I understand your point. But with all those examples you used, those are not good examples when you compare a developing countries like Vietnam and Cambodia to the US. I visited and have friends in developed countries. I personally hold a citizenship in a developed European country. My wife is from Australia, which I visit from time to time. Australia alone is better in some areas than the US, in healthcare and cleanliness, even ranks better in opportunities for Women than the US and no mass shootings (specially in schools), but not in education and professional opportunities. Many parts of America is becoming more xenophobic and highly economic and racial segregated. Also, big corporations control and influence many aspects of society in the US than any other country.
You will never see any American city ranking in the top 5 or 10 places to live in the world because of crime, traffic and rampant homelessness.
Anyways, America is great place to live and work, but there are also other countries equally good or better. It will come down to what a person wants in a country. I personally do love and see myself in America, but I’m not naive enough to think America is the Best in everything.
You have citizenship in a European country and your wife is from Australia. But in the end, you both choose to live and invest your money in the USA, the richest capitalist country in the world. There are pros and cons for every country but like I said before, if you look at the whole package, America is the best.
About racism in America…..We elected an African American twice for president. I don’t see this in other European countries.
About the mass killings….well, it’s hard to stop mentally ill individuals from performing these evil acts. In America, they used guns and improvised bombs. In Europe, they used cars and trucks to drive into the crowds. There may be higher incidents reported here in the US and that’s because it has proportionally larger population. That’s why we need to support the men and women in the police force, the ICE agency, and the military, who have worked hard to keep America safe.
About the traffic congestions…..I’d much rather drive my own car in a traffic jamp than using the public transportation and sharing seats with a bunch of strangers. My car is like my second home….I eat, take naps in my car during the lunch breaks.
I think the term "best" is relative, looking at the lifestyle that you want to live. There's plenty of US expats in Mexico and are any of them really living a good life? I think for the money that they have, it's better than what they can afford in the US, but from our (dentist) standards, it's still miles away from what we would deem as good. I sure as hell don't want to live in Mexico (although I contemplated this for a few months) because I want the freedom to do what I want, not be afraid of my safety, wear nice jewelry if I want to, drive a nice car, and have a nice house, without being afraid of being a target. Also, we have the second amendment as the great equalizer. If you harm me, my family, or my personal property, I don't have to stand idly by because I have the means to defend myself.
I lived in SE asia for a good amount of time. What I can tell you is that, it's great if you have money and connections. Corruption runs rampant and you have to pay a lot of people off to get anything done... but if you have the money, you can do anything you want. The shared infrastructure is still not the best, traffic rules aren't followed much, if at all, and petty crime tends to be rampant. There's definitely quality of life issues (clean water, raw untreated sewage in streets, flooding, etc...)
The US is not perfect, but I still think it's a land of opportunity for all. When you can lift yourself out of poverty and have upward mobility in economic status, having that chance is enough even if you weren't raised with a silver spoon.
This is what life is like when you have everything paid off, got a big old 1 mil portfolio in the longest bull economy in recent years, and don’t have to work if you don’t have to work. Probably have a 5 mil portfolio... bought that amazon at 50$ and google at 300$.
Please Charles you have to put that in. There’s no way new grads be chillin and “all is good.” I know a bunch of broke orthos trying to make ends meet and traveling to multiple offices to pay off their loans.
Come on now you have to put that disclaimer in buddy.
If our experiences were not necessarily representative, a fluke, or a streak of luck, then I would ask you how you would rank yourself (below, average, or above average), whether you would care to share what your production range would be (as a below average, average, or above average practice), and what challenges new grads would have. It will be harder to refute that dentistry is a good career path, while you sound like a successful dentist in your own right.
Right now, even from the naysayers, I think the financial future still seems good for dentistry from what they say about their personal/professional lives (1M+ production, paying off student/practice loans within a few years, etc...).