European America

Before I get into it, I'd like to briefly note that while a part of me cringes to join the saturated landscape of Americans commenting on Europe, this continent has dominated the last six years of my life. I lived in Germany for just over two years, and am coming up on two years in Spain. In that time I feel I've learned a thing or two, and while much of what I write will still be generalizations from the perspective of an outsider, I hope you see value in my insights. If nothing else, writing my thoughts down helps me clarify what I believe. Enough of that, here are some thoughts:

I reckon I’m as likely as the next guy to accept new knowledge that fits my world view without an extensive vetting process. We all do this - the pieces that fit get adopted with far less friction than the pieces that don’t. All that goes to say - the evidence I have for the points I’m about to make is limited, but that doesn’t stop me in this case from believing it to be true. My case is one of confusion, and one of the impacts of “success.” I just finished reading a book that was set in the 1930’s in New York City, and one thing that continuously stood out to me was the European-ness of everything. The Ukrainian diner, the Austrian doorman, the multilingual characters, the neighborhoods where the language and the food and the liquors of the old world were kept alive. And this fits with my worldview that not so long ago, we were not nearly as different as we are now. My dad’s grandma was French, straight off the boat, and would prepare meals, clean the home, etc. in a way that can’t have been very different from her French sisters that never crossed the ocean. When I think about household differences between the U.S. and Europe, many of them are focused on frugality, practicality. Hang-drying clothes after they are washed, conserving oil from one meal to the next to reuse - these practicalities still exist in the U.S., but they are slipping away.

And it causes me to wonder - where did we diverge? How did this continent, founded by Europeans, settled by Europeans, so similar to Europe 100 years ago, end up so different today? How can it be that the rhythms of my life here and my life there look so different? There are arguments to be made that it was geography, industrialization, globalization, any number of lenses through which to view this change. I’m going to try to boil it down to math.

I’ve often heard Maria’s parents, when affectionately describing Portugal, say “it’s like Spain from 20 years ago.” By that they mean it’s a little slower, a little poorer, a little more focused on the little things. I think that goes a long way in explaining the divide - when wealth increases, and when it is paired (as it so certainly is in America) with rising consumerism, it means that traditions and frugality get quickly thrown aside in pursuit of what’s new and what’s quick. Why conserve your oil when it’s cheap relative to your growing wealth to buy new oil. Why spend the time to hang dry your clothes when electricity is cheap and time is valuable? Why make separate stops at the butcher, fruit/vegetable market and bakery? Why try to replicate the recipes your European grandmother used to make when you have the money to eat out, but not the time to spend 2 hours in the kitchen? With all that in mind, the math starts to make sense. Now there’s obviously more to it, but on average, an hour worked in the U.S. is more lucrative, and on average an hour “idle” in the U.S. is more expensive. When the cost of living is lower, and the earning potential of every hour is also lower as is the case in Spain and much of Europe, using your time on slower, traditional unpaid tasks becomes more viable. And the math doesn’t end there. Even if the gap between hours earning and hours not is fairly small, it grows over time. Retirement and health care, especially later in life, are increased expenses in the U.S., and better protected in Europe, meaning the need to maximize your earning years is stronger. My highest tax bracket in the U.S. was 24%. My highest tax bracket in Spain is 42%. This means I am less incentivized to increase my salary, because I see less of that increase. When all of these effects are multiplied across an entire continent over several generations, it starts to make a little more sense. Time is money everywhere, but when your cost of living is cheaper and your health and retirement are accounted for, striving for maximizing your earning becomes slightly less appealing.

Now you may be thinking - Europe has gotten tremendously wealthy as well, money can’t possibly explain this phenomenon. There is absolutely a global correlation between wealth and quality of life, so saying cheaper countries live better lives is not fair, and can’t possibly explain this divide. I saw some post on LinkedIn a couple weeks back that said, in reference to the rise in Generative AI and technology “America creates, China replicates, Europe regulates.” The post argued that Europe’s strict regulatory environment was negatively impacting their ability to keep pace with other world powers, and that with time this would negatively impact the economy of the region. I think there is truth in this sentiment - I often have the sensation that half of Europe’s white collar workers work in regulation, a feeling I definitely do not have in the U.S. I do worry about the future of the continent. A declining birth rate, rampant tourism and immigration, and an intense regulatory environment leave me unsure of the long-term direction of the region. But I also know that the EU is the greatest government experiment ever conducted, and the positive impact it has had on the lives of Europeans is not to be overlooked. I live a better, safer life in this continent, regardless of my individual choices. My data privacy is better protected. The food I consume is healthier, less processed. I have 5 different options for recycling rather than 2. I pay nothing for health care, and I have routinely witnessed the impact that has on the way citizens feel about medicine. I have legally mandatory annual time off, stricter regulations on length of work week, more paternity leave, etc. You get the idea. And while all of these regulations do slow down the economy, and do mean that wages are significantly lower, they also lead to a very high quality of life and a preservation of traditions that the Europeans that immigrated to the new world lost somewhere along the way.

Thanks for reading!