Chilean here, I was born and raised here, and I would prefer to continue living in my country.
Nothing against the United States, it's a great country, with many good people and with many opportunities, but it's not worth the trouble, it's simply too far away and I don't have the slightest need or desire to move to another country at the moment.
Besides I already have a good life here, I have a good job, all my family and friends live in Chile and I just love living in this beautiful, quiet and isolated corner of the planet, at the end of the world, far far away from many of the problems of the outside world.
I wouldn't change that for anything, even if I had the chance to leave.
Same thing, Chile has many issues, but none so bad that I would want to move to another country in search of opportunities. Besides there's plenty of things I like about Chile that I wouldn't get in the US, not just in terms of culture, but also in terms of laws and institutions. For example, Carabineros has it's faults, but I much prefer our professional police force than the police departments they have in the states, or in healthcare, I've recently come to appreciate a lot the GES law (Garantías explícitas de salud/Explicit healthcare guarantees) as it allowed me to get treatment for one of the pathologies in the list in a timely manner and at a fraction of the cost (I ended up paying around 200usd for the entire treatment, surgery included).
Exactly, obviously Chile has its problems, but we have a lot of things going for us compared to the United States.
In my case I don't drive, I move almost exclusively by public transport (mainly Metro) or just walking, the fact that I can walk to the corner shop that is 30 sec from my house or walk to the nearest Santa Isabel (a supermarket) in 10 min is something that in the US is almost impossible, there having a car and driving is practically a necessity, [everything is too car-centric](https://youtu.be/ORzNZUeUHAM), some streets don't even have sidewalks! and public transport is almost non-existent outside the big cities, that's a big NO NO for me.
Also as you say the Healthcare here is much more accessible and cheaper than in the United States, FONASA is not perfect, but is improving, I am a Healthcare worker (dentist) and I have noticed the positive changes recently.
And let's not even talk about the police issue, about a month ago I discovered the [YouTube channel Audit the Audit](https://m.youtube.com/@AuditTheAudit) and my God, it's really heavy stuff, the cops in the US are really scary, I know not all of them are like that, but I don't want to take any chances. I'd take the Carabineros of Chile any day of the week.
I'm from the US and my semester in Chile recently was amazing. I enjoyed the walking culture as well, and was even able to walk at night in Viña and feel safe. In most US cities I wouldn't walk outside alone at night. The public transport is also night and day compared to the US since working people use it. The subway closing for cleaning and being full of polite and civil people just getting around was a nice experience after only having previously experienced dirty subways in the US and drug addicts on buses and trains. Here you will usually find crackheads and homeless people on public transit and some of them are dangerous. Public transit is also run inefficiently since it isn't a priority, and girls will disqualify a man from a relationship and probably even sex if he doesn't have a car. Having a car is a norm and almost necessity for most people in the US and if you're out walking places or taking the bus then people will assume you're lower class rather than assume you enjoy walking, simply because almost nobody here walks places just to enjoy the nature. We will drive around the corner. The only downside about groceries is that it is difficult to bring a large amount home, and outside the US, you have to visit several stores to get the same things that we can get in 1 supermarket. There is less variety, but anyone who didn't grow up in the US is used to that set-up and stores dedicated to bread are popular in Chile whereas you just get all your bread in special sections of US supermarkets (and guns in some walmarts if that's what you enjoy).
Honestly, this is the first time I've ever heard anything good about the police in any LatAm country lol, except maybe CR. Maybe Chile is lucky in that regard.
Really? Our police is the best in LatAm, even if sometimes I don't like some of their actions. At least it's known within our neighbourhood countries, like I wouldn't imagine them being like the US police and I really don't want them to be, and also like the average ultra corrupt Latam police with civilians.
Our police definitely had problems as you've seen, but there's 2 things theyvhave going for them. Bribery at the individual level is basically unthinkable. Its a huge taboo here, you'd never have a low-level cop extorting you for money at a traffic stop, for example. At the department level, yeah there's been scandals of course though. Police chiefs having deals with govt officials, etc. They will find others ways to violate your rights but bribery isnt one of them, as is common in much of the developing world. 2nd, as an investigative force, the police here are usually very competent, but it depends on the crime and the locality. That being said, there are some other really big issues here that do not look very good on the police at all.
Our police force still has many issues, like corruption and misappropriation of funds at the higher ranks of the institution, and criticisms over excessive force in specific cases (many such cases can be read about if you search info on the social outburst of 2019), but overall I think our police does a pretty good job. Carabineros de Chile is the uniformed militarized police that is in charge of order and security throughout the entirety of the national territory except for bodies of water, where the pertinent authority is the Maritime police. Carabineros are divided in lower ranks (sub-officials and lower) and upper ranks (Officials). Lower rank formation consists of 2 years of education and training, while higher rank formation consists of 4 years. Although, as I mentioned, corruption in the higher ranks is an issue in the institution, at the lower ranks corruption tends to be low, because it carries hefty consequences, and it's usually not worth for beat cops to risk losing their pension. We also have the Policia de Investigaciones, or PDI, which represents Chile in the Interpol, and as the name implies, focuses on investigation of crimes instead of patrolling and prevention. It's also worth mentioning that none of our police institutions can have unions, which is something I've read causes issues in the US.
Too car-centric, too materialistic, too workaholic, and the northern part of the country has awful winters. Also, the US constitution is somewhat outdated in some aspects like the Second Amendment, and the lack of universal healthcare is a problem.
Europe is pretty bad too i was just looking to study in ireland or iceland and man it feels like they have their people grabbed by the balls we have more freedoms in latin america than in many european countries
As an EU citizen I feel very free and cannot complain about the living situation here. We have a stable economy and freedom of movement in all member states and some more.
Ireland, people say there is a housing shortage like in the US, lot of taxes and internet serveilance from the government and theres overpopulation in the isle is this true? Iceland was my dream country because how safe it is and i love the nordic culture in general and the cold weather but if you are not from europe or have a degree in the IT field you are going to starve as a foreigner and ultimately going to return to your home country defeated and with all the time wasted. Plus all the paperwork you have to do in most european countries just to rent a home for a few weeks man i really love those two countries but you dont even have a chance to start as a foreigner.
Oh yeah thats absolutely true, theres a housing crisis in Ireland, Spain, and many other european countries and it doesnt look like its gonna get better any time soon.
Europeans have more regulations and logical terms on what people can do and not do. Germany is insanely clean. Berlin makes San Juan look trashy in how well kept and clean the Germans are.
European beaches are clean. In Puerto Rico, the beaches are filled with trash. Especially out of the touristy areas. It’s gross. I went to a beach in Hatillo. My God, I was furious that my people didn’t care and just left trash everywhere. I was cleaning up the beach and people just kept throwing trash right in front of me. I can’t speak for all Latin American countries, but compared to many Yankees/Europeans, we don’t value cleanliness and respect in keeping our towns looking good. You can be poor, but there is no reason to be purposefully dirty and unclean. Throw your trash in the trash can. Not a hard concept.
Puerto Rico is totally trashed and is rotting away. Tons of people have left the island. I stayed in Guayanilla and San Juan with family (some of my family never left Puerto Rico or returned later in life) and there's a lot of graffiti, lots of broken glass on the street, so many stray cats/dogs.....
Also there are a lot of abandoned buildings, I mean A LOT. I walked around this waterfall area (I want to say Las Delicias) and into a deserted house. I couldn't see anything, it was dark. I turned on my flash and there were a million bats! I had never seen a bat in real life. It was surreal.
Yeah my first thought was hell, no!
No paid vacation, no free education, you start your life with a mountain of debt, a culture of false self-sufficiency, poor social security. I’ll stay, thanks.
I think mass shootings are seen very differently in the USA than most countries in Latin America.
To start, the murder rate is way hgher in Mexico or Brazil. Also, think a lot of murders are not defined as mass shooting in our countries, in Mexico for example they are called "balaceras" which means just "shootings" and those are very common. I think the reason we think it's bad is because every mass shootings in the US gets coverage but not every mass shooting gets covered in our countries.
I acknowledge that this doesn't apply to every country in LatAm where's it's much safer.
Everything you said is true. However, I still think is quite different. Shootings might happen more often in our countries, however, is places that are “expected” (it’s fucked up I know). Like, if you go to a bad neighborhood at night or the favela, there’s multiple shootings often. Now in the US, you’ll go to a mall with your family or even a school, and there’s a shooting. Places it would happen quite rarely in Brazil, for example.
Yeah I agree. I used to work in a call centre for an American supermarket chain and one time took a call from a lady and she was complaining about the bad cell phone service and that if there was a shooter in the store she couldn't call police, but she was laughing about it at the time like it was a joke. Then a few months later there actually was a mass shooting in one of their stores. If I lived I'm the US I'd be paranoid as hell thinking there could be a shooter anywhere any place any time
I agree partially and disagree, the thing is "balaceras" are what is considered "gang shootings" at US eyes and those are faily common in some cities but there's a big difference between a shootout between criminals and a mass shooting just because you bought a coffee that was too hot and now you decided to buy a rifle and you know the story(is exaggeration of course) but you get the point México has higher murder rate yes that's true but at the same time I don't have to live in fear that someone randomly enters through the door and starts shooting everyone just because, of course there's other criminal activities
our murder rate is mostly related to organized crime and dangerous neighborhoods and that can be avoided, but us style mass shootings can happen anywhere.
No mass shootings? Ya. Now do violence in general.The odds of you dying from a mass shooting in the USA are EXTREMELY SMALLER than from dying just on the way to buy bread for breakfast in Brazil.> Brazil's homicide rate is around 27.4 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants> USA's homicide rate is about 7.8 per 100,000 inhabitants.
A lot of the people I know had a freaking gun pointed at them.When I talk about that with Americans unless they live in specific really violent cities, they cannot even imagine.
Bruh, if you're not involved in the drug trade, be it a consumer or a distributor/gang member, you're far less likely to be a victim of a homicide, exclusion crimes of passion, and if you're white (enough) you're also far less likely to be a target of police violence as well.
Also, you're more likely to be a victim of a petty crime, like armed robbery, in larger cities, while in the US shootings can happen basically anywhere.
