Will my life be better if I move to USA?

[Yatre]

I truly hate the UK class system.

I hate the whole private school vs grammar school vs state school elitism.

I hate the Oxbridge elitism and how Oxbridge-educated people dominate public life and the arrogance many of them have.

I hate the posh Etonians and Harrovians.

I hate the elitism of the Royal Family, the British aristocracy, all those titles and landed estates, the House of Lords etc.

Just the existence of certain British politicans (regardless of their politics - because this isn’t necessarily about their political beliefs) really irks me. Think David Cameron or Boris Johnson. Both upper-class, privately-educated, Oxford/Bullingdon Club, which have given them a great sense of arrogance about their position in life.

I hate the Oxford Union and the way they all dress up in posh attire, acting all special, and thinking their oratory skills will materialise into anything of worth.

This arrogance has been talked about before with many Brits believing that these Oxbridge, privately-educated, middle and upper-class people have the arrogance to think they have the right to run the country.

They’re present everywhere. Edward Davey, Keir Starmer, Suella Braverman, Tony Blair etc. it’s not just a right-wing thing. In fat, you could argue, these days, it’s more so left-wing.

Even successful British actors like Emma Thompson, Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne etc exhibit these attributes. They

I just don’t want to have to live in the same country as these types of people or listen to their antics.

Luckily, I’m a dual UK-US citizen since I was born in the US while my parents were living there for a while, but I have never been there since my parents returned and I don’t know anyone there.

I really want to move to the US.

If you know what it’s like to live in the USA, can you just tell me whether if I moved to the USA, I wouldn’t have to come across any of those posh, aristocratic, upper/middle-class, privately-educated, titled, Oxbridge graduate snobs that I mentioned.

I would live in a much more meritocratic country where nobody would tolerate Oxford Union debaters thinking their opinion matters or privately-educated people thinking they have a right to run the country.

At least Trump’s wealth or that of the Kardashian’s isn’t offensive to me because it just feels different - it doesn’t feel as layered and it doesn’t make them act as entitled or snobbish.

So, if I move to USA will I be free from these types of people or will I still see some of them/hear from them? I’m not sure if America is dominated by middle-class or posh, Oxbridge graduates or aristocrats.

Sorry for the rant. Just felt overwhelmed.

You're talking about someone who actually said to Norway that he should be given Greenland because they didn't give him the Nobel Peace Prize. What's your definition of entitled? I'd say that's off the scale entitlement.

Yeah, but he didn’t go to Oxbridge, so it’s okay, he is excused 🤣. Fucking hell.

Do you think Trump made me his money on merit? Nothing to do with his wealthy family?
The US is the most unequal society in the world, it hasn't the aristocracy but that's because it's a young country. It still has the elite so you might be disappointed. Having said all that I think you should give it a go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And some very small parts of England too, to be fair. There lots of areas that are toff free!

I suspect OP (if genuine) has an obsession so deliberately seeks out info and news on these people. Making her own echo chamber worse. Maybe step away from the algorithm and just enjoy your life?

Off you pop, then, OP 👋

I wondered the same thing.

OP the reality is that Oxbridge graduates are clever. Oxford and Cambridge get the pick of students with straight A star profiles. As such a very high number of their graduates will go on to get well paid jobs. Not because they went to Oxbridge, but because they are naturally clever and so they do well in application processes.

They get in to Oxbridge because they are confident enough to apply, because they put a lot of work into applying and writing the essays/sitting relevant exams and because they prepare very thoroughly for the interviews and know their subject inside out.

Naturally clever students from other universities will also do disproportionately well in application processes even though many applications are now school and university blind. It’s harder if you are not naturally clever but have to work to get good grades. The AI selection processes nowadays don’t favour those types.

Gone (largely) are the days in the UK when it was about who you know. I am a senior corporate lawyer, DH is a very senior corporate lawyer and holds a very prestigious judicial role. We earn a lot of money and know a lot of people in the profession. We cannot get DD a training contract. She has to go through the process like everyone else since the first four stages are AI generated (very detailed application form which generally takes 3/4 hours minimum to draft - logic/reasoning timed test - situational judgment test- AI interview. All that has to happen before you get to an assessment day and then you have to do more tests and then have an in person interview to get a place on the vacation scheme. You then have to be a top performer on the vacation scheme and go well in the next interview to be offered a training contract. Then you have to pass two very difficult exams with only a 40% pass rate. If you can’t do complex logic tests you are basically never getting past stage 2.

Nobody is giving you a job just because you went to Oxford anymore.

In the US however it’s far more about who you know. We have colleagues over there who tell a very different story.

There is a reason btw that many well known actors went to private school and Oxbridge. It’s because to be an actor you need to be able to support yourself because chances are you are not going to make a decent income from it for quite some time. You will also have periods with no jobs. So 30 years ago it was a profession which you only really had the luxury of opting for if you had money behind you. Slightly changing now with the internet.

