Seems like it’s a well known fact that being poor or even middle class (if that will even exist anymore) in the US disposes one to a very low quality of life (e.g., living in areas with higher crime rates, bad healthcare, the most obvious being cost of living, …etc)
On the flip side, what are some reasons why the top 1-5% percentile would also want to leave the US? (e.g., taxes/financial benefits, no longer aligning with the culture? I would assume mainly the former)
If you are in the top 1-5%, is living in the US still the best place to live? (as many people would like to suggest)
It takes a certain type of person to enjoy the life of a king in hell. I do pretty well (definitely not top 1-5%) and live in the US, and it definitely grates on the nerves a bit to regularly see cars that cost a half a million dollars and destitute families begging for food on the same stretch of road. I know a lot of really wealthy folks, and some feel the same way I do, while others don’t care as long as they get the best of the best food/goods/accommodations, etc.
also worth noting that our gini coefficient is quite bad but not the worst in the developed world, and there are plenty of other reasons folks of all socioeconomic statuses leave. Prevalence of guns and gun violence, a sometimes brutal militarized police force, mass incarceration, everything including food ingredients made prioritizing cost and scalability, the ubiquity of built environments designed by and for the auto industry, few environmental protections, poor water and food safety controls, an increasingly violent political discourse, expensive healthcare, no social safety net, declining life expectancy, etc etc
Your post was so pleasant to read, thank you for being rich but actually caring about everyone!
I like living in the us. I guess that makes me an outlier here.
I want to retire for stretches of time outside the us, but this is my home.
You aren’t the outlier.
Those who dislike USA tend to be a lot louder and tend to crank the hyperbole meter up to 11 while doing so.
it’s just honestly… the world looks so bleak and depressing in much of the US, money or not, it’s just ugly, poorly planned Isolating, generic.
Then you step into a TukTuk in Bangkok or explore the Markets in Mexico…
Sure there some charms in a strip of Cali or NY, but you know, even that when you are used to it becomes hum drum.
Have you ever lived outside USA?
The way you describe the “king of hell” is essentially what I dread about returning in the States. I live abroad now and it’s hard to explain why I left to some people. I’m a decently successful person and would be able to compete well enough in America. Still, that’s not what I want or what feels right for me
I don’t like to see friends and acquaintances, or even strangers, struggle. It also makes me feel hopeless because I was raised middle class and our social position is tenuous. I was always aware that my family was comfortable, but even a serious medical issue or loss of a family member could topple it. I feel that I lived well but out of luck
I also often find that I can’t even help other people the way I want to, because money is our main safety net for ourselves. I live well from a consumerist perspective but my life could easily fall to pieces. There’s a certain feeling of powerlessness to even assuage systemic issues as an individual. Where I’m living now (France) has very very similar issues with wealth inequality but not quite in the same way as the States. It’s definitely no paradise and shares a lot of our issues, but there are parts of it that feel better for me. It’s hard to put into words. It’s more of a feeling that I get