Its been really interesting to bounce between the United States and Australia. As a citizen of one and a pseudo-citizen of the other, I've been trying to do my due diligence in observing each country, examining their differences and how their systems function or why they don't function well. However, I'm not an expert in anything other than being a keen observer. So, when I went back to The States I was constantly asked questions about Australia and the differences between the US and AUS. I really only had my observations to answer questions, but found a lot of the conversation interesting and worth noting. So, here are the differences between the US and Australia:
While there are several differences ranging from economy to politics to environment, the most immediately noticeable difference (literally from the moment you step off the plane) is that the general attitude of most people living here is genuinely warm, friendly, and happy. (This observation may seem kinda trivial, but I find it to be indicative of the state of the nation - happy citizens usually equates to a stable country). Culturally speaking, in Australia there is an importance stressed on maintaining a healthy work/life balance. The disparity between the haves and the have-nots that is becoming increasingly noticeable in the states is fairly minimal in Australia (or at least the parts I've seen), income vs costs of living is proportional providing comfortable lifestyles, and government provides protection and security in health care and well being. Also, it doesn't hurt that Australia has incredibly beautiful beaches and surrounding islands to get away to. :) As far as the economy is concerned Australia has not been affected by the recession. Something I noticed was they have royalty taxes here, a hefty fee if you would like to purchase, for example, a foreign car as opposed to purchasing domestic. Certain incentives like this help keep jobs in place and keep the economy stimulated. The biggest difference between the US and Aus is population. Australia's population = 22.5 million; California's population = 39 million (just for kicks the US pop is 312 million). So to me, this is the biggest contributing factor as to why in Australia systems are not overrun and bursting at the seams like the states (certain metropolitan areas in particular like Los Angeles) and also why Australia is able to function so much more efficiently and effectively. I'm sure they are very strict on immigration in order to keep it that way. To be clear here - I'm not saying Booo on immigration, but what I am saying is if you want to be lax about immigration, at least have systems and infrastructures in place that can accommodate and support an influx in population.
So those are a few observations thus far, I could go on and on and get into environmental stuff and government stuff but then it would be a record long blog post. Anyway, I could be wrong about all of this because like I said before I'm not an expert on anything. But, it was super fun discussing all these things.
Anywho - other topics of interest while visiting the states: social media and its role in politics, international relations, non-profits and raising awareness; potential findings from the LHC (yes, I'm a bit of a science nerd); and anything that has to do with Modern Family (I fell in love with that show on my way to the states).
I feel like it's kinda a given to say that I was happy to be spending time with family, friends, and kitties. I think as most of you know by now though, (if I can help it at all) I wont be moving back to LA.
Sorry if you didn't know and I just dropped an end-of-blogpost-bomb on you.
Til we meet again,
Jillian aka Jilly, Jillypet, Jillybean, J-Dilla, J-Bones, and sometimes Crab Cakes
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