Perfect life in Western capitalist countries?

Question

Many Serbs to to live in Western capitalist countries. They think that everyone is rich in Western world and that everything is perfect there. But they do not have enough money to pay a dentist when they live in Western countries. Historian Vladimir Pištalo who live in the Usa said that American students do not have enough money for scholarship. I also hear for many terrorist attacks in Western countries.

Answer 1

Actually, Kninjanin, the reality does not correspond to what most see from outside.

For the upper classes, life may be perfect, as far as wealth can make happy, but there is an increasing gap between upper and lower middle classes. Additionally, many students from the lower middle classes can't afford the rising living costs, and many former jobs for highly qualified people are disappearing:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/student-finance/9858296/Forget-tuition-fees-students-cant-afford-to-live.html

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/28/more-humanities-phds-are-awarded-job-openings-are-disappearing

https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty-in-rich-countries-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-know/

http://www.voxeurop.eu/en/content/article/1469391-poverty-trap-middle-classes-europe

https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/mar/21/homelessness-housing-problems-crisis-point-all-eu-countries-except-finland

http://bruegel.org/2016/03/social-dumping-and-posted-workers-a-new-clash-within-the-eu/

https://www.ft.com/content/6a8544ae-9d9e-11e4-8ea3-00144feabdc0?mhq5j=e6

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-ranks-as-one-of-the-worst-countries-in-europe-for-gender-equality-at-work-glassdoor-finds-a7035176.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precarity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_unemployment_rate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_percentage_of_population_living_in_poverty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_homeless_population

Comments

In every country, there are poor and rich. 

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Yes, there are - and that is the problem, because even the "rich countries" have too many poor, as poverty is rarely a choice.

Answer 2

Yes, that sounds about right. This country is F.U.B.A.R. right now. It'll either get better or collapse but I've lived here most of my life and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Dentists? Yes, they make good money but you have to remember that jobs here generally pay better also.

Yes, we have domestic and foreign terrorism and the Balkans have been lucky there. I hope it stays that way.

But all in all? I'm an American Veteran and am still proud of my country!

Answer 3

I think Historian Pištalo is not correct about college tuition and fees in America.  The average cost per year is typically about $7,000 or $8,000 for a state school, which is not very much. And New York state is just now proposing a program where tuition and fees are free for students whose family income is less than $125,000 per year.  I would be very surprised if a family earning more than $125,000 could not afford $8,000.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/10-states-with-the-cheapest-public-college-tuition.html