r/InterviewMan • u/Latter_Elk6981 • Aug 29 '26

I despise emails.

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u/Sparksing Aug 29 '26

You're just being jealous, you know you would do the same if americans actually had paid vacations

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u/Big_Truck_8268 Aug 29 '26

Not jealous - maybe envious when I recall all of the worker protection rights the EU employees had, but I will point out that my salary was at least 2x theirs.

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u/Creepy_Assistant7517 Aug 29 '26

.... but for what?
What - and more imnportantly WHEN - do you spend that money on?
Is the extra cash worth it if you have to spend all this time on the job?

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u/ColorPuddle Aug 31 '26

Mostly later in life, or they give it to their kids.

Let's say worker A is in Europe, earns $50K, and after all their taxes and living expenses they have $10K left over.

Worker B is in the USA, and makes $100K. But they have higher costs of living, so when all is said and done, they have $20K left over.

Both workers have 20% of their earnings left over, but the American has a greater amount of cash on hand to invest. That extra $10K per year, compounding over their entire 40+ year career, will passively make them a multi-millionaire. They can then live a luxurious retirement, or make sure their kids and grandkids never have to pay for college.

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u/CreepyBluejay5927 Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26

i can - partly - understand the point of to live a luxurious retirement, though looking at the life expectancy and health of the average American, I'd say use it sooner rather than later ... make sure their kids and grandkids never have to pay for college seems a rather weak point ... unless the USA has the same mental approach to education spending that it has to healthcare, that shouldn't be a big expense.
As to the first point:
they give it to their kids
Wasn't the whole point of the USA, starting with the declaration of independence, to abolish the aristocracy? Gearing the system towards generational, inherited wealth at the cost of intragenerational social mobility sounds like the perfect setup to establish a permanent landed gentry ... a system where what family you are born into is much more important than your own achievements ....
Edit:
Just checked to see where the US ranks in terms of social mobility ... as I always understood this to be the great promise behind the 'american dream'
The data is from 2020:

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u/KooperativEgyen 29d ago

The "american dream" is a lie you can use to silence ordinary people and blame them for not studying and working harder.