U. S. Expats Are Revealing The "We're Being Scammed" Realizations They Had After Moving Abroad

[DFW]

54. It's all relative, and no place is a perfect paradise

Other countries do not want people coming in who are just there to mooch off their taxpayers ("everything is free there, let's move there!" ). NOTHING is "free" there. Their taxpayers pay for it. Their government economists try to base taxes on what is necessary to provide for their people. Their people, not "their people plus 15% extra" from other countries coming in, having paid zero into their economies and mostly not even speaking their language, thus requiring additional taxpayer-funded assistance.

Take Germany, for example, where I live. Not "no" guns. Fewer guns. But, in the name of "tolerance," successive German governments have turned a blind eye to the worse elements among many immigrant groups, leading to organized crime clans from Lebanon, Albania, Romania, Morocco, etc,, who seem to have no trouble at all in procuring firearms. To get a gun legally in Germany, you have to go though a tedious process. To get a gun illegally in Germany, you only have to know the right places to ask. The difference is that most people here (so far!) feel no need for them. No angry assholes? Ever seen the initials "AfD?" People are mostly kind. No more so than in the USA, I find. Health care does cost less here than in the USA. It is NOT free. Though all of my income is in the USA, I pay 50% of my income in German taxes, and get NOTHING in return. When I moved here, I was directed to a private health insurer, who quoted me €30,000 a year (13 years ago!), which did not even cover everything. Doctors, nurses, teachers, none of them work for zero salary, living under bridges and begging for food. Their pay is financed differently from how it is financed in the USA, but they DO get paid, and the money does not materialize out of thin air.

It is true that we get 30 days paid vacation. Geography helps make cheap vacations affordable for many, too, though the "McVacation" quality and the ensuing horror stories regularly appearing in the news must give some people pause. Some nearby countries, like Italy and Spain, are even making plans to limit the number of noisy, uncultured visitors from the north (not just Germany), who make for much noise, much pollution, and little revenue.

The unions sometimes fight for better conditions for their members. Sometimes, they are exploited for the glory and headlines of their leaders. The vaunted public transportation is often the first to be hit. The unions cripple the lives of the working class who don't have cars, which are far more expensive to own and operate than in the USA. German public transportation has declined in quality in recent years, and their train system--on which I depend, by the way--is in tatters. No road rage? In a country with high (or no) speed limits on the Autobahn, and fast cars made by a domestic industry needing to sell them to survive? You gotta be kidding. Better food? Like in the USA, it depends on who makes it, and what they put into it. Fifty years ago, one didn't see many obese young people in the cities. Now you do. They have embraced the fast food culture of the USA with a vengeance, and it shows. The food is only better if you seek out what is good for you--just like in the USA. Luckily, they do forbid awful ingredients like High Fructose Corn Syrup (why anyone still buys Smuckers brand jam and marmalade in the USA is beyond me), but other suspected carcinogens like the artificial sweetener aspartame are in "sugar-free" products everywhere.

And then there is the language issue. All those "happy" people in Denmark or the Netherlands? They all speak perfect Danish or Dutch.
So will anyone with a serious intent to build a life there. Yes, they all learn English in school--as a foreign language, not their own. How well accepted would be someone be, moving into your neighborhood and speaking no language other than Dutch? What would their job prospects be?

There is a LOT involved in moving to another country. One can't just pack up their stuff, buy a one-way ticket, and say, "here I am, welcome me with open arms!" They won't.