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Comment by GuiA | Hacker News Reader

I'm also French, and moved to the US with similar aspirations right when Obama got elected. These days, I am starting to have the same disillusions as you; I feel like these tendencies have been present throughout the western world at large over the past few years.

I am wondering where in the world I could move to and have good public services (healthcare, education, transportation, etc), a government that seems to be truly serving the interests of the people at large, and a rich culture open to differences & innovation. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Americans and the French have been brothers in liberty since the very beginning of this country, long before the idea of a large centralized federal government providing all the services you mentioned. My maternal side hails from the Guyenne province of France.

The role of government in society will always evolve and be debated, but it is important not to forget our shared heritage and centuries of friendship, and never to let temporary trends or problems ruin that. Don't leave the country, stay and help to improve it for the next generations. Glad you are here!

That's an odd version of history.

It was the monarchs of France that helped the US during the revolutionary war.

Then France had their own "revolution" and beheaded a lot of people. It was more Pol Pot than Thomas Jefferson.

Then Napoleon took power and made himeself emperor and tried to take over all of Europe.

Then we fought the quasi war.

I suppose after that we had some better times, maybe the last 100 year.

Regardless of who ultimately financed it, it was the common French soldier fighting under de Lafayette and others who helped the American cause. There were also many French immigrants to America during the time of the revolution (I am aware of the Alien and Sedition Acts; I never claimed there haven't been regrettable mistakes along the way).

My point was that there is a brotherhood among Americans and Frenchmen which transcends temporary political turbulence, that is all.

From my side, you are very welcome to move to Spain, e.g. pick Barcelona for nice weather, good services, and many tech companies. You can work with just English in most mid/large companies. Salaries are lower than the US and the UK, but que quality of life is quite nice :-)

As a spaniard, I agree that it is an overall nice place to be IF you have a decent job (hundreds of thousands of youngsters had to migrate for lack of it) and IF you are not bothered by politics and "mild" corruption. The grandparent stated:

> a government that seems to be truly serving the interests of the people at large And I don't think Spain is good in that regard.

English in large companies is not common, though, in my experience.

But my wife is french and I have a lot of french friends on Madrid, and they are very happy to be there and with no plans of coming back! So, gp, definitely consider Spain!

Sure, Madrid is a lovely place, too. Regarding working in English in Madrid and Barcelona, definitely it is possible, specially in companies oriented to the international market. Also, people will do their best to make people comfortable, from my experience :-)

Hahaha I wasn't rooting specifically for Madrid over Barcelona - it's just my experience is from there. I actually believe the english aspect might be a little bit better over there...

It seems to me that France fits the description quite well, doesn't it?

I don't think there's much better out there, these days. Seems like Canada, continental Western Europe and Scandinavia are the best modern countries. Maybe I'll also return to France these days, or try Quebec.

Yeah, except for

> and a rich culture open to differences & innovation.

Maybe Canada is the only one checking all of it?

I think Germany is doing pretty well lately.

Rather than move to such a place and reap the benefits with no effort on your part, maybe consider helping to change where you are living now.

Canada

Norway.

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