Why have millions of Americans moved to these countries instead?

The standard of living of even the bottom quintile of Americans is surprisingly high, even compared to other rich nations. This is often misused by conservatives to reject initiatives to improve economic equality, but that doesn't make it any less factual.

Combined with the difficulty of moving internationally, let alone the difficulty of establishing oneself as a migrant once you get there, and the fact that those with the greatest reason to move will be the ones with the least means in terms of assets and marketable skills, I don't think the current situation is at all surprising.

To the extent Americans are surprised by the standard of living elsewhere, I suspect that says more about American prejudice than anything of economic substance. Americans can be shocked because we're a very insular nation--knowledge about other countries is filtered through our culture wars, where the reality of living conditions elsewhere are variously exaggerated or diminished according to the motivations of our political and cultural factions. (The same is true to varying extents in other nations, but being so large, wealthy, and culturally hegemonic globally, America is one of the few countries that can be remain so insular and ignorant almost passively. Other large countries, like China or Russia, seem to have similar levels of ignorance, except they must rely much more heavily on deliberate censorship to prevent reality from intruding.)

As an American who has lived in several countries around the world... I think there are two parts to this.

First is that everyone's always impressed by the things that are better in other countries. Americans are absolutely envious of free healthcare, maternity, four weeks paid vacation, subsidized day care, and so on.

But when Americans start talking about moving somewhere else, then they discover that after-tax salaries are only a fraction of what they make back home. That getting a decent apartment requires "connections" or years of waiting. That so many of the conveniences and efficiencies taken for granted in the US are nowhere to be found.

Funnily enough, ex-pats often go through a first 6 months of "everything here is better!!" followed by another 6 months of "damn, everything here sucks because it's so much worse".

But really, any "extremely surprised and cheated" I would chalk up mainly to "the grass is always greener". Americans (like everyone else) know about the problems at home, but it takes time to learn what the problems are elsewhere.

(Also, nobody's talking about GDP overall, GDP per capita would be the statistic, so the competition would not be China.)

Yes, and every scene of Mexico in a TV show is sepia toned. It's very funny to me.

Mexico's problems are basically: - Drug cartels - Poverty/Bad economic prospects if you're born there - Government corruption

But Mexico is a very complicated place that is very different depending on what part of the country you're in (kind of like the US in that way.) There are places where the cartels are barely active and the police have a huge presence. There are "wealthy" areas of Mexico that wouldn't look out of place in the U.S. There are places in Mexico you definitely should not live or raise your kids. But you could say the same thing about many places in the U.S.

Having money allows you to live in safer areas with better public services, just like in the U.S. It just takes a lot less money.

I don't have kids, but I have expat friends here who do and I have met their kids. Some of them speak 3-4 languages. There are quite a few international schools that are "private" but again - a private school tuition in Mexico is nothing like a private school in the U.S. and they're very good schools.

https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Mexico/Uni...

They come out to be relatively similar overall. It would be like using St. Louis as an example of crime that someone living in SF will experience: the scales are completely off.

You automatically assumed I’m some difficult to please customer- which isn’t the case at all. Obviously you will have to take my word for it, but your response is extremely telling about the attitude that people have these days. You immediately launched into an anecdote about Japan (the fuck?) and how they don’t customize food orders.

What's more, basic self defense is practically forbidden. One can sniff their nose at U.S gun laws all they want but at least in most places a basic right to self defense when the police don't arrive on time and one's life is in danger exists. In Mexico, we have an absolutely perverse situation in which police barely respond in meaningful ways, crime is rampant, criminals are heavily armed and easily obtain weapons, but normal civilians risk going to prison if they should carry even non-lethal weapons for self defense, or use a gun in their home to protect themselves against and assault. Why do the police arrest them more often? Because such people are much easier pickings than a real criminal and it's an opportunity for safe extortion. This is very common, and grotesque.

U.S self defense laws are much better as an alternative. Europeans disdain such gun laws, but at least in most European countries where self-defense with weapons is often essentially forbidden, at least the justice system and policing are both functional. In Mexico they emphatically are not, but with the same sorts of highly restrictive laws against civilians who take defense into their own hands. I challenge anyone to defend such a legal landscape.

That's fair. And I think my comment was unintentionally misleading. I was not saying that Mexico is a safer country than the United States. I was trying to explain my perspective. I personally feel safer here, because of neurosis I've built up after living in the US for almost 30 years. Even when I've interacted with police. Because a cop potentially wanting a bribe is more predictable/understandable to me than a buzz cut guy with an assault rifle who could kill me like its nothing and get away with it. That's what the police are like in the United States.

But I also live in Merida, which yes is a non-general, very safe city. But even when I was in CDMX I felt generally safe walking around, going to restaurants and malls.

Are you and your wife by any chance not white? My mom is white and my dad is Asian. The difference how they are treated in upscale environments like for example business class at American carriers can very disturbing at times to say the least.