[nus07]

Ehh we here in US got better things to do with taxes like spending it to build another fighter jet so we can send it to the Middle East in the name of Freedom . I am told you guys in Western Europe enjoy your stability because of the “freedom” we bring for all of you at the cost of our own healthcare , worker protections and social safety net. Look we are martyrs.

*my brother in law lives in Germany making less than half of what I make and I still envy his lifestyle . He and his wife are going on a 20 day trip to Greece and I am on-call over the holidays . But I make more than double and have my “freedom” and supposed choice of where my tax dollars go.

[actionfromafar]

Sure, but replace jets with “health care middlemen” and you get the real spending.

[atmavatar]

Hey, don't knock our perfect healthcare system where we have 10 administrators for every physician because the hospital needs to negotiate rates with thousands of different insurance providers, and each insurance provider needs a glut of administrators because each hospital wants to negotiate its own rates.

[decafninja]

I more or less quadrupled my income a few years ago, and as someone who loves to travel, this has opened a lot of doors in terms of travel. I can travel to more places, for longer, not to mention doing so more comfortably/luxuriously. If before I could comfortably afford one international vacation a year, I can afford several.

Obviously I’m not aware of what you or your brother in law make, but I’d imagine you’d easily be able to replicate his Greek vacation if you’re making double what he is.

On a more general non-travel note, I feel after you exceed a certain threshold of income in the US, you can just bulldoze your way into matching or exceeding most of the European social benefits including healthcare. Definitely possible if you’re making FAANG or near-FAANG level.

On the subject of SWE comp, an Italian SWE colleague half jokingly told me he’d make more as a gondolier in Venice than in a typical Italian SWE job. Curious if that’s really true.