You are absolutely right that there are many circumstances that has to be taken into account than just income. The average tax level in the US (even though there are differences in the tax-rate between the states) is lower than the average of the EU-countries. And in Denmark where I live we compete with Sweden of having the highest overall tax level in the world. A competition you don't want to win .Gribs wrote:Comparing income in USA to European countries is also difficult because we have to pay for our own health "insurance". That also includes the partial benefit towards said insurance provided by some employers and the fact that even though many of us have insurance, we have co-pays and the insurance does not pay the full amount. The insurance may pay the 90% of the > $60k bill for emergency angioplasty, stenting, and hospital stay for a heart attack, but that means one is stuck with > $6k that one must pay out of pocket (I know, I had a heart attack about 8.5 years ago). For colon cancer, as one of my friends had, the cost is significantly higher than that.
In countries that have true socialized medicine, taxes may be higher to pay for it, but the huge money soak for the insurance companies and bloated hospital administration does not necessarily exist.
Anyway, my point is that "income" does not measure "quality of life".
To have the same quality of life I have in Minnesota if I were to say be working for Apple in Cupertino instead of 3M in St. Paul then I would have to be able to reach my office/lab in < 10 minutes and live in a nice > 2500 sq ft house on a wooded lot in a very nice suburb. That probably means my home would cost in the >> $1 million range, if I could find one. So yeah, location does mean something.
In Scandinavia the social security level is almost ridicolously high. Everybody has free health care and substantial subsedies to medicin etc. All educations are free and already from High School you are entitled to a monthly salery for studying (which I think is ridicolous when you live with your parents). A University degree is free and you get about $750 to study each month.
I'm aware of the difference in needed responsibility for your own life when comparing US to Scandinavia. In Scandinavia the State takes responsibility for many things in your life. The good thing about Scandinavia is that the labor market is very flexible and there is a low level of corruption.
But in my eyes Scandinavia has success because we take advantage of the technological progress that is created by US, South East Asian countries and Japan. There would never have been a Henry Ford in Denmark because he would have been told not to think he was better, smarter of more clever than others just because he thought he could mass produce an inexpensive car to everyone (I actually saw this example in a cartoon in a danish newspaper ).
US creates winners that are better to things than anywhere else whether it is in overall technology, computer science, medical science or even musicians. But US also creates (visible) loosers that falls through the large social security masks.
In my view I don't think we would have our welfare to this extend if it wasn't for the technology that US has implemented.
And sorry to hear about your heart attack. I hope that you keep hanging in there. You are alive at least .