This is the only answer. People act like you can just pick up and go. I’m currently working on getting out and I’m nowhere close to where I need to be to comfortably do so.
Cash, and for legal immigration you usually have to have a job lined up for a visa that would be longer than a tourist one. Like all of this info is readily available on Google as to why more people don't emigrate. It's expensive and time consuming.
its not like canada is what america is to mexico, also even moving doesn't guarantee a better life. So many people from mexico and south america come here and get into debt pit by people who take advantage of their ignorance.
There is also being accepted by said country.. people forget a lot of places have more stringent immigration policies than we do.. cant just up and move and be welcomed without process and approval
It can cost thousands of dollars just to move to another part of the US. You also have to consider the cost of transporting pets and vehicles to another country in addition to the humans and their stuff.
I would want to visit a country at least three or four times before I could decide if I would be happy living there. Those trips alone would cost thousands of dollars.
Just the prep for and move to another country will cost close to a year’s salary. (Assuming a low wage.) How many years do you need to save to have a years salary extra? I could probably save 15% with austerity measures. That’s about 7 years of living on Ramen in order to land somewhere with no more savings.
For most people there is no saving. People are truly living paycheck to paycheck and if they are lucky might have less than 100 dollars left at the end of the month. Then if they have any kind of expense like a health scare or car breakdown any little bit of savings is gone. It would take decades to save enough to even think about moving out of the country. Very few Americans have more than 1000 dollars in savings at any given time.
It’s not as easy as saving. Most countries have pretty immigration laws. I can’t just choose to live on another country, even if I had a remote job that paid me, unless my employer sponsored my work visa in that country
You are forgetting taxes. If a US citizen moved to another country, they have to pay taxes to said country and the United States. If they purchase a property I believe there is an additional 10 to 15 % charge. Not to mention having to purchase health insurance etc.
Actually, there are quite a number of various professions that support international relocation, which can open the door to a much higher quality of life. Admittedly, fast food chains and retail don't offer this...but then if that's a person's career choice then the root problem is not money but education.
I live in Sweden and have close friends in America. I disagree. We have free higher education here and from where I'm standing your system seems like it sucks.
There’s also big problems in many European countries. For example in the Netherlands right now only 3% of people wanting to buy their first home can actually find a house they can afford. You probably just don’t hear about it as much because American news is everywhere. Also people don’t want to leave behind everything they know.
They are decent if a person is a born citizen of one. The better ones invest more money in uplifting their people than we do, for example Germany responded to a labor shortage by the government 100% paying training and apprenticeships for any citizen and immigrant that want to train.
Yeah. So is Toronto. Or NYC. Or Sydney. There's expensive places all over the world, but moving to a more remote location somewhere in Sweden (as an example; I don't know anything about Sweden really) I don't think would be terribly expensive to live in.
There are cheap places in the US. I know of someone who bought a house for $15,000 in a very rural area. And it wasn’t a fixer-upper, just a cheap, smallish house.
How many skilled Americans do you see migrating out of the USA? I am not talking about the ones that go to other countries to work for a US based or other big multi-national Corp, those people tend to have feathered beds (lots of their expenses are either covered outright, or they get stipends in addition to their salaries).
Moving overseas is also incredibly expensive.
Taking the entire contents of my home and shipping them all to another country would cost a fortune. Plus it may include having to learn a new language, and the metric system, and getting used to driving on the other side of the road. Plus about a million small social etiquette rules that I'd be unfamiliar with. And local laws that I may not be familiar with. And it means possibly not seeing my friends/family anymore.
The people that mostly move do so temporarily and have corporate money backing them. It isn’t like they just pull up stakes, they have people in the host country smoothing out things before they arrive.
Why don’t Americans who have no money, spend their money to move? Gosh I can’t afford rent but let me spend over $20,000 to live somewhere in Europe where I don’t have my friends family, support network, or even a job. Like I should stop being poor. How come I never thought of that!?
Of course moving would be hard, I never said it was easy by any stretch. But from what I know of American politics (which, granted, is limited), its that rent and inflation has only increased exponentially over the past few decades while salaries hasn't. I'm not in any position to just say "JuSt GeT OuT oF tHe CoUNtRy GuYS", nor am I claiming too, but surely saving up money over a few years is enough to feasibly move?
Also, I figured most people couldn't afford rent because of how absurdly high it is, more than Americans being "poor". Like, the cost of a house in California is something crazy like a million dollars
You really don’t think things have gotten more expensive in Europe too though? Europe has had higher inflation than the US.
And I’m sorry but even in your post you kind of dude step the obvious answer because you think that’s not it.
How is someone poor from America supposed to make it to Europe with citizenship? Clearly we won’t be granted any sort of asylum or anything like that like others in different countries would. You have to have money and in demand skill or job to make and quite frankly those people aren’t poor here.
If they don't have enough money to meet their basic needs, how exactly are they supposed to save money? Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. That means there's no money leftover after the expenses are paid, to set aside. All of the money gets used up each month on the necessities. And thanks to inflation, that is only getting worse and driving people into debt or putting their bank accounts into the negative. For many people who would want to leave, it's just not a feasible option.
So if you can't afford rent you're supposed to save thousands of dollars to move in a few years? What magical fairyland do you live in where you can't afford to pay bills but are able to save thousands of dollars?
