[GFischer]

"Owning a home that's bigger than 500 square feet. (hint: that's not big.) "

That's U.S. entitlement for you. 500 square feet is perfectly reasonable, I live on about the same, and I rent it (and I'm 31 years old).

A 500 square feet small apartment in Barcelona is about 200.000 euros right now, and 80.000 here in Uruguay.

I agree that it's not ideal for raising kids, but it's not something to whine about.

Edit: as others pointed out, most have a lot of work experience by 29 years old. I had 8 years' experience at the time and I expect people in the U.S. to have even more since they graduate earlier and have summer jobs and all that.

Also, he says he can make 36.000 dollars/year?, well you can save a bit and try your hand overseas. During hard times, people emigrated in the past. My grandparents did, and endured hardships. In the U.S., you might have read about pilgrims. I doubt they complained about not being able to afford a dog. And being a foreigner has a charm that will make you popular with girls (not to mention the U.S. passport if it comes to that).

[mbenjaminsmith]

I'm formerly of the US but I was going to say most of what you did.

There is absolutely a sense of entitlement in North America that seems pretty odd if you've lived in other countries.

My place is lot bigger than 500 sq feet but I've also been working since I was 14, left the US for Asia at 23 and have worked my ass off every day since college.

Beyond getting laid being a foreigner isn't usually a net gain in my experience. For every door is might open it closes one or more. My first company had heavy staff requirements (which meant lots of salaries, lots of HR time and lots of rent) but no bank would even talk to me (and my partners) because we were foreigners. We had to bootstrap the company with will alone.

Where the advantage lies is the perspective emigrating gives you. It allows you to better see how things truly are and focus on what's important. As screwed up as the US economy might be I have many Asian friends who have emigrated there in the last decade and have done very well for themselves. Why? Because they were willing to work their assess off.

[lotu]

> As screwed up as the US economy might be I have many Asian friends who have emigrated there in the last decade and have done very well for themselves. Why? Because they were willing to work their assess off.

So much to this, their are so many dry-cleaners and Chinese food store owners who are millionaires because of this.

[mbenjaminsmith]

Wow, I love racism.

My friends are: in art (on the business side), in beer (import), in tech (a couple of them) and one is a chef in NYC.

None of them are millionaires but they've done better in their careers than if they didn't go to fight it out in a different market.

[GFischer]

I didn't read the gp comment as racist. He was just pointing out that there are dry cleaners and food store owners that are doing well.

(I haven't been to the U.S., are all dry cleaners foreign?)

[_delirium]

I don't think that's only U.S. entitlement; raising a family in a 46 m^2 home would be considered quite small in most of Europe, even in the poorer countries. Though it depends on where you live more than anything, even within one country. A 46 m^2 apartment in an expensive city like Barcelona, and a 46 m^2 apartment or house in a small Spanish town occupy pretty different market positions.

If he's complaining about not being able to afford a >500 sq ft apartment in Manhattan, I agree that'd be pretty entitled, analogous to the Barcelona example. I'm guessing he's not in Manhattan, though.

[mynameishere]

He's in Canada.

[GFischer]

Sorry, I should have realized :) the maple leaf at the top and the newspaper's name.

I've been to Toronto, and it's basically the U.S. (I know you think it's different, but from the outside, it's not).

Salaries are lower there, but there are chances to raise yourself if you want to ... my brother migrated to Toronto at age 25, started at a KFC, went to community college and graduated, started at the bottom of a marketing firm, worked hard and networked a lot, got a better offer at another firm, then made it to manager at yet another firm... and now he got a humungous job offer in Dubai, and emigrated there a few months ago.

So, the 29 year-old is 4 years older than my brother when he started, but if he wants to, he can go to community college, graduate in a career with demand (I was offered a starting salary of 4.000 canadian dollars a month as a programmer if I moved there. There are other high demand careers, like for example welding), and start moving upwards.

He can also go to Alberta, some time ago there was high demand at the oil sands. He doesn't even have to move out of Canada.

Or he can try what many here do, a startup :) . Or a small business (I was impressed at how much the KFC my brother worked for pulled, and it was owned by an inmigrant).