Uh-Oh Visa required to visit Europe in 2021?!
03-12-2019, 04:09 AM
Post #1 was me playing devil’s advocate; Post #2 was me stating a simple fact; Post #3 was a troll response to a troll provocation. Notwithstanding these overindulgences, there is no reason to attribute things to me to that I did not state. There is also no reason to assume anything about me without knowing me personally or otherwise having any basis for such assumption.
Here are my true positions:
1) Western culture in general is on the decline. I made absolutely no claim of an American culture that is superior to the rest. I did not even intend to turn this into a discussion on culture. My core pro-US argument is that the economic opportunities available in the USA, namely the availability of credit and a stable employment market, are unlike anywhere in the world. @Aquarius, you make some interesting points, but you totally hijacked this thread with your Jewish conspiracy theory BS and horrifically bleak views of the world. @rottenapple, allow me to clarify that my comment of the ‘rotting playpen’ could equally apply to the US, if ‘culture’ is all we were talking about. But that was not the case here.
2) Life is not meant to be lived as an “average” person; therein lies the beauty of America.
For a pack of elite players, you guys have an awful fixation on all things average. @Aquarius, I could give a rat’s ass whether the average American is travelling more or less than the average Western European. I also don't care one bit about pop culture or whether my neighbors are white, black, or orange. @Goni, I don’t know or care enough about the values of the average American to entertain your silly questions. I know and care about my values. I say all of this because I'm not average, and this isn't a forum for average people.
But if you really want to turn this into a Papi Rico Q&A session, then here is what I value: (i) hard work and resilience; (ii) integrity and doing the right thing; (iii) personal autonomy and rights of privacy. These are things that I learned while growing up in the US. But here’s the caveat: if you’re hardworking, resilient, honorable, and respect others, you will succeed in America. Will that formula work in Europe, today? My extensive travels around Europe and the world have brought me into contact with many people who were all of the above, and I cannot say they were living anywhere near American middle-class standards. Are money and being a playboy the ultimate goals in life? Absolutely not. And neither is being a troll on an internet forum...
@wellrockthecity, don’t assume that English is my first language; don't assume that I was born in the US; in fact, don't assume anything about me at all. I am the child of immigrants who came to the US with absolutely nothing but their optimism, skills, and a drive to work. They are now millionaires and I think that's a pretty cool thing. Could they have achieved the same financial status/security had they emigrated to Germany or Spain? Just looking at the salaries offered for their fields, I highly doubt it. This does not mean that Europeans are devoid of morality and that Americans are righteous – quite the opposite. What I mean by “American values” and what I express with my love for the country, is that if you reject the idea of being average and set out to be in the top 1%, you will achieve it and that is the American dream.
3) America is great for professionals, whereas working in Europe, doing business with Europeans, and being an entrepreneur in Europe sucks ass.
This is a very narrow claim and it is very much based on my personal experience and observations. I therefore cannot apologize for making it. I further cannot apologize for stating the hard facts that America is rife with economic opportunity and that the state of California has a gross state product that exceeds the aggregate GDPs of 6 major EU member-states.
Here is my personal experience working with American vs. European companies: (i) Americans have consistently paid 40%+ more for my work vis-à-vis their European counterparts; (ii) there have been numerous cases of Europeans (namely French, Spanish, and Brits) questioning my work as a strategy for obtaining discounts or even avoiding contractual payments - no such cases with American clients, in fact, nothing but "thank you, you're a life-saver"; (iii) the average American client has paid invoices within 3 days upon receipt, whereas the average age for European invoices was 57 days – this is based on 6 years’ worth of data. @Brosemite, you got it totally right brother, I dropped all of my European clients, and now work with Americans only. I made this decision after 2 years’ service to the same company. Their New York branch paid invoices upon receipt; their London office would let invoices go unpaid for up to 6 months. Talk about the anti-poon. Imagine going on a date with a girl in Bogota or Kiev or Bali or wherever it is you are and have to tell her, sorry baby can you pay, I don't get paid for another 6 months...
@rottenapple, you asked whether I’d ever been to Madrid and it happens to me one of my favorite cities. Summers in Parque Retiro, El Prado, Salamanca district, riding the subway with a Cruzcampo in hand, the beautiful Spanish girls - that’s true life. If you have money.
Two very good friends of mine are Spaniards. One works in my industry, the other is an entrepreneur. They’re both doing well by Spanish standards and have a good quality of life in Spain. But the first works for 20% of my pay, despite longer hours and 4 more years of experience. He is in his mid-30s and lives with his parents. The second, the entrepreneur, was initially rejected by 8 banks for a small business loan, despite his excellent credentials, background, and even family assets available as collateral. He had to convince family & friends for seed funding and it took him like 7 months to set up a sociedad limitada in Spain. I shudder at these realities. If I need US$150,000 at 7% interest I can get it online in under 20 minutes. Last week I set up an LLC in a US state for my friend in under 15 minutes. So is Spain a good place to live? I’d say yes, but only if you're financially set and are in cruise mode. If you're trying to get off your feet or are in 'empire-building' mode, I just don't see any argument beyond family for being anywhere in Europe if you could be in America.
4) Men relate to other men based primarily on common interests; nationality is secondary.
@rottenapple, this point goes directly to your comments. I mentioned that my 3rd post was in response to a conspicuous troll. The troll in question, @riquelme, is a close friend with whom I was discussing my previous posts in this thread in a private WA group. My other close friend @buakaw decided to jump into the fray and award likes to all of my detractors. Shouts outs to both of you degenerates, by the way.
As I suggested above, I actually have very significant European connections and even an affection to the old continent. I did a master’s degree in Western Europe; many of my best friends are European, including more than a handful of guys reading this; I’ve visited every major European country, and will continue to travel there - visa or no visa. My favorite city is Vienna, for its history, sophistication, and tranquility. But at the risk of exposing my political views, I can tell you that I feel my blood begin to boil every time I’m on a Viennese tram and see a rambunctious migrant family with zero respect for the locals, with the kids shouting like crazed baboons. I think you may share my view. I think it’s certain @aquarius shares my view. I mentioned above that I also come from a family of immigrants, and that’s not how we went about things in America. So to me, it’s very much personal.
To the rest of you degenerates, we’re all still bros. I think the whole e-visa proposal is a pretty shitty policy as applied to USD-carrying Americans, but hey, if you can come up with a sound argument, preferably backed by hard numbers and which goes beyond the misnomer of ‘reciprocity’ (a word that also makes my blood boil), then I’m all ears.
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