Hi Helen, Last night, my wife and I watched a Coppola movie '"The Idealist-in french" about shark lawyers defending a greedy insurance co. in the U.S.
This kind of revived all the good reasons why we decided to move back to France after living in L.A. for 10 years. One reason, among others, is that one of our daughters was born with a birth defect and we probably couldn't have afforded the many surgeries she had to undergo were she born in the U.S. Another is there is so much exploitation of the working class there while the rich get richer and do not share their wealth at all. The working class endures all this because they don't suspect it's better elsewhere (for example, people in France get 5 weeks paid vacation, it's the law + work 35hrs/week), and also the "american dream" makes them hope it's going to get better. They don't realize the "dream" only comes true for a tiny minority. I refer you to DED (since it's both one of our favorites) for the complete list of reasons. IMHO, the USA is great if you were born there and are preferably white, young, rich and healthy, or if you come from a country where living conditions are worse, or if you're willing to step over as many people as it takes to get ahead. Last I heard, New Zealand wasn't worse, quite the contrary! So, I have no idea what your motives are for wanting to move there, but I'd love to discuss it on or off list if you wish. Whatever you do, don't burn your bridges. Love, Laurent
