Downvoted for being ridiculous.
I don't know if you've visited the US but there are plenty of people who eat potato crisps and fast food for dinner because it's cheaper than fresh healthy food and they're not educated enough to know how to get around it.
The inequality in America is wild.
You clearly haven't been to the US but there are a lot of poor people here.
This is currently quite hilarious to read.
Give them one million dollar and I can guarantee you they will still drink one expresso facing the sea for 2 hours.
It is just named being French (or Latin) and has nothing to do with wealth
Time is everything in life. In many cultures, being able to spend it doing nothing or something you enjoy is the greatest sign of wealth. Poor people do not have this luxury: they do have to work to survive.
meanwhile no-one in Europe dies in medical bankruptcy or has to worry about health insurance premiums/deductibles, or daily mass shootings
I'd rather have a slightly smaller steak
We had to bail out the auto-industry during 2008 because their competitors existed in public healthcare environments. Nobody talks about it but follow the money.
Because we actually tax it properly
> cars tend to be cheaper models and smaller.
Because cars are less part of the lifestyle and SUVs haven't yet prisoner's dilemma'd us completely.
Your other anecdotes are also basically "not spending unecessarily on stuff that is bad for the climate = poor"...
Here's another factor: Europeans need to save up money for our five week vacations, do you think travel is free or something? Hint: that stuff costs way more to do regularly than AC and a redone bathroom. Pah.
People in the South of France buy one espresso or one beer and nurse it for 2 hours while staring at these ocean.
Bathrooms are smaller and less well appointed. Hotel rooms are smaller. Steaks are smaller. Apartments are smaller. Gasoline is more expensive and cars tend to be cheaper models and smaller.
People just tend to be thriftier. No one has air conditioning. Everyone keeps their houses cold in the winter.
If we are doing anecdotes, I can do this all day. It may not be so obvious if you live in a major city, but a modest income small town American lives like a king compared to a similarly situated resident of the EU.