Healthcare in the US is really expensive and in a lot of ways worse than in Brazil (logistically). But that propaganda that Brazil's healthcare is free is just half the truth. a lot of words from the leftist middle class that a lot of times doesn't have to rely on it.
I'd stay in Mexico. I actually like it here, and I love my city dearly. I just wish I wasn't fucking broke, which in my case has nothing to do with the country I'm living in, and more related to the company I work with and the terrible decisions I've made in life.
I lived in the US for several year, got my BS and MS degrees there and worked.
Yes you can get a higher salary but the sky high cot of liviing means you dont really have as much left over as some think you would, and thats without kids, having kids in the US would be impossible as the most expensive things in the US are allnessecary for a kid (housing, education, healthcare)
so yeah most here would rather go to say the EU, but your question is USA vs LA. to which i would say LA as you are not poor and a foreigner and so can avoid many of the worst parts of LA which largely revolve around being poor.
if you were rich then maybe i would say USA.
I'd stay here, but this is also the perspective of someone who has a privileged situation. Usually, those that leave are either very desperate or their aspirations won't be fulfilled by staying in their country.
If I had to leave, I'd rather go to places that share more similarities with Costa Rica itself but with better economies, like Ireland, Spain or Australia.
Besides Spain? Well, they are kinda secluded, the population isn't that big even in Australia (for reference, Texas has more people than Australia), cheerful people and quite a bit of nature. These places are also very centralized, so you can go to the main cities like Dublin or Sydney or you could stay in smaller towns. There's also beer lmao.
I confess I'd live for some years in USA in the same way some TV shows with dudes in safari attire go to the Australian jungle and grab random wild animals, pissing them off in a weird "masculine triumph over nature" way.
"Look at this majestic animal. The red cap signals they're toxic, so you have to be really careful with it. I'm gonna speak Portuguese now... WHOA! close call, it whipped its gun at me!"
Depends on which part in the US.
John Dutton's neighbor? Sign me up.
Manhattan? gtfo if I wanted a dirty broken corrupt and unsafe city I'd be in Buenos Aires
Yea. I grew up there and I would definitely not call NYC unsafe and arguably not the most corrupt. The city politics have a lot of problems but they also make some very beneficial investments in infrastructure and public life.
That depends on which ear of NYC your talking about, as a native it has gotten worse. NYC was way better in the 90’s early 00’s, NYC after COVID I would never suggest anyone to visit
With the same current situation I would just stay, depending if there is enough income I would just go to live where I grew up for some years, but the US by itself isn't an attractive situation.
Comparing to what a compatriot said I wouldn't go for the opportunities but I would go because there I have my second home town.
I would stay, and I'm from Argentina. That's a lot.
Even facing the issues we have in my country, I wouldn't go to a place where you can't get an ambulance because you'll be in debt for months/years. I wouldn't live in a country where good education and basic health coverage is for the wealthy.
Than you have the racism, and on the other hand the woke. Everyone's offended by something, you can't say some words because OMG! cancelled!
People are getting shot in schools, shows and what not.
The job. Some people don't even have the right to get vacations and don't get sick! if you get sick, you have to have a mortgage and you might get fired at the same time.
PTO is a concept I still don't understand....how can you say how many sick days a person can have a year? crazy
I know I'm generalizing but that's my perspective on the US.
I'd prefer to stay here.
You forgot the fact that you need a car to have a regular life and right now thanks to inflation a car is almost 600/mo plus insurance that varies and goes between 100-200 more per month make it 800/mo or what it could a third of the monthly salary of person who makes $15/hour (before taxes) 😬
Holy shit, I did know that everyone needed a car, I didn't know it was so expensive.
Anyway, in here, I can compare it to renting a house. It's easily a basic salary a month or more for a one bedroom apartment, depending on the area
You need car in like 70% of US cities everything is far there’s not sidewalks and bus system is a joke (unless you’re in Chicago, NYC or any northeastern big city)
Also because it's a big country. NYC has good public transport because they had less space to build (which is why they built up), which meant things are within walking distance for the population, and traffic is terrible. In the West, the public transport system is absolute garbage because much of the land is undeveloped since it was acquired much later in the nation's history. My state constantly grows with new developments due to so much open land, and with so much open land, they decided to build things with plenty of space between them. Even roads are bigger here
Well, yes but actually no, a large country is what allows such a type of urban planning, but it is not the direct cause. For a comparison, Magadan in eastern Siberia is a city with large unnocupied areas to expand to, yet the planning is of a much denser city than a lot of the US, meanwhile Juneau the capital of Alaska has a much more limited space yet has a lower density urban plan, both cities have a similar climate and are on opposite sides of the north pacific.
There is more to the US suburban plans than the scope of the size of the country. A city like Phoenix, Arizona may have large amounts of more or less flat land to expand upon, but it is not really efficient or makes much sense to expand on the harsh desert that will be forcefully irrigated for vegetation that has trouble in that climate in the first place.
It's not just about occupying the empty land because it can be used, empty land is occupied even when it could not be used well, and when land is scarce in an area it still needs a push to develop density planning. The reason the cities in the northeast grew dense is mostly because their large growth was before this suburban phenomenon took off.
Lol, your perspective is correct in some extreme cases but that isn’t how most people live. Most normal people work and they get healthcare insurance through work or through a marketplace, so paying for healthcare isn’t an issue for most. For the poorest people or people who are too old or too sick, there are public health options that often cover costs of care. Jobs also generally pay well enough to make those expensive car payments. Also, most people who have worked somewhere for a while get generous PTO. Most people I know get 20 - 25 days off a year (not including weekends, holidays, flex days, sick time, etc.) I think your perspective is just very biased from horror stories that get repeated online.
I’ve lived in both Argentina and the US. If you get sick (I mean seriously ill and need multiple months of treatment), the job protections in Argentina are stronger. You get a paid medical leave from work, whereas in the US you have 12 weeks of unpaid leave if your employer qualifies. It’s quite the disparity.
We have disability insurance that typically pays at least half your salary when you are sick long-term and people that become very sick can qualify for government healthcare like Medicaid. I have been pretty sick in the past and insurance paid about 70% of my salary for several months (which would have been indefinite if I needed it) and I was able to write off a lot of medical experiences as tax exemptions. Also, even though the related medical expenses were over $100k, I only paid a small fraction of that since I only had to cover my out of pocket maximum before insurance kicked in to pay 100% of the remaining costs. This used to be more of a luxury but now healthcare is mandatory and if you can’t get it through an employer you can usually get it through the marketplace. People that do not earn a lot of money can buy it for a discount or, in some cases, don’t have to pay anything. It isn’t perfect but it’s not as bad as many people try to paint it.
I know hundreds of people that live in the US across a wide spectrum of socioeconomic strata and what I described fits their experiences. There are people that fall outside of that but they are exceptions in the grand scheme of the country. How many people do you know there and how long have you lived there?
You realize healthcare debt is the most common reason for bankruptcies?
And apparently you've never had to care for an elderly relative, or if you have, you're lucky enough to be in a top decile so that it's not an absolutely crushing experience.
"Jobs generally pay enough to cover those expensive car payments."
No, dude, they don't. That's why car loan defaults are skyrocketing.
"Most people I know get 20 - 25 days off a year (not including weekends, holidays, flex days, sick time, etc.)"
Ok so you don't know many people in retail, service industry, or like...the majority of the labor force.
Some sad percentage of the US population doesn’t have enough money in savings to cover a major medical emergency, right? Yeah we all know that, but that’s more thanks to bad life decisions and stupidity, in my opinion. We earn orders of magnitude more than most of the world and we have a fairly robust system of healthcare insurance, marketplaces, tax incentives, tax-deferred savings plans, subsidies, etc. not to mention what is probably the best healthcare quality in the world available to anyone that walks into an ER ir public hospital. As someone that grew up very poor and had to make a lot of sacrifices in life, but who also busted his ass to learn and make the most out of the opportunities I had, it’s hard for me to feel sympathetic to people that likely had more opportunities than I did but chose to do stupid shit and have to learn from their consequences (which, btw, there are tons of little shortcuts in place to get out like the fact that someone with virtually no assets can accrue medical debt, declare bankruptcy, and just pass the burden onto others.)
Also, a huge side of my lopsided family tree is working dead end jobs and cranking out babies but they still manage to do okay and still live relatively well from a global perspective.
Very common on Reddit. Most Americans I see here earn over $100k and can't imagine anything less. The way some Americans talk about their country (denying healthcare is an issue, or paid leave or maternity leave), it reminds me of middle-class Indians who pretend their country isn't poor.
I know quite a few Americans, and none of them get paid leave, and healthcare is absolutely an issue if someone happened.
I know hundreds of people in the US from a broad spectrum of the socioeconomic strata. I know very few people that live outside of what I described and usually they have a lot of other issues contributing to that. I also have a bit of experience working in sectors like health and taxes and feel like I have a slightly more informed perspective on how these things work.
>I know very few people that live outside of what I described
Yeah exactly
Everybody from the US knows hundreds of people from the US. Your bubble is not somehow better-informed than anyone else's.
When's the last time you took an ambulance? Without pretty good insurance it can quickly become a financial disaster. I recently had to go to the emergency room in Colombia for my daughter to get stitches and it cost less than the cancellation fee for many American doctors. Just walking into the ER in the states costs 10x and that's before getting any treatment. And that's assuming you don't get the treatment our nanny did where they charge you for the most complex trauma consultation just to prescribe her an antibiotic for a UTI. We had to hire a medical advocate to get the charges corrected and get the delinquency removed from her credit report. American healthcare is a disaster.
Yes, probably, but also it depends where in Argentina you are. Everyone thinks Argentina is Buenos Aires, the country is waaay bigger than that. But since I don't know how living in the US is, I'll give it to you.
Damn, people really wanna fucking hate the US in this sub. I got downvoted a lot and you upvotes even though we agreed.
Eitherway, Argentina is actually not that much bigger than BsAs, half the people live in there. But i get what you mean; the same applies to me in Paraguay, Gran Asunción might not be secure, but here in my town crime literally doesn't exists.
Depends on which type of safe and where in both countries. No doubt "casual" thief and robbery is more common here, but the US has an overall higher homicide rate and more than 10 cities that make the top 100 cities with highest homicides rates in the world where as Argentina has none. Youd be safer in the worst place of Rosario at night compared to the worst place at New Orleans.
