Does everyone want to live in the US?

[AteRiri]

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

Is this true?

White Australians are the most racist, fascist, arrogant people Ive come across. They keep immigrants in detention centres and fail to acknowledge their home is only theirs as they slaughtered the native people and dispossessed the rest of their homeland.

Not the ones I know. But you knew that was an idiotic generalisation when you wrote it, I'm sure.

I suspect that if I came from a developing nation then I would really want to live in America. As I came from a developed nation I don’t. The gun crime, health care and holiday thing are issues for me and Trump is a halfwit who lied his way into office.

The thing is, I love America and all things American, the films, the culture, the landscape, the people etc but I love Wales more. I know it rains and we are a bit crap at certain things but I belong here. I fit.

I dont think you can assume that all Americans are arrogant, because the few you met were. I've lived in the US, UK and a few other countries, and I can assure you I've found arrogance in many nationalities. Still, I wouldn't write off an entire country based on a few negative experiences.
Although I agree about the abhorrent treatment of natives by the early immigrants to the US, there aren't many developed nations who can claim a squeaky clean history.

'Although I agree about the abhorrent treatment of natives by the early immigrants to the US, '

Many of whom were of white British extraction and even paid British taxes for over 150 years. In fact, they'd have been happy to continue doing so if they could have some MPs in Parliament. That's what they wanted, not to leave, but MPs to represent them in Parliament because they were paying British taxes.

And yy to glass houses. Many countries in the Caribbean that were originally British colonies have precious little of their own native population left due to the takeovers they sustained. Many have a large Afro-Caribbean population due to slaves being brought in to work.

Haven't read the whole thread. But the answer is no.

Living in the U.K. is quite nice and i have been to the US before. These visits weren't all that bad, I don't dislike what I saw/experienced. But no, I wouldn't.

For several reasons, tbh.

Good point, expat I forget how much of US history started here.

They didn't want to leave or revolt. Why would they? They wanted MPs and campaigned for years to get them, but were told no, but the British government still wanted all the taxes. There were also quite a few rather punitive laws, particularly regarding quartering of British soldiers with no financial compensation, that niggled. And again, LOADS came over during the clearances and during the famine in Ireland, all of which were the result of British policies. Even establishing plantations was a well know and old British policy affecting mostly Ireland until the Caribbean was taken over. James I had policies establishing plantations in NI. Many, many of the policies were British in origin and what was America was a colony for well over a century before revolution.

No. I'm European in outlook but there are some beautiful places in the US (and some ugly ones) just like anywhere else. If my career involved me living there fair enough but I'd rather live in Europe.

All sweeping generalisations are flawed, and you should remember that before making them.

Both sides.

I live in the US and love every second. Would never move back to the UK

I would love to do a road trip across the states me, my camera & laptop and the open road.

I have two teenage sons whose father is English but movedto the States about 6 years ago. Has a fancy roof top apartment full of gadgets, all mod cons, he drives an expensive fast car, he has a life filled with all the stuff that appeals to teenage boys. He wanted both the boys to go and stay with him for Christmas and NY, I thought they'd jump at the chance, eldest 18 yr old refused to go, youngest 16yr old went because he wanted to do a kind thing for his Dad but only for Christmas refused to stay for NY.
Both have the opportunity through their father to live and work there, neither want to. Having been there numerous times to visit their Dad they have said categorically no way to living there. They don't like it, they don't like its culture, its politics, its values, its attitude to the poor and dispossessed and certainly not its gun laws.

It is probably the only place in the world that I would never live in

onemorecup i can see where your son is coming from. All the British expats who lived in my town were hugely impressed with big houses, flash cars, and gadgets...mainly because all those things were a lot cheaper and easily attainable in the US than in the UK. When that's the kind of lifestyle you're immersed in, it's bound to change your values/politics/perception of the poor for sure.
The majority of Americans I've always known are not that much different than my British friends now. We all grew up in middle or working class families, so were not part of a 'flash' lifestyle. My British DH got totally caught up in the sparkle of having money in America...the lure is strong...but it's the novelty, isn't it? My friends and I used to roll our eyes slightly at the new expats living like new wealthy!