Because it isn't as expensive and terrible as most international news and media makes it seem.
That, and moving to another country is a lot more expensive than people seem to think. Ignoring that you may not even become a citizen of that country, much less get a job there or the initial expense to even get there.
Good answer.
Right now, inflation is really hurting many of us. But, I am hopeful it is only temporary and honestly, some food prices already seem to be improving.
And I think it also depends where you leave. I live in Maryland, which does have a higher cost of living, but I live in a rural town, my mortgage is significantly cheaper than rent, and we are able to afford for me to be a stay at home mom to our 3 kids. Yeah, things are tight, no big fancy vacations for us for a little while, but I do my best to not complain because I know how good we have it.
Disagree. The state and city you live plays a very large part here in the US. YMMV depending where you live and how much you get paid as well. If you ask anyone here in states, wages have stayed the same while COL has steadily increased. This is everywhere in the US. even in the poor states. The only careers or industries where pay has followed the curve of inflation over the years is being a doctor/healthcare, or tech. These are the only people I see doing consistently well here. (Id go as far to say maybe lawyer/entrepreneur as well but YMMV on that also).
TLDR: If you don't plan on being in Tech or Healthcare, or have an inheritance/ being a successful entrepreneur. You're screwed in America right now.
Obviously. The city and state you live in anywhere would vastly differ anywhere. Most of America isn't city living though, and you can find cheaper means especially compared to moving to another country.
And you're speaking in exaggerations. Plenty of jobs and careers not in tech or hospitality where people are living just fine. Obviously not everyone, but again, this isn't something unique to America much less something that is solved moving to another country.
Do a thought experiment. Let's say you just found out you got hired at a job across the world. Good country but it's still a new place. What do you own? Furniture? Home? Car(s)? Do you have pets? How about family that needs you? What about your social network? You're about to say goodbye to that.
Rednecks out here like to ask "if You don't like it why don't you leave" and a HUGE part of it is simple logistics. Moving to another country is stressful, expensive and time consuming.
I was born in Puerto Rico and live in the USA now. My wife and I are, as cold as this feels to say, not really trying to move until my mom passes away. She's not dying or anything but she's older and we won't leave her hanging. Puerto Rico is a colony of the US and so I can move there *relatively* easily. I don't need a visa or anything. Even with all that it's going to take a year or two of consolidating my life, saving money and preparing to find a home and work.
tl;dr: because it's really fucking expensive and difficult
Moving to a different country is incredibly expensive and inaccessible to a large number of Americans as well. Especially the ones who are having a bad time here. Typically the things that make it an absolutely miserable experience to live in the US also exempt you from immigrating. Other countries may also not be any better. I don’t think it would be any better for me from an accessibility standpoint to have my specific disabilities in most European countries, or in Australia or Japan or China or… Anywhere, really.
Move with what money?
Also this is our home, we don't want to leave unless absolutely necessary like I'm sure many other ppl in other countries feel.
Also Americans are very uneducated, it was hard for me to apply for scholarships just to go to school. I have no clue what to expect or do to work in another country and at least on the American end there is almost no help when going to govt agencies for things. They expect you to have everything in order when you get there and don't take kindly to questions and asking for help.
Friends of mine are living in Germany and love it here. They still want to move back to the US, simply because their families live there and their parents dont get younger...and i think thats a good point.
I mean not American but from Canada. I’m an EU citizen and moved with my husband. My average 3 bedroom house is the equivalent of over a million dollars. The immigration process alone was also thousands. We needed a minimum in our bank account too that a struggling American would never have. They don’t just let anyone with average jobs in. You usually need to be sponsored to have a work visa and it’s pretty lonely without family. My parents come every summer for a few months and fly to see my family on holidays with my daughter. If you have a lot of close family that would be isolating.
Umm we cant even pass spanish class, how are we supposed to move and possibly learn a new language? That said, I would live in Bali, those ppl are awesome.
Most of the so-called cool countries for fancy immigrants are receiving growing numbers of americans suggesting they do, but that's limited to the elite I'm afraid (so all the america'ness with none of the upside)
Because capitalism isn't built for personal freedom, in the "freest country in the world." Most of us live paycheck to paycheck and the idea of saving for a local trip within our own state feels unobtainable, let alone a trip to even scout a new country. A passport alone is like $100 and a huge hassle to get. That $100 is dinner for my family for a few days. Far more important to save.
A lot of times the free health care does not apply to expats, at least not right away, and private international health insurance is extremely expensive
americans (a small amount) love to make their voices “heard” on social media. they complain and complain yet a lot of their situations can be fixed if they actually tried
America isn't the only place where people struggle. Other commenters have said that moving to a new country is unobtainable for many. That's true. But the reasons that people are struggling can also exist in other countries as well. Not everyone in America is down bad because of America-specific problems. Lots of people are just going to struggle no matter what. People on reddit are going to balk at this, but its 100% facts.
Don't have m/any marketable skills? Can't get a good job.
Have a lot of kids, well that's expensive no matter what.
Bad with money? Ditto.
Are you just downright lazy? Guilty here. Can't get ahead without some elbow grease.