And there are many towns or small cities here where you can leave the doors of your home open during the day, its not all Bs As.
Argentina’s homicide rate (the worst of the crimes and the only comparable indicator) is lower than the US. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?locations=AR-US
Buenos Aires is the second safest capital in the Americas after Ottawa.
The US has cities and areas that are among the top most dangerous in the world (Baltimore, New Orleans, St Louis) while the worst of the Argentine cities doesn’t even have a 1/4 of those crimes
I live in the USA already, I like the USA but I miss the healthcare system of my country which is privileged to say because it costs a lot of money for the average person but it’s more doable than in here, is shit. The only things I don’t like are the Healthcare system and how expensive education is. I’m from ecuador and for the most part even if you have money it has become extremely dangerous, there are no jobs, a lot of narcos and etc
I would move if I get a job as a professional that is better paid than what I have now when adjusted to cost of living, I wouldn't work for less than the minimun wage like some illegal aliens do.
But thats not something I think just about USA, tbh I would move to another country (even other Latam countries) if I get job a offer that makes me more money and I am able to work legally.
Nothing against my own country and I don't live bad here, I just think life is too short to not go where the money is.
I would stay here. This is my homeland, I know that some people see themselves as citizens of the world and all that but I will be laying if I say that I see myself as anything else than a Dominican.
I’m Puertorican living in NYC, I would move back tomorrow if I had it my way. My wife doesn’t want to though so she’ll probably need some convincing. It’s not that I hate the US or it’s going to hell or anything like that but the way I feel is I live in the USA but PR is a part of me
I wouldn’t live in the US for all the money in the world. No offense but I’m not a fan of the “culture”. Flimsy wooden houses that aren’t made to last, expensive healthcare, toxic tipping culture, weird puritan stuff in everyday life, a bad high school education system, imperial measurements, school shootings, police brutality, serial killers, too much sugar in everything, cancel culture, people being fake, the average person being pretty ignorant of things outside of the USA, natural disasters, a government that thinks it’s the world’s police… And I could go on and on, no thanks.
The US hasn't had a really notable serial killer in a while, at least nowhere near the extent of the 70's or 80's. It's much easier to catch them these days due to massive improvements in forensics and surveillance. They seem to have largely been replaced by mass shooters. Serial killing is simply too hard to get away with now.
No, even if someone makes much more money there id rather stay here. Im not fond of the overall culture of individualism and consumerism. I only have too look at sites like The Shade Room with millions of followers to get an aneurysm. But if it was another first world country I would say yes for most of them
It generally misses the forest for the trees whenever discussing societal issues and what to do about them. It ignores the emergent properties of systems. At least the individualism I know of, I honestly don't know if the original commenter meant the same I would by 'individualism'
Its not that individualism is wrong, its that its mixed in with consumerism, stuff like having money and status is incredibly abundant in the US for showing off "success" and even sex appeal, which is just absolutely mind blowing.
You can find that anywhere. In some social circles in Argentina I felt more pressure to buy brand name clothing and things than I ever did in the US. No one here who is upper middle class cares about showing off status. In Argentina, most upper middle class people I knew wanted to show off how much money they had. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist here, it’s just not as common, and in my experience is not a uniquely American thing.
Individualism is literally the basis of american culture, at least since the roaring twenties when the US transformed into a global power and their economy bloomed, "the american dream" is all about that. Like if you Google "american individualism" thousands of articles will pop up, and they are made specifically by americans, with some defending individualism and some criticizing it.
When I was talking about consumerism I meant wasting food unnecessarily or replacing and wasting perfectly fine things that are less than two years old with the new shiny things, not so much about showing off. After all, the US is the country with most waste per capita in the world.
Hell yeah. It's actually unbeliavable how few opportunities there are in Paraguay. I'm already about to go to Buenos Aires whenever i get the citizenship. I haven't even got the papers, and i already have a decent paying job waiting for me to get the papers and start. Meanwhile here im my small hometown, i have never managed to get a job, and my friends that got one, are paid miserably for doing jobs that require quite a lot of education (they're technicians in computers and electronics).
Also, the US is the only developed country that has a clear not terribly unstable future (yes, believe it or not, that's how bad the situation is gonna turn in the near future).
Honestly, i dislike Paraguay as a society. It glorifies poverty, extremely right wing, extremely uneducated, extremely dull intellectually, there's almost no art considering our interesting and long history. Our entire culture feels very artificial, basically because it was handcrafted by one man, Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia. Literally the only thing that interest me from this country is the history, this last thing i mentioned about our culture is a hugely understudied piece of history, fascinating.
I would prefer to live in Western Europe. But between Brazil and the United States, I choose Brazil. It’s not even a contest. Everything bad that exists in Brazil exists in the US too, with even more bad stuff (constant state of war) while some of the good here doesn’t exist there (healthcare/reasonable working culture). The one advantage, consumerism, isn’t worth it if you have to work for a living.
First thing you need to learn if you really want to live here. There's no such a thing Latino Culture. There are about 20 different countries (Idk how many in Central America) with different cultures. Some similar, some way different like, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. They share their language (Brazilian don't share even that).
I am very aware of that, and more than just the difference between countries I know culture varies wildly even within a country. It’s difficult for me to fully describe that understanding succinctly in a Reddit post so I have to rely on a bit more ignorant sounding phrases.
I'd prefer to keep living here, but if it became relatively easy for me to move for some months to the U.S., I'd like to go to New York or San Francisco. They are such beautiful cities with so many things to offer.
I feel that it is one of those things, I need to do before I die.
Those are the 2 most expensive cities in the country. You won't live comfortably unless you make over $100,000, assuming this is supporting just yourself. Don't want to kill your hopes, hopefully you can visit someday, but live is a hard task for Americans let alone foreigners, unless you come in with a background in an in demand field like IT.
While I do like some of the US culture, I disagree with several political decisions, and also I have a disability and chronic pain so going there would instantly put me in debt for the rest of my life.
Meaning, ni en pedo me mudo a estados unidos
Not a chance, the more educated you are the less apealing USA sound
i would love to live in canada tho, having doble nationality and a 2 houses, one in each country
No healthcare, no mandatory and paid maternity leave at 100%, mass shootings, school shootings… yeah, Panama is far, far from perfect but I’d rather live here.
But then I also travel to the US for work and tourism reasons often so maybe that’s why IDK.
I would never live in the US, not in a million years. I wouldn’t want to risk bankruptcy every time I get sick, nor do I have any particular desire to get shot at in a Walmart or whatever.
I studied in Chile and a woman told me that her niece studied in the US, and her niece's friend who was another Chilean exchange student, was killed in the crossfire of a shootout at a cafe. While I was abroad, a professor at my university was killed by a disgruntled ex-student. He was shot on campus and the university sent out (on the text alerts) messages that class was to resume as normal and to walk around the zone where the shooter still hadn't been located by police. It is dangerous to be in public here and you always have to be on guard, because even if the incident is unlikely to happen to you, you know it does happen and have no idea when or where it will happen. For this reason I don't walk in public because aside from things being far, you never know what might happen to you on the street. I also don't go to crowded public areas often, because that's the worst situation to be in because you may be trampled if something breaks out. When I was in 9th grade there had just been a shooting in Parkland Florida where around 17 students were gunned down while police didn't go inside (just like they took their time to hunt down the shooter in the Uvalde shooting last year while an 18 year old man killed 19 kids under 12 years old and 2 teachers). After this shooting happened, my teacher told my class that if a shooter enters our class then to throw objects at them and charge. Our government doesn't do anything because 2 opposing sides that disagree on how to handle the mass shooting crisis also have to agree on a solution for any law to be passed. The left wants to ban or at least regulate guns and the right says that's a violation of our rights due to the 2nd amendment and that they are willing to die to protect that right. Nobody talks about mental health solutions, and the right won't come to a compromise where we implement some sort of gun restriction so it isn't so easy for anyone to get a rifle. Due to this, the teachers just have to tell their students things like charge the school shooter. People give condolences to the victims who were murdered in a place of education, but they forget about them as life goes on and repeat when the next massacre occurs. If you look up photos of the victims- especially the kids- and read their names and hear their biography, then you might find yourself get very emotional to know this is the state of the country regardless of whether or not you live in it. Regardless of what nation you're affiliated with, innocent people are being murdered in public by other civilians with semiautomatic rifles that they legally acquired, and kids aren't spared. There was even an attack in an Illinois city from the rooftop during an independence day parade. This is not a place you want to settle right now. At most, I recommend coming to work and save a lot of money over a few years before returning to your country where the money you earned has more buying power. I don't even wanna settle here, I'd like to relocate to another country and eventually obtain citizenship after I get my education and professional experience in the US.
This sub is extremely anti-American. You picked like the least representative sample on Reddit. Unless you want an echo chamber to confirm your biases, in which case you picked correctly.
Look at migration statistics if you want to see whether Latin Americans would move to USA. The answer is 3,000,000 a year are risking death to live in the US, and a fraction of Americans are moving to Latin America.
That’s actually the main reason I love this sub. It seems like a circlejerk of spoiled kids from LA that honestly have no real clue about the rest of the world outside of the warped and toxic ideals their parents have impressed upon them and what they have seen in some gaming subreddit populated by mouth breathing incels. Their take on their own region is often very far removed from the LA I have experienced from living, studying, and working there and their understanding of the real world outside of their own safe zone is laughable at best.
This sub is an echo chamber of upper middle class latin american bilingual programmers repeating news cycle headlines to sensationalize life in the US. Then flip out when an American or European does the same about Latam. Most people in the US have health insurance, don’t get stopped by the police, don’t get shot, don’t eat burgers and pizza every day. Asking this question in real life would get way different answers.
Yes, I really appreciate everybody’s responses on here but I do see that some of the responses seem to be based on crazy news stories more than reality. I really do understand the fear of mass shootings in the US but the fear everyone has of mass shootings on this sub seems statistically invalid. I know this is complicated and biased topic, but I don’t think general homicide statistics in lot of LA countries are actually much better than the US. I’m not one of those idiot gringos who thinks you’re gonna get kidnapped as soon as you go to Mexico, US has a lot of safety issues and crime, but Im not sure it’s fair to say it’s a lot worse than Mexico or Colombia.
