It is saddening me that most people don’t seem to understand what I am saying. I appreciate this is entirely my fault, if it is anyone’s fault at all, but it’s still a pity.
Could some kind person who does understand what I am asking please translate me?
We understand what you are trying to say, but it’s pretty meaningless unless you put some sort of definitions and educate the voting public on conditions in the US and Germany.
I can explain it, but I still have no idea how to vote. But I have visited Germany fairly often and like it a lot!
Oh fine, I’ll explain it. Take every German and score him or her from 0 to 99 on the scale of “that’s the life I’d like to lead!” using whatever standard you want. Now do the same for Amis. Next rank order each country’s scores and bundle individuals into percentile groups. Graph the unit percentiles for each country against some score representing your assignment of quality of life as described above. The country lines will cross, posits the OP. Where?
I can’t make sense of the question either so I didn’t vote.
I lived in Germany for two years. Nice place but their plumbing sucked. USA! USA!
As a WAG, I assume people in the US pay about 30% of their income in taxes (state, federal, local) in household incomes of 50k a year or more. In Germany I would assume it is closer to 40% for households.
However a social welfare state like germany has (as far as I know) universal health care that can never be taken away because of job loss or poverty, subsidized day care, lower cost/free college, six weeks of paid vacation a year, paid family medical leave, etc. Those things have to be taken into account. In Sicko Michael Moore was talking to Americans who moved to France, one said that as a French citizen she got benefits her parents worked their whole life for in America and never got.
So doing the calculation of when does paying an extra 10% of your income in taxes (40% instead of 30%, I am assuming) stop being worth the health care, day care, higher education, extra vacation, etc.
I would guess around 200k a year household income. Those benefits are worth 20k a year.
If your income is from capital and you get income from dividends, capital gains, etc then the US is going to be better.
In soviet russia, percentile better you
Simple Linctus, did you even want us to consider intangible freedoms/rights? Or was this purely economics?
I voted based on intangibles not pure economics. (I voted Deutchland Uber Alles, BTW)
Being a schengen country is the big win. Plus, castles.
YES^ This was exactly my experience, people look at me crazy as they think everyone in Germany is drinking vodka all day and going to prostitutes when they aren’t at the casino.
And you definitely don’t ever want to be sent to a Japanese prison.
I disagree. I don’t think anyone can understand because I think the OP doesn’t really understand what he wants.
Is being among the top 1% (of something) in Germany better than being among the top 10% (of something) in America? Is being among the top 10% in America being better than the top 40% in Germany?
There is no way to make sense out of this, at least in a way where everyone is answering the same question.
I think he is asking whether you’d rather be desperately poor in the USA or desperately poor in Germany.
Or incredibly rich in either country. Or middle class in either country. Or sadomasochists in either country, for that matter, if sadomasochism can be put on a graduated scale.
I think the problem with this is how you define better, every person is so unique that it is hard to compare unless you’ve actually lived somewhere. AND every country is so unique and hard to judge based on facts, the real life reality can very different. It might not be so bad living under the rule of King Tyrant(hypothetical) as long as you don’t have a bug up your ass about challenging him.
I mean hey doesn’t Britain still ban the sales of certain movies?! Well I guess it doesn’t matter anymore with the internet and such, but hey back in the day thats pretty annoying.
Ok you are convincing me.
Actually I loved Germany. But it wasn’t home. If I was exiled from my country I wouldn’t mind living there. But this is home. I would never be completely comfortable any where else.
um…ok. Good luck with all that.
In case you haven’t gotten to know me on these boards, I’m a gay liberal. I would never actually wear a swastika or join the Nazi Party.
But I love living in a country where my government hasn’t made it illegal to do so.
Are you asking at what percentile, meaning, for example, I’d rather be in the U.S. at or above the 10% versus the 10% of Germany, or is it versus the bottom 0.1% Germany or is it versus the average 50% Germany? Is the average Germany good compared to the average U.S.? I haven’t lived in Germany, so I’m not sure how to vote.
I did not vote, as your ranges are too broad. I think we need more specific data points.
I think that you are always better off being in the US percentile. Not sure what that was intended to mean, but this is my country, and by definition better than all the rest.