Why do americans earn so much?

Question

I was shocked after hearing how much American nurses earn for example. They seriously earn as much as doctors earn in austria. This was just one example. Sorry for this weird question haha. How much does average American earn?

zeitgeist057 · Accepted Answer

I'm not an expert economist, but as an American, here is what I see;

USA is capitalism at its strongest. Our corporations rule with money and influence. It's corruption, true, but it's what we have. We have lobbyists, which are corporate representatives, who use the money of the corporation to influence the laws that are made, which politicians get into which offices. If a politician doesn't support corporate friendly laws, they get cut off from financial resources, and are starved out of government offices. Those who play the game are rewarded the most, and see political financial support and success. Money buys advertising/propaganda, supports political campaigns, and being seen is everything these days.

Now, due to all these corporate friendly laws, the rich are in a great position. If you have money, you get lots of benefits from it, it isn't given to the poor, it's given to industry to continue to improve the economic system and bring in even more money. Now it comes down to these Americans you are talking about who "earn so much". Really, their costs of living are higher as you can see from many other answers. But those who live intelligently and avoid certain pitfalls like purchasing new cars and clothing can save incredible amounts and live quite well.

For over 10 years, I worked only 6 months every year, and took 6 months of vacation, visiting dozens of foreign countries and enjoying my life thoroughly. When I would come back from my vacation, I would have even more money than when I left, just from collecting unemployment. The reason being if I stayed in the USA, I would spend over $1500 every month, but traveling in places like Vietnam, Thailand, Jamaica, Panama, Guatemala, Brazil, Egypt, Yemen, Maldives, Cambodia, (and many more) I was able to spend less than $1,000 every month. Of course, I didn't stay in 5 star hotels, I stayed in $5 beach bungalows, slept on local couches or made friends/lovers in the country and stayed with them, or even slept outside in my hammock (see photo below of my beach hammock set up on a beach in Panama.)

Now I am in school to become an RN, I expect to make over $100,000/year as a travel nurse, and I will also have 3 months of vacation time every year. I've saved and invested in crypto, and I also anticipate increasing my passive income to over $200/day ($73,000/year) in just a few years.

All of this due to living in a very wealthy country, not taking on debt and living in my means, not having expenses like a house or children. I have worked maybe 50% of the time, and will retire by 2033 with more than enough passive income and investments to do whatever I like. Money is everywhere flowing; it's as simple as putting your hand in the stream and pulling it out.

The downsides to this are we have many impoverished people who didn't get taught or didn't figure out how the system works, so they live paycheck to paycheck, fooled by fake ideals, burdened with debt. Homeless, elderly or disabled who can't afford private healthcare costs, veterans who were used by the military then abandoned. This sea of money is floating on an ocean of slaves. The lobbyists that the corporations have are not matched by lobbyists for the average person. We often have issues with workers who are struggling to survive. A great book to read which is a bit heavy on the leftist politics, but nonetheless illustrates the many, many struggles of the proletariat in America is Howard's Zinn's "People's History of the United States" Link goes to Amazon, where it is free on audible trial, but you can also get it at a library most likely.

Additional recommended reading not just for US perspective but how the influence has affected world economy and politics, as well as violent struggles, would be the anti-capitalist perspectives of Noam Chomsky . Examples include his books "Manufacturing Consent", or "Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky."
Though his film and bibliography is incredibly vast, he probably wrote more books than most people will read during 10 years of their life. The essential gist is that all this wealth does not come without cost. Luxury comes at the expense of others. There is no "luxury" without someone else not having that luxury. That is the very definition of luxury: 'something that not everyone can have'. This is how I was able to relax most of my life, while traveling the world. I wasn't born rich, I wasn't given money. I've slept on the streets and floors, I've spent many summers living out of a tent in the wilderness, working 16 hours a day for weeks at a time with no days off. I was born in a rich country, and had the opportunity to stick my hands in the stream.

God_of_Thunder · Accepted Answer

It's really too broad of a subject to state how much any one profession makes in the US, or even what the overall average salary is.