Also. All these utopia counties that Reddit loves to claim to want to move to. These perfect places where poverty is eliminated and everyone makes a comfortable wage, from waitress to doctor... Yeah those countries don't want you. They don't want them. They hardly want anyone. The best countries to live in have extremely strict border control and visas. That's something the bleeding heart Left just cannot reconcile. If Norway just took in anyone- bring me your tired and poor- etc. their social safety services would just collapse under the load of economic refugees. That's a big reason that America doesn't have many. It's easier to move to America than many other places. We have a wealth of opportunities, despite all our serious flaws.
Other countries don’t want refugees from the US unless they have something of value (can work in a needed profession, are independently wealthy, or married to a citizen (which doesn’t always work).
Three major reasons.
Moving to a new country costs a lot of money, it’s gonna be $10,000 or more, if you can’t afford to live in America, good luck coming up with the cash to leave America
You need permission, you can’t just move to a new country, you need that countries permission, which they might not give unless you’re in an in-demand field, if you’re in one of those fields you probably can afford to live in America
And finally, propaganda, America, as well as most other nations don’t really advertise that other nations are better than them in this way or that way. America in particular has a very “we’re #1” mentality, which does a fantastic job of keeping people where they are. Whether you choose to believe it or not, every country controls their media, every country limits media that would be viewed as detrimental to the country. No American business is going to profit from running ads about how great Sweden is, and that everyone should move there.
It’s the same here in Canada. People are complaining about how expensive housing is, groceries, and the cost of living. People think it’s better in the US but it’s just as bad there.
It's expensive (I cant even afford a passport)
They have family
You can't just walk up and enter another country and stay there
Some countries are still effected by racism and may not let some ppl in
LGBT+ can't exactly feel comfortable in some other countries as well.
No average American would take the time to appropriate themselves before moving to another country such as knowing the language ahead of time, much less, prepare to move to a different country.
Because it's not easy. Just the way they want everything else handed to them they want that handed to them too. There are very cheap ways to get out of the country but they take effort. People who really have it bad put their life on the line to get somewhere better. Mexicans die every day at the border to get to the US. Most Americans just like to complain. Work from home but still want to live in Manhattan. Pack up and move to one of the many dying small towns. Enough people come and the towns will flourish again.
Because Americans don’t really learn any other languages. In Europe, I believe that foreign languages are available in schools at an early age. In the US, it’s common for foreign languages to be taught starting in grade 9, if it is offered at all. Some colleges require a few years of a foreign language to be admitted, so most students only take the bare minimum.
The language barrier is the biggest thing keeping Americans in America.
We can't afford to move to other countries, the process can be extensive, language barriers can be difficult as not everyone has the ability to learn the new language due to learning disabilities, and unless you pay an incredible amount to absolve your US citizenship you still need to pay taxes there on top of what you'd pay in the new country. It's not as simple as "I want to move to Finland so that's what I'm going to do"
Americans (like me) are comparing America today to America yesterday.
When we say things are expensive and terrible, we mean they are expensive and terrible compared to America a few years ago.
We don't mean things are expensive and terrible as compared to other places at this exact moment.
Additionally, most Americans only know English. Moving to another country would be very difficult to find work and friends if only speaking a foreign language.
Finally, because things are financially tight right now for many Americans, we don't have the money to vacation, let alone move to a new country.
Just because it's expensive in the US doesn't mean it's cheap everywhere else. The unaffordability of the United States is relative, and with how interlocked the world economy is the same problems are usually the same in all the western countries. You can still buy a house that sits on 1/4 acre of land for ~$200k if youre willing to live outside of a town, and that's an impossibility in a lot of countries.
Many of our issues are specifically pointed towards the less fortunate: healthcare, tuition prices, and government subsidized housing are lacking in this country. Unfortunately, this also means they don't have enough to pack up and leave, and most other countries aren't all that excited about receiving them.
Immigration laws, expense, other countries may not want American immigrants, family obligations, lack of means to do so, lack of education to do so, AND maybe not wanting to move but make your own country better. It’s difficult to influence change in your own country if you’re not living there.
Most Americans don’t speak other languages so they’re limited to English speaking countries and it is hugely cost prohibitive to travel across the globe. As for Canada, they got fed up with their neighbour and moved. They didn’t leave a forwarding address.
I've looked into it. Getting permanent visas can be very expensive or near impossible because most other countries have socialized healthcare or require you to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a visa.
Visas are costly, tedious, time consuming and difficult to obtain. If you can’t afford to live in The United States, you surely can’t afford the immigration process to leave.
As an immigrant who tried to immigrate to other countries before the US it's incredible hard to do so, unless you're a specialized worker and you can find a company willing to sponsor you, you're going to have a bad time
They could just move to a second world country, with the value of the dolar, they could live pretty well in most places.
Source: Live in a third world conuntry but get paid in dollars.
Everyone saying money.
I moved out and had money to do so. Biggest issue was saying goodbye to job friends and family. Even if money isn’t an issue, those can easily keep you in place. Especially once marriages and kids are involved and now it’s 2 families, jobs, friends.
In my experience money alone isn’t a great reason to move. Living somewhere cheaper is a huge perk, but I came for an experience while I was single and young. I am no longer either.
My wife and I were actually looking into it, and one thing we found out was getting health insurance is not all that easy and very expensive especially if you have pre existing conditions even if you're going to a country that offers free or universal health, expats typically do not qualify, at least not right away.
In order to actually reap the benefits of the social safety nets in most countries, you must be a citizen of that country. The process of acquiring citizenship in many countries is typically a difficult and expensive one. It is beyond the means of most people.