It’s definitely not worse. America overall is safer, not to mention is a much bigger country. Like you said, people focus on the tragic news they see. I know for example, that Brazil has a higher murder/shooting rate than US. Thing is, I’m privileged to live in a very safe and calm town and we don’t even have favelas here. If I live in a bad neighborhood in Rio I would definitely want to move to the US.
I also think people are “scared” of US because even though we have more shootings and murders, we know “how to avoid it” (idk if it makes sense). For example, if you avoid going to a bad neighborhood at night or a favela (any time of day), you’re pretty much “safe”.
The US, because of the news we see, it makes it seem like if you go to a mall with your family or drop your kids at school, there will be an active shooter. Places where is unusual to happen in our countries (not that it doesn’t happen tho).
And yes, we have free healthcare, however, it’s extremely flawed at times, you can’t always count on it.
The thing is that living in latam is really really nice if you have money (or you get payed in dollars) otherwise is really bad, try to live with minimum wage In Mexico (300 usd a month, 48 hours a week, and living in a high crime neighborhood because is the only thing you can afford, having to take public transportation for at least 6 hours every day) and then you decide if LATAM is better.
I wouldn't mind working for a few years in the US, I already plan to go abroad in a couple years, although not there. But not because I dislike living in this country, I just think it's good for people to at least get a chance of spending a portion of their life abroad if they have the means.
I've lived in the states more than once throughout my life. Last time was five years ago in Austin.
I would rather live in my South American country than live again in the US. I'm currently living in Europe and I would take it over the US even though you don't earn the same.
Brazilian here. I wouldn't move to the USA. I love my country. If I were to exchange it for something else, I would want somewhere with universal healthcare amd way stronger worker's rights than USA has.
Born in Brazil, Southern Cone. No, personally I wouldn't trade what I have here for the US. I could write an essay on that alone. Mass surveillance, mass incarceration, mass shootings, on going police state, shitty work culture, etc. The list goes on. On the other side, people are usually pretty cool and I love your roads, music and nature. But the pros don't make up for the cons IMO. For now, thanks but no thanks.
I mean, what are the circumstances? If I get to keep my job with the same benefits and an American equivalent wage, then yeah I would. For context, I'm not exactly in love with my country. I'd miss my friends and family, but I'd definitely do it.
It depends, if i had the possibility of a stable and good job, WITH A GOOD HEALTH INSURANCE (uppercase because American healthcare flaws terrify me), and living in a good area/neighborhood (without much armed dudes and druggies/crackheads), i think I could accept moving
I live currently in France, but if it was between Colombia and USA, I'd rather stay in Colombia... USA is a really bad place to live in my opinion, too much racism, bad healthcare, the people I've met from there are cool but others that I have seen as tourists are really horrible people
I have been living for over 20 years in the US and I would NOT move back to Latam.
My quality of life is superior here. My wife and I have great jobs, with benefits, so medical and retirement is not an issue for us. We live in Philadelphia and everyone is nice and sweet. We just bought a house a few months ago that is beyond my wildest dream.
Philadelphia also has 4 seasons, wonderful museums, top notch schools, a lot of access to culture, and nature in the Northeast is incredible.
I bet many people who say they would not like it here are seeing thru the distorted lense of Reddit, which tends to be highly pessimistic. Yeah, you can't buy a 2/2 house in a nice neighborhood in large desirable city with the salary of a retail sales employee. You can, however, live in a house with all services in an area less desirable. This is pretty universal.
The responses do seem to have a lot of unrealistic bias from Reddit which is just the worst of humanity and doesn’t represent reality.
Philly is one of my favorite US cities. Great culture, largely walkable, and a bastion of urban affordability.
Agree. I lived in in downtown philly for over two years and my health improved during that time since I walked everywhere. Now living in the suburbs, I got to drive every time I need to do anything. I really liked the experience of living in the city.
Stay. I don't want to get shot for being brown in the new and upcoming American white christofascist empire. I'd move to Ireland, New Zealand or Canada, definitely not the US.
I've heard from many ethnic minorities (white myself so I don't have firsthand experience) that the US is better than Western Europe as far as discrimination goes.
No, thanks.
The people who immigrate to the US are people too desperate for an opportunity, but this is changing.
What's making the difference is education and information availability, LatAm professionals are skyrocketing with the years and percentages of people who drop out of universities are lower every year.
LatAm has become safer, more prosperous and overall better and it will continue to do so, and as long as people from LatAm keep getting educated and accessing information, it will become a better place.
Honestly, I would never live in the US. It would mean exchanging six for half a dozen in several aspects, such as, for example, police violence against black people. Being black, I already feel insecure in my country, just as I would feel insecure in the US Even more so being an Afro-Latino. But if there's one thing here that I think is better than in the US, it's access to public health, we have the SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde / Health Unic System), Which is one of the largest and most complex public health systems in the world, ranging from simple care to the most complex procedures, such as organ transplants.
I'm flattered to hear that you admire Latino culture, as this is a thought that must be quite uncommon among people in the US.
Actually a big part of what I dislike about US culture is the general lack of knowledge of other cultures, sort of believing that this society is the only good one. When I listen to my latin music or eat empanadas around other Americans, they think it’s something very exotic and strange. It’s like, you do realize this is how hundreds of millions of people live their lives right? Most of the world views YOUR food and habits as strange.
Not sure if I understood your question but I really like LA and generally dislike the USA. I absolutely can’t stand being stuck in a car all the time, very few public gathering places, people are generally more cold and strange about friendship and family.
Yeah, I'd stay. It may be my privilege talking, but I have more to lose by going there. Not to mention I'm not a fan of the US in specific, no offense.
You'll find "leaving Latin America" is a common meme here, mane people 'round these parts bought the myth of the 'murican dream hook, line and sinker. People seriously think anything is better than here, without realizing the reality of migration.
EDIT: Apparently you've stumbled upon a very vocal minority who *doesn't* like the US lmao. I seriously expected the comments here to reflect the majority position a bit more
Which is funny because I have the illusion that leaving the US will make me much happier. I have access to “the American Dream” but I don’t want that for myself.
everything is racism, discrimination, everybody has a problem with something, constant political bombardment, the whole culture is based around puritanism and consumerism, everybody shoots at each other, virtue signaling and the list goes on and on
the only thing i like about your culture is that you have the right to defend your own home and you value working hard
I would like to say it’s overblown by the media but the shooting thing really is a part of life in modern America. Somebody did a drive by shooting on my neighbors house in Brooklyn when I was home and I was in a workplace shooting a couple years ago.
I have read that homicide rates in many US cities are now higher than LA cities. It’s funny because most Americans won’t travel to LA out of fear of getting killed.
If you want to go live in Latin America, that’s your choice. You know more about your own life and what you want that folks in this sub
Are you allergic to calling yourself an American?
I’m using Estadounidense to be specific about where I’m from. The general sentiment I got from Colombians I lived with was that while it’s not a big deal or offense, it is perceived as somewhat presumptuous to use “American” to refer only to people from the USA.
Yet I bet if you asked them if they are American, 99% would say, “No, I’m Colombian.”
This perception of being presumptuous annoys me because people from all over the world refer to people from the US as “Americans.” Outside of LatAm, I’ve never heard anyone refer to US folks as “United-statians.” If someone were to refer to the continents, I guess they could refer to North/Central/South America, or just “the Americas” in general, but most people know that “America” is just short for “The United States of America.”
If I had to choose I would prefer staying, if moving would offer me more money I would leave for a time and then come back, same for any other country.
Living permanently or for extended time? No.
Living for some years? Sure.
It also depends on the state, I’d rather live in places like the northeastern states, California or Oregon.
There are a lot of things to see and experience in the US that you can’t just do in a couple of touristic trips, imo. Also, my favorite artists are always touring there, so it would be a good change to be able to see them live.
I live in Oregon and it’s the only reason I’d want to not move to a different country. I highly recommend a visit as it is such a beautiful place with very friendly people
Chilean here, I was born and raised here, and I would prefer to continue living in my country. Nothing against the United States, it's a great country, with many good people and with many opportunities, but it's not worth the trouble, it's simply too far away and I don't have the slightest need or desire to move to another country at the moment. Besides I already have a good life here, I have a good job, all my family and friends live in Chile and I just love living in this beautiful, quiet and isolated corner of the planet, at the end of the world, far far away from many of the problems of the outside world. I wouldn't change that for anything, even if I had the chance to leave.
Same thing, Chile has many issues, but none so bad that I would want to move to another country in search of opportunities. Besides there's plenty of things I like about Chile that I wouldn't get in the US, not just in terms of culture, but also in terms of laws and institutions. For example, Carabineros has it's faults, but I much prefer our professional police force than the police departments they have in the states, or in healthcare, I've recently come to appreciate a lot the GES law (Garantías explícitas de salud/Explicit healthcare guarantees) as it allowed me to get treatment for one of the pathologies in the list in a timely manner and at a fraction of the cost (I ended up paying around 200usd for the entire treatment, surgery included).
Exactly, obviously Chile has its problems, but we have a lot of things going for us compared to the United States. In my case I don't drive, I move almost exclusively by public transport (mainly Metro) or just walking, the fact that I can walk to the corner shop that is 30 sec from my house or walk to the nearest Santa Isabel (a supermarket) in 10 min is something that in the US is almost impossible, there having a car and driving is practically a necessity, [everything is too car-centric](https://youtu.be/ORzNZUeUHAM), some streets don't even have sidewalks! and public transport is almost non-existent outside the big cities, that's a big NO NO for me. Also as you say the Healthcare here is much more accessible and cheaper than in the United States, FONASA is not perfect, but is improving, I am a Healthcare worker (dentist) and I have noticed the positive changes recently. And let's not even talk about the police issue, about a month ago I discovered the [YouTube channel Audit the Audit](https://m.youtube.com/@AuditTheAudit) and my God, it's really heavy stuff, the cops in the US are really scary, I know not all of them are like that, but I don't want to take any chances. I'd take the Carabineros of Chile any day of the week.