Have you ever met any Etonians OP?
Because I had to spend a week there and those kids were truly the politest and humblest kids I've ever met.
The loud, gregarious Northern lads I was shepherding had tons more confidence and sass, but actually everyone got on really well.

Go to the US.

OP sounds like a child. Probably one who failed their Oxbridge interview in the recent past.

I’m in Scotland and just don’t recognise these stereotypes as part of my daily life. But we have other issues so please don’t come here with your hyperbolic, disproportionate prejudices and add to them.

Thats a lot of hate. For things that most people don’t give a minutes thought too.

As you're a US citizen OP, have you filed a US tax return every year?

I went to an Independent secondary school. You might not even notice initially given how well I hide behind a Midlands accent, being a nice person, and having no interest whatsoever in running the country. I'm sorry you feel like you want to move thousands of miles away so that you don't have to see or hear "people like me", but I guess it's your choice.

In the US the only thing people care about, or value, is money. If you have money people will listen to you. If you don't, they won't.

That wouldn't work for me, so I prefer it here in the UK, even if occasionally Jacob Rees-Mogg gets TV airtime. Your life is your choice.

Ivy League, not Oxbridge. It's just a different elite, born out of "new money" financial privilege rather "old money" in the UK.

I've lived in both places, been educated at elite universities, and I really don't understand what you think will be different in the US on the whole than the UK. In both countries you will experience a country run by a political elite linked to certain institutions and driven by inherited wealth.

There are obviously differences. Don't get ill in America - it's the leading cause of bankruptcy. But in the UK expect to pay more tax with sometimes little to show for it public services.

Are you from a posh middle class family?

The interesting thing about the US and elite universities is that 'widening participation' isn't even a conversation there yet. The Ivy Leagues are dominated by the wealthy; the percentage of students who went to private school is much higher than it is at Oxbridge! I asked my cousin (a professor at Princeton) what steps the university was taking to widen opportunities for working class prospective students and he looked at me as if I had two heads...

At least Trump’s wealth or that of the Kardashian’s isn’t offensive to me because it just feels different - it doesn’t feel as layered and it doesn’t make them act as entitled or snobbish.

Say the what now??

OP, move to the US if that's what you want to do and if you've dual citizenship that will presumably make it relatively straightforward. But you really need to find a way of dealing with this irrational prejudice you have about what is only ever going to be a very small proportion of the UK population.

No but Harvard, Yale etc also = a class system similar to Oxbridge.

Definitely, going to live in the USA would just be exchanging that chip for a fry. I think you need some help here OP, that obsession is not normal and the rest of the UK don't spend their lives thinking about this.

Do you realise how ridiculous you sound? How utterly riddled with jealousy and hate?
Imagine the opposite of what you're saying -
I can't stand living in the UK with all the common people, people who can't talk properly because they went to a state school. Do they not know that words such as 'water' and 'later' have the the letter 't' in them. Their hideous accents that make it hard to understand what they're talking about. I have no idea what the check out assistant said to me in Waitrose this morning because she was so common.

The lack of money and education that these people have is so evident and makes me sick. Yuck, I hate poor people. I think I need to move to somewhere posh where people are educated as the lack of brain cells around me is driving me crazy.

Oxford decisions came out last week.

What are you talking about . In my day to day life I don’t think I’ve ever come across any Oxbridge people, well, if I have I haven’t realised because they don’t let on 👀

If you move to the USA the chip on your shoulder will move with you

Your own attitudes, personal stresses, and many other things do not disappear because you move. They follow you.

I have family who have moved to Asia and then moved back, watched friends marriages fall apart after a move to Aus meant they discovered that the issue was them and their relationship not everything else they blamed it on.

Move for GOOD reasons, things that make you want to be there.

If OP is very young their earnings may be below the filing threshold.

But yes, OP, as an adult US citizen you are required to pay Federal income tax on your worldwide income. It’s a hoot.

There is a UK-US tax treaty mostly preventing double taxation but it still isn’t one of life’s pleasures. If you don’t pay, you can be detained at the border (in extreme cases) . Much as I despise almost all of the current border shenanigans, I do agree with the right of each nation to enforce its tax laws so this doesn’t bother me.

The US is not a meritocracy. The vast majority of wealthy people there were born into wealth. Research shows that social mobility is rare. Wealth disparity there is huge: extreme poverty alongside obscene wealth. There is snobbery there too. Lots of American "how to look Old Money" clips are on instagram.

Also- you don't think Trump acts like he's entitled?!?🙄

Jesus OP.

Do you think America will cure you of the enormous chip on your shoulder? They have rich people there too, you know. And how do you think political dynasties like the Kennedys and the Bushes came to power? Even Trump the lunatic maverick bought his way in.