven't been on Facebook in 15 years. I spend every night on Wikipedia, following random links. I worked for a Parisian company for a decade and have been around western EU more than most Americans.
Probably dial back your assumptions a little bit. I've earned my opinions just as much as you have.
I moved to Europe a couple of years ago from the US. I paid 100 euro for an mri the other day. I absolutely feel richer in the EU and am shocked at the prices in the US whenever I go back for work.
But I’m fortunate to make a US salary living in the EU.
People always make this case, if you're not satisfied then move. As someone who has changed countries twice and continents once, I can attest it's not an easy or convenient thing to do. Money or lifestyle is one thing, but you're also leaving behind family and culture. Statements like these are so dismissive to that struggle that it's almost offensive to me.
The point is that middle class Americans can become middle class Europeans, but middle class Europeans can't become middle class Americans, because they can't afford it.
I didn't say it'd be easy. I'm just pointing out that only one of the two groups being discussed has a real choice in the matter.
Why do you think that middle class Europeans can't become middle class Americans? I know more than one example where that was no problem at all.
It's not like a middle class American or European could just move and then not work and just live off of their savings. They move and get a job (ideally the other way around), jobs tend to pay relative to the living cost of where you live.
That's why people compare spending power instead of how much money you earn, because that comparison is meaningless.
Because if a middle class American sells their middle class home and buys a European middle class home, they have an extra half million left over. And if a middle class European sells their middle class home and tries to buy an American middle class home, they're half a million short.
Neither the US nor Europe has such a unified housing market that this could be a reliable statement. In Europe it differs greatly within countries, and there are many countries. In the US it also varies greatly within each state and there are many states.
Also at this point both have seen such negative upward trends in housing prices that the assumption that someone placed in the middle class owns a home at all (without any debt attached) is questionable. (But that's just a comment and besides the point)
That is the entire point I'm trying to make. You can win the argument by being pedantic about the precise thing you were saying, or we can recognize the broader implication of what you are suggesting people to do. Only economically viable means nothing when it comes to life decisions.
I have no idea why you're being downvoted, because you're absolutely right. I have circumstances that make moving abroad something like a nuclear option. I could take my job with me, but that's the least of it.
The point is about economic mobility - of course, people get tied down as they get older.
Middle class people from wealthy nations who move to poor countries are relatively rich by the standards of their new country. Middle class people from poor countries who move to rich countries are relatively poor by the standards of their new country.
Depends. If you are middle class in US with little savings, moving to Europe will probably make your life worse as relative wages are lower for many professions (e.g software eng).
If you are middle class in EU and have little savings, moving to US will do the opposite and you would be better off.
Your comparison holds for the inverse: getting most of your quality of life from static wealth.
