From the perspective of a German who’s recently moved his family across the Atlantic, this is exactly what stands out about life in the United States, almost more than anything else.
https://twitter.com/hmcghee/status/1373076166072995847
I mean, I must have told my German mother at least twenty times how much we pay for childcare for our two boys - but every time we speak she asks again, because the number, while average for DC, is so beyond-the-pale crazy to German ears that it simply won’t register.
And healthcare... On New Year’s Eve 2019 our toddler fell, hurt his teeth, we had to go to the ER, in one of Germany’s best hospitals (University Hospital Freiburg), he was treated immediately - I received the bill four weeks later: 66 Euros. What would it have cost me over here?
Always remember that the system is set up the way it is not because of some immutable laws of nature, not because of some inherent characteristics of the land or the American people - but because of deliberate political choices. It doesn’t have to be like this.
I would like to add: My wife and I have fantastic jobs in DC. We have many wonderful American friends, admire many things about the United States. I’m not saying this because I “hate” America. But because life here could be so much more, so much better for so many people.
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