I've never heard of Evan Edinger, but I now understand he's a New Jersey native who moved to the UK 13 years ago at age 22 (for grad school, I think), assuming he'd be there for a couple of years, and then decided to stay.
He's had a YouTube channel for 15 years (with over a million subscribers). In some of his videos, he explains what he likes better about the UK than the U.S.
I didn't know about this until the last couple of days when I kept seeing his summary video shared repeatedly, and finally watched it this morning. It's called "How I View the US After 13 Years Living in Europe." He gives six reasons he would not return to the U.S.
Which sounds harsh, but when I watched it, I have to say, it made me doubt my commitment to staying here:
These are the six reasons:
- Much less need to fear being killed by guns.
- A more rational form of government (parliamentary democracy) that doesn't prevent change from happening.
- Places are made for people, not for cars. From cities to small towns, they give people better access to shopping, friends, and things to do — all close by. And they're healthier to live in because walking is inherent when using transit.
- A health care system that doesn't cause bankruptcy and or death through lack of access.
- Effective consumer protections, which save you money.
- Workers' rights (paid vacation and parenting leave, sick leave, better termination protections).
He followed up with another video about the comments he received from some Americans, who can't accept that the U.S. is not preferable, or even perfect. Some label everything he says as communism (of course). But all of the negative ones he cites suffer from the same lack of perspective and America-only knowledge base.
I still don't think I'll seriously consider leaving this country, but Edinger's videos certainly set out a clear list of things we need to change if we want this country to be a decent place to live.
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