QA问答：英国人羡慕美国人的生活方式吗？

Alastair Ballantyne
I am so jealous of not being able to experience the American lifestyle here in the UK.
In a short while I am going to go to the local Post Office which is about a 15 minute walk away and going there and back I won’t get shot at, mugged or abused at all. I also won’t get stopped and murdered by the police just for having the temerity to be out and about walking instead of driving in my car.
When I’m at the Post Office, which being a smaller local one means it’s in a Spar shop, I can get a few groceries like milk, tomatoes, salad, bread and many other things I might need. The prices on the shelf will be the price I pay at the till, no added taxes which saddens me and leaves me feeling I’m not contributing enough.
Another thing that sticks in my craw is that when I go to pick up a prescxtion from the pharmacy being both over 60 and diabetic I pay nothing, zilch, nada, niente sweet F.A. for any of my meds.
 
我很嫉妒在英国不能体验美国的生活方式。
过一会儿，我要去当地的邮局，那里离我大约15分钟的路程，来回的路上，我根本不会被枪击、抢劫或辱骂。我也不会因为不开车敢自己出门走路就被警察拦下杀了。
当我在邮局的时候，邮局是一个较小的地方，它是在一个商场里面，我可以在店里买一些杂货，像牛奶，西红柿，沙拉，面包和许多其他我可能需要的东西。货架上的价格将是我在收银台支付的价格，没有额外的税，这让我感到悲伤，让我觉得我没有做出足够的贡献。
另一件让我难以接受的事是，当我去药房拿处方药的时候，我已经60岁以上，而且患有糖尿病，我的任何一种药都是零费用的。
 
Joe Anslevich
We really envy your delicious food.
Oh, and we envy your politics too. And your incredible healthcare system.
And of course we have no landscape to speak of here in Britland. And no history. No old buildings.
Oh, and above all we envy Americans’ sense of irony.
 
我们真的很羡慕你们的美食。
我们也很羡慕你的政治，还有你们不可思议的医疗体系
当然，在英国，我们这里没有值得一提的风景，没有历史，没有老建筑。
最重要的是，我们羡慕美国人的讽刺感。
 
Stephen Malbon
60 year old Brit here who was travelled extensively to the USA over the last 22 years. No, I do not in any way envy your life or lifestyle. Everything about everyday life over here is better: groceries are cheaper and better quality, the roads are better, our internet access is better, the chance of being shot by a member of the public or a police officer is as close to zero as makes no difference and I’ll get as much healthcare as I need without having to pay for it.
 
我是60岁的英国人，在过去的22年里游历了美国。不，我一点也不羡慕你们的生活方式。这里的一切日常生活更好：食品更便宜，有更好的质量，有更好的道路，我们的互联网接入是更好的，被公众或警察射杀的几率几乎为零，没有任何影响，我能得到我想要的医保而不用花一分钱。
 
Nicky Flynn
This one doesn't no, not even a teeny weeny bit.
When I was a kid I had this romanticised idea that the US was an amazing place to live, I thought everyone lived in big houses with big cars and good well paid jobs. School life appeared to be so much better than here, even the parents seemed like they were nicer.
Fast forward 30 years and I realised what a complete fool I was. The US is not amazing unless you are wealthy and have really good health insurance. Nobody will help you if you hit a bad patch in life and the whole nation demands you do not expect anyone to help you, that's firmly up to you.
I could maybe go for the lifestyles of those that live in small out of the way towns because they appear to be much more similar to us, but the cities are a whole different kettle of fish.
But overall no, I don't envy the risk of dying because I'm poor and can't afford health insurance, I don't envy Trump, I don't envy the gun mentality, I don't envy how corrupt the government is, I don't envy the open racism that's allowed, the police brutality, the lack of a safety net should you lose your job. Oh and the violence, white men literally get away with rape and murder while black men are shot on sight, the complete lack of any kind of public transport.. I can get a bus outside my home that takes 19 minutes to get to a bus station where I can get a bus the almost anywhere in the country and absolutely everywhere in my city. The food is also not high on my agenda of decent, the fact Dr's are in it for the money above anything else.. Nope definitely no envy here.
 
