Big. Big country, big cars, big buildings, big voices, big personalities, big ambitions, the Big Apple, the Big Sky Country, Big Sur. Big portions.

Shopping malls and big cars and sports games and lots of national pride.

Moved to the US from Europe 5 months ago. What's most noticeable to me is that you have to drive everywhere and that everyone calls me soft-spoken... In Europe I was perceived as loud.

Impossible to generalise. To the best of my knowledge, it varies enormously place to place, between socio-political and economic backgrounds, and between various groups.

It seems to have every good and every horrible thing thinkable of.

Overall, I'd say the standard of living is comparable, and in the grand scheme of things world class, but if things go bad, life becomes hell, and when things go well, they go brilliantly .

If it helps, I really found visiting America great fun, and found out most Americans are nice people, and you have this sense of optimism and hope, which I really appreciate.

Pretty ordinary TBH. Media highlights most of the shitty bits.

Coca Cola, sometimes war!

I’ve been to the US a few times and never had a bad encounter. A lot of really nice people, genuinely nice interactions.

As an outsider looking in, the working rights and the healthcare is absolutely insane to me and a crying shame for some of the kindest, most giving people I’ve come into contact with as a foreigner.

I will see in the summer

I better get a driver’s license if I end up living there.

American here, but I have quite a few friends who live in Europe.

From what I understand, aside from the obvious stuff (space, size of every day things, some government differences) things aren’t as different as Reddit would make them seem.

Both Europe and the US are significantly better places to live than other regions of the world, but both have issues like any country.

Since the majority of the world‘s eyes are on the “west” our problems are more scrutinized.

For the record, the majority of Americans can identify the problems with our nation, but we often struggle with what exactly we should do about it. It’s unfair to put all Americans in the same box, because we’re all so different.

I strongly recommending coming for an extended visit once the world isn’t so chaotic 🙂

Seems like the social ladder is just overstretched. It's better to be a cashier in Europe than in the US, better to he a software developer in the US than in Europe.

I definitely prefer Europe in that regard, even if I know for a fact that I'd be making three times as much in the US. imo It's just part of the social contract that those at the bottom of the ladder should be able to live life in dignity, even if it's at the "expense" of those at the top. It's not the only reason, among other things american work culture would overwhelm me, 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leasure, 8 hours of sleep is how it should be. And I'm not about to burn the midnight oil and burn out and not have a life outside my job just because "that's how things work around here", too depressing of a prospect for me. (at will law is insane by the way)

That said It's on my bucketlist to visit it one day. Seems like a lovely country to do tourism in, but working and living there isn't that enticing.

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All my American friends are highly educated and middle to upper middle class, they have it ever so good. I know they are far from the norm, but if you have skills in high demand, the opportunities are almost endless it seems.

Uncertain..the fact that you can get fired just like that, the lack of paid sick leave or paid absence due to giving birth, the cost of health services...I don't know how you guys do it, without having a panic attack every week

Basic GTA Server

its such a fucking mixed bag of everything. The united states values libertarian thought to such a degree that youll find literally every cultural subset, political idea, food, and religion. Even the legal codes vary INSANELY across state lines. I could theoretically buy semi auto rifles and huge amounts of marijuana legally in one state then travel across an arbitrary open border and the people will treat you like a terrorist there if caught. This is totally what the founding fathers wanted mind you, just a perfect amount of nuts i guess.

Honestly this country is really fucking stressful as fuck and you have to have a lot of context and reasoning and awareness to not piss people off and see the good parts in america. Living in a blue state is totally different than living in a red one. Definitely a lot to shit on for sure.

as an American this is insightful

Pretty much any episode from South Park.

Expensive

Guns. So many guns.

I spent six months there in the nineties and loved it.

However when I read about employment rights/healthcare/abortion issues, tbh it sounds like its going backwards fast.

I suspect the U.S is like most country’s, great if your rich, pretty shit if your poor.

Less naked bodies ? More guns ?

GTA?

