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Comment by skrebbel | Hacker News Reader

You simply don’t need such inflated salaries if schools are free, roads are not broken, trains exist, healthcare is affordable, grocery stores are in biking distance, parks are good and free and plenty, labor laws are in your favour, utilities markets mostly aren’t dysfunctional and a 2-bedroom apartment doesn't cost $10000/m.

Americans compare their salaries to European ones but never stop to imagine the insane high “taxes” they pay for stuff that we get cheaply or for free.

I'm not even saying the one is better than the other. There's a lot to be said for the American system of only paying for what you need. It's just.. you can't just compare dollars/euros like that. There's reddit posts of people who earn $900k/y and openly wonder whether that's enough to live in NYC and that shit is equally unfathomable to the average European as the idea of a dev earning €70k/y is to the average American.

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Do you want to live in a school, on the streets, in a train, in a hospital, in a park or in a grocery store?

As long as housing is extremely expensive in Europe, nothing else matters except for higher salaries.

Housing is not extremely expensive in europe. Only close to the big cities it is.

The person you're responding to is claiming that Americans have to pay $10,000 for a 2 bedroom apartment, thus that is why the salaries are so high.

That isn't true unless you're looking to rent a luxury apartment in a big city.

I never said that.

Person above you did, my bad

It is extremely expensive almost everywhere when you compare to local salaries.

True. But the systems are more and more breaking down. Its unsustainable. At least what I can tell from Germany and the Netherlands. to see a healthcare specialist, you wait 3-6months in some cases. Not talking about the trains. Germany DB runs on time in only 50% of the cases. So thats a big problem

My partner has had three extensive cancer treatments in the Netherlands. She has had dietary and psychological specialists help her during and after each one.

All of this was just on normal health insurance and with normal clinics and hospitals.

Never did she have to wait more than perhaps 3 weeks tops for an appointment.

The medical system here is world class.

However Germany and it's infrastructure can not be compared to the Netherlands. I refuse to take trains through that country anymore.

> However Germany and it's infrastructure can not be compared to the Netherlands. I refuse to take trains through that country anymore.

In which country are the trains bad? Netherlands or Germany? Do you care elaborating why? is that punctuality? strikes? decaying infrastructure?

Yeah I see now how that was unclear.

I was talking about Germany's infrastructure. Last year I had 3x separate trips turn into chaos due to how broken their system is. Broken trains, broken track infrastructure etc. Think multiple hours on each trip rather than just 10 minutes delay.

The Ditch system is very reliable in contrast.

The trains that are 10 min late in Germany mostly not exist in many other countries. Sure Switzerland is the best, but Germany is pretty high up. It’s just less good than it used to be. Oh and you can ride almost everywhere for 60 EUR / month.

For healthcare if you get an IT salary you can either move to private insurance, or buy additional insurance, or just pay a consultation yourself for a fee that US people won’t believe.

Last 7 times i took the ICE, i had 5 delays. 3 times the restaurant wasnt available. 2 times they didnt stop at my destination and I had to rent a car. so yeah. I try to travel now either by car or plane. But even by car is terrible, especially in the south. More construction sites every year and none are finishing. . Health care is totally broken if you dont have private insurance. My step dad, who has, gets an appointment 1 day after he calls. my grand ma, who worked all her life and is now on public needs to wait 5 months IN PAIN.

the system is breaking down in front of our very eyes.

i am not living in Germany. i moved to fthe NL, but the situation is very similiar.

Ehm, my parents some serious health issues the last two years and they usually had their appointments in days or at most a small number of weeks. (NL)

That's very alarmist, sensational and dramatic. The systems are going though some tough times, but they are not breaking down, that's what children would say to make their life more like a Hollywood movie.

My father had to go though multiple appointments and analysis to get his prostate and hernia checked. Never waited more than a week and paid 0 in total. Before, he'd probably only have to wait a couple days for appointments, but the stress the healthcare system is currently undergoing is abnormal due to the more aggressive cases of flue this season. All things considering, things are not "breaking down" (I'm even getting some second hand embarrassment reading those words).

> At least what I can tell from Germany and the Netherlands. to see a healthcare specialist, you wait 3-6months in some cases.

Same in France, it can take a while to get an appointment to see some specialists nowadays. There's a clear decline there.

But if you have something bad, they'll treat you in time. Actually, a relative of mine has been diagnosed with cancer a not long ago. She got several surgeries and all the treatments with no wait, and at not cost.

There's no reason why it shouldn't be sustainable.

> Not talking about the trains

How does that compare to the public transport situation in the US?

"trains exist"

Like Spain's commuter trains?

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