这个不会，一点都不会羡慕。
当我还是个孩子的时候，我有一个浪漫的想法，认为美国是一个很棒的居住地，我认为每个人都住着大房子，开着豪车，有高薪的好工作。学校的生活似乎比这里好多了，就连父母看起来都更友善。
过了30年，我意识到我是多么的愚蠢。除非你很富有，有很好的医疗保险，否则美国的生活并不令人满意。如果你在生活中陷入困境，没有人会帮助你，整个国家都要求你不要指望任何人帮助你，这完全取决于你自己。
我可能会选择那些住在偏远小镇的人的生活方式，因为他们看起来更像我们，但城市就完全是另一回事了。
但总的来说，我并不羡慕在美国死亡的危险，因为我很穷，负担不起医疗保险，我并不羡慕特朗普，我不羡慕你们持枪心态，我不羡慕政府有多腐败，我并不羡慕被允许的公开的种族主义，不羡慕警察的暴行，不羡慕如果你失去工作，社会保障的缺失。哦，还有暴力，白人强奸和谋杀都能逃脱法律的惩罚，而黑人就会被枪杀，在这里完全没有任何公共交通工具。我可以在我家外面坐公交车，到公交车站需要19分钟，在这个国家的几乎任何地方，在我的城市的任何地方都可以坐公交车。食物也不是我想要的体面食物，博士们从事一些行业也是为了钱而不是其他。所以没有羡慕，绝对没有羡慕嫉妒。
 
Jonathan Trueman
No, not really.
A lot of the beliefs held in the USA about life and conditions in the UK are hand-me-downs from the 1940s and 1950s, when US service personnel were stationed here during, and in the aftermath of, a war that left the country pretty comprehensively beaten up: rationing, austerity, bomb damage, and an economy struggling to revert to a prosperous, peacetime footing. There were also the stirrings of political and industrial unrest that would last until the 1980s.
To a visitor from a land where WWII had driven prosperity through the roof, the sight of life on what recently been the front line must indeed have looked bleak and unappealing.
But that was generations ago. It’s 70 years since WWII. It’s even 36 years since the miners’ strike. That’s time enough for a lot to change.

没有，确实没有羡慕
美国人对英国生活和条件的很多看法都是上世纪四五十年代传下来的，当时美国军人驻扎在英国，之后，一场战争让这个国家遭受了全面打击：配给、财政紧缩、炸弹破坏，经济努力恢复到繁荣和平时期的状态。政治和工业动乱也一直持续到了20世纪80年代。
对于一个来自二战繁荣发展的国家的游客来说，最近前线的生活景象肯定看起来黯淡而没有吸引力。
但那是几代人以前的事了。二战已经过去70年了。矿工罢工至今已有36年。这段时间足够改变很多事情了。

Britain today is technologically advanced, materially well-supplied, politically stable, culturally lively and (mostly) a pretty tolerant, open-minded place. What’s more, its citizens are highly media-literate; nobody really believes that the USA is the gleaming slab of perfection that Hollywood presents.
We know, for instance, that urban decay is as real in Detroit as it ever was in Birmingham; that opioids are as much a crisis in the rural USA as smack is in our inner cities; that our knife violence problem is dwarfed by American gun violence.
What we see over the pond today is somewhere different, not somewhere better: a place with its own strengths and weaknesses, just like Britain. There will always be some who decide that the USA is the place for them, just as there are US citizens - more than a few here on Quora - who have come to regard Britain as home.
It’s always a mistake to generalise about whole countries, but I think it's fair to say that, in Britain, we mostly don’t really envy our friends in the States.
 
今天的英国技术先进，物质供应充足，政治稳定，文化活跃，（基本上）是一个相当宽容和开放的地方。
更重要的是，它的公民具有高度的素养；没有人真的相信美国就是好莱坞所展现的那种闪闪发光的完美。
例如，我们知道，底特律的城市衰退就像伯明翰一样真实；阿片类药物在美国农村是一种危机，就像海洛因在我们的内城一样；与美国枪支暴力相比，我们的持刀暴力问题就相形见绌了。
今天，我们在大西洋彼岸看到的是一个不同的地方，而不是一个更好的地方：一个有自己优势和劣势的地方，就像英国一样。总有一些人认为美国是属于他们的地方，就像美国公民一样—Quora上有不少—他们已经把英国当作自己的家。
对整个国家一概而论是错误的，但我公平地说，在英国，我们基本上不会羡慕我们的美国朋友。
 
