As a kid I had this rose tinted view of the US and always imagined I'd move there. I haven't and I wouldn't especially now I have a child who has a close relationship with his extended family but I'm very curious about these threads.
I have lived in a few different countries and if people ask me about the cultural differences my instinct would be to explain it with examples of situations I was in. However on here and Reddit, it's absolutely full of people saying things like "it's a completely different culture, nothing like the UK" and "it's an awful place to live" with no detail or examples at all.
I know very little of the US but have worked with US expats when I lived abroad.
"Divided by a common language"
I do get that we have a different sense of humour but other than that I'm not sure what it is that's so culturally different. I found my US colleagues easy to chat to and I think having the same native language is a massive help in making a connection. Also because we import so much US entertainment we had a lot of the same references and memories of childhood.
I did notice a couple of my US colleagues were so patriotic that it was unlike anything I'd seen. They did really genuinely believe that the USA was the best country in the world but would never speak about things they liked about the US. They just stated it as a fact as it they were stating the sky blue. Other than that I found them pleasant, positive and good communicators.
I've heard that Americans a lot more confident and less self deprecating which I did notice but I don't see as a bad thing. I know it's not what we're used to but I don't think it's good that we are so negative about ourselves and often have a crabs in the bucket mentality. There's a real feeling of anti-intellectualism anti-ambition in the UK in my opinion.
I think the American confidence is much more likely to result in success and while it's too late for me to ever really take that on, it's not something I would be opposed to my son having.
Likewise, I feel a lot of Americans seem quite good at communicating and sharing their feelings and asserting their boundaries. So many people here, especially in the very working class town I've grown up take the "stiff upper lip" thing to the extreme. I have immediate family members who I know very little about as all our interactions are basically small talk and banter. Speaking sincerely and earnestly about feelings would often be ridiculed or just subtly discouraged.
On the other hand, there's this stereotype that Americans are sort of cheesy and you know, all routinely in therapy, but again I don't see this as a bad thing. Its instinctively uncomfortable for me to be around more emotionally open people but I think it's a healthier way to be.
The education - I keep hearing it's worse but in what way? This I have no idea or experience of and all I see is American movies which I know are not going to be based on reality.
What is it about he curriculum that's so much worse? From what I've gathered it seems there's a lot more emphasis on sports and other extra curricular activities. Is it really like movies where everyone's either a theatre kid or on the football team or on the debate team? It sounds like there's a lot more opportunities open to them and culturally it's expected that they'll engage in these which again seems good? In school only the kids exceptional at music or art or music seemed to do anything outside of school and the vast majority of us did nothing. Is Is the actual content they're learning worse somehow?
Work culture - one of the big things that would put me off. Seemingly less rights and less work life balance. Very little annual leave and the expectation you don't take it all is a big thing as I like to work to live.
The health care - the only criticism I really see is the cost but this is negated by very good insurance packages right? Presumably OP wouldn't go without this being very solid? Or theres the criticism that a lot of the preventative stuff is excessive and unnecessary? I get that but also the NHS is very much about statistics and what works best for cheapest. Mental health is a great example. I hope a few sessions of CBT works because if it doesn't we will imply it's your fault and you didn't try hard enough. CBT is not often appropriate for complex issues such as trauma but it can be a big challenge to get a diagnosis let along actual help.
The NHS is particularly bad for chronic health issues that tend to take many years to get diagnosed or less common "zebra" illnesses. There's a lot of dismissing of peoples worries or only doing the most basic tests. That's if you can even get a GP appointment.
My maternity care was so awful that it was genuinely traumatic. There's this pervasive "tough love" attitude which I think is odd and I feel a lot of people assume immediately that someone is being dramatic or making it up if a basic round of blood tests returns no clues. Having to fight to be taken seriously for my newborns cows milk allergy was particularly eye opening and really made me lose a lot of trust in the system.
I appreciate that free health care exists especially for emergencies but the NHS is not in a good state.
The US seems like a place where it's very bad to be poor but if you're well off it's a good life. The political situation at the moment would put me off as well as the erosion of reproductive rights. I totally get why guns and trump and all that stuff would put people off. I'm just more interested in hearing more about the cultural reasons people often refer to. My impressions are based off very little experience but those who make these comments often do not tend to elaborate.