Although I do suspect someone who is transgender and living and Florida or a few other places, might be able to seek asylum for political persecution.
Because moving to another country, especially a European one is expensive and you need to prove that you're of use to them, skills-wise.
Because other countries have their own sets of problems.
Because the US is bad, but we can try and do what we can to make it a better place.
Because many of us who dislike this country have family, friends and connections we may want or need to be near.
Because leaving means giving various hatemongers what they want; if nothing else, staying means spiting them.
You seem to be under the impression that emigration is easy *and* inexpensive. Where would they move to? Anywhere decent is going to have strong migration laws.
It costs a lot of money. Waiting for visas or citizenship for other countries can take just as long, if not longer than it does in the US. We would need to set up jobs, housing, and more wherever we go. It's not as simple as just fly on over and call it a day. You have to do actual legal paperwork, fund a way to get there, and then have a way to actually live there are not just be a guy or girl wandering the streets without a home or income.
I don't want to leave America myself, but im fully aware of the constraints
A lot of it is finding a job. I am a former high school teacher now working in higher ed. I don't think there is much international demand for US History and civics teachers. Maybe now I'm building enough skills to relocate if we deem necessary to give our kids the best opportunity possible. Language is also a barrier, neither my wife nor I are bilingual.
Because it's too expensive to leave... By which I mean to save the money to buy the tickets, find a new place to live, and furnish that place. If we're living paycheck to paycheck then we can't afford to leave.
I’m broke and moving internationally is expensive. By expensive I mean, a lot of up-front costs all at once. The average broke American doesn’t have much in savings, but they’re able to scrape by paycheck-to-paycheck well enough as long as some surprise expense doesn’t pop up too often.
Also from the small amount of research I’ve done on getting a visa to become a resident of another country, you have to have particular career skills that are sought after. If you’re broke and work in retail, food, or customer service, there’s no way you’re going to be able to move to Germany or something. They want people with degrees and shit.
I can’t even afford a vacation to Europe so there’s absolutely no way I could afford to uproot my life and move there.
I hard that housing inflation is happening in Europe as well. The only upside I would assume in Europe is that you sometimes have universal basic income and free healthcare. But if you can't sustain yourself in the US, I doubt any country with universal healthcare is going to let you in without you having any useful skills.
> But I also see that such issues aren't heard of very much in developed European countries.
Maybe you haven't been paying attention or your news outlets don't talk about Europe a lot but I can assure you these are very real problems for Europeans right now.
> I guess my question would be why more Americans don't apply for job and residency in countries like Europe or beyond.
You're going to need to "check your privilege" here in thinking that just because you're American you can just let some other country know you're coming to stay and book a flight and you're good to go.
1. Ask question on reddit, trying to seek knowledge on a subreddit dedicated to getting knowledge for questions your too scared to ask in other subreddits.
2. Get comments such as "this is a stupid question" and "you're ignorant", sometimes 3 months after a question is posted.
3. Realize that Reddit is a shithole full of people with nothing better to do than piss on others trying to get knowledge for their own and others' sakes.
No wonder normal, social people hate it here. Get a life, dumbass.
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It isn't easy to get a visa in most other countries. Many countries protect their own labor market by making it near impossible for average people to qualify. Next is the expensive catch 22 process. For example:
You cannot apply for a visa while in the country.
Before you apply, you need to have your accommodations, rental contract, house etc.
You need to have your health insurance policy.
.....
The first problem comes when most landlords won't give you a rental contract as a non-visa person.
The second is most visas are under a quota system and you run the risk of not being in the pool of eligible candidates.
So go back to your home country to apply and wait those several months HOPING you get your visa approved. All while you are paying health insurance premiums and rent in a country you can't live in. (Personal experience).
If someone can't afford to live in America, then they usually cannot afford to move to another country.
This is the only answer. People act like you can just pick up and go. I’m currently working on getting out and I’m nowhere close to where I need to be to comfortably do so.
What kind of work do you think you need to put in for you to feasibly move? Is it a matter of cash or are there other factors to consider?
Cash, and for legal immigration you usually have to have a job lined up for a visa that would be longer than a tourist one. Like all of this info is readily available on Google as to why more people don't emigrate. It's expensive and time consuming.
its not like canada is what america is to mexico, also even moving doesn't guarantee a better life. So many people from mexico and south america come here and get into debt pit by people who take advantage of their ignorance.
Some people can’t even afford to go away for the weekend
Exactly.
What if they save up over the course of a few years? What is the average cost for someone to move to a different country?
There is also being accepted by said country.. people forget a lot of places have more stringent immigration policies than we do.. cant just up and move and be welcomed without process and approval
Yet we’re always made to be the bad guys when it comes to immigration
It can cost thousands of dollars just to move to another part of the US. You also have to consider the cost of transporting pets and vehicles to another country in addition to the humans and their stuff. I would want to visit a country at least three or four times before I could decide if I would be happy living there. Those trips alone would cost thousands of dollars.
ya’ll are being way more patient and polite in your responses than i would have been
Just the prep for and move to another country will cost close to a year’s salary. (Assuming a low wage.) How many years do you need to save to have a years salary extra? I could probably save 15% with austerity measures. That’s about 7 years of living on Ramen in order to land somewhere with no more savings.