Stephen Morgan
I first went to the USA at age 19 in 1976 and went back many times and traveled and did business all over until 2001 when I stopped visiting due to the ‘hostile non welcome you would get’.
Back in the 70’s I had still the concept that the USA was a fantastical advanced Country where anything was possible and the technology was way ahead of anything we had in the UK.
TBH I think it was but like the song goes…’something happened along the way’…..
Sometime in the early 90’s things started to go South and everything went into decline and the pace is still accelerating today.
I think sadly the USA has passed the,point of no return, it is not about to vanish or collapse but the basic finances do not stack up now even to a layman like myself and the social division between rich and poor has widened to the point where it is apparent to everyone it has gone too far.
Empires come and go and even the best slowly crumble.
 
我第一次去美国是在1976年，19岁的时候，我去了很多次，到处旅行和做生意，直到2001年，我停止了去美国的旅行，因为“你会受到敌意和不欢迎”。
回到70年代，我仍然认为美国是一个非常先进的国家，在那里一切都是可能的，技术远远领先于我们在英国拥有的任何东西。
老实说，我认为在那时候是这样的，但就像那首歌里唱的那样……“一路上发生了一些事情”.....
在90年代早期的某个时候，情况开始恶化，所有的东西都开始走下坡路，现在速度还在加快。
可悲的是，我认为美国已经衰落的过头了，到了无法回头的临界点，虽然它不会消失或崩溃，但即使对我这样的门外汉来说，基本的财政状况现在也还没有恢复。社会贫富差距已经扩大到很大的程度，每个问题都很突出，它已经偏离得太远了。
帝国来来去去，即使是最好的帝国也会慢慢崩溃。
 
Heather Goddard
I have never envied the US life and lifestyle. Reading posts on Quora I actually feel sorry for the citizens of the US.
The right to bear arms may provide a feeling of safety and freedom to some but ignores the majority who are intimidated by gun owners and fearful in their own community.
The health care system is skewed to make more money for the rich. The caring seems to have been lost in the desire for a profitable business.
The number of conspiracy theories abound from microchips in vaccinations, global warming being a lie and COVID-19 being just flu. The theories may have started elsewhere but seem to thrive and grow in the US. Skepticism is healthy because it allows for more in depth research and development. Distrust and denial of the truth stifles progress.
The blind faith that the US is the greatest country on earth actually impedes its development.
 
我从未羡慕过美国的生活和生活方式。看了Quora上的帖子，我真的为美国公民感到难过。
携带武器的权利可能给一些人带来安全和自由的感觉，但忽视了大多数人，他们受到枪支拥有者的恐吓，他们在自己的社区感到恐惧。
医疗保健制度偏向于为富人赚更多的钱。这种在医疗上的关心似乎已经在赚钱的生意欲望中消失了。
疫苗植入微芯片、全球变暖是谎言、新冠病毒只是流感等阴谋论层出不穷。这些理论可能起源于其他地方，但似乎在美国茁壮成长。持怀疑态度是没问题的，因为它允许更深入的研究和开发，但是对真相的不信任和否认会扼杀人类的进步。
盲目相信美国是世界上最伟大的国家，实际上阻碍了美国的发展。
 
Jenny James
We lived in Prague for three years and in NYC for three years and during our time in the US we did a road trip across to LA and fly back. The trip took two weeks as we stopped in various places, two days with friends in Nebraska and three nights in Las Vegas and saw a lot of the country.
The US is completely different to the UK and we enjoyed our time over there, had a good time and made some great friends. Absolutely no regrets living in NYC or seeing the country. Would we go back? No, only to visit friends and not envious of America or its lifestyle, America is for Americans.
 
