This. The American urge to compare only base salaries (because that's all you have in America) is why Americans don't understand what they're missing. It's not in the salary! Its in the alleviation of $1000/month medical insurance premiums, in addition to $4000 ER visits (inclusive of said insurance), and pensions.

And before someone bemoans the taxes, let me clarify that those medical premiums and ER visits are AFTER-TAX dollars, so add an additional 15-30% on top.