I wasn't born in America either. I have lived in France quite some time now, and your point is invalid for one major reason: healthcare. It is amazing here, they cover everything, no matter your job. No matter even if, like me, you don't have a job. Groceries are also much cheaper than in the US, but that doesn't make as big of a difference. There is also a lot of social aid. My fiancé and I both receive a considerable contribution towards our modest rent from the government.

All those things cost tax money. The healthcare that covers everything (though over the counter drugs are more expensive) is paid for by someone. You don't have a job, you don't pay taxes, but someone out there is working for a low salary and paying taxes to pay your CAF. I'm not trying to pile on you or anything, that's just how it is. "There is no free lunch." -- Milton Friedman. I'm left-wing, i'm all for social aid, but when I worked in France for a real salary, i didn't receive any social aid (didn't qualify for any), and then it got a little hard. I could pay my rent and buy food and take the metro, go out sometimes, but that was about it. I find that people live a lot more modestly in France. It was hard to find cheap clothes. Electronics & dvds are more expensive. Taxis are more expensive. The trains to go places were cheaper, that's true.

You're starting to get annoying.

My social security was included in my grad school admissions fee. I'm not milking the system. What is it that you do again, other than writing irritating letters on Salon all day? Our resident expert on.... everything. Yeah right.

Can somebody PLEASE knock her off her high horse?

PS. Stop with the emoticons. For the love of god. If you can nitpick somebody's grammar, then I can have my say in the use of your ":)"'s. Ugh.

You're starting to get annoying.

My social security was included in my grad school admissions fee. I'm not milking the system. What is it that you do again, other than writing irritating letters on Salon all day? Our resident expert on.... everything. Yeah right.

Can somebody PLEASE knock her off her high horse?

PS. Stop with the emoticons. For the love of god. If you can nitpick somebody's grammar, then I can have my say in the use of your ":)"'s. Ugh.

-- No Name Given

I thought we were having a reasonable discussion. I'm not condeming you for living off the system. But maybe you're pissed because you know it's true. So typical.

"Grad school admissions fee"? Which fee would that be? The 300 Euros per year you pay to the French university system, or the thousands of dollars you paid to your american university that sponsors you in france (they keep the dollars, i hope you realize, they don't go to the french government)? Because 300 Euros of admissions fee surely doesn't cover the cost of your education, much less your healthcare or your CAF.

Yes, maybe life is better in France for those who in the US wouldn't get the social assistance available to them in France. And tuition is definitely lower. But for people who have college degrees and work, their standard of living in France is lower than it would be in a comparable job in the US.

I would rather pay my health insurance premium out of my salary here in the US than pay 15% extra taxes on my salary in France.

What exactly do you do all day except post letters on salon in reply to my letters?

Everyone in my social circle is a working professional, and they live very well. I have a friend who has been unemployed for three years who is also doing extremely well, getting ample assistance from the government.

I am not a junior in college. I don't have a host university.

I apologize for calling you a beaver and making fun of your emoticons. I guess they're kind of cute.

But please don't jump to conclusions about everything.

I think people get frustrated with you because you don't appear to be listening, but rather piling up rebuttals. I don't think it's your fault, really-- it's the lawyer in you. My brother did debate in high school and he was the same. But it makes for a very one-sided conversation.

For the record, I don't think France or Europe is any better or any worse than any other country, America included. To (very badly) paraphrase Tolstoy, every country is fucked up in their own special way.

Yes, let's all be nice to each other.

Everyone in my social circle is a working professional, and they live very well. I have a friend who has been unemployed for three years who is also doing extremely well, getting ample assistance from the government.

I was also amazed at how much social assistance France gives to people, including non-EU citizens. At first, it seems great, but money doesn't grow on trees, right? So I'm just wondering, absent some disability or retirement or student status, do you think the government should simply keep paying social assitance to the point of "doing extremely well" to someone who is unemployed? Their social assitance comes out of other people's salaries, either through direct taxes on salary or purchases, or taxes on their employers, who then have less money to pay their employees. It's not something that's "annoying," it's the way taxes and social assistance work.

I apologize for calling you a beaver and making fun of your emoticons. I guess they're kind of cute.

I think it's the first time anyone has ever apologized on Salon. Ever. haha. I use the emoticons not to be cute, but to try to better convey the tone of what I am saying. Perhaps because I am a poor writer, I can't simply convey it with words.

I think people get frustrated with you because you don't appear to be listening, but rather piling up rebuttals... But it makes for a very one-sided conversation.

I don't know why people get frustrated with me. I keep "piling on rebuttals" to what people say, to what i hear from listening. Maybe it's overwhelming.

To (very badly) paraphrase Tolstoy, every country is fucked up in their own special way.

Yes.