我们在布拉格住了三年，在纽约住了三年，在美国的时候，我们自驾游到洛杉矶，然后飞回来。这次旅行花了两周时间，我们在不同的地方停留，有两天时间是和朋友在内布拉斯加州，有三晚是在拉斯维加斯，我们参观了当地的很多地方。
美国和英国完全不同，我们在那里度过了一段美好的时光，交到了一些很棒的朋友。我们绝对不后悔住在纽约或参观这个国家。我们会回去吗？不会，我们只是为了拜访朋友，而不是嫉妒美国或美国的生活方式，美国是属于美国人的。
 
Geoffrey Thorndyke
“Americans’ life and lifestyle”? - now is that the life of a highly paid silicon valley employee, who drives a Tesla and has a lovely house near the beach or the life of a 55 year old unemployed african-american with a health problem living in Chicago?
Is the “Brit” a young man living on a sink estate in South Shields, who has no skills no training and left school early or a successful businessman in the Midlands with a large house, a villa in Spain and a boat on the River Severn?
In the UK we see pictures of homeless people living in tents on the street of wealthy US cities. To be honest this has now become the image that comes to mind when the words “American Lifestyle “ are mentioned.
In America and Britain there are millions of people living good satisfying and comfortable lives. There are also tens of millions living mean, dangerous utterly miserable lives,
 
“美国人的生活方式”？—现在我的生活是一个高薪的硅谷员工，开着一辆特斯拉，在海滩附近有一所美丽的房子，还是一个55岁的失业的非裔美国人，因为健康问题生活在芝加哥？
所谓的“英国人”是指住在南希尔兹的一处破败的房子里，没有任何技能，也没有接受过任何培训，早早辍学的年轻人，还是指在英国中部拥有一所大房子、在西班牙拥有一栋别墅、在塞文河上拥有一艘船的成功商人？
在英国，我们看到无家可归的人住在美国富裕城市街道上的帐篷里的照片。说实话，现在一提到“美国生活方式”这个词，人们脑海中就会浮现出这样的画面。
在美国和英国，有数百万人过着良好的、令人满意的和舒适的生活。
还有几千万人过着简陋、危险、悲惨的生活，
 
Robert Frost
Any envy might likely be for the illusion of American life and lifestyle.
I am both American and British and spent the first half of my life traveling back and forth between the two countries. A lot changed during that period and a lot has changed since that time.
I recall the British people I spoke to being envious, but it was envy of an illusion. They hadn’t been to America, so their perspective was based upon American television. At the time, one of the most popular American television series was a nighttime soap opera called Dallas, that told the story of a family in the oil business. My British friends imagined that when I went to America, I was living in a house like the Southfork Ranch where the Ewing family lived, on Dallas. British television, at the time, depicted a much more realistic environment. One of the most popular characters was a middle aged woman named Hilda Ogden who was always seen in hair curlers. People on British television looked like the people in your neighborhood. People on American television were all like Greek statues come to life - tanned, thick curly hair, muscular or voluptuous, and teeth like bathroom tiles. They lived in giant houses or apartments, and although they had jobs, never seemed to have to do them. And they always had new clothes. So, people in Britain couldn’t be faulted for thinking there was some reality in that depiction. Who wouldn’t want to go to America and share an apartment with Janet and Chrissy, or drive a Ferrari like Thomas Magnum?
 
任何嫉妒都可能是对美国生活和生活方式的幻想。
我既是美国人又是英国人，我的前半生在这两个国家之间来回穿梭。那段时间发生了很多变化，从那时起也发生了很多变化。
我记得和我交谈过的英国人都很嫉妒美国，但那只是一种幻觉。他们没有去过美国，所以他们的观点是基于美国电视。当时，美国最受欢迎的电视连续剧之一是一部名为《达拉斯》的夜间肥皂剧，讲述了一个从事石油生意的家庭的故事。我的英国朋友以为我去了美国，以为我住在达拉斯的一栋房子里，就像尤因一家住的南弗克牧场。当时的英国电视描绘的环境要真实得多。其中一个最受欢迎的角色是一个名叫希尔达·奥格登的中年妇女，她总是戴着卷发器。
英国电视上的人看起来和你的邻居很像。美国电视上的人们就像活过来的希腊雕像一样——棕褐色的皮肤、浓密的卷发、肌肉发达或性感迷人，牙齿像浴室的瓷砖。他们住在巨大的房子或公寓里，虽然他们有工作，但似乎从来不用做这些事。他们总是穿着新衣服。所以，英国人认为这种描述是真实的是无可厚非的。谁不想去美国，与珍妮特和克丽丝合住一间公寓，或者像托马斯·马格南一样开一辆法拉利？
 
