An american gunsmith friend thinks he would be better off in the states mainly due to our high taxes and housing costs. Taxes are said to be 50% of income when you count all the hidden ones.
We get a lot of social welfare.
Theres a govt immigration website but basically you need a preferred trade or lots of money.
We have crime here but I dont know what to compare it too. Im 64 and have only been the victim of a few minor burglaries in my life.
The average family has trouble saving money.
Most people seem to get ahead by the rising equity in their houses. No capital gains tax yet. Hard for the young ones to get their first house though.
I expect crime, like everywhere, is local to where you live. For example, I don't know anywhere on earth is more dangerous than your average American inner city.
More to the point of this thread, I dunno how Amanda is going to feel when she gets her first paycheck and sees how much is gone to taxes. Short of them kicking in your door, hard to imagine the government being more intrusive than taking approximately half your income without your consent.
I expect New Zealand is about like England without as many immigrants and with far more hunting/fishing opportunities. Probably a very comfortable and safe place to live if you're satisfied with just a little.
What folks don't commonly get though, besides our firearms rights, is the tremendous professional freedom we still have here. For example I'm a teacher, but if I wanted to be one of them despised solicitors I could actually go to law school AND find employment in it; entirely switch careers in mid-stream.
I dunno anywhere else where that is as true.
The other thing is, ain't too many places where I can drive 3,000 miles and still be in my own country. In America I'm from NY, but I live in Hispanic South Texas. Don't like it? Then I can pick and choose anywhere, constrained only by my own economic choices.
The last is a REAL biggie, and folks don't realize how rare it is. In America, more'n anywhere else, folks really don't give a damn who your parents were. ANYONE can succeed here.
Birdwatcher
