dorian gray said:
haha! i agree with you. but i don't know about this last statement. where exactly are you talking about? show me some numbers, GNP, gross income per capita, income tax rates, etc. and i'll believe you.
The United Kingdom.
27% Income Tax, although 40% on anything earned over 100K (sterling).
Complete healthcare for every single resident (NHS).
Complete college tuition fees covered (4 years of university), including mandatory grants for living expenses, depending on how much your parents earn at the time.
Now, you'll get some people say that the NHS isn't all that, or college tuition fees aren't covered anymore -- now you have to pay the first 2K -- big whoopee do.
Depending on my grades, if I can go to Cambridge for 2K GB per year, or go to Yale for 40K US per year, then there's no decision to make.
i spent a week in Paris last year and it was expensive as fuck. seems to me, europeans spend every last goddam cent on housing and coffeeshops. i don't know what the health care or taxes are like, but i imagine NO ONE in Paris has any savings whatsoever.
Yes, Paris is digusting.
I lived in London all my life, and went to Paris once. I mean, we would joke about needing a second mortgage just to buy a frickin' Pepsi.
then again, that's why Americans don't give a shit either. i happen to have some savings because i refuse to spend money i don't have on shit i don't need. your average american is exactly the opposite. so, if they don't have any money left over at the end of the month, why would they give a shit that health care and college tuition costs are mindblowing? that's my hypothesis anyway.
The concept of saving in the US is non-existent because you're ALWAYS IN DEBT TO BEGIN WITH!! You leave college with a $200K debt on your head, then you buy a 250K mortgage, so by the time you're 22, you could be in debt for half a million, easy.
wanna see a revolution in america? wait until gas prices are at rest-of-world levels. i will laugh.
No lie, I laugh hysterically when yanks complain about having to pay $2.00 to the gallon for petrol. I laugh laugh laugh until my Lexus RX-300 gas tank is full and overflowing with good ol' american gas.
Sure, the Brits might have college fees and NHS, but their petrol prices are through the roof. With that said, you have this thing called "public transport" in Europe so the need for a car is negligible. In America, you're lucky if you even get a sidewalk.