The reason being that, due to the way the US is spread out, the cost of living, and thus the typical salary, varies wildly from location to location. An acceptable salary in one area may be considered too high, or too low, in another.

You mentioned nursing, for example, so using that, we'll say that the typical nurse's salary may be somewhere around $40,000/year in the middle of a rural area, while the same nurse could make $80,000/year in one of the larger cities.

Now, that may seem like a huge difference, until you consider that the cost of living may be twice as high (or more) in the city, so in terms of actual livability, both salaries would equate to being relatively equal.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

American wages are garbage, so I don't know where you heard this. I moved to another country, and I am now making roughly 4 times more money than I ever did living in the USA.

JoyGirl · Accepted Answer

Well, I would think all nurses earned a good amount of money… If that is not the case, I don’t know why Americans nurses do. 🤷🏾‍♀️

RolandCuthbert · Answer

I dunno what you really mean.

Consider this. . .

Don't just compare salaries.

1. Look at time off from the job, vacation time. We do not get "holiday". Most of us only get two weeks of vacation a year. Some of us get none.

2. Many jobs have sick days included into a structure called PTO. But most employees only enjoy 18 days max. So you can be penalized for getting sick and losing your job.

3. Not many jobs have maternity leave.

4. And even if you are in a situation when you need to take extended leave, you most likely will not be paid.

5. There are countless other benefits that Europeans enjoy that American workers never will. But that's because European nations are mostly socialized democracies. And you can be a socialized democracy because the basis of your country is an ethnic cultural definition, rather than a racial one. Austrians are going to take care of Austrians. French are going to take care of the French, Belgians, Spanish and so on.

MTC29 · Answer

Healthcare is a high paying occupation. Even so, when compared to much of the world, American earn high incomes:

Please keep in mind that where you live has a LOT to do with how much you earn. People living in Maryland (the state with the top annual incomes) will earn a lot more than those living in Mississippi (at the bottom of incomes).

American is not based around the idea that one size fits all. Every state is different, almost like its own little country.

Кураж · Answer

Yeah but that doesn't factor in the cost of living, the prices in the US and in Austria are different.
As numbeo quotes:
"You would need around 8,067.04€ (8,728.37$) in New York, NY to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 3,900.00€ in Vienna"

It doesn't really matter that Americans earn more when the average burger costs them twice as much.
Even the cheap big cities in the US such as San Antonio are still more expensive than the MOST expensive city in Austria, so those numbers can be misleading.

exitseven · Answer

They do not earn as much as you think. The cost of living is very high here. A modest house will cost you a half a million dollars. Health insurance premiums are very expensive if our employer does not pay for it. There are all kinds of taxes for just about everything. Income tax both federal and state, sales tax, excise tax, tax on broadband, tax on services etc, etc, At the end of it all if you have two nickels to rub together you are lucky.

ArtemisSilver · Answer

Where are you getting your info? Most Americans earn less than western European counterparts, and lack fair provision for time off, parental leave and even basic workers rights.

A few industries like healthcare might buck the trend to some extent but I haven't really seen many examples.

NathanDavis · Answer

because in the USA's health system... it is possible to charge 40 dollars for a single aspirine... or over 100 dollars for a single diaper that a newborn baby needs

ohshee · Answer

Well you need to come to America because they are short-handed on nurses RN LPNs you could probably get a job at any Hospital

slatyb · Answer

Multiple sources report that the median wage is a bit more than $1000/week. Half are paid more, half are paid less.

DaveToo · Answer

We Americans believe in the free enterprise system, and if my boss is going to make 378% more money than me, I'm going to demand a better wage.

Anonymous · Answer

Because the standard of living is so high. You have to admit Americans are voracious consumers. I mean I criticize it but not entirely. It's the avg. American that fuels my income as I pretty much live off my investments anymore.

MrTaboo · Answer

Because the Healthcare here has become a money grab, not Healthcare.

eagle1951 · Answer

look at all a nurse does, ask me if they are under paid.

Why do americans earn so much?

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