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Everyone steer clear of Mr Mississippi over here.

If the point of your comment was to say "you have not lived in every town in every state in the US and thus can't say for certain Germany is better" then you're missing the central thrust of my argument.

I'm speaking to the law of averages, I'm talking about the universal improvements one would experience if they moved to a country like Germany. No place in the states has all of the benefits I've listed and nearly everywhere in Germany does. So for people who care about those things and are wondering if other countries like Germany have it better across the board, the answer is yes. Yes they do have it better (and everyone in the US could too).

I think culture is a buzzword, an excuse for grading a place based on biases and vibes. There is no culture in Mississippi that will provide me more vacation, there is no culture that will pay me more money, there is no Mississippi culture that will improve the states average reading scores or lower their hate crime statistics. Culture is a proxy vibe for other more tangible more desirable statistics. If I want to know how the culture values intelligence and education I look at their educational stats. Or how generous and charitable, I look at how they treat immigrants and the homeless and those who've lost their jobs. It's that whole concept of "a system's purpose is what it does", a places culture is what that culture produces. And in that light the US suffers greatly comparatively.

But if we go strictly off of vibes - a good culture for me would be one of generosity from my neighbors, from the businesses I support. A good culture would be the warmth of introductions and the quick witty humor of new friends. Supporting rapid progress, helping those in need, valuing art and creation, spreading global peace, challenging power structures and the redistribution of wealth from those who have far too much to those who have far too little, etc etc.

Don't you think all of those are easier behaviors to cultivate when the average person isn't overworked, is fairly compensated, is safe in their work and housing, etc? Cause I think so.

So no, there isn't a place in the US today that I would like to live in over Germany. And that's not even discussing a 10 year forecast. What does the US look like in 20 years vs Germany? Do you think Mississippi has universal healthcare in 20 years? How about a mandatory vacation minimum of 4 weeks? How about a well connected rail system? Pick how many decades you think it'll take for the culture in Mississippi to improve to the point where they value these thingsx then pick how many decades it would take to enact them. Then consider moving to Germany and time traveling by X number of decades. Do you get it now?

I almost upvoted this as very funny, likable satire. Oops!