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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Does everyone want to live in the US?

846 replies

AteRiri · 22/12/2016 19:43

I was talking to an American friend and he made this blanket statement, "Everyone wants to come here!"

Is this true?

OP posts:
Ev1lEdna · 23/12/2016 08:32

Oh absolutely not. The gun laws alone put me off and their President (elect) there are other reasons but I don't really want to get into them.

Would I like to visit different parts of it? Absolutely and I confess I find their political and law system fascinating and have since I studied it. I like Americans (or those I have met) so nothing to do with the people although there is some entrenched racism there unfortunately. Great to visit not to live - for me anyway.

Greenteandchives · 23/12/2016 08:32

I only realised recently that Kinder Eggs are illegal in the US as they are dangerous. Have a nice gun instead. Hmm
I would live there. It is a beautiful country.

girlwiththeflaxenhair · 23/12/2016 08:33

Maybe he meant everyone in the general sense that the USA is a net importer of people. Americans themselves don't want to leave, but maybe that'll change the way things are headed over there...

Ev1lEdna · 23/12/2016 08:34

I forgot a really important reason I wouldn't like to live there; their healthcare system. It can bankrupt people, I think it's broken and I love our NHS.

coffeetasteslikeshit · 23/12/2016 08:36

No. Because of their gun laws and the death penalty.

purpleleotard · 23/12/2016 08:41

no

Niloufes · 23/12/2016 08:42

Err, No way!

Follyfoot · 23/12/2016 08:48

DD is living there for a year. She would definitely not want to live there permanently, even though it had been her dream to do so.

It's a much less kind society than ours, she was telling me the other day that there are so many homeless people in the city she lives in that she was upset when she realised she had become almost indifferent to them. As she says: 'if you havent got money, you're fucked'.

TempsPerdu · 23/12/2016 08:53

No - stunningly beautiful country and lovely to visit but I couldn't live there. Like others I think I'd struggle with the inequitable healthcare system, gun laws, approach to criminal justice, influence of religion, weaker employment rights and vast inequality (the U.K. is bad enough in this respect!). DP also does a lot of work there and dislikes the office culture.

I tend to feel much more at home in other European countries than I do in the US in terms of common values etc, despite the language barrier (although I studied Modern Languages at uni which guess helps in that respect!)

Katedotness1963 · 23/12/2016 08:55

No, I don't. And neither does my American husband. Yes, I have lived there before, spent the last 18 years avoiding going back.

gamerwidow · 23/12/2016 08:58

God no, now Canada is a different question ...

00100001 · 23/12/2016 09:01

No for these reasons

Prohibitive access to Healthcare

Lack of employment rights (2 weeks annual leave, no real maternity / paternity leave, no proper job security)

The education system

Guns

Insular way of life

Corrupt government

00100001 · 23/12/2016 09:01

The death penalty!

MotherofPearl · 23/12/2016 09:13

I certainly appreciate the negatives outlined by 001 and others on here. On balance I too would prefer not to live in the US.

But equally I have noticed quite a lot of anti-American prejudice in the UK (I was not brought up here and am not American either), much of it based on lazy stereotypes. Some pp have commented they wouldn't want to live in the US 'because of the TV'. What, like British TV is so great compared to the likes of The West Wing, The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men etc?Confused

Luttrell · 23/12/2016 09:14

I wouldn't even visit for a holiday.

MotherofPearl · 23/12/2016 09:24

Why Luttrell? It's such a huge, diverse country? I'd have thought there would be something to please everyone?

walruswhiskers · 23/12/2016 09:25

I love the USA. It's a diverse, stunningly beautiful, fascinating country. I studied it's culture and history at uni for 4 years, spent a year living in the north east corner, and visit for big trips every few years. It's fab.

However, it's not where I want to live. Mostly because my family are here in the UK, but also because although it's a great place to be wealthy, it's a terrible place to be poor or seriously, long term ill. While I'd probably be ok, you never know. And I'd find it hard being surrounded so visibly be people who were less lucky.

walruswhiskers · 23/12/2016 09:30

Not liking the rampant xenophobia on this thread btw.

LaurieMarlow · 23/12/2016 09:31

MotherofPearl I think that's a fair reflection of what I've seen on this thread. I particularly have to laugh at posters who criticise US for their 'lack of culture'.

What the US has contributed to the world culturally across spheres like art, music, film, fashion, literature, food, design, theatre is immense.

Deadsouls · 23/12/2016 09:32

No!

Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 23/12/2016 09:34

I even know US citizens who don't want to live there Grin (though to be fair I guess if they are in the UK it's probably a self-selecting sample!)

Timetogetup0630 · 23/12/2016 09:36

I lived there for a long time but I came back to the UK which Is a much more liberal, diverse and culturally rich country.
If you aren't Christian, White and comfortably well off it can be difficult to fit in and life can be hard,
Since Brexit I have had second thoughts.
Then Trump......
#nowheretogo

MrsWhiteWash · 23/12/2016 09:36

What, like British TV is so great compared to the likes of The West Wing, The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men etc?

We import the best of their TV - though did see ER out there but the number of adverts during it was astounding.

Obviously there are ways round crap TV - but the lack of decent news and general informed public debate was very jarring to me - but that's partly as I was brought up with lots of news consumption and radio 4 as background and even in our wider family we seek out the history, science and nature programs around.

It wouldn't be a deicing factor on it's own but a possible contributing consideration.

LeadPipe · 23/12/2016 09:49

We don't watch TV or movies, only me recently as I've been sick. So that part of American "cultural heritage" is totally lost on us and we don't enjoy it like many other Americans do.

Citing legitimate reasons for not wanting to live in a country is not xenophobic. The last American friends that we had visit us carried on the whole time about how much bigger their houses are (true), how much better the food is (possibly) and how difficult it is to get around in the UK (public transport infrastructure has been woefully neglected, they aren't wrong) but I never felt they were being xenophobic towards Brits. They simply couldn't fathom why we'd chosen to live here. Fair enough. I'd never want to live in a huge house in a small Midwest town, I'd go nuts but They love it there as do many other Americans.

KellysZeros · 23/12/2016 09:49

I have a medical condition, and knowing people through a support group around the world with the same condition, living in the US would be bit risky for me.

However, the US, from having visited there has some of the best of the best things (countryside, education, culture), but as many have mentioned, some of the worst of the worst (gun crime, racism, and of course Trump)

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