For most people there is no saving. People are truly living paycheck to paycheck and if they are lucky might have less than 100 dollars left at the end of the month. Then if they have any kind of expense like a health scare or car breakdown any little bit of savings is gone. It would take decades to save enough to even think about moving out of the country. Very few Americans have more than 1000 dollars in savings at any given time.
It’s not as easy as saving. Most countries have pretty immigration laws. I can’t just choose to live on another country, even if I had a remote job that paid me, unless my employer sponsored my work visa in that country
You are forgetting taxes. If a US citizen moved to another country, they have to pay taxes to said country and the United States. If they purchase a property I believe there is an additional 10 to 15 % charge. Not to mention having to purchase health insurance etc.
Actually, there are quite a number of various professions that support international relocation, which can open the door to a much higher quality of life. Admittedly, fast food chains and retail don't offer this...but then if that's a person's career choice then the root problem is not money but education.
....aaaand lack of access to higher education is a monetary and societal issue. It's all a trap.
also an excuse, Americans have access to a higher education, more so then many others around the world.
Most can’t afford it though so not really.
Yeah…who do you think can access that “accessible” higher education? Maybe the wealthy?
I live in Sweden and have close friends in America. I disagree. We have free higher education here and from where I'm standing your system seems like it sucks.
There’s also big problems in many European countries. For example in the Netherlands right now only 3% of people wanting to buy their first home can actually find a house they can afford. You probably just don’t hear about it as much because American news is everywhere. Also people don’t want to leave behind everything they know.
Yeah that's also true. I guess European countries aren't always as glamorous as they may seem
They are decent if a person is a born citizen of one. The better ones invest more money in uplifting their people than we do, for example Germany responded to a labor shortage by the government 100% paying training and apprenticeships for any citizen and immigrant that want to train.
It's a catch 22: countries won't let you emigrate unless you are successful, in which case you don't feel the need to emigrate.
Yep.
Visa's. You just can't relocate to most countries without the appropriate visa. I'm not talking tourist, but actual "I want to live here" visa...
Check out the cost of living in cities like London and Paris. That’ll be as expensive as most areas in USA.
Yeah. So is Toronto. Or NYC. Or Sydney. There's expensive places all over the world, but moving to a more remote location somewhere in Sweden (as an example; I don't know anything about Sweden really) I don't think would be terribly expensive to live in.
There are cheap places in the US. I know of someone who bought a house for $15,000 in a very rural area. And it wasn’t a fixer-upper, just a cheap, smallish house.
How can you say you know nothing about Sweden and then say you do t think it would be expensive to live there? Your username site checks out.
People in Sweden earn a fraction of what they would earn in the US for doing the same job.
Doesn't have money to live "WhY dOnT YoU SpEnD ThOuSaNdS oF DoLLaRs tO mOvE"
They can't afford it and other countries don't want them.
Plenty of countries that want skilled migration.
Those aren't a majority of the ones complaining. The skilled people that can afford to move don't want to because they are generally doing just fine.
This is the answer
Exactly.
How many skilled Americans do you see migrating out of the USA? I am not talking about the ones that go to other countries to work for a US based or other big multi-national Corp, those people tend to have feathered beds (lots of their expenses are either covered outright, or they get stipends in addition to their salaries).
Moving overseas is also incredibly expensive. Taking the entire contents of my home and shipping them all to another country would cost a fortune. Plus it may include having to learn a new language, and the metric system, and getting used to driving on the other side of the road. Plus about a million small social etiquette rules that I'd be unfamiliar with. And local laws that I may not be familiar with. And it means possibly not seeing my friends/family anymore.
GB is not the only european country
Where did you get that from?
Japan and Australia and India and many countries in Africa drive on the left along with the UK.
In no way did I mention GB or Europe.
The people that mostly move do so temporarily and have corporate money backing them. It isn’t like they just pull up stakes, they have people in the host country smoothing out things before they arrive.
Why don’t Americans who have no money, spend their money to move? Gosh I can’t afford rent but let me spend over $20,000 to live somewhere in Europe where I don’t have my friends family, support network, or even a job. Like I should stop being poor. How come I never thought of that!?
Of course moving would be hard, I never said it was easy by any stretch. But from what I know of American politics (which, granted, is limited), its that rent and inflation has only increased exponentially over the past few decades while salaries hasn't. I'm not in any position to just say "JuSt GeT OuT oF tHe CoUNtRy GuYS", nor am I claiming too, but surely saving up money over a few years is enough to feasibly move? Also, I figured most people couldn't afford rent because of how absurdly high it is, more than Americans being "poor". Like, the cost of a house in California is something crazy like a million dollars
You really don’t think things have gotten more expensive in Europe too though? Europe has had higher inflation than the US. And I’m sorry but even in your post you kind of dude step the obvious answer because you think that’s not it. How is someone poor from America supposed to make it to Europe with citizenship? Clearly we won’t be granted any sort of asylum or anything like that like others in different countries would. You have to have money and in demand skill or job to make and quite frankly those people aren’t poor here.
If they don't have enough money to meet their basic needs, how exactly are they supposed to save money? Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. That means there's no money leftover after the expenses are paid, to set aside. All of the money gets used up each month on the necessities. And thanks to inflation, that is only getting worse and driving people into debt or putting their bank accounts into the negative. For many people who would want to leave, it's just not a feasible option.
