Biggest / most glaring being the out-of-control gun violence, esp. in our schools. That's simply unacceptable to me as a parent of two toddlers under the age of 2.
Medical / Cost of a significant illness is really Fd up in this country. I had a kidney stone last year, and it cost me over 5k. Most of my friends / family would not have been able to absorb that surprise expense and would have had to use credit cards. That's not even much cash compared to what medical bills in the US can easily cost you. Families are being financially ruined by this shit.
Lastly would be random, non-school violence. My wife is Asian and the increase in random asshats assaulting smaller, weaker people – esp Asian women – is just the latest WTF is going on in this country.
When I step back, it seems inevitable that someone close to me will suffer from one of the 3, or possible more than 1 of the 3 problems above.
I wonder if I would be better off just getting the hell out of the US before it gets worse. Maybe I'm being overly pessimistic here, but I don't see a clear path forward to correct any of the above issues, except possible for #3 where stiffer crime sentences wouldn't be completely unheard of. The other two, yeah those are never going to improve, and if anything they're more likely to get worse. After the latest shooting in Nashville, of course the response is to FN loosen gun laws. Insanity.
Talk me off the ledge, or if you have already reached the same conclusion and moved to let's say Canada, I would love to connect and learn how that went. I honestly don't know where to begin.
It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate right now, and I'm really sorry to hear that you're going through a tough time. It's natural to feel overwhelmed and anxious in such situations.
Have you thought about talking to a professional about your concerns? You can easily access online consultations with psychologists through platforms like BetterHelp, or even visit one in person.
It's true that the world is a bit crazy these days, and it's not just the U.S. While it's normal to feel like hitting the panic button, remember that every place has its own set of challenges.
We could chat about moving countries, like taxes, immigration, logistics, and job markets, but that won't address your immediate concerns. Realistically, it's unlikely you can just move to another country permanently.
This seems more like a life challenge than just a relocating issue. Having a professional listen to you and provide feedback could be really helpful, as they're equipped to handle these kinds of situations, unlike the HN crowd including me.
I don't have any advice, but you could checkout /r/amerexit [1] on reddit. Lots of info, resources, and people willing to help there.
Best of luck to you, and hope to hear what decision you land on.
I don't get this. Do what you think is best for yourself and your family. What difference does it make what strangers on the internet think?
For comparison I live in the UK where we have universal health care. If you're on a good salary, you'll probably be paying about $7,000 - $10,000 a year in tax for health care. Around $3,000 - $6,000 in income tax, then maybe another $4,000 from various other taxes such as the living in a house tax, the driving a car tax, the watching a TV tax, and the buying stuff at the supermarket tax.
For your $7,000 - $10,000 you'll basically get the worst health care imaginable for a developed country, but it's "free" at the point of service so we still get to act smug when talking to Americans.
I've used the NHS twice in the last decade. One time I was in agony from an ear infection and was told I'd have wait three months to see an ENT. Thankfully I was only in agony for another month before the infection clear up on its own.
The other time I had fatty liver disease, although this wasn't diagnosed by the NHS because despite visiting them in pain three times over the course of a year they refused to run any tests because in their opinion I was probably fine, and on the third time the doctor outright accused me of wasting his time. Given that abdominal pain obviously isn't normal I got private testing done and found out I had fairly advanced fatty liver disease due to being homozygous for the PNPLA3 I148M variant.
On top of this I know two people who died of cancer in the last three years. One was just 29 years old. She went to the doctor for about a year complaining of pains and vaginal bleeding. They kept turning her away and saying she was fine. When they finally ran tests they diagnosed her with stage 3 cervical cancer and she died a few weeks later. In my opinion had she had lived in the US it's very likely she would still be alive.
I was a military wife for a couple of decades. I used to look up natural disasters for different places, trying to find someplace to move that had none. Turns out it's a case of pick your poison. You can't escape natural disasters, but you can decide whether you prefer hurricanes or tornados or earthquakes as your primary risk.
You could mitigate some of the risks you know of here in the US, such as homeschooling your kids to avoid school violence.
There's some truth to the idea of "better the devil you know." Other places will also have problems and you may be caught flat footed because you simply don't know what they are nor how to best mitigate them.
Every single country has their issues. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Personally, despite our issues (which are quite serious, as you've outlined), we are still the richest, free-est and most intelligent country in the world with unrivaled soft and hard global hegemony. Everyone everywhere tries to claw their way in because the American Dream™ of going from nothing to an excellent, comfortable quality of life is still very much achievable, perhaps even more so with the Internet being how it is.
I'd recommend living in other countries and forming your own opinion though.
I've also lived decades in East Asia, and there are cases to be made for life in provincial South Korea, Japan, and Thailand -- among other places -- but practical considerations of work and visa status play a role in such decisions.
you could also just relocate in the US...figure out what is important to you and do some analysis on how different places stack up
finally, be careful about letting daily events direct your life strategy too much
also be realistic about life in other countries...I grew up near Toronto and can say with certainty it is no longer the zero-crime/very-clean stereotype many Americans believe...you just don't hear much about Canadian cities on US news but they also have serious crime now