NorksAkimbo - admit hadn't really seen it from that perspective. Amused me to think of you and your friends rolling their eyes at the ex pats 🙄

I used to when I was a kid and teenager because I thought everything would be like 'The red hand gang' or 'Dallas'. But now - no, definitely not. Especially with Trump for president. I would be scared of healthcare, guns and the feeling that the country is just too big to keep an eye on how things are going with everybody.

I've sometimes thought it must be amazing to be an American. I wouldn't want to live there, though.

isnt it a bit like asking whether somebody would Iive in Europe? It seems to me that the experience would be very different depending on where you were and how much money you had.

There's places in the USA I'd love to visit but I don't ever want to live there. Too many guns in circulation, no NHS, too car-centric and there's a creosoted lunatic in charge.

onemorecup I'm glad you took that in the way it was intended! I suppose it's a bit like tourists in the UK who make a major deal over the royals and stuff...when you've grown up around it, it's hard to see what all the fuss is about!

I think the gun laws in some states would be incredibly frustrating because you just want to knock people's heads together and make them see sense.

However, there are many parts of the world that are far less safe than many parts of America.

I think in some ways the question comes down to how much you want to experience living somewhere else. I quite like the fact that there are few natural disasters in the UK, but I don't think that is a reason not to live elsewhere.

Certainly many people seem to think that 'everyone wants to live in the UK!'

Re: Trump, atleast not liking him would mean you had something in common with most American voters!

I'd agree that there are many people who think everyone wants to live in the UK, not the case as can be seen here, life is not uniform in any of these places. See for instance the person who talked about the education system being better in the US, that is not my experience of it. I also think the point of "jumping through hoops" for schools, forgets that in the US there are massive disparities in the level of funding per pupil in schools depending on the socio economic make up of the area, and unlike the UK, this disparity is not a progressive one.

But life is not uniform anywhere. Life in Connecticut vs life in Surrey? There probably isn't much overall difference apart from in the states your house will be bigger because land is cheaper. Life in Consett county Durham and life in the rust belt? Not much difference but the house point probably still stands lol

The house point will definitely stand in most places. The UK has one of (if not the) smallest average house size in Europe.

merrymouse actually I do see the lack of natural disasters as one of the big merits to living in the UK. I can imagine having your house blown down and then again a few years later as an huge emotional and financial downer. But even people who could move still chose to stay in places like that. It takes all sorts. But personally speaking it's a very big plus point to me.

can't believe this thread is still here. I have been thinking about it a lot over the last few days actually.

I am white British. I lived in the middle east as a kid, then taught in South east Asia as an adult. Then married a Dutch man and lived in ex Soviet country for 8 years. So I have lots of experience of living in other cultures.

That, in a nut shell, is why most people will not move to the US. Crossing cultures.
When you grow up in one culture, everything about that culture is familiar. The negatives and positives are your own negatives and positives.

As soon as you encounter another culture (and US culture is quite different to UK, and then of course there are all the different cultures within US) as soon as you encounter a new culture you evaluate it in a way you never do your own. Sometimes that is seeing wonderful new opportunities, or things that counteract the negatives in your own life. But more often it is seeing the negatives and weighing up if you could handle them or not. As they are perceived negatives and not actual ones (until you do actually move, you cannot know for sure how true these negatives are) then you tend to weigh them highly.

But even if the place was looking all amazing, it is still 'OTHER', it is still not YOUR culture, and so it will always in some way be alien or external, and it is incredibly hard, and takes a huge amount of effort to ever truely feel at home.

I think a relevant question for anyone on this thread is not
'would you ove to the US'
but
'would you move to any other country than where you are now'

because I am guessing the answer for most is no. And the reason is they are happy in their own cultural environment, which is fine, and not a criticism.