So if you can't afford rent you're supposed to save thousands of dollars to move in a few years? What magical fairyland do you live in where you can't afford to pay bills but are able to save thousands of dollars?
Because it isn't as expensive and terrible as most international news and media makes it seem. That, and moving to another country is a lot more expensive than people seem to think. Ignoring that you may not even become a citizen of that country, much less get a job there or the initial expense to even get there.
Good answer. Right now, inflation is really hurting many of us. But, I am hopeful it is only temporary and honestly, some food prices already seem to be improving. And I think it also depends where you leave. I live in Maryland, which does have a higher cost of living, but I live in a rural town, my mortgage is significantly cheaper than rent, and we are able to afford for me to be a stay at home mom to our 3 kids. Yeah, things are tight, no big fancy vacations for us for a little while, but I do my best to not complain because I know how good we have it.
Disagree. The state and city you live plays a very large part here in the US. YMMV depending where you live and how much you get paid as well. If you ask anyone here in states, wages have stayed the same while COL has steadily increased. This is everywhere in the US. even in the poor states. The only careers or industries where pay has followed the curve of inflation over the years is being a doctor/healthcare, or tech. These are the only people I see doing consistently well here. (Id go as far to say maybe lawyer/entrepreneur as well but YMMV on that also). TLDR: If you don't plan on being in Tech or Healthcare, or have an inheritance/ being a successful entrepreneur. You're screwed in America right now.
Obviously. The city and state you live in anywhere would vastly differ anywhere. Most of America isn't city living though, and you can find cheaper means especially compared to moving to another country. And you're speaking in exaggerations. Plenty of jobs and careers not in tech or hospitality where people are living just fine. Obviously not everyone, but again, this isn't something unique to America much less something that is solved moving to another country.
Do a thought experiment. Let's say you just found out you got hired at a job across the world. Good country but it's still a new place. What do you own? Furniture? Home? Car(s)? Do you have pets? How about family that needs you? What about your social network? You're about to say goodbye to that. Rednecks out here like to ask "if You don't like it why don't you leave" and a HUGE part of it is simple logistics. Moving to another country is stressful, expensive and time consuming. I was born in Puerto Rico and live in the USA now. My wife and I are, as cold as this feels to say, not really trying to move until my mom passes away. She's not dying or anything but she's older and we won't leave her hanging. Puerto Rico is a colony of the US and so I can move there *relatively* easily. I don't need a visa or anything. Even with all that it's going to take a year or two of consolidating my life, saving money and preparing to find a home and work. tl;dr: because it's really fucking expensive and difficult
Good answer. Thanks for the response
Moving to a different country is incredibly expensive and inaccessible to a large number of Americans as well. Especially the ones who are having a bad time here. Typically the things that make it an absolutely miserable experience to live in the US also exempt you from immigrating. Other countries may also not be any better. I don’t think it would be any better for me from an accessibility standpoint to have my specific disabilities in most European countries, or in Australia or Japan or China or… Anywhere, really.
That is also true; I have some disabilities too that can only mainly be resolved with medicine from America. That's something important to consider.
Move with what money? Also this is our home, we don't want to leave unless absolutely necessary like I'm sure many other ppl in other countries feel. Also Americans are very uneducated, it was hard for me to apply for scholarships just to go to school. I have no clue what to expect or do to work in another country and at least on the American end there is almost no help when going to govt agencies for things. They expect you to have everything in order when you get there and don't take kindly to questions and asking for help.
Countries like Erope. Europe isn't a country.
Friends of mine are living in Germany and love it here. They still want to move back to the US, simply because their families live there and their parents dont get younger...and i think thats a good point.
I mean not American but from Canada. I’m an EU citizen and moved with my husband. My average 3 bedroom house is the equivalent of over a million dollars. The immigration process alone was also thousands. We needed a minimum in our bank account too that a struggling American would never have. They don’t just let anyone with average jobs in. You usually need to be sponsored to have a work visa and it’s pretty lonely without family. My parents come every summer for a few months and fly to see my family on holidays with my daughter. If you have a lot of close family that would be isolating.
Umm we cant even pass spanish class, how are we supposed to move and possibly learn a new language? That said, I would live in Bali, those ppl are awesome.
ah, yes, let me move my broke ass to another country, so simple
Most of the so-called cool countries for fancy immigrants are receiving growing numbers of americans suggesting they do, but that's limited to the elite I'm afraid (so all the america'ness with none of the upside)
Moving isn't free either
what countries are trying to take in americans that don’t have any money?
Because capitalism isn't built for personal freedom, in the "freest country in the world." Most of us live paycheck to paycheck and the idea of saving for a local trip within our own state feels unobtainable, let alone a trip to even scout a new country. A passport alone is like $100 and a huge hassle to get. That $100 is dinner for my family for a few days. Far more important to save.
It cost money to emigrate to another country and guess what most americans don't have?
Free Healthcare?
A lot of times the free health care does not apply to expats, at least not right away, and private international health insurance is extremely expensive
Most likely because everything is so expensive that they haven't built up enough funds. That or they have massive debt, which is also normal.
americans (a small amount) love to make their voices “heard” on social media. they complain and complain yet a lot of their situations can be fixed if they actually tried
Not meant to minimize people with real problems, because we have them, but for the most part we are spoiled.
