Australians and Americans are locked in heated debate over which country offers the greatest quality of life, safety from crime and professional opportunities to hit the big time.
The discussion began when Sydney man Peter Morgan wrote a lengthy explanation of why Australians have a greater quality of life than Americans on question and answer forum Quora.
He said while America is ‘bigger and better in many ways’, Australian companies pay more reasonable wages than their US counterparts, which makes things more affordable and gives residents greater quality of life.
Mr Morgan believes Australia is safer with considerably lower rates of crime, and argued that the tipping culture, hefty taxes and mandatory service charges in American bars and restaurants makes him ‘prefer backward Australia’ to the US ‘any day’.
His post started a lively debate with Australians praising their nation and expatriates from various countries disagreeing, arguing that robbery and antisocial behaviour is rife while forging a respected career is almost impossible Down Under.
Australians and Americans are arguing over which country offers the greatest quality of life, safety from crime and professional opportunities to hit the big time (stock image)
British man Jon Faulkner who has lived in Queensland since 2015 branded Australia a ‘backwards, third world’ country and slammed its citizens for being ‘arrogant’ and ‘unfriendly’.
‘I moved to the Gold Coast from the UK five years ago. I wish I had bought some more clothes in Europe – it’s so bad and tatty in Australia for clothes, it’s third world,’ he said.
‘If you have any professional ambition in Australia, you are 100 percent wasting your time…you’re going nowhere no matter how hard you try.’
Mr Faulkner also said Australia is ‘at least 40 years behind’ Europe and the US in ‘every field’.
An anonymous American contributor told Australians to ‘get off their high horse’ and accept that crime rates are soaring in their country, particularly in rural parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory.
‘Open your eyes – the crime in Australia is staggering,’ he said.
‘Crime committed by youth – trespassing, thievery, break-ins etc. – is through the roof.’
A British man who has lived in Queensland since 2015 slammed the lack of professional opportunities in Australia, declaring it to be ‘at least 40 years behind’ Europe and the US in ‘every field’ (stock image)
A man posting under the name George N. argued that the US has more than 13 times the population of Australia with citizens from a wide range of ethnicities, which makes its society more complex to govern.
‘Australia is an island. That alone makes it harder to smuggle illegal items. The US has borders with developing countries. It also has 327 million people with very different backgrounds – Australia has only 25 million,’ he said.
‘Australia is very strict with immigration. [Anyone] caught entering the country illegally is instantly deported. Laws alone don’t make crime less, the people, society and environment matter as well.’
An anonymous American contributor told Australians to ‘get off their high horse’ and accept that crime rates are soaring in their country (stock image)
Australians didn’t hold back from defending their homeland and waxed lyrical about the idyllic life on offer Down Under.
Kevin van Buerle, who lives in Perth, said he ‘couldn’t agree more’ about toxic tipping culture in the US hospitality industry.
‘We have a fairer system of wages compared to the US,’ he said.
‘Essentially the wait staff are paid such low wages that they depend on tips. The public is in fact paying their wages, [even though] it’s the employer’s responsibility to pay a decent wage.’
Adelaide woman Pauline Newman said her country is ‘way better than America’ because it has less murders, more effective gun laws and greater security for children.
Australians said companies Down Under pay more reasonable wages than their US counterparts, which gives residents greater quality of life (stock image)
Daily Mail Australia previously spoke to American expats living in Australia about the cultural differences they found most unusual after moving Down Under.
Many were shocked by how early Australian shops and cafes close, while others were baffled by the unique names Australians use for coffee.
Samantha Berger, 26, moved to Sydney six months ago from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and said she was shocked to see a lack of 24-hour shops
In the US, filtered coffee is commonplace and brewed by the pot, while terms for espresso drinks like ‘long black’, ‘short black’ and ‘piccolo’ are unheard of.
‘Seriously I have ordered coffee at least 12 times without them understanding a single word I said and my order is extremely simple,’ Brooke Stamm, 24, from Mishawka, Indiana, told Daily Mail Australia.
Sarah Florio said she tried ordering a ‘regular coffee’, which back home would mean a black filtered coffee with milk and sugar, but in Australia, would only indicate the size of the drink.
‘I looked like an idiot when I first got here trying to get a cup of Joe,’ she said.
The vast majority of those interviewed praised the unrivalled work-life balance that exists all over Australia.
‘In America, we live to work. In Australia, they work to live – not just in attitude, but also in the strict labor laws and strong wages they have there,’ Cassie Warner, who lived in Australia for two years before moving back to the US, said.