I usually compare the US to Switzerland. I live in Boston, but was born in Lugano (southern tip of Switzerland). Switzerland has an excellent quality of life,

I usually compare the US to Switzerland. I live in Boston, but was born in Lugano (southern tip of Switzerland). Switzerland has an excellent quality of life, far better education system, remarkable stability, and amazingly good healthcare. The companies pay people well, give them adequate time off, and has 16+ weeks of maternity leave. There are some pretty significant downsides in Switzerland, too. It's highly conservative, hard to make friends with the Swiss, and fairly expensive, depending on where you live. We live in Boston because of family. It's a decent enough place to live, and from my perspective, just about the closest that the US gets to Europe.