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We've still got it pretty good here in the USA

Having spent 15 years serving on active duty, and visiting 13 different countries, I can also say those people who complain about how bad things are in the USA have never seen how conditions are in the rest of the world.

We should all give thanks every day for the privilege we enjoy of living in this land of freedom and opportunity, where anyone can become anything they want to be with determination, hard work, and a little luck.

America isn't perfect, but it's pretty great. I fear that as things decline with increasing government intervention in finance, industry and health care, our standing will slide and we will become a shell of our former greatness, and no longer the leaders of the free world.

Don't let our country fail! Stand up for what is right and true and good! Communicate with your elected officials and hold them accountable for representing you instead of living and voting solely for re-election!

Internet access in France for home users (as opposed to looking for an Internet café in Paris, the most expensive city in the country) is both cheaper and higher quality than in the US. For 30 euros a month you get incredible speed, digital TV, and unlimited VoIP phone calls.

The same is also true of fresh produce, at least when compared to California.

the only reason to go to europe.. Cant wait to go back

I literally have kissed the ground when I've landed back on American soil...

Good article. As visiting europe makes one appreciate america, visiting california made me realize how great utah is.

Welcome home! Love your writing!

Realize that this is an article by someone who is visiting Europe for the first time, and didn't stay very long. It's hard to get over the tendency to think, 'this is different, therefore it's bad' in just a month. As one who has lived in multiple countries in Europe (and who loves the U.S. dearly) I can testify that "these socialist countries" are doing a lot of things very well, starting with caring for the weakest among them. By and large, their health care systems are excellent... and affordable. Yes, their economies are having trouble now, as is ours (and remember that it's primarily Wall Street that brought the world into this mess). But the European model works pretty well. Europe is a wonderful place... as is our beloved country. We can learn a lot from each other.

I love France, but there is no such thing here as customer service. My internet is 35,50 euros/month, which is about the same. as Comcast at home, and if I added TV it would be another 35. I haven't noticed any difference in quality. When my internet went out, however, I had to wait 3 weeks to get an appointment, and it was going to cost me 120 euros! Fortunately, my son came over and fixed it for nothing.
You just have to get used to paying more for everything (the cheapest haircut I've found is around $21). Good dinners typically run around $45 per person, so McDo's does a pretty good business around here, night and day. Vive la difference!

JBH, To set the record straight, the British are the ones that started the slicing and dicing of the mortgages that resulted in the instability of the Real Estate in the US (we readily supplied the greed).

I live in Rwanda and have moved here from China. I counted up the time I have been home in the States and came up with 3 out of the last 48 months. Yeah, many Americans can't see the good because of the "difference" but some who live overseas can't see the bad because of being so enamored with the differences. I love both the US and the interesting portions about being outside the US. But in the long run I am most grateful for the rights and privileges given my by my citizenship in the US. We have so much opportunity and so much to be grateful for. I just got finished with the early 4th of July festivities at the Embassy. I am proud to be an American. And, yes many still recognize we represent freedom and opportunity.

America is a pretty great place to live. But having spent seven years in Sweden and several years in other western European countries, I can state that there are other pretty great places to live. As an American, the social differences that exist in those countries did take some getting used to - and at first I was just really excited to get back to the United States and to "the way things should be." But then I spent more time there, and I began to meet many of the local residents, and I came to appreciate the differences that exist and recognize them as something that differentiates them rather than something that makes them inferior.

Other countries do have some advantages over the US, just as we have other advantages over them. Even then, there are only a very small handful of countries that are even close to being equal to the United States.

The socialist comment was really kind of silly. The amount of time you spent there really wasn't significant enough to make such a judgment, and I'm fairly confident that it's just a case of your own biases shading your experience. It is struggling at the moment, but so is the economy of pretty much every other country/area of the world, including our own. The economic situation in Europe is quite complex - but so far it has done pretty well with "socialistic" policies (though their policies are socialistic only by a very broad sense of the word.)

Welcome back Dick.
I've live in England, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Australia for at least 6 months to 3 years. Been to 50 other countries.

USA rocks.

And the nut cases who think socialism is okay really need to leave here and go there because I want no part of a nation that keeps adopting silly socialism. I've watched friends in England suffer from their degenerate socialized medicine. If you think the DMV is bad, try having that the norm for health care. The last thing I want is to repeat the performance of England, Russia and French health care I experienced. If you love government taking care of you... go there. Government is at a best case (in the words of Thomas Paine) a necessary evil.

Welcome back Dick. And God Bless America and save us from socialism. (He'll be expecting us to stand up and fight for Liberty.)