The US is seen as a bit of a backwards country; poor medical, technologically poor (banking, internet), little paid time off/vacation, no free/cheap higher education, rampant gun violence/domestic terror - on top of that you risk loosing some pension and health benefits in your "home" country if you stay abroad for years.

Note that the point with a solid/free education system isn't that kids of rich SEs get free college - it's that society as a whole gets better education - and your kid's friends also have a future/access to education.

French here. No way I would leave a society who achieve 35 workweek, minimum wage, 25 days payed vacation and free healthcare. As a programmer I could win more in another country, but I dont want this money if people around me cant live a decent life. Even in France it is quite hard. I wont leave for a lesser country like the US. I want my nurse to be able to do a great work and it means having a good life.

Probably no reason to vilify the US as a ‘lesser’ country, everyone in the world has their struggles.

I think the reason it's viewed the way it is, is that it's actually a strange choice. If these problem happen in some random poor country that used to be a conquered colony, that makes more sence

In terms of social protection, the US is so far lower than France... It is dystopian.

Moving away from home is just not something many people want to do. I don't think many Americans would move to another country with different language and far away from their family, just because they'd get a higher salary.

Going to the USA has been my dream since being a teenager but that's not the case anymore.

The USA has some good things going for it: VC money, great salaries, true freedom of speech (unlike the EU), right to bear arms (unlike most of the EU, where only robbers have guns and if you defend yourself you risk getting sued - tried on my skin), beautiful seaside, legal weed, less problems with immigrants (African immigration is a bomb waiting to explode, if it hasn't exploded already), place with good opportunity and enjoy a nice climate (in Europe the choice is between cold places with good work opportunity, aka UK, Switzerland or warm places with a barely functioning economy and ridiculously high taxes).

Unfortunately health care is too expensive, taxes are as high as Europe (where is your freedom?), the food is subpar, mass shooting in schools, you have to drive way too much, a culture that is transitioning kids because they think they're the opposite gender.

All in all, I think I'll stick with Europe for the time being and consider maybe South America or South East Asia in the future.

Why on earth would the right to bear guns be seen as a good thing? My mind boggles at this.

>"legal weed"

That would be Canada, not the US. Even though some US states allow it, the feds do not.

Not GP, but besides career opportunities, the US is just not very appealing (anymore) to many. It is not even necessarily about things where you could objectively say something is better or worse, but personal preferences on how to live life.

For me the biggest luxury of being a software engineer is, that pretty much wherever I go, I’m going to be solidly middle class within that region. So I can afford prioritizing other things over maximizing salary.