Are Italy and France Better Places to Live Than the U.S.?
Someone who travels a lot wrote that life in the U.S. is not as good as life in Italy or France. Specifically, the writer said that life wasn't as "sweet" and "pleasant."
With all the economic and financial turmoil going on these days, I was really taken by his comment. It reminded me that if all you do is talk about other countries' economies, you do miss a lot by just sticking with economic analysis.
Do you have any experience with either France or Italy or the U.S.? If so, what do you think? I've recently traveled in Italy, and I think I see somewhat what this writer is talking about. I was there before the whole Italian bond crisis hit, but I suspect life in Italy hasn't changed all that much - if at all - from what it was like a couple or months ago before the crisis hit.
Would I say that Italy was a better place to live than the U.S.? Frankly, I don't really know. I was just passing through - albeit for an extended time. Living there full time is different than just visiting.
I did have an extended conversation one evening over a few glasses of wine with the managing director of one of the hotels where I stayed. He told me he thought that Italy was losing some very talented entrepreneurial people to places like the U.S. because it was so hard to start a business and keep it running in Italy.
He told me this when I asked him why he thought that the piano teacher our family has engaged for our children would leave his native Rome, move to the U.S. and start his music school here rather than just start it in Rome. I asked why our music teacher would move because I was so impressed by Rome, especially by the way the Romans lived. I guess you could say that the way they lived struck me as more "pleasant" and "sweet" than the way I lived in America and the way most Americans I know lived.
After our extended conversation, my conclusion would have to be that the U.S still offers greater economic opportunity if you want to start a business. But Italy offers a better way of life - at least a more pleasant and sweet way of life.
I suppose my further conclusion would be that you can't have it all. Maybe it's asking too much to live pleasantly and sweetly in a place where you have the opportunity to start a business without too much hassle from the government.
On the other hand, many small business people I know now feel that the government here in the U.S. has become progressively less friendly to small business. They feel it's gotten harder and harder to start a business not just because of the sour economy, but because of increased government bureaucracy.
Well, I guess that leaves France - a place I've never been. Maybe France offers both the business opportunities and the pleasant and sweet life. Wouldn't that be nice. I'd learn French if I thought it were so.
Of course, I may just be kidding myself. I studied French for four years in school and pretty much forgot whatever it was that I learned. And, if truth be told, I somehow doubt France is Nirvana. So I guess I'm stuck with working here in the U.S. and occasionally visiting Italy - or maybe France someday.
Hey, things could be worse, right?
With all the economic and financial turmoil going on these days, I was really taken by his comment. It reminded me that if all you do is talk about other countries' economies, you do miss a lot by just sticking with economic analysis.
Do you have any experience with either France or Italy or the U.S.? If so, what do you think? I've recently traveled in Italy, and I think I see somewhat what this writer is talking about. I was there before the whole Italian bond crisis hit, but I suspect life in Italy hasn't changed all that much - if at all - from what it was like a couple or months ago before the crisis hit.
Would I say that Italy was a better place to live than the U.S.? Frankly, I don't really know. I was just passing through - albeit for an extended time. Living there full time is different than just visiting.
I did have an extended conversation one evening over a few glasses of wine with the managing director of one of the hotels where I stayed. He told me he thought that Italy was losing some very talented entrepreneurial people to places like the U.S. because it was so hard to start a business and keep it running in Italy.
He told me this when I asked him why he thought that the piano teacher our family has engaged for our children would leave his native Rome, move to the U.S. and start his music school here rather than just start it in Rome. I asked why our music teacher would move because I was so impressed by Rome, especially by the way the Romans lived. I guess you could say that the way they lived struck me as more "pleasant" and "sweet" than the way I lived in America and the way most Americans I know lived.
After our extended conversation, my conclusion would have to be that the U.S still offers greater economic opportunity if you want to start a business. But Italy offers a better way of life - at least a more pleasant and sweet way of life.
I suppose my further conclusion would be that you can't have it all. Maybe it's asking too much to live pleasantly and sweetly in a place where you have the opportunity to start a business without too much hassle from the government.
On the other hand, many small business people I know now feel that the government here in the U.S. has become progressively less friendly to small business. They feel it's gotten harder and harder to start a business not just because of the sour economy, but because of increased government bureaucracy.
Well, I guess that leaves France - a place I've never been. Maybe France offers both the business opportunities and the pleasant and sweet life. Wouldn't that be nice. I'd learn French if I thought it were so.
Of course, I may just be kidding myself. I studied French for four years in school and pretty much forgot whatever it was that I learned. And, if truth be told, I somehow doubt France is Nirvana. So I guess I'm stuck with working here in the U.S. and occasionally visiting Italy - or maybe France someday.
Hey, things could be worse, right?
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