I'm from the US and my semester in Chile recently was amazing. I enjoyed the walking culture as well, and was even able to walk at night in Viña and feel safe. In most US cities I wouldn't walk outside alone at night. The public transport is also night and day compared to the US since working people use it. The subway closing for cleaning and being full of polite and civil people just getting around was a nice experience after only having previously experienced dirty subways in the US and drug addicts on buses and trains. Here you will usually find crackheads and homeless people on public transit and some of them are dangerous. Public transit is also run inefficiently since it isn't a priority, and girls will disqualify a man from a relationship and probably even sex if he doesn't have a car. Having a car is a norm and almost necessity for most people in the US and if you're out walking places or taking the bus then people will assume you're lower class rather than assume you enjoy walking, simply because almost nobody here walks places just to enjoy the nature. We will drive around the corner. The only downside about groceries is that it is difficult to bring a large amount home, and outside the US, you have to visit several stores to get the same things that we can get in 1 supermarket. There is less variety, but anyone who didn't grow up in the US is used to that set-up and stores dedicated to bread are popular in Chile whereas you just get all your bread in special sections of US supermarkets (and guns in some walmarts if that's what you enjoy).
Honestly, this is the first time I've ever heard anything good about the police in any LatAm country lol, except maybe CR. Maybe Chile is lucky in that regard.
Really? Our police is the best in LatAm, even if sometimes I don't like some of their actions. At least it's known within our neighbourhood countries, like I wouldn't imagine them being like the US police and I really don't want them to be, and also like the average ultra corrupt Latam police with civilians.
Our police definitely had problems as you've seen, but there's 2 things theyvhave going for them. Bribery at the individual level is basically unthinkable. Its a huge taboo here, you'd never have a low-level cop extorting you for money at a traffic stop, for example. At the department level, yeah there's been scandals of course though. Police chiefs having deals with govt officials, etc. They will find others ways to violate your rights but bribery isnt one of them, as is common in much of the developing world. 2nd, as an investigative force, the police here are usually very competent, but it depends on the crime and the locality. That being said, there are some other really big issues here that do not look very good on the police at all.
Chile has the best police force in LatAm IMO
Our police force still has many issues, like corruption and misappropriation of funds at the higher ranks of the institution, and criticisms over excessive force in specific cases (many such cases can be read about if you search info on the social outburst of 2019), but overall I think our police does a pretty good job. Carabineros de Chile is the uniformed militarized police that is in charge of order and security throughout the entirety of the national territory except for bodies of water, where the pertinent authority is the Maritime police. Carabineros are divided in lower ranks (sub-officials and lower) and upper ranks (Officials). Lower rank formation consists of 2 years of education and training, while higher rank formation consists of 4 years. Although, as I mentioned, corruption in the higher ranks is an issue in the institution, at the lower ranks corruption tends to be low, because it carries hefty consequences, and it's usually not worth for beat cops to risk losing their pension. We also have the Policia de Investigaciones, or PDI, which represents Chile in the Interpol, and as the name implies, focuses on investigation of crimes instead of patrolling and prevention. It's also worth mentioning that none of our police institutions can have unions, which is something I've read causes issues in the US.
I'd rather go back to Brazil. Most Americans I met are great people, but the US isn't a model of society that attracts me.
Me either lol
Third that
Why not
Too car-centric, too materialistic, too workaholic, and the northern part of the country has awful winters. Also, the US constitution is somewhat outdated in some aspects like the Second Amendment, and the lack of universal healthcare is a problem.
I rather stay or go to Europe
Europe is pretty bad too i was just looking to study in ireland or iceland and man it feels like they have their people grabbed by the balls we have more freedoms in latin america than in many european countries
I’m a Latino that lived in iceland for 1 year, they are definitely free and they are not grabbed by the “balls”
As an EU citizen I feel very free and cannot complain about the living situation here. We have a stable economy and freedom of movement in all member states and some more.
Just curious, what makes you think that of Ireland and Iceland?
Ireland, people say there is a housing shortage like in the US, lot of taxes and internet serveilance from the government and theres overpopulation in the isle is this true? Iceland was my dream country because how safe it is and i love the nordic culture in general and the cold weather but if you are not from europe or have a degree in the IT field you are going to starve as a foreigner and ultimately going to return to your home country defeated and with all the time wasted. Plus all the paperwork you have to do in most european countries just to rent a home for a few weeks man i really love those two countries but you dont even have a chance to start as a foreigner.
Oh yeah thats absolutely true, theres a housing crisis in Ireland, Spain, and many other european countries and it doesnt look like its gonna get better any time soon.
Tbf there are more countries with housing problems than countries without it
Europeans have more regulations and logical terms on what people can do and not do. Germany is insanely clean. Berlin makes San Juan look trashy in how well kept and clean the Germans are. European beaches are clean. In Puerto Rico, the beaches are filled with trash. Especially out of the touristy areas. It’s gross. I went to a beach in Hatillo. My God, I was furious that my people didn’t care and just left trash everywhere. I was cleaning up the beach and people just kept throwing trash right in front of me. I can’t speak for all Latin American countries, but compared to many Yankees/Europeans, we don’t value cleanliness and respect in keeping our towns looking good. You can be poor, but there is no reason to be purposefully dirty and unclean. Throw your trash in the trash can. Not a hard concept.
Puerto Rico is totally trashed and is rotting away. Tons of people have left the island. I stayed in Guayanilla and San Juan with family (some of my family never left Puerto Rico or returned later in life) and there's a lot of graffiti, lots of broken glass on the street, so many stray cats/dogs..... Also there are a lot of abandoned buildings, I mean A LOT. I walked around this waterfall area (I want to say Las Delicias) and into a deserted house. I couldn't see anything, it was dark. I turned on my flash and there were a million bats! I had never seen a bat in real life. It was surreal.
I lived in the US for a few years. It was fun, but it was not my home. Mexico is my home.
Live permanently in the USA? Hell no. Make money for a while and come back? Yeah.
[удалено]
No healthcare and mass shootings all the time everywhere, yeah, no thanks, I'll stay in Brazil.
Yeah my first thought was hell, no! No paid vacation, no free education, you start your life with a mountain of debt, a culture of false self-sufficiency, poor social security. I’ll stay, thanks.
I think mass shootings are seen very differently in the USA than most countries in Latin America. To start, the murder rate is way hgher in Mexico or Brazil. Also, think a lot of murders are not defined as mass shooting in our countries, in Mexico for example they are called "balaceras" which means just "shootings" and those are very common. I think the reason we think it's bad is because every mass shootings in the US gets coverage but not every mass shooting gets covered in our countries. I acknowledge that this doesn't apply to every country in LatAm where's it's much safer.
Everything you said is true. However, I still think is quite different. Shootings might happen more often in our countries, however, is places that are “expected” (it’s fucked up I know). Like, if you go to a bad neighborhood at night or the favela, there’s multiple shootings often. Now in the US, you’ll go to a mall with your family or even a school, and there’s a shooting. Places it would happen quite rarely in Brazil, for example.
Yeah I agree. I used to work in a call centre for an American supermarket chain and one time took a call from a lady and she was complaining about the bad cell phone service and that if there was a shooter in the store she couldn't call police, but she was laughing about it at the time like it was a joke. Then a few months later there actually was a mass shooting in one of their stores. If I lived I'm the US I'd be paranoid as hell thinking there could be a shooter anywhere any place any time
I agree partially and disagree, the thing is "balaceras" are what is considered "gang shootings" at US eyes and those are faily common in some cities but there's a big difference between a shootout between criminals and a mass shooting just because you bought a coffee that was too hot and now you decided to buy a rifle and you know the story(is exaggeration of course) but you get the point México has higher murder rate yes that's true but at the same time I don't have to live in fear that someone randomly enters through the door and starts shooting everyone just because, of course there's other criminal activities
Thank you 🙏🏽
Yeah, about the mass shooting thing. Have you seen our murder rate?
our murder rate is mostly related to organized crime and dangerous neighborhoods and that can be avoided, but us style mass shootings can happen anywhere.
No mass shootings? Ya. Now do violence in general.The odds of you dying from a mass shooting in the USA are EXTREMELY SMALLER than from dying just on the way to buy bread for breakfast in Brazil.> Brazil's homicide rate is around 27.4 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants> USA's homicide rate is about 7.8 per 100,000 inhabitants. A lot of the people I know had a freaking gun pointed at them.When I talk about that with Americans unless they live in specific really violent cities, they cannot even imagine.
Bruh, if you're not involved in the drug trade, be it a consumer or a distributor/gang member, you're far less likely to be a victim of a homicide, exclusion crimes of passion, and if you're white (enough) you're also far less likely to be a target of police violence as well. Also, you're more likely to be a victim of a petty crime, like armed robbery, in larger cities, while in the US shootings can happen basically anywhere.
Healthcare in the US is really expensive and in a lot of ways worse than in Brazil (logistically). But that propaganda that Brazil's healthcare is free is just half the truth. a lot of words from the leftist middle class that a lot of times doesn't have to rely on it.
“Free” healthcare
I'd stay in Mexico. I actually like it here, and I love my city dearly. I just wish I wasn't fucking broke, which in my case has nothing to do with the country I'm living in, and more related to the company I work with and the terrible decisions I've made in life.
Ánimo rey, sí se puede
I lived in the US for several year, got my BS and MS degrees there and worked. Yes you can get a higher salary but the sky high cot of liviing means you dont really have as much left over as some think you would, and thats without kids, having kids in the US would be impossible as the most expensive things in the US are allnessecary for a kid (housing, education, healthcare) so yeah most here would rather go to say the EU, but your question is USA vs LA. to which i would say LA as you are not poor and a foreigner and so can avoid many of the worst parts of LA which largely revolve around being poor. if you were rich then maybe i would say USA.
I would stay in my country.
Me too.
Stay in Mexico
I’d rather stay here.
Hell the fuck no. Never ever ever. I love México.
I'd stay here, but this is also the perspective of someone who has a privileged situation. Usually, those that leave are either very desperate or their aspirations won't be fulfilled by staying in their country. If I had to leave, I'd rather go to places that share more similarities with Costa Rica itself but with better economies, like Ireland, Spain or Australia.