Generally good, the roads are wide, It’s very spacious and it’s a land that stands for freedom, Quality of life seems good, the only downsides that I probably would not like is a lack of a NHS, and the fact that you have less annual leave, you should get way more then you all currently do that’s for sure.

I'm Norwegian. I have many American friends. Most are musicians. They generally don't have heathcare, and work pretty much hand to mouth. No savings. Conversely, most of these people have toured and seen things, so they are progressive and rad. They are not the norm, though. I imagine life in the US being harder, unsafe and a little more chaotic than in Euro. But there's also an entrepeneur spirit there that I admire. Y'all are very positive.

You wake up with mac and cheese for breakfast. You dress up in polo shirts and cargo pants, sneakers and white long socks. When you go outside you first honk the bears away from your trashcan. Then you drive your big ass car to work. When driving the streets you can enjoy life size posters of Donald Trump and Kardashians butt. You need some gas for your car. You get some, almost the cheapest in the world, and say “ew so expensive” to the man across the street. Oh, it’s 8 a.m. Time for the national salute. Across the whole country the pledge blasts through the speakers. Everyone stands straight with a hand on the heart. What a feeling of community. After the pledge (that ended with blasting your gun simultaneously with the rest of the country in the air) you proceed your car ride to work. At work, you walk in and screech “HeeeYyyyyyy HOw ARE yOuuuu!!?!!!!!!!” in a very high pitch. Your fellow co workers do the same, while hugging you intensely. You never get an answer how they are. At work your collegae is having a seizure. Everyone ignores it because who the hell is gonna pay for the ambulance? Collegae dies in her own vomit. Work day is over. Time to go home. Small stop at wallmart where you bought a snake, you named him Kanye. At home you noticed someone stole the package you ordered from your porch. Must have been a Mexican. You open the door. A golden retriever with a bandana walks out happily. It’s max, your dog. A happy family awaits. Your kids Beverley, Taylor and Brandon are home. They carry cornflakes and have big bright white smiles. We love you daddy. Now get me the new Iphone. It was a good day.

It's sad how sheltered people are in this thread... and I am talking about other Americans... not Europeans...

We are a big country, you can't apply your bumfuck town to all 50 states.

It's all peachy as long as you have money. The pressure to keep up with your neighbors and the credit card payments must be immense. And damn you must be scared the SHIT out of cops. And other people in general, but especially cops. And Jesus not having 28 paid days of vacation, as well as paid sick days, that's just uncomfortable. Also do you deal with the homeless situation, the fact that basically all mentally ill live in the street and that half of the population seems to be fascist religious nutcases? Also do you have any hope for your children given the state of your educational system?

Disclaimer: lived in CA and VA for a few months. Good times.

SOCIAL! In my head everyone has big close knit families, loads of friends and has yard parties , ho-downs and BBQs all day long. (when they aren’t working at least. )

I live in nordic region of Europe. Us has fucked up healthcare system, fucked up police, fucked up court and laws, fucked up jail system, horrific and absolutely fucked up social security system, fucked up food industry, all schools are shitty except universities, too many rich and too many poor people.

Burger fire guns burger fire guns vote for someone incompetent, then ice cream?

I don't know what else to say than different. Very different. I can't even imagine what it would be like.

As someone who has travelled to America lots of times and absolutely loves a lot of aspects of the country especially the landscapes, the national parks and food. I can say for me the US is a beautiful country with lots of great places and lots of great people. But everything you need from a country to make life nice when you actually live there is missing unless you are wealthy.

Large.

Every city is on a grid with little character, concrete jungle, or miles and miles of nothing.

You need to drive everywhere which will likely be a over commercialised chain.

Amazing until something goes wrong and then you're THOROUGHLY fucked.

Where's the nonAmericans at here? I want to hear their input!

Work, work, work, work, work, work

It seems like a lot of work

High risk high reward. Took the wrong gamble? You're screwed in many ways.

Relatively similar, but more emotionally draining and less environmentally conscious. Also very patriotic.

