Is it still true to say that by being born in the USA you have won the lottery of life?

[molonski2]

Bottom line of life , like it or not , the USA in general is a symbol of success , as Warren Buffet says , he won the lottery of life by being born in the USA and a male ( at the time ) . Had I performed the equivalent of what I did in Australia , in USA I'd be x 10 wealthier , thats a fact.

Is this still true today? Nothing is perfect , but USA is a wonderful success story , and my belief is this is still true. Thoughts and detail please. What do you think? Is there still opportunity in the land of the free?

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+1 y

No female opinions to this complex question?

[Soteris]

I completely disagree. Being born in USA sounds like a terrible thing to happen to you. Granted, you are still born in a first world country in the year 2023 which means you missed out on the fun human history of dying from an infection at age 30 but if we compare it to other first world countries today you are definitely missing out.

First of all, the income inequality in USA is terrible. That means that if you are born in the 1% then sure, its all orgies and debauchery for your entire life but chances are much higher you are going to be born in the lower classes which are financially struggling and steadily getting worse by historical standards.

I also do not fancy living in USA personally. Does not really matter how rich you are if the water you drink, the air you breath and the food you eat is tainted and unsafe for humans. Being in the 1% can protect you from some of that but not all.

I mean seriously, the life expectancy in USA right now is literally worse than Saudi Arabia and while that is partially because of the private healthcare system and such nonsense, its also because of everything else surrounding you that becomes hard to escape from.

USA has also not really been a shining beacon of human rights either compared to other countries in Europe for example and that was before the whole Abortion thing happened and not to mention the current push to legalize child labor in USA even more than it really is. Seriously, your constitution still promotes slavery in the 13th amendment.

Lets also talk a bit about becoming successful in life. You mentioned before about the "American dream", how you could become rich and successful by your own effort. We have a measurement for that with which we can compare different countries by how easy it is to succeed in them. We call it "Social mobility":
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index

I mean, USA is not super bad I guess but being 27th on the list is not particularly great either.

So yeah, if I had the power to reincarnate at will I would probably grab a fork and stick it into a power socket if I was born into USA just so I could reroll for a better first world country.

[molonski2]

Yes good points , thats very holistic view and when you take into account virtually being forced into various food choices , thats very true..
I guess I was coming from Economic success , so for example ASX v US Sp500 , my net worth would be more than x 10 better , property options too..
I do note , when I look at famous Australian however , there are many Greg Norman / Paul Hogan as 2 examples only , noone ever comes back.

[Soteris]

As I said before, being rich and famous in USA is not such a bad thing but those are the exceptions to the average American experience which is much worse. If you lived in for example Norway or something then you would life a better life in case you were poor and also have a better chance to become rich in the first place. The fact that you might not become a multi billionaire and have to settle for a multi millionaire is not something I feel would hurt you.

[molonski2]

Yes , but of course Buffets example , shows the failure of European growth though generally socialistic policy and massive taxes , the same is true for most of Europe , and European growth has been massively limited , USA in the top end is great..
Look I'm in theory well off , so on my x 10 calculation , I'm very well off , still far from elite in the USA , so I am talking on the successful end..
All of our golfers..
Starting with Bruce Crampton , Bruce Devlin , Robert Allenby , Stuart Appleby , Bradley Hughes.
film stars , the massive examples of Hogan , Norman , none come back , its about the goals you have set for yourself..
Europe is great , but USA is an economic giant , I'm talking about the equivalent of what I've done , with less risk , easy times my worth x 10 . Its a powerhouse.

[Soteris]

The problem with wealth in USA is that it mostly goes to the extremely wealthy. In theory USA is the wealthiest country in the world with the best opportunities, in practice it is more like a county with two distinct social classes and you are extremely unlikely to actually break into the wealthy elite no matter how much you work since success in USA has more to do with who you know and your connections.

In this more traditional sense Europe is a better choice since hard work can actually lead you to becoming a rich elite. There is a ladder of success you can actually climb by your own hard work in Europe where as in USA you pretty much need someone from the top to actually lift you up specifically or get extremely lucky which has nothing to do with your own skills and work. That is in my opinion the big difference between the two.

[Oliverlogan263]

Man, that's a tough question. There's definitely still a lot of opportunity in the USA, but I don't think it's quite as cut and dry as "winning the lottery" these days.

Yes, the USA has a long history of success and wealth creation. But things have also gotten way more expensive - college, healthcare, housing. It's not as easy for regular folks to climb the economic ladder as it was for previous generations.

There's also more competition now from other countries where standards of living are rising. And socially, we're dealing with more issues like racism, political division, gun violence and so on.

At the same time, the U. S. economy is still huge. If you have skills and work ethic, you can certainly make a good living here. And we have some things like free speech that aren't guaranteed everywhere.

Overall, I think you have advantages just by being a U. S. citizen. But it takes more hard work than ever before to find real success. And you might have ended up pretty well off in other developed nations too nowadays.

So I wouldn't say it's like "winning the lottery" automatically. It's still a great country, but success depends more on the individual than it used to. Gotta work smart and take advantage of opportunities.

[slatyb]

Not today. There are many other countries where people are healthier, happier, live longer, and have more social mobility.

Warren Buffet is right for the time when he was born (1930) and I think this remained true for some time, maybe until about the Reagan presidency.

I think the US is still better for the wealthy and high wage earners. Comparing Seattle to Vancouver BC, income taxes are lower and housing (although expensive in Seattle) is less expensive. So for people earning a high wage with employer-provided health insurance, the US is great. For the rest not so much.

[NathanDavis]

no place is guaranteed bless nor a curse...

having lived in Mexico and the USA all my life... I know about that very well... there's good and bad, better and worse, everywhere...

just mixed in a bit different way... even from state to state many things will vary