When you consider it, life the European Union is much better than the life in the United States in almost every way. The E.U has a larger economy, more wealth, more citizens, better education and better quality of life. Population Size: The European Union (EU) has about 500 million citizens (492 million according to some figures). The United States only has 310 million citizens. Economy: The European Union has the worlds largest economy. Europe also has the most Fortune 500 companies. The Euro (currency) is stronger than the US dollar. The United States is the country with the largest debt in the world. The external debt of the U.S.A is more than $13,399,859,000,000.00 (94% of GDP in 2009) Wealth The European Union has a GDP (millions of USD) of $16,447,259, whereas the United States only has $14,256,275 (in 2009) . In terms of overall gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita, the United States only ranks 6th in the world, behind several European countries who are on top of the list. The E.U has the highest GDP (purchasing power parity) in the world. Several European countries (such as Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Switzerland and Denmark) has a higher GDP (per capita) than the United States (in other words, people are wealthier than in the U.S.) In several European countries people work fewer hours than anyone else in the world, yet European countries are also among the most productive in the world. US workers are claimed to be the world's most productive, but they put in more hours than Europeans to score higher, according to a study by the United Nations. World View & Culture The average citizen in the United States has a very limited view and understanding of the world. Only one in five Americans has a passport. The number of Americans who have a passport, according to the State Department, is 68 million, or around 22% of the population. That means roughly only 1 out of 4.5 Americans can even visit Canada, let alone travel to anywhere else in the world. So, only about 22% of Americans own a passport and only 10% of those actually leave the country. Multilingual: The majority of European citizens speak more than one language. Most Europeans can speak at least two languages, and a significant amount can even speak three or more languages. English is the language most widely spoken in the EU, even though only 16% speak English as their mother tongue. Nearly 50% of all EU citizens can speak an additional language. 89% of pupils in the EU learn English. Yet there are 45 indigenous languages are in everyday use in the E.U and of these 11 are official languages of the E.U. Yest, only about 9 percent of Americans can speak another language (in most cases, only ONE other language). [Note: Even the president of the United States, Barak Obama, can only speak one language - English. Perhaps he is one of very few "world leaders" who can speak only one language?] Education The education system of several E.U countries is significantly better than the U.S. Finland is widely known to have the best education system in the world. The education system of the United States is placed near the bottom of the list, according to the United Nations. The United States is 18th on a list of 24 countries. Lifestyle: Europeans walk and bike more. Europeans use more public transit, and drive economical cars. Europeans eat well. They eat more healthy than Americans. Medical care in most E.U countries is much more advanced than the U.S. Most other major industrialized nations provide universal health coverage, and most of them have comprehensive benefit packages with no cost-sharing by the patients. The United States, to its shame, has some 45 million people without health insurance and many more millions who have poor coverage. Vacation: The United States is the only developed country with no required minimum vacation days. The seems the average American dutifully work him/herself into an early grave. ;) Typically, the American workers are granted only 10 working days with 8 national holidays per year. Countries in the European Union has a required minimum number of vacation days, that range between 20 days and as much as 42 days. For example, elderly employees in Austria received as much as 42 days leave per annum. Another example: according to the European Occupational Health and Safety, on average Swedish workers took 44 days off work in 2004. Military power: The USA dominates the world in military power- since it spends more on its military budget than anything else. However, the European Union alone, has more military personnel than the USA (not even counting other east European countries, not part of the E.U). The USA has a total of about 1,445,000 active military personnel, with 850,000 reserve personnel. The European Union has 1,536,274 enlisted personnel, with 4,156,680 total reserves.
Other - Cultures & Groups - 7 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
From an early age Americans are told how great they are ''God's Gift'' how they saved the world from both the Nazis and the Japs (LMAO!). Basically that the USA is the best in everything. I wouldnt be suprised if some think the industrial revolution started there also. Some of them even think they speak ''proper'' English. Then again this is just my opinion from observation. But please remeber the EU is not a country and most of the inhabitants speak only one language of the certain countries official language. That is where the USA wins its one nation with a majority langauge being English. 2 hours on a train and im in another country where they all speak another language I do not understand French! a few more stops and they are speaking Dutch and German!
2 :
less terrorist attacks in the USA.
3 :
wow thats a lot of words. i got bored after the initial question. well to answer the question it is because the US is better. its that simple
4 :
That's a lot of justification for someone who seems so sure. Who are you trying to convince?!
5 :
You do realize that nearly no on in the EU identifies itself as a citizen of the EU insomuch as they are citizens of their actual country. FYI, the number of active military personnel doesn't define military might.
6 :
Maybe it's our bright and shiny personalities? OR All of those bright and shiny nuclear weapons? Sounds to me like you just want to bash the USA...do you often judge a people based on their government? It's hard enough just being yourself now you have to worry because some strange person in the world doesn't like your country. Thanks for giving me a complex. Given that the "Good guys" in the EU haven't won a war without US backing I'd say try to be a little less hostile (unless you were on the "bad guys" side). The EU is a lot older than the US as far as a world power goes anyway. You would think that the EU would be a lot more advanced than you say it is. Even with all of that I harbor no ill will towards the EU after all with out the EU there wouldn't really be a USA remember that it was political and religious oppression that got this country started once the government took over well we all know how governments can be. I can assure you that at least 1/2 of the legal residents of the USA are way more upset about all of those things than you are.
7 :
Yanks are so arrogant