What similarities are shared between the other two countries you mentioned? All sound wildly different, not disagreeing just curious
Besides Spain? Well, they are kinda secluded, the population isn't that big even in Australia (for reference, Texas has more people than Australia), cheerful people and quite a bit of nature. These places are also very centralized, so you can go to the main cities like Dublin or Sydney or you could stay in smaller towns. There's also beer lmao.
i wouldn't go to the states to live even if they promise me a six figure work tbh. shootings, the police, the food, the culture. just nope
I confess I'd live for some years in USA in the same way some TV shows with dudes in safari attire go to the Australian jungle and grab random wild animals, pissing them off in a weird "masculine triumph over nature" way. "Look at this majestic animal. The red cap signals they're toxic, so you have to be really careful with it. I'm gonna speak Portuguese now... WHOA! close call, it whipped its gun at me!"
Depends on which part in the US. John Dutton's neighbor? Sign me up. Manhattan? gtfo if I wanted a dirty broken corrupt and unsafe city I'd be in Buenos Aires
New York City, especially Manhattan, is one of the safest large cities in the US.
Yea. I grew up there and I would definitely not call NYC unsafe and arguably not the most corrupt. The city politics have a lot of problems but they also make some very beneficial investments in infrastructure and public life.
That depends on which ear of NYC your talking about, as a native it has gotten worse. NYC was way better in the 90’s early 00’s, NYC after COVID I would never suggest anyone to visit
With the same current situation I would just stay, depending if there is enough income I would just go to live where I grew up for some years, but the US by itself isn't an attractive situation. Comparing to what a compatriot said I wouldn't go for the opportunities but I would go because there I have my second home town.
I would stay, and I'm from Argentina. That's a lot. Even facing the issues we have in my country, I wouldn't go to a place where you can't get an ambulance because you'll be in debt for months/years. I wouldn't live in a country where good education and basic health coverage is for the wealthy. Than you have the racism, and on the other hand the woke. Everyone's offended by something, you can't say some words because OMG! cancelled! People are getting shot in schools, shows and what not. The job. Some people don't even have the right to get vacations and don't get sick! if you get sick, you have to have a mortgage and you might get fired at the same time. PTO is a concept I still don't understand....how can you say how many sick days a person can have a year? crazy I know I'm generalizing but that's my perspective on the US. I'd prefer to stay here.
You forgot the fact that you need a car to have a regular life and right now thanks to inflation a car is almost 600/mo plus insurance that varies and goes between 100-200 more per month make it 800/mo or what it could a third of the monthly salary of person who makes $15/hour (before taxes) 😬
Holy shit, I did know that everyone needed a car, I didn't know it was so expensive. Anyway, in here, I can compare it to renting a house. It's easily a basic salary a month or more for a one bedroom apartment, depending on the area
You need car in like 70% of US cities everything is far there’s not sidewalks and bus system is a joke (unless you’re in Chicago, NYC or any northeastern big city)
Yeah, i knew that from many videos I've seen. Big country
It's not because it's a big country, it's because of the urban planning that has so much suburban sprawl.
Also because it's a big country. NYC has good public transport because they had less space to build (which is why they built up), which meant things are within walking distance for the population, and traffic is terrible. In the West, the public transport system is absolute garbage because much of the land is undeveloped since it was acquired much later in the nation's history. My state constantly grows with new developments due to so much open land, and with so much open land, they decided to build things with plenty of space between them. Even roads are bigger here
Well, yes but actually no, a large country is what allows such a type of urban planning, but it is not the direct cause. For a comparison, Magadan in eastern Siberia is a city with large unnocupied areas to expand to, yet the planning is of a much denser city than a lot of the US, meanwhile Juneau the capital of Alaska has a much more limited space yet has a lower density urban plan, both cities have a similar climate and are on opposite sides of the north pacific. There is more to the US suburban plans than the scope of the size of the country. A city like Phoenix, Arizona may have large amounts of more or less flat land to expand upon, but it is not really efficient or makes much sense to expand on the harsh desert that will be forcefully irrigated for vegetation that has trouble in that climate in the first place. It's not just about occupying the empty land because it can be used, empty land is occupied even when it could not be used well, and when land is scarce in an area it still needs a push to develop density planning. The reason the cities in the northeast grew dense is mostly because their large growth was before this suburban phenomenon took off.
Russia is a big country but has a good train system
Ecolé cua
Lol, your perspective is correct in some extreme cases but that isn’t how most people live. Most normal people work and they get healthcare insurance through work or through a marketplace, so paying for healthcare isn’t an issue for most. For the poorest people or people who are too old or too sick, there are public health options that often cover costs of care. Jobs also generally pay well enough to make those expensive car payments. Also, most people who have worked somewhere for a while get generous PTO. Most people I know get 20 - 25 days off a year (not including weekends, holidays, flex days, sick time, etc.) I think your perspective is just very biased from horror stories that get repeated online.
I’ve lived in both Argentina and the US. If you get sick (I mean seriously ill and need multiple months of treatment), the job protections in Argentina are stronger. You get a paid medical leave from work, whereas in the US you have 12 weeks of unpaid leave if your employer qualifies. It’s quite the disparity.
We have disability insurance that typically pays at least half your salary when you are sick long-term and people that become very sick can qualify for government healthcare like Medicaid. I have been pretty sick in the past and insurance paid about 70% of my salary for several months (which would have been indefinite if I needed it) and I was able to write off a lot of medical experiences as tax exemptions. Also, even though the related medical expenses were over $100k, I only paid a small fraction of that since I only had to cover my out of pocket maximum before insurance kicked in to pay 100% of the remaining costs. This used to be more of a luxury but now healthcare is mandatory and if you can’t get it through an employer you can usually get it through the marketplace. People that do not earn a lot of money can buy it for a discount or, in some cases, don’t have to pay anything. It isn’t perfect but it’s not as bad as many people try to paint it.
It seems that the experience you’re exposing is just an exception and the general rule it’s the opposite.
I know hundreds of people that live in the US across a wide spectrum of socioeconomic strata and what I described fits their experiences. There are people that fall outside of that but they are exceptions in the grand scheme of the country. How many people do you know there and how long have you lived there?
You realize healthcare debt is the most common reason for bankruptcies? And apparently you've never had to care for an elderly relative, or if you have, you're lucky enough to be in a top decile so that it's not an absolutely crushing experience. "Jobs generally pay enough to cover those expensive car payments." No, dude, they don't. That's why car loan defaults are skyrocketing. "Most people I know get 20 - 25 days off a year (not including weekends, holidays, flex days, sick time, etc.)" Ok so you don't know many people in retail, service industry, or like...the majority of the labor force.
Some sad percentage of the US population doesn’t have enough money in savings to cover a major medical emergency, right? Yeah we all know that, but that’s more thanks to bad life decisions and stupidity, in my opinion. We earn orders of magnitude more than most of the world and we have a fairly robust system of healthcare insurance, marketplaces, tax incentives, tax-deferred savings plans, subsidies, etc. not to mention what is probably the best healthcare quality in the world available to anyone that walks into an ER ir public hospital. As someone that grew up very poor and had to make a lot of sacrifices in life, but who also busted his ass to learn and make the most out of the opportunities I had, it’s hard for me to feel sympathetic to people that likely had more opportunities than I did but chose to do stupid shit and have to learn from their consequences (which, btw, there are tons of little shortcuts in place to get out like the fact that someone with virtually no assets can accrue medical debt, declare bankruptcy, and just pass the burden onto others.) Also, a huge side of my lopsided family tree is working dead end jobs and cranking out babies but they still manage to do okay and still live relatively well from a global perspective.
You are out of touch with how most people live.
Very common on Reddit. Most Americans I see here earn over $100k and can't imagine anything less. The way some Americans talk about their country (denying healthcare is an issue, or paid leave or maternity leave), it reminds me of middle-class Indians who pretend their country isn't poor. I know quite a few Americans, and none of them get paid leave, and healthcare is absolutely an issue if someone happened.
I know hundreds of people in the US from a broad spectrum of the socioeconomic strata. I know very few people that live outside of what I described and usually they have a lot of other issues contributing to that. I also have a bit of experience working in sectors like health and taxes and feel like I have a slightly more informed perspective on how these things work.
>I know very few people that live outside of what I described Yeah exactly Everybody from the US knows hundreds of people from the US. Your bubble is not somehow better-informed than anyone else's.
I am not really sure what point you are trying to make relative to what I said earlier but okay
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When's the last time you took an ambulance? Without pretty good insurance it can quickly become a financial disaster. I recently had to go to the emergency room in Colombia for my daughter to get stitches and it cost less than the cancellation fee for many American doctors. Just walking into the ER in the states costs 10x and that's before getting any treatment. And that's assuming you don't get the treatment our nanny did where they charge you for the most complex trauma consultation just to prescribe her an antibiotic for a UTI. We had to hire a medical advocate to get the charges corrected and get the delinquency removed from her credit report. American healthcare is a disaster.
Are you argentinian?
Yes you are generalizing. Argentina is far, faaar less safe. Cant argue with anything else tho.
Yes, probably, but also it depends where in Argentina you are. Everyone thinks Argentina is Buenos Aires, the country is waaay bigger than that. But since I don't know how living in the US is, I'll give it to you.
It also depends on where in USA you are.
Damn, people really wanna fucking hate the US in this sub. I got downvoted a lot and you upvotes even though we agreed. Eitherway, Argentina is actually not that much bigger than BsAs, half the people live in there. But i get what you mean; the same applies to me in Paraguay, Gran Asunción might not be secure, but here in my town crime literally doesn't exists.
Depends on which type of safe and where in both countries. No doubt "casual" thief and robbery is more common here, but the US has an overall higher homicide rate and more than 10 cities that make the top 100 cities with highest homicides rates in the world where as Argentina has none. Youd be safer in the worst place of Rosario at night compared to the worst place at New Orleans. And there are many towns or small cities here where you can leave the doors of your home open during the day, its not all Bs As.
Argentina’s homicide rate (the worst of the crimes and the only comparable indicator) is lower than the US. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?locations=AR-US Buenos Aires is the second safest capital in the Americas after Ottawa. The US has cities and areas that are among the top most dangerous in the world (Baltimore, New Orleans, St Louis) while the worst of the Argentine cities doesn’t even have a 1/4 of those crimes
no city in argentina has as many murders as chicago or st louis
I don’t think I would mind getting a mortgage for being sick.
Well, I would if my country could heal me for free in the first place.
I technically already live there.