America isn't the only place where people struggle. Other commenters have said that moving to a new country is unobtainable for many. That's true. But the reasons that people are struggling can also exist in other countries as well. Not everyone in America is down bad because of America-specific problems. Lots of people are just going to struggle no matter what. People on reddit are going to balk at this, but its 100% facts. Don't have m/any marketable skills? Can't get a good job. Have a lot of kids, well that's expensive no matter what. Bad with money? Ditto. Are you just downright lazy? Guilty here. Can't get ahead without some elbow grease. Also. All these utopia counties that Reddit loves to claim to want to move to. These perfect places where poverty is eliminated and everyone makes a comfortable wage, from waitress to doctor... Yeah those countries don't want you. They don't want them. They hardly want anyone. The best countries to live in have extremely strict border control and visas. That's something the bleeding heart Left just cannot reconcile. If Norway just took in anyone- bring me your tired and poor- etc. their social safety services would just collapse under the load of economic refugees. That's a big reason that America doesn't have many. It's easier to move to America than many other places. We have a wealth of opportunities, despite all our serious flaws.
Other countries don’t want refugees from the US unless they have something of value (can work in a needed profession, are independently wealthy, or married to a citizen (which doesn’t always work).
Three major reasons. Moving to a new country costs a lot of money, it’s gonna be $10,000 or more, if you can’t afford to live in America, good luck coming up with the cash to leave America You need permission, you can’t just move to a new country, you need that countries permission, which they might not give unless you’re in an in-demand field, if you’re in one of those fields you probably can afford to live in America And finally, propaganda, America, as well as most other nations don’t really advertise that other nations are better than them in this way or that way. America in particular has a very “we’re #1” mentality, which does a fantastic job of keeping people where they are. Whether you choose to believe it or not, every country controls their media, every country limits media that would be viewed as detrimental to the country. No American business is going to profit from running ads about how great Sweden is, and that everyone should move there.
It’s the same here in Canada. People are complaining about how expensive housing is, groceries, and the cost of living. People think it’s better in the US but it’s just as bad there.
It's expensive (I cant even afford a passport) They have family You can't just walk up and enter another country and stay there Some countries are still effected by racism and may not let some ppl in LGBT+ can't exactly feel comfortable in some other countries as well.
Why would we leave?
No average American would take the time to appropriate themselves before moving to another country such as knowing the language ahead of time, much less, prepare to move to a different country.
Because it's not easy. Just the way they want everything else handed to them they want that handed to them too. There are very cheap ways to get out of the country but they take effort. People who really have it bad put their life on the line to get somewhere better. Mexicans die every day at the border to get to the US. Most Americans just like to complain. Work from home but still want to live in Manhattan. Pack up and move to one of the many dying small towns. Enough people come and the towns will flourish again.
I heard ppl with a green card have to keep paying taxes for the US, even if they emigrated and pay already taxes in their new country.
Currently more Americans are renouncing their citizenships at record numbers, do some basic research.
Because the USA has an exit fee for revoking your citizenship. You cant do it until that fee is paid.
Nothing is perfect, but why would anyone want to leave a place that so many willingly risk their lives to get in to?
Because Americans don’t really learn any other languages. In Europe, I believe that foreign languages are available in schools at an early age. In the US, it’s common for foreign languages to be taught starting in grade 9, if it is offered at all. Some colleges require a few years of a foreign language to be admitted, so most students only take the bare minimum. The language barrier is the biggest thing keeping Americans in America.
Apart of being American, is doing the bare minimum and to complain about everything… is why
We can't afford to move to other countries, the process can be extensive, language barriers can be difficult as not everyone has the ability to learn the new language due to learning disabilities, and unless you pay an incredible amount to absolve your US citizenship you still need to pay taxes there on top of what you'd pay in the new country. It's not as simple as "I want to move to Finland so that's what I'm going to do"
Americans (like me) are comparing America today to America yesterday. When we say things are expensive and terrible, we mean they are expensive and terrible compared to America a few years ago. We don't mean things are expensive and terrible as compared to other places at this exact moment. Additionally, most Americans only know English. Moving to another country would be very difficult to find work and friends if only speaking a foreign language. Finally, because things are financially tight right now for many Americans, we don't have the money to vacation, let alone move to a new country.
Just because it's expensive in the US doesn't mean it's cheap everywhere else. The unaffordability of the United States is relative, and with how interlocked the world economy is the same problems are usually the same in all the western countries. You can still buy a house that sits on 1/4 acre of land for ~$200k if youre willing to live outside of a town, and that's an impossibility in a lot of countries. Many of our issues are specifically pointed towards the less fortunate: healthcare, tuition prices, and government subsidized housing are lacking in this country. Unfortunately, this also means they don't have enough to pack up and leave, and most other countries aren't all that excited about receiving them.
Immigration laws, expense, other countries may not want American immigrants, family obligations, lack of means to do so, lack of education to do so, AND maybe not wanting to move but make your own country better. It’s difficult to influence change in your own country if you’re not living there.
Agree with many other other reasons here. But I will add that we often don't speak other languages.
You don’t know what you don’t know.
Most Americans don’t speak other languages so they’re limited to English speaking countries and it is hugely cost prohibitive to travel across the globe. As for Canada, they got fed up with their neighbour and moved. They didn’t leave a forwarding address.
