The Greatest Generation was exceptionally patriotic, and I always assumed it had to do with living in a country that suffered much less industrial damage in WWII than other countries (which enabled a great standard of living while everyone else was still rebuilding). But I am starting to wonder how much of this has to do with just simply having spent a couple of years abroad and getting to witness first-hand how dysfunctional most other places are (during and in-between wars).
Everything except the most expensive things. Paying 20% more for cheese is fine when you're saving 95% on healthcare.
* high monthly premiums for healthcare with high deductibles (I pay 14k a year with a 5k deductible for each person in my family)
* high medication prices (people often buy drugs from canada)
* 0 maternity leave (15 weeks max in Canada)
* 0 vacation (2-3 weeks in Canada)
* less accessible child care (Canada is working on building out ~$10/day child care, it can easily cost ~$20k a year in the US)
* less affordable college tuition
* higher crime rates, higher incarceration rates
* lower minimum wage (canada’s is nearly double)
* at-will employment, termination without cause or severance (in canada you can be fired easily, but reasonable severance is required)
* reduced access to abortion (significantly in some states as of late)
It’s this one. As a Canadian, I can’t take anything they say seriously about their housing “crisis” or cost of living. Almost everything is more expensive in Canada and most jobs pay a lot less, but things are still not really that bad, so I know that the Americans just like to complain.
The only way it’s possible for an American to struggle financially is if they do it on purpose.