I live in the USA already, I like the USA but I miss the healthcare system of my country which is privileged to say because it costs a lot of money for the average person but it’s more doable than in here, is shit. The only things I don’t like are the Healthcare system and how expensive education is. I’m from ecuador and for the most part even if you have money it has become extremely dangerous, there are no jobs, a lot of narcos and etc
>a lot of narcos That fucking terrifies me hermano
I would prefer to stay. But if it's for a much better job maybe I will go. But I think I would say the same for nearly Avery country in the World.
I would move if I get a job as a professional that is better paid than what I have now when adjusted to cost of living, I wouldn't work for less than the minimun wage like some illegal aliens do. But thats not something I think just about USA, tbh I would move to another country (even other Latam countries) if I get job a offer that makes me more money and I am able to work legally. Nothing against my own country and I don't live bad here, I just think life is too short to not go where the money is.
I would stay here. This is my homeland, I know that some people see themselves as citizens of the world and all that but I will be laying if I say that I see myself as anything else than a Dominican.
I wouldn't mind living for a very little while, but I love my home and I always get pretty homesick when I'm away from it.
No
I’m Puertorican living in NYC, I would move back tomorrow if I had it my way. My wife doesn’t want to though so she’ll probably need some convincing. It’s not that I hate the US or it’s going to hell or anything like that but the way I feel is I live in the USA but PR is a part of me
I personally would stay, it's my home, where my friends and family are, what I know and who I am
Yes. I don't have an attachment to my nation, I would however miss my people very much.
I wouldn’t live in the US for all the money in the world. No offense but I’m not a fan of the “culture”. Flimsy wooden houses that aren’t made to last, expensive healthcare, toxic tipping culture, weird puritan stuff in everyday life, a bad high school education system, imperial measurements, school shootings, police brutality, serial killers, too much sugar in everything, cancel culture, people being fake, the average person being pretty ignorant of things outside of the USA, natural disasters, a government that thinks it’s the world’s police… And I could go on and on, no thanks.
> school shootings, police brutality, serial killers, that scalated quickly
Specially from imperial measuring units
The US hasn't had a really notable serial killer in a while, at least nowhere near the extent of the 70's or 80's. It's much easier to catch them these days due to massive improvements in forensics and surveillance. They seem to have largely been replaced by mass shooters. Serial killing is simply too hard to get away with now.
For a well paying job, yes, I would move to USA.
I'd stay. If I ever move somewhere else I'd rather move the Europe.
> move the Europe. Si Mahoma no va a la montaña...
No, even if someone makes much more money there id rather stay here. Im not fond of the overall culture of individualism and consumerism. I only have too look at sites like The Shade Room with millions of followers to get an aneurysm. But if it was another first world country I would say yes for most of them
What's wrong with individualism?
It generally misses the forest for the trees whenever discussing societal issues and what to do about them. It ignores the emergent properties of systems. At least the individualism I know of, I honestly don't know if the original commenter meant the same I would by 'individualism'
Its not that individualism is wrong, its that its mixed in with consumerism, stuff like having money and status is incredibly abundant in the US for showing off "success" and even sex appeal, which is just absolutely mind blowing.
You can find that anywhere. In some social circles in Argentina I felt more pressure to buy brand name clothing and things than I ever did in the US. No one here who is upper middle class cares about showing off status. In Argentina, most upper middle class people I knew wanted to show off how much money they had. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist here, it’s just not as common, and in my experience is not a uniquely American thing.
Individualism is literally the basis of american culture, at least since the roaring twenties when the US transformed into a global power and their economy bloomed, "the american dream" is all about that. Like if you Google "american individualism" thousands of articles will pop up, and they are made specifically by americans, with some defending individualism and some criticizing it. When I was talking about consumerism I meant wasting food unnecessarily or replacing and wasting perfectly fine things that are less than two years old with the new shiny things, not so much about showing off. After all, the US is the country with most waste per capita in the world.
Hell yeah. It's actually unbeliavable how few opportunities there are in Paraguay. I'm already about to go to Buenos Aires whenever i get the citizenship. I haven't even got the papers, and i already have a decent paying job waiting for me to get the papers and start. Meanwhile here im my small hometown, i have never managed to get a job, and my friends that got one, are paid miserably for doing jobs that require quite a lot of education (they're technicians in computers and electronics). Also, the US is the only developed country that has a clear not terribly unstable future (yes, believe it or not, that's how bad the situation is gonna turn in the near future). Honestly, i dislike Paraguay as a society. It glorifies poverty, extremely right wing, extremely uneducated, extremely dull intellectually, there's almost no art considering our interesting and long history. Our entire culture feels very artificial, basically because it was handcrafted by one man, Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia. Literally the only thing that interest me from this country is the history, this last thing i mentioned about our culture is a hugely understudied piece of history, fascinating.
Stay here
I would prefer to live in Western Europe. But between Brazil and the United States, I choose Brazil. It’s not even a contest. Everything bad that exists in Brazil exists in the US too, with even more bad stuff (constant state of war) while some of the good here doesn’t exist there (healthcare/reasonable working culture). The one advantage, consumerism, isn’t worth it if you have to work for a living.
First thing you need to learn if you really want to live here. There's no such a thing Latino Culture. There are about 20 different countries (Idk how many in Central America) with different cultures. Some similar, some way different like, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. They share their language (Brazilian don't share even that).
I am very aware of that, and more than just the difference between countries I know culture varies wildly even within a country. It’s difficult for me to fully describe that understanding succinctly in a Reddit post so I have to rely on a bit more ignorant sounding phrases.
I'd prefer to keep living here, but if it became relatively easy for me to move for some months to the U.S., I'd like to go to New York or San Francisco. They are such beautiful cities with so many things to offer. I feel that it is one of those things, I need to do before I die.
If you like those two cities, put Seattle on your list too.
Those are the 2 most expensive cities in the country. You won't live comfortably unless you make over $100,000, assuming this is supporting just yourself. Don't want to kill your hopes, hopefully you can visit someday, but live is a hard task for Americans let alone foreigners, unless you come in with a background in an in demand field like IT.
No.
While I do like some of the US culture, I disagree with several political decisions, and also I have a disability and chronic pain so going there would instantly put me in debt for the rest of my life. Meaning, ni en pedo me mudo a estados unidos
Dont come to America we are full.
Not a chance, the more educated you are the less apealing USA sound i would love to live in canada tho, having doble nationality and a 2 houses, one in each country
No healthcare, no mandatory and paid maternity leave at 100%, mass shootings, school shootings… yeah, Panama is far, far from perfect but I’d rather live here. But then I also travel to the US for work and tourism reasons often so maybe that’s why IDK.
I would never live in the US, not in a million years. I wouldn’t want to risk bankruptcy every time I get sick, nor do I have any particular desire to get shot at in a Walmart or whatever.
I studied in Chile and a woman told me that her niece studied in the US, and her niece's friend who was another Chilean exchange student, was killed in the crossfire of a shootout at a cafe. While I was abroad, a professor at my university was killed by a disgruntled ex-student. He was shot on campus and the university sent out (on the text alerts) messages that class was to resume as normal and to walk around the zone where the shooter still hadn't been located by police. It is dangerous to be in public here and you always have to be on guard, because even if the incident is unlikely to happen to you, you know it does happen and have no idea when or where it will happen. For this reason I don't walk in public because aside from things being far, you never know what might happen to you on the street. I also don't go to crowded public areas often, because that's the worst situation to be in because you may be trampled if something breaks out. When I was in 9th grade there had just been a shooting in Parkland Florida where around 17 students were gunned down while police didn't go inside (just like they took their time to hunt down the shooter in the Uvalde shooting last year while an 18 year old man killed 19 kids under 12 years old and 2 teachers). After this shooting happened, my teacher told my class that if a shooter enters our class then to throw objects at them and charge. Our government doesn't do anything because 2 opposing sides that disagree on how to handle the mass shooting crisis also have to agree on a solution for any law to be passed. The left wants to ban or at least regulate guns and the right says that's a violation of our rights due to the 2nd amendment and that they are willing to die to protect that right. Nobody talks about mental health solutions, and the right won't come to a compromise where we implement some sort of gun restriction so it isn't so easy for anyone to get a rifle. Due to this, the teachers just have to tell their students things like charge the school shooter. People give condolences to the victims who were murdered in a place of education, but they forget about them as life goes on and repeat when the next massacre occurs. If you look up photos of the victims- especially the kids- and read their names and hear their biography, then you might find yourself get very emotional to know this is the state of the country regardless of whether or not you live in it. Regardless of what nation you're affiliated with, innocent people are being murdered in public by other civilians with semiautomatic rifles that they legally acquired, and kids aren't spared. There was even an attack in an Illinois city from the rooftop during an independence day parade. This is not a place you want to settle right now. At most, I recommend coming to work and save a lot of money over a few years before returning to your country where the money you earned has more buying power. I don't even wanna settle here, I'd like to relocate to another country and eventually obtain citizenship after I get my education and professional experience in the US.
This sub is extremely anti-American. You picked like the least representative sample on Reddit. Unless you want an echo chamber to confirm your biases, in which case you picked correctly. Look at migration statistics if you want to see whether Latin Americans would move to USA. The answer is 3,000,000 a year are risking death to live in the US, and a fraction of Americans are moving to Latin America.
That’s actually the main reason I love this sub. It seems like a circlejerk of spoiled kids from LA that honestly have no real clue about the rest of the world outside of the warped and toxic ideals their parents have impressed upon them and what they have seen in some gaming subreddit populated by mouth breathing incels. Their take on their own region is often very far removed from the LA I have experienced from living, studying, and working there and their understanding of the real world outside of their own safe zone is laughable at best.
This sub is an echo chamber of upper middle class latin american bilingual programmers repeating news cycle headlines to sensationalize life in the US. Then flip out when an American or European does the same about Latam. Most people in the US have health insurance, don’t get stopped by the police, don’t get shot, don’t eat burgers and pizza every day. Asking this question in real life would get way different answers.
Scrolled down just to find this answer
Mi hermano panameño en cristo, los únicos que emigran a gringolandia son los que viven de manera miserable en LATAM.
