the eu-usa culture difference surrounding money and enjoyment is being overlooked

[cocacolamonster]

I was going around Reddit and it occurred to me that too many people are generalising/overlooking some of the strong culture differences that exist between US philosophy and non-US philosophy.

In Europe, we often go to great lengths to limit work hours even if that reduces productivity and looks statistically bad (reducing GDP) and much of society is based around enjoyment of life without money.

You raise children not to prepare them for a job, but rather either for enjoyment of life or to do some sort of moral good (become a doctor or politician).

A lot of Americans are still quite materialistic from a European perspective - universities are about making money there, a job's salary is most paramount, etc...

I'm Indian (or Sri Lankan) too. They don't have such a strong materialistic culture there as well. It is widely common for people to not peruse money in order to work towards a moral or cultural good - which many economists blame for the worse economic growth among Indians vis-a-vis more materialistic cultures such as China where money creation is views as a major aspect of success. Indian philosophies historically found that chasing money wouldn't lead to a better quality of life.

I'm not quite sure how most British people feel about paper chasing now considering the prevalence of US culture in the English speaking world.

I've basically lived everywhere else around the world.

Basically everywhere else?

What does that mean?

If I were in the USA I would earn a good chunk more

Not necessarily true Rabbit.

According to google average salary for a teacher in England after 10 years is £28,700.

In Texas where I live the average salary for a teacher after ten years is $37,000 which is equivalent to £26,500, so actually less.

Texas teacher salaries are about average nationally.

My understanding (which may be wrong) is that they do get health insurance but need to pay a contribution.

In Texas where I live the average salary for a teacher after ten years is $37,000 which is equivalent to £26,500, so actually less. Texas teacher salaries are about average nationally.

Er no, the average is $56k.

Are you sure YouCantGetHere? According to several sites I just looked at, the average in Texas is about $51,000. In New York state, which is the highest for the continental United States, it's over $80,000.

The state-mandated minimum in Texas is $37,000 for a teacher with 10 years experience, but based on the averages, I would guess that many with that level of experience are making more, especially in the cities.

articles.niche.com/teacher-salaries-in-america/

I helped work on our local teacher contract - it's pretty nice. You work 36.5 weeks a year, get a year's sabbatical every 7 years, a year's maternity leave, very low-contribution health insurance, accumulate 20 days sick pay per year, ongoing professional development is funded.

The kids here are nice to teach, and you have a huge support staff. I have seriously considered retraining but I think I'm just too old.

There’s a lot of misconceptions about China and OP is disparaging about it.

China is a mixture of different regions with different values and traditions. It’s a bit ignorant to tar the people with the same brush. I would say filial piety and valuing education are the more prevalent traits in China (and also in India) than being materialistic.

Although Indian households have a record of gold hoard

No, YouCantGetThereFromHere, the average teaching salary in the US is NOT 37k.

I want to teach there!

That was was for youcantgetthere, is that a standard contract?

"I helped work on our local teacher contract - it's pretty nice. You work 36.5 weeks a year, get a year's sabbatical every 7 years, a year's maternity leave, very low-contribution health insurance, accumulate 20 days sick pay per year, ongoing professional development is funded."

Hey! I like this thread! I have lived all over the place as well, and no people from all walks of life. It really depends where you are, and even then there can be so many differences. I was living in central Vietnam for a very long time and speak fluent Vietnamese, so I really got to know the community and the ex-pats as well. The ex-pats in central Vietnam we're pretty easy-going, easy-going. It wasn't the place to be stressed out, and you didn't really have much anyway. When I first moved to Hue in 2007, there were no fast food places, and the only really nice supermarkets were underneath of the green hotel which opened a few months after I had been living there. So yes, quality of life was a lot more important.

If you go to Singapore, it's a different world. Even the experts who live in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are very different from the ones who live in central Vietnam.

I grew up in the United States, The organization I run is based out of the United States, the donors for my organization or mostly American, a lot is based on how much you achieve and accountability. Just look at education, that speaks for itself. I find the UK to be very similar. I have spent a lot of time in Greece, and speak nearly fluent Greek so I'm a lot I am among locals. I have lived in Italy, Germany, Spain and my mother his friends so I have seen a wide variety of countries. I don't find other places to be a stressful as the UK in terms of how much you have to work. Especially in a place like London.

Youcantgettherefromhere was just commenting on another post, that was not their actual post (read the last bit)

I also just found out that for any extra work such as extracurricular clubs and parents evenings you get paid overtime! Which you certainly don't in Uk.

Not that this is a thread about teaching but I strongly disagree that EU focuses on reducing hours so people can have more free time, across the board. I would say actually they just don't document the extra hours people put in because they don't pay overtime for it.

God..I work with a Sri Lankan man in his 50’s. All he ever talks about is money, houses, who has a big house, how much his colleagues houses are worth, how much pension he’ll get. It’s mind numbing and draining. The Indian man I work with is always talking about money and how he’s paying £1600 mortgage so his daughter could go to a good school, how he needs to work more so he can afford to buy things etc and his life is shit because he has to work so hard..These men are both Hindu. So for that, I disagree. I actually think many Indian people who’ve been here 2 mins are all about keeping up with the Jones’. A lot of them want what people who have settled here for decades have and I’m not sure if it’s awe or jealousy, but they seem to always want to talk about houses and money

No, YouCantGetThereFromHere, the average teaching salary in the US is NOT 37k

Someone else said it was, not me. I was quoting them, as you can see if you reread.

The greediest and most materialistic family I know is Indian and Hindu. And there are plenty more from where they came from! Can’t believe you just claimed Muslim families wouldn’t look after their families while Hindu ones would. Blatantly untrue and gross generalisation. There are bad eggs in every culture and religion.