How I see the US after living in Europe for 5 Years

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What I see as one of the most important differences is that Americans tend to a culture of "having something". Having houses, boats, children, guns, money... Whereas Europeans value "being something". being happy, being healthy, being part of a good community, being a good friend, husband, parent... This difference in focus on "having" vs. "being" is a fundamental different approach to life. "Having" focuses more on what you see on the outside whereas the target of "being" leads to focus more on inner values.

I have never heard someone talk about the difference between "freedom to" and "freedom from" before and I think it's an excellent point and distinction.

As an Italian, what I love the most of the (both European and African) Mediterranean cultures is the "slow pace of living". It's heart-warming to see our elders in small towns, sitting on a chair by their doorstep, chit-chatting and gossiping with neighnours, family members, and friends, looking at passers-by, while kids are cheerfully playing around them. This picture is literally the depiction of success for me.

Americans says that we have a freedom to bare guns. I don’t need that kind of freedom. In Europe you have freedom to open a beer in the park or the beach without too get arrested.

In america, you can have a dream... in europe, you can have a life

After 8 years in the USA, I am moving back to Germany. I am moving back for many of the reasons you stated in this video. In the 8 years I have lived here, I have had zero work life balance and found myself working 15-hour days with no vacation. It's just not worth it. Coming from Germany I am aware of what I lost coming here. I am coming home to retake my Freedom.

I am an American citizen from Miami and I have been living In Bordeaux for over 30 years ! I listened carefully to every sentence that you said ! I could not agree with you more !

There are many USA/Europe comparison videos on Youtube but this is by far the most incisive and intelligent one I have ever seen. The content is made even better by being written and delivered by someone who treats their audience as intelligent rather than people with a four second attention span who need to be yelled at in Youtube-speak. What a breath of enlightening fresh air.

I'm German and never visited the US, but my view of the US has certainly shifted over the years. As a kid and especially as a teen I got most of my views from movies and TV shows and it seemed such a cool place to live with all the school and college activity's and such. Of course we learned in our English classes, that not everything was that great and Hollywood-like, but at that age you focused more on the fun stuff. Later on, through friends who went to the US, the news and especially through YouTube and Socialmedia my view shifted. I believe now, that the US is a great country if you are young and healthy and want to make it big, but I value my 30 days vacation, the security, that my boss can't just fire me without reason, that I don't have a set amount of sickdays and I'm allowed to study and get sick without fear of going into financial debt. I think it would be amazing to spend some time in the US to experience the culture and see the nature and sights, but I wouldn't feel comfortable moving there and not having the "safety net" we Germans often take for granted...

The clip with Joe Rogan, saying that paid parental leave wouldnt work in the US, because america "is not europe, its better" was probably one of the funniest things i saw this week. The stupidity of this statement can hardly be topped

I'm an American veteran who will be moving to Europe in the fall to go to school. I think you really encapsulated a lot of why I'm wanting to jump ship and leave it all behind.

As an European watching this it almost feels like the US wants you to feel paranoid. Being constantly afraid of basic necessities disappearing sounds really medieval to me.

As someone living in the US and becoming more and more aware of our BS- Tucker Carlson saying "fighting off the Metric system" gives me the same feeling as a kid when their Dad says something really embarrassing. I feel like quoting George Carlin: "They call it the American Dream- because you have to be asleep to believe it."

I was happy to discover an intelligent presentation of the differences. I was born and grew up in the USA. At 80, I have lived most of my life in Europe (Norway, Sweden, Italy) and will die in Europe. It is a personal choice that began in my 20s. The turning point for me was when I had this one exchange with my Norwegian boss in 3M company. I asked, "Since you lead a capitalist company, how can you feel good about paying taxes to support beggers on the street?" His answer made me aware of so many things. He said, "I don't mind at all. It keeps those same people from finding it necessary to break into my house."

I live in Germany since 6 years. Every time I go back to the US I feel like it gets wore and worse. I don’t feel like I can live again in the US. I agree with and support your perspective. Great video!

In Germany I see all the time kids 5-6 years old walking to school alone. In summer when it's hot, I go walking or biking around 10pm-11pm and I am not afraid that someone will harm me... I go very often hiking or biking in the mountains, and I am not afraid of anyone, in contrary I easly make friends buy joining them on the way.

Good summary. I was born in Europe, spend my forming years in USA, including military service, I am an US Citizen, and I have been living in Europe for 20 years now. I think you analysis is spot on. I had a bad luck years ago, child of mine was born with terminal heart defect. He received top notch health care but passed nevertheless. I always think about this when looking at my other children. Non of them would go to college or have any financial support from me if we lived in USA. It would have required all my assets and lots of debt and result would have been the same. Like you, i'm sticking around here.

I have heard more than one American say they have a gun to protect their home against intruders. As a European you think 'what sort of neighbourhood do you live in?'.

I am Mexican living in US for 5 years now. I may have nothing to share with you about the differences between US and Europe but to me US offered me an opportunity to view things in perspective. I am some of the few fortunates that came to this beautiful country as a legal immigrant, start raising a family of two, great job opportunities in the horizon and still there are so much things that don't feel quite alright. I hope to have the opportunity to live/wotk with my family in Europe, right now my temporary home is US which is the country of my kids; my true home still is waiting me in Mexico.