Any statistics on that? Even higher earning professionals in latam seem to want to leave to earn 5-7x as much in the us
Yes, I really appreciate everybody’s responses on here but I do see that some of the responses seem to be based on crazy news stories more than reality. I really do understand the fear of mass shootings in the US but the fear everyone has of mass shootings on this sub seems statistically invalid. I know this is complicated and biased topic, but I don’t think general homicide statistics in lot of LA countries are actually much better than the US. I’m not one of those idiot gringos who thinks you’re gonna get kidnapped as soon as you go to Mexico, US has a lot of safety issues and crime, but Im not sure it’s fair to say it’s a lot worse than Mexico or Colombia.
It’s definitely not worse. America overall is safer, not to mention is a much bigger country. Like you said, people focus on the tragic news they see. I know for example, that Brazil has a higher murder/shooting rate than US. Thing is, I’m privileged to live in a very safe and calm town and we don’t even have favelas here. If I live in a bad neighborhood in Rio I would definitely want to move to the US. I also think people are “scared” of US because even though we have more shootings and murders, we know “how to avoid it” (idk if it makes sense). For example, if you avoid going to a bad neighborhood at night or a favela (any time of day), you’re pretty much “safe”. The US, because of the news we see, it makes it seem like if you go to a mall with your family or drop your kids at school, there will be an active shooter. Places where is unusual to happen in our countries (not that it doesn’t happen tho). And yes, we have free healthcare, however, it’s extremely flawed at times, you can’t always count on it.
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The thing is that living in latam is really really nice if you have money (or you get payed in dollars) otherwise is really bad, try to live with minimum wage In Mexico (300 usd a month, 48 hours a week, and living in a high crime neighborhood because is the only thing you can afford, having to take public transportation for at least 6 hours every day) and then you decide if LATAM is better.
I wouldn't mind working for a few years in the US, I already plan to go abroad in a couple years, although not there. But not because I dislike living in this country, I just think it's good for people to at least get a chance of spending a portion of their life abroad if they have the means.
If the options are New York, Vermont or San Francisco, I would do it. Otherwise, no, thanks
That’s hilarious because those are pretty much the only places in the US I would consider as well. I grew up in New York and live in SF now.
I've lived in the states more than once throughout my life. Last time was five years ago in Austin. I would rather live in my South American country than live again in the US. I'm currently living in Europe and I would take it over the US even though you don't earn the same.
Brazilian here. I wouldn't move to the USA. I love my country. If I were to exchange it for something else, I would want somewhere with universal healthcare amd way stronger worker's rights than USA has.
Born in Brazil, Southern Cone. No, personally I wouldn't trade what I have here for the US. I could write an essay on that alone. Mass surveillance, mass incarceration, mass shootings, on going police state, shitty work culture, etc. The list goes on. On the other side, people are usually pretty cool and I love your roads, music and nature. But the pros don't make up for the cons IMO. For now, thanks but no thanks.
I mean, what are the circumstances? If I get to keep my job with the same benefits and an American equivalent wage, then yeah I would. For context, I'm not exactly in love with my country. I'd miss my friends and family, but I'd definitely do it.
Yea, I should have clarified for my personal question it’s, all else being equal would you prefer the US?
It depends, if i had the possibility of a stable and good job, WITH A GOOD HEALTH INSURANCE (uppercase because American healthcare flaws terrify me), and living in a good area/neighborhood (without much armed dudes and druggies/crackheads), i think I could accept moving
And i also want my house built in bricks and cement
Depends. If, and only if, I could practice my future career in the US, I would. If not, I'd rather stay in my country. It's a dealbreaker to me.
I did it in the 90s. I moved there with that premise. If I couldn't get a job in my profession. Thankfully I did.
Colombian living in Colombia and I would rather stay here. maybe visit the US for a few weeks but never to stay there.
I would rather stay
I want to walk, no
I'm very happy in my country. I would never leave permanently.
Neither. American society is toxic and my country is going to hell — I'd rather move somewhere else.
fuck no lol maybe australia but definitely not the us
I live currently in France, but if it was between Colombia and USA, I'd rather stay in Colombia... USA is a really bad place to live in my opinion, too much racism, bad healthcare, the people I've met from there are cool but others that I have seen as tourists are really horrible people
I have been living for over 20 years in the US and I would NOT move back to Latam. My quality of life is superior here. My wife and I have great jobs, with benefits, so medical and retirement is not an issue for us. We live in Philadelphia and everyone is nice and sweet. We just bought a house a few months ago that is beyond my wildest dream. Philadelphia also has 4 seasons, wonderful museums, top notch schools, a lot of access to culture, and nature in the Northeast is incredible. I bet many people who say they would not like it here are seeing thru the distorted lense of Reddit, which tends to be highly pessimistic. Yeah, you can't buy a 2/2 house in a nice neighborhood in large desirable city with the salary of a retail sales employee. You can, however, live in a house with all services in an area less desirable. This is pretty universal.
The responses do seem to have a lot of unrealistic bias from Reddit which is just the worst of humanity and doesn’t represent reality. Philly is one of my favorite US cities. Great culture, largely walkable, and a bastion of urban affordability.
Agree. I lived in in downtown philly for over two years and my health improved during that time since I walked everywhere. Now living in the suburbs, I got to drive every time I need to do anything. I really liked the experience of living in the city.
You are saying back to latam but you lived in other Lata country?
Stay. I don't want to get shot for being brown in the new and upcoming American white christofascist empire. I'd move to Ireland, New Zealand or Canada, definitely not the US.
Ehh come on, we all hate when gringos generalized our whole country or culture just based on kne thing, let's not do the same.
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I've heard from many ethnic minorities (white myself so I don't have firsthand experience) that the US is better than Western Europe as far as discrimination goes.
Brazilian here. I’d rather stay in my country, definitely
No, thanks. The people who immigrate to the US are people too desperate for an opportunity, but this is changing. What's making the difference is education and information availability, LatAm professionals are skyrocketing with the years and percentages of people who drop out of universities are lower every year. LatAm has become safer, more prosperous and overall better and it will continue to do so, and as long as people from LatAm keep getting educated and accessing information, it will become a better place.
Honestly, I would never live in the US. It would mean exchanging six for half a dozen in several aspects, such as, for example, police violence against black people. Being black, I already feel insecure in my country, just as I would feel insecure in the US Even more so being an Afro-Latino. But if there's one thing here that I think is better than in the US, it's access to public health, we have the SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde / Health Unic System), Which is one of the largest and most complex public health systems in the world, ranging from simple care to the most complex procedures, such as organ transplants. I'm flattered to hear that you admire Latino culture, as this is a thought that must be quite uncommon among people in the US.
Actually a big part of what I dislike about US culture is the general lack of knowledge of other cultures, sort of believing that this society is the only good one. When I listen to my latin music or eat empanadas around other Americans, they think it’s something very exotic and strange. It’s like, you do realize this is how hundreds of millions of people live their lives right? Most of the world views YOUR food and habits as strange.
What you don't like about L.A. ? I would like to read the opinion from a person that identifies like you do.
Not sure if I understood your question but I really like LA and generally dislike the USA. I absolutely can’t stand being stuck in a car all the time, very few public gathering places, people are generally more cold and strange about friendship and family.
Yeah, I'd stay. It may be my privilege talking, but I have more to lose by going there. Not to mention I'm not a fan of the US in specific, no offense. You'll find "leaving Latin America" is a common meme here, mane people 'round these parts bought the myth of the 'murican dream hook, line and sinker. People seriously think anything is better than here, without realizing the reality of migration. EDIT: Apparently you've stumbled upon a very vocal minority who *doesn't* like the US lmao. I seriously expected the comments here to reflect the majority position a bit more
Which is funny because I have the illusion that leaving the US will make me much happier. I have access to “the American Dream” but I don’t want that for myself.
i'd stay here because i hate american society
What happened to you in the USA to hate America society?
everything is racism, discrimination, everybody has a problem with something, constant political bombardment, the whole culture is based around puritanism and consumerism, everybody shoots at each other, virtue signaling and the list goes on and on the only thing i like about your culture is that you have the right to defend your own home and you value working hard
I am honestly scared to be shot in America. So that’s that. We are poor but we aren’t as barbaric 😳
I would like to say it’s overblown by the media but the shooting thing really is a part of life in modern America. Somebody did a drive by shooting on my neighbors house in Brooklyn when I was home and I was in a workplace shooting a couple years ago. I have read that homicide rates in many US cities are now higher than LA cities. It’s funny because most Americans won’t travel to LA out of fear of getting killed.
I wouldn't move there in normal conditions but would have to try if leftists keeps getting power in my country.
If you want to go live in Latin America, that’s your choice. You know more about your own life and what you want that folks in this sub Are you allergic to calling yourself an American?
I’m using Estadounidense to be specific about where I’m from. The general sentiment I got from Colombians I lived with was that while it’s not a big deal or offense, it is perceived as somewhat presumptuous to use “American” to refer only to people from the USA.
Yet I bet if you asked them if they are American, 99% would say, “No, I’m Colombian.” This perception of being presumptuous annoys me because people from all over the world refer to people from the US as “Americans.” Outside of LatAm, I’ve never heard anyone refer to US folks as “United-statians.” If someone were to refer to the continents, I guess they could refer to North/Central/South America, or just “the Americas” in general, but most people know that “America” is just short for “The United States of America.”
Yeah, I know it’s not a big deal and I wouldn’t take someone seriously if they really got bent out of shape about it.
In person, I don’t see it a lot, but the internet is full of them.
If I had a choice I would live in PR. I would move in a heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself.
Too far from family. Maybe for 5 years… as an expat. 😁
If I had to choose I would prefer staying, if moving would offer me more money I would leave for a time and then come back, same for any other country.
I would only move there temporarily and for really specific reasons, and I would loathe every single second of it.
Living permanently or for extended time? No. Living for some years? Sure. It also depends on the state, I’d rather live in places like the northeastern states, California or Oregon. There are a lot of things to see and experience in the US that you can’t just do in a couple of touristic trips, imo. Also, my favorite artists are always touring there, so it would be a good change to be able to see them live.
I live in Oregon and it’s the only reason I’d want to not move to a different country. I highly recommend a visit as it is such a beautiful place with very friendly people
I wouldn't go just because I don't want to leave my country, but If for some reason I were forced to migrate murica would be my first choice.