zlatiah

@zlatiah@kbin.social

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is America Really That Bad?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Interesting question...

  As an overall answer: humans are incredibly adaptable, so as a person living in the US, it almost never subjectively feels bad. For goodness' sake, I knew people who lived in Chicago's Hyde Park (one of the most dangerous neighborhoods) and happily biked to work. I personally lived in what people would describe as a "hood" and a "third-world country" for a good year and a half, and honestly felt really safe over there. Because of this, I honestly don't think anyone can give an objective answer solely from their living experiences.

  Objectively, the US is a developed country and is not terrible, but regarding your specific points:

  1. Yes, the government passed shitty laws, and chose to not pass a lot of not-shitty laws.
  2. Yes, there are more mass shootings than the country should have. I'm not going to say why.
  3. Insured healthcare isn't expensive. However, uninsured healthcare is incredibly expensive, and unfortunately people without employment/self-employed have to purchase their own insurance... which is also stupidly expensive. Also, a lot of things that should be insured aren't.
  4. The different states are certainly different. US politics is very polarized, so heavy-blue and heavy-red states are quite different in their approaches to... many things in life. Whether they are good or bad is up to you.

  I mean, people living in Switzerland complain about their countries all the time, even though almost everyone else in the world envy the way they live... so it is possible that some might be a bit overblown.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Would it make sense for a person in a "privileged class" to move from a red state?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Hey OP, I am similar to you in most aspects but I'm a lot younger, so please take it with a grain of salt...

  I also live in Texas, and honestly I thought a lot of less privileged folks or ppl with family ties would love to be in your situation and just leave? It's not just about politics. Even if tomorrow Texas becomes a liberal stronghold, it will still take possibly at least a decade to fix ERCOT, the climate issue, and flooding issues (if you live in Houston)... This clusterfrick alone was enough to prompt me to never live in Texas again once I'm done with grad school

  Besides, my understanding is that there are a few left-leaning metro areas which have suburbs (or live in the city!) that don't cost that much more to live in compared to mid-/upper-mid-class TX suburbs, so there's probably no financial disincentive to move either