I recall going back to England and being annoyed that stores weren’t open on Sunday, like they were in America. Then I remember getting older and returning to England to finds that stores were now open on Sunday and being saddened that people had to work on Sunday, because I didn’t really have to go to the store on Sunday.
I recall my dad, who has lived in both countries talking about the biggest difference to him was that in Britain, if he got very sick, he knew that the one thing he didn’t have to worry about was bankrupting his family, like he would have, in America. He misses the warmth of Florida and better coffee, but not much else.
I recall my dad always working overtime in America but never in Britain. He was more of a dad, in Britain.

我记得我回到英国的时候，我很生气，因为商店周日不开门，就像在美国一样。我还记得，随着年龄的增长，我回到英国，发现商店星期天是开门的，我很难过，因为人们星期天还得工作，而且我星期天根本不需要去商店。
我记得我的父亲，他在这两个国家生活过，他说他最大的不同是，在英国，如果他病得很重，他知道他不用担心的一件事就是他的家庭破产，就像在美国一样。他怀念佛罗里达的温暖和美好的咖啡，但除此之外就没什么了。
我记得我爸爸在美国经常加班，但在英国从不加班。在英国，他更像个父亲。

Both countries have their pluses and minuses. It saddens me greatly when I return to England and see things like a McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in my old neighborhood. It saddens me greatly when I am in America and see the obsession with guns. Although Brexit made clear that stupid is everywhere, I hold out hope that something like Trumpism couldn’t survive in Britain. I’m happy when I watch a British detective series and the lead hasn’t had their teeth veneered, like Americans do.
As I get older, I realize more and more that quality of life isn’t about being able to have more things. Being able to have more things is the American religion and is becoming the British religion. So, maybe there is some envy there. But what I envy is my dad’s life that is essentially walking the dogs in the country and stopping for a pint or two at a country pub. Throw in a pork pie at that pub and what more could one want from life?
 
这两个国家都有优点和缺点。当我回到英国，看到我以前住的社区里有麦当劳或肯塔基炸鸡店时，我非常难过。当我在美国看到人们对枪支的痴迷时，我感到非常难过。尽管英国退欧表明，愚蠢无处不在，但我仍然希望特朗普主义之类的东西不会在英国存在。当我看一部英国侦探剧的时候，我很高兴主角没有像美国人那样镶牙。
随着年龄的增长，我越来越意识到生活质量不在于拥有更多的东西。能够拥有更多的东西是美国的宗教，并正在成为英国的宗教。所以，也许这是一种嫉妒。但让我羡慕的是我父亲的生活，他基本上就是在乡村遛狗，在乡村酒吧里喝上一两杯。在酒吧里吃个猪肉派，你还能从生活中得到什么呢？
 
Shamala
I am American and I am married to a British man. Additionally, a large segment of my family lives in the UK so I spent a lot of time there prior to meeting my husband. I'm going to answer this without dissing either country since I love both.
First of all, you need to understand that lifestyles in both countries vary a lot. In the UK, I know people that live in the center of London and some that live in a 400 year old house in a tiny village next to an old lady who won't leave the house without a hat (think Miss Marple). These are wildly different lifestyles, even though they are only about 2–3 hours from each other. The former don't have a car because having a car in London is an unnecessary burden. The latter have two cars because they need cars for practically everything. The former are child-free millionaires who take multiple holidays a year and the latter are often struggling to make ends meet because they have kids and middle-class jobs.
 
