Which is a Better country Australia or USA ? | Faranadh’s Australia Trip
As an Australian citizen who has lived, worked and visited the U.S.A. since 1972, I have had the opportunity to compare everyday life in both countries so here are my perceptions of the cultural differences:
- Language differences: Very similar to a New Yorker moving to Arkansas. Metropolitan Australians use language more & more like their USonian counterparts, with slang (e.g. “ballpark” “whole nine yards”) often unconsciously adopted. There remain many traps in the vernacular, but guides exist to aid the transition.
- Food: Good coffee is everywhere; USonian bitter stewed coffee is available if you really don’t know or don’t like real coffee.
- Sadly, many of the fast food chains are well-entrenched in Australia, but most pubs (an evolution from the English public house) & taverns provide inexpensive quality meals.
- Fine dining abounds, and most areas have a variety of cuisines and amenities to suit most tastes & budgets.
- Religion: Places of worship abound for those of many faiths to congregate. Visit with those who share your faith, but don’t evangelize, proselytize or preach or you’ll not make new friends. We are not a religious society, nor publicly patriotic. The deeply religious are accepted, as long they aren’t too overt about it; flag-waving is widely viewed as the preserve of right-wing bigots.
- Social security: Imperfect as our social safety net is, there is no reasonable comparison. In Australia, unemployment exists, it causes great distress and disadvantage but you won’t die from it. We have our own alt-right such as your current crop of Republicans in government today, but they just don’t have the power to dismantle a system that has taken a century of social development to create. Seriously damage it, yes – destroy, not really.
- Cost of living: generally higher in consumer durables, food and housing. Medical costs – much lower.
Is there a bad side to Australia? If there is, what is it
Guns: We have plenty, owned by those with a genuine need (both sporting & agricultural) and by criminals.Extremely difficult to acquire for the purposes of domestic violence, road rage, settlement of disputes, bar fights and killing lots of children in schools and churches. Toddlers do not have access to loaded and cocked handguns to dispatch their siblings and other family members. Our little children may bite your ankle, but it’s unlikely to warrant a hospital emergency visit.
- Deadly animals: As in the U.S., the most deadly animals are horses, cattle & dogs. Bees and sharks are way down on the list; with crocodiles/alligators, snakes and spiders more likely to kill you in the U.S. than in Australia. Be wary of drop bears, though.
- We have political corruption like everywhere else that has politics. There are ways forward to improve the system, and enough concerned voters to influence it. Automatic registration and compulsory voting (or turnout, at least) and the preferential system have a lot to commend them.
While working for a California-headquartered corporation, my wife & I made a difficult but carefully-considered decision back in the early-nineties to turn down a much higher-paid promotion that required our relocation to Northern California.
Love the city; have many friends still to today; love the relaxed lifestyle but did not want our children in the U.S. education system, and the other social & cultural limitations of a society so unconsciously steeped in the eighteenth century.
I struggle with trying to find a way forward for the U.S.A., but I think it’s all downhill from here. New Zealand is a better place to live in every way, except for the climate being a bit too cool for my ageing bones.
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صفحتنا الرسمية فرندة – Farandh