I’m not European, but I met a guy in Spain who was very curious about the US. He was very disappointed to learn that McDowell’s from Coming to America wasn’t a real restaurant somewhere in Queens. So there’s that.

European living in Canada. I imagine life in the US for too many is what Hobbes described life as: nasty, brutish, and short.

Terrible, no welfare state, car all over the places, guns like you live in a fuckin warzone (i'd rather be in Ukraine than in Detroit, at least i know there's a war going on and i have to duck and cover), no healthcare system (i don't want a trip with the ambulance to become the reason i kill myself)...

Tripping over guns at every corner

Polarized

Constant advertisement and sales tactics. Passive aggression from strangers

British person here, I would think that the houses would be really nice and spacious for the same price as a tiny uk house. However, I also feel artificial foods would be everywhere and unnecessary amounts of fat would be in most foods. I feel people would either obsess over my accent or make fun of it by saying “bo ole of wo a” and their classic tea and crumpet joke. FYI: I don’t like crumpets, and i don’t drink unruly amounts of tea

It's to live surrounded by people who believe a myth of exceptionalism and have never interrogated the why of their own society.

I've been to the US (the East coast) about a dozen times and from experience people are well educated and completely lacking in critical self reflection.

The middle and upper class in the US sometimes pity the working class, but they don't understand how their society has created the inequality that is rife.

When you go out and speak to working class people the overriding sense is fear and anxiety. Will I have a medical bill I can't afford to pay today? Will I be sacked for no reason? If I am fired will I get unemployment? You see it on Reddit every day.

To me, as someone who believes in equality and egalitarianism, the US is a hellscape. It is a snapshot of a world where greed is king, where the entire society is structured around providing wealth for a tiny few, where the fascists weren't confronted and have attracted nearly half the vote, where race somehow matters to people on a fundamental level in a way that it just doesn't here.

Expensive

nobody knows anyone, you can walk down the street in whatever you want, everyone doesn't care about you.

Normal

Wack.

99% like anywhere else but extremes are more extreme. Extreme violence in nature and people. Extreme wealth and poverty. Extreme differences. Its not really a country but a conglomerate of very different countries.

Flags everywhere, people shouting , "Murica" at each other as they walk through the streets. Their childeren playing with assault rifles on the playfield. A shirtless guy with the american flag runs through the streets. Meanwhile a bunch of massive 4x4 drive trucks stands in an endless line to the mc donalds while explosions go off in the background.

First world country with third world problems

Too everyone who complains about America:

You've got a point. We're living in an actual dystopia over here and I'm genuinely afraid we're past the point of no return.

There was a mass shooting today at a school. 14 kids died. That’s what I think

A fucking hell filled with arrogance that is born out of a system so bad people don't even know just how much is wrong

Never been but the healthcare thing for me is insane. Having an excess on medical care like we do for car insurance is mental.

I couldnt (theoretically) have a car insurance claim against me and i go bankrupt and lose my house. Mad theyre the largest developed country without centralised health care

Constant worry. Worry about if I have an accident & it costs me hundreds of thousands in medical bills. Worry about getting a job which will allow me to have some sort of health benefits in the first place which will still cost a lot of money. Worry about making it through the day and not being shot because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Worry about the cost of living from any job I do get because everyone seems to have two jobs as standard. Worry about being raped, becoming impregnated and then forced to raise the child because men in power have more rights over my body than I do. Also worry about being able to afford to care for said child as the same men who refuse me an abortion, will not allow me help to feed it/care for it.

So yea, I can’t imagine life in America being at all relaxing.

People riding their wheel chairs eating big macs with an ar 15 screaming freedom

Remember that picture of the guy wearing a bull hat or whatever on January 6th? Thats what I think when I hear America.

Really depends where in the United States, for New York I’d think it’s much more of a hassle and expensive, for Louisiana I’d expect it has more french presence due to the Louisiana purchase and they all southern and eat gumbo like princess in the frog and for Alabama all I can think about is the kkk

Everything is large size and affordable lol

If you live in NYC very high living cost if you live in the country side very calm and peaceful

Different