我是美国人，嫁给了一个英国人。此外，我的大部分家人都住在英国，所以在认识我丈夫之前，我在那里待了很长时间。在回答这个问题时，我不会贬低任何一个国家，因为这两个国家我都喜欢。
首先，你需要了解两个国家的生活方式有很大的不同。在英国，我认识一些住在伦敦市中心的人，还有一些住在一个小村庄里有400年历史的老房子里的人，旁边住着一位不戴帽子就不出门的老太太（想想马普尔小姐吧）。这是截然不同的生活方式，尽管他们之间只有2-3个小时的距离。前者没有车，因为在伦敦开车是一种不必要的负担。后者有两辆车，因为他们几乎什么都需要车。前者是没有孩子的百万富翁，他们一年中会休假多次；后者往往要努力维持收支平衡，因为他们有孩子，又有中产阶级的工作。
 
There is also a ton of lifestyle variation in the US, a lot more in fact because the US is just that much bigger. Where I live, I rarely need a car for anything and I can walk everywhere (this is more common in the UK). Where my parents live, they need a car just to go to the nearest coffee shop. Where my brother lives, he doesn't technically need a car but the winter is so brutal that it's hard to walk 20 minutes without getting frostbite. The climate is extremely different across the US. While there is record-breaking heat in some places, it's 12C and foggy where I am today. In other parts of the US today it will be pouring down rain while in many states, it hasn't rained in weeks. Winter is obviously a completely different proposition in Minnesota than it is in Florida. As is summer. Michigan summers are gorgeous while Florida in August is one of the worst things I've experienced.
 
美国的生活方式也有很多变化，实际上更多，因为美国的面积要大得多。在我住的地方，我很少需要一辆车做任何事情，我可以步行去任何地方（这在英国更常见）。在我父母住的地方，他们需要一辆车去最近的咖啡店。我哥哥住的地方，严格来说他不需要一辆车，但冬天太残酷了，走路20分钟不被冻伤是很难的。美国各地的气候截然不同。虽然有些地方有破纪录的高温，但今天我所在的地方气温高达12摄氏度，而且有雾。今天美国其他地区将会下大雨，而在许多州，已经几周没有下雨了。冬天在明尼苏达州和在佛罗里达州显然是完全不同的概念。至于夏天，密歇根的夏天很美，而8月的佛罗里达是我经历过的最糟糕的事情之一。
 
My lifestyle has much more in common with people in London than it does with people in suburban or rural America. Likewise, people in rural or suburban England have more in common than they might think. I know because I've seen and experienced all of it, unlike many answerers who are just coming up with tired old Britain vs America tropes.
It is impossible to do a fair cost equivalence between house sizes in the UK vs US. For one thing, states like Kansas and Iowa are going to drastically bring the averages down and that's not really a fair equivalent. The UK has very little, if any land that no one actually wants. The US has a lot of this type of land. I was in a rural part of the US last month visiting family and I was shocked that most of the houses around there were less than $50,000 USD. However, on thinking about it, what would you do while living there? It's quite pretty but living there would actually be hard. The economy is in shambles and there are no jobs. Their grocery store was actually more expensive than my local farmers market in San Francisco (although there was an entire aisle of Twinkies that were very cheap). A single tomato was $1 and it wasn't even a good-looking tomato. The nearest doctors are miles away, let alone specialists - which you're going to need if you eat all those Twinkies because they're so much cheaper than tomatoes. These types of isolated areas are more rare in the UK because nothing is that far or disconnected from everything else.
 
我的生活方式与伦敦人相比，与美国郊区或农村的人更相似。同样地，英国农村或郊区的人们有着比他们想象的更多的共同点。我知道这一点，因为我目睹并经历了这一切，不像许多回答者，他们只是想出了老套的英国和美国的比喻。
要在英国和美国的房子大小之间做一个公平的成本对等是不可能的。首先，像堪萨斯州和爱荷华州将大幅降低平均的生活水平，这并不是一个公平的对等关系。英国几乎没有土地，如果有的话，没有人真正想要这些土地，美国有很多这样的土地。上个月，我在美国的一个农村拜访家人，我震惊地发现，那里的大多数房子都不到5万美元。然而，仔细想想，如果你住在那里，你会做什么？那里很漂亮，但是住在那里会很困难。经济一片混乱，没有工作。他们的杂货店实际上比我在旧金山当地的农贸市场更贵（尽管那里有整整一排非常便宜的Twinkies蛋糕）。一个西红柿要1美元，而且长得也不好看。最近的医生都在几英里之外，更不用说专科医生了——如果你吃了所有的Twinkies奶油蛋糕，你就会需要专科医生，因为它们比西红柿便宜多了。这类与世隔绝的地区在英国比较少见，因为没有什么地方离其他地方那么远。