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Yes. After a couple of years in the US I returned to Europe, specifically one of the smaller poorer western European countries. The first thing that struck me, quite viscerally, was that nobody was afraid. And why should they be?

Yup. I spent some time in Portugal this summer. I just got back to Florida and went to a LGBT bar last night. There was a guy at the door in head to toe tactical gear, just hanging out. For a moment I wondered if it was some early Halloween costume or if he was some nutjob. Then I realized that the bar had PAID him to stand there and that he was 100% ready to stop the next mass shooting. Chilling. Have we sunk so low?

> With a strong social safety net, low crime, strong employee protections, universal healthcare, inexpensive higher ed, plentiful time off, and a culturally rich environment with high social cohesion, Europeans live contented lives and don’t spend much time thinking about doom scenarios like what if they get laid off, get sick, or become a victim.

Yes, the grass is always greener on the other side. And people tend to be more aware of problems around them than those further away (baring extreme cases like third world countries and disaster areas).

I live in one of the richest European countries according to the linked article. I've often seen it held as shining beacon in English language press. But according to our local media and parliamentarians, a large and increasing share of the population is falling into poverty, increasingly has to choose between food or heating or sports/music activities for their children. In a national opinion poll 48% cites crime as a large/very large problem.

I don’t base my opinions on what I read in the media. I don’t think that reflects any reality anymore. The media is addicted to doom and gloom.

Having spent significant time in both continents, I believe regular people have it better in the EU. I think the rich have it better in the US with low taxes, extreme wages, and a market that offers them better versions of everything in life for those that can pay.

> In a national opinion poll 48% cites crime as a large/very large problem.

Perception of crime is isn’t the same thing as reality.

I don’t know what country you’re in so I can’t speak any further, but just going off of hard data, the US has a much higher violent crime rate than does Western Europe.

> according to our local media and parliamentarians, a large and increasing share of the population is falling into poverty, increasingly has to choose between food or heating or sports/music activities for their children

Similar vein to above, but also “increasing” means a different thing depending on the starting point. Doubling the poverty rate from 1 to 2% (obviously a made up number here, just making a point) doesn’t mean you’re doing worse than a place that is consistently holding at 10%.

> It’s sort of unthinkable in the US but lots of people sat in the cold last winter.

It's weird, but the US _does_ have assistance for heating for low income families. This is not to say that it's always adequate, but it does exist. Do Europeans have similar programs? Are they just underfunded relative to need in times when fuel prices spike? Or are they too hard to get into?

This issue, last winter, was that energy prices spiked much higher in Europe than they did in the US due to the fact that most of the gas used in Europe used to come from Russia. This issue has been largely sorted out, and I do not expect things to be quite so drastic this winter.

That said, there were definitely programs to help out the hardest hit; it was tough for some, but people weren't freezing to death.

in the end the hedonic treadmill will smooth it out anyways

Indeed. The hedonic treadmill kicks in once you reach a certain level a bit above poverty. A higher percentage of people are on the treadmill in Europe than in the US.

I associate the hedonic treadmill with a life of advertising-driven consumerism, and the US seems way ahead of Europe in that regard.

In my idea of the hedonic treadmill, one can be on the treadmill but slow it down or even switch it off and cease to run on it. More people in Europe are on the treadmill in the sense that they've maxed out their happiness, but they aren't necessarily running on it. Perhaps of the people who are on the treadmill, more people are actively running on it in the US, driven by the consumerism (essentially addiction) that you point out.

And in some ways you never get all the way onto the treadmill in the US. Even very well paid people can be one layoff or diagnosis away from disaster and there’s a constant undercurrent of anxiety as a result.