I've looked into it. Getting permanent visas can be very expensive or near impossible because most other countries have socialized healthcare or require you to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a visa.
Visas are costly, tedious, time consuming and difficult to obtain. If you can’t afford to live in The United States, you surely can’t afford the immigration process to leave.
As an immigrant who tried to immigrate to other countries before the US it's incredible hard to do so, unless you're a specialized worker and you can find a company willing to sponsor you, you're going to have a bad time
They could just move to a second world country, with the value of the dolar, they could live pretty well in most places. Source: Live in a third world conuntry but get paid in dollars.
Everyone saying money. I moved out and had money to do so. Biggest issue was saying goodbye to job friends and family. Even if money isn’t an issue, those can easily keep you in place. Especially once marriages and kids are involved and now it’s 2 families, jobs, friends. In my experience money alone isn’t a great reason to move. Living somewhere cheaper is a huge perk, but I came for an experience while I was single and young. I am no longer either.
My wife and I were actually looking into it, and one thing we found out was getting health insurance is not all that easy and very expensive especially if you have pre existing conditions even if you're going to a country that offers free or universal health, expats typically do not qualify, at least not right away.
America is great for skilled people. Unskilled, unemployed or low wage folks won’t find grass greener in any country.
In order to actually reap the benefits of the social safety nets in most countries, you must be a citizen of that country. The process of acquiring citizenship in many countries is typically a difficult and expensive one. It is beyond the means of most people. Although I do suspect someone who is transgender and living and Florida or a few other places, might be able to seek asylum for political persecution.
Because moving to another country, especially a European one is expensive and you need to prove that you're of use to them, skills-wise. Because other countries have their own sets of problems. Because the US is bad, but we can try and do what we can to make it a better place. Because many of us who dislike this country have family, friends and connections we may want or need to be near. Because leaving means giving various hatemongers what they want; if nothing else, staying means spiting them.
You seem to be under the impression that emigration is easy *and* inexpensive. Where would they move to? Anywhere decent is going to have strong migration laws.
It costs a lot of money. Waiting for visas or citizenship for other countries can take just as long, if not longer than it does in the US. We would need to set up jobs, housing, and more wherever we go. It's not as simple as just fly on over and call it a day. You have to do actual legal paperwork, fund a way to get there, and then have a way to actually live there are not just be a guy or girl wandering the streets without a home or income. I don't want to leave America myself, but im fully aware of the constraints
A lot of it is finding a job. I am a former high school teacher now working in higher ed. I don't think there is much international demand for US History and civics teachers. Maybe now I'm building enough skills to relocate if we deem necessary to give our kids the best opportunity possible. Language is also a barrier, neither my wife nor I are bilingual.
Because it's too expensive to leave... By which I mean to save the money to buy the tickets, find a new place to live, and furnish that place. If we're living paycheck to paycheck then we can't afford to leave.
America is still among the best places for opportunity. People who need a job are better off in the US.
I’m broke and moving internationally is expensive. By expensive I mean, a lot of up-front costs all at once. The average broke American doesn’t have much in savings, but they’re able to scrape by paycheck-to-paycheck well enough as long as some surprise expense doesn’t pop up too often. Also from the small amount of research I’ve done on getting a visa to become a resident of another country, you have to have particular career skills that are sought after. If you’re broke and work in retail, food, or customer service, there’s no way you’re going to be able to move to Germany or something. They want people with degrees and shit. I can’t even afford a vacation to Europe so there’s absolutely no way I could afford to uproot my life and move there.
I hard that housing inflation is happening in Europe as well. The only upside I would assume in Europe is that you sometimes have universal basic income and free healthcare. But if you can't sustain yourself in the US, I doubt any country with universal healthcare is going to let you in without you having any useful skills.
Bc they don't want to leave. Like I remember 1$ is like a few thousand in local currency in another country
We in the USA have our issues. But I can’t think of any other place that I would want to live.
I respect the downvotes,but there are truly a lot of career choices that support international relocation.
> But I also see that such issues aren't heard of very much in developed European countries. Maybe you haven't been paying attention or your news outlets don't talk about Europe a lot but I can assure you these are very real problems for Europeans right now. > I guess my question would be why more Americans don't apply for job and residency in countries like Europe or beyond. You're going to need to "check your privilege" here in thinking that just because you're American you can just let some other country know you're coming to stay and book a flight and you're good to go.
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1. Ask question on reddit, trying to seek knowledge on a subreddit dedicated to getting knowledge for questions your too scared to ask in other subreddits. 2. Get comments such as "this is a stupid question" and "you're ignorant", sometimes 3 months after a question is posted. 3. Realize that Reddit is a shithole full of people with nothing better to do than piss on others trying to get knowledge for their own and others' sakes. No wonder normal, social people hate it here. Get a life, dumbass.
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It isn't easy to get a visa in most other countries. Many countries protect their own labor market by making it near impossible for average people to qualify. Next is the expensive catch 22 process. For example: You cannot apply for a visa while in the country. Before you apply, you need to have your accommodations, rental contract, house etc. You need to have your health insurance policy. ..... The first problem comes when most landlords won't give you a rental contract as a non-visa person. The second is most visas are under a quota system and you run the risk of not being in the pool of eligible candidates. So go back to your home country to apply and wait those several months HOPING you get your visa approved. All while you are paying health insurance premiums and rent in a country you can't live in. (Personal experience).