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I would love to be a citizen of the commonwealth nations, Canada and NZ first choice. amuurica's a tough place [among the rest of the west] to be money-challenged.

How is day to day life in the United States however?

I can only [in a quasi "tale of two cities" style] speak directly of my own [lower class] existence, contrasted with my sister's existence [both NT and college-edumacated and middle-class. they vacation often at the shoreline, live in a fancy house and have lots of cars and trucks and RV equipment. both are retired professionals with pensions. they live comfortably and relatively carefree existences. their kids are also comfortably middle class in professional jobs. OTOH, I have long struggled with money and could hardly afford to take vacations. no college for me. a series of menial jobs finally ending up in a low-end civil service job for a total of 22 years gov't service until accumulated on-the-job injuries laid me out and became long-term unemployed when shrub [bush the second] Riffed [laid off] a few thousand of us that were on medical light duty, my union was not able to fight it as I had no seniority. living off of what I was able to save, in genteel poverty in a tin can out in the woods [land is cheaper out away from civilization]. if I hadn't been able to save and invest i'd be homeless and likely not among the living. anyways, it is a basic existence, no luxuries, no cable TV or high-speed internet. my clothing and shoes are threadbare. I eat basic food, nothing fancy there either. healthcare is mostly not there even with PPACA [which is still better than nothing and i'm thankful as the dickens for it], it pays basically for catastrophes, leaving me with a $7000 deductible in contrast with the $15k I had to pay before PPACA passed. if I have an emergent illness I have to scratch together $40 [plus extra for prescriptions] or just stay home and hope it gets better by itself. I barely am able to stay solvent. but am thankful i'm outta the rat race at least for the present, that was killing me slowly. higher education here is a base racket, with absolutely no job placement or guarantees that a job will be waiting after spending 10s of thousands of borrowed dollars seeking a given degree, many lost the gamble and live in their parents' basements for the foreseeable future. i am relatively lucky, most of the lower class has it tougher than me. I drive my late mother's 20 year old AWD Honda, it is reliable so far and I am thankful for that as a reliable used car here is very expensive. I get the distinct impression that life is easier for the lower class in NZ.

Wow!

Don't even suggest that you are frail. Just going through that takes balls.

Are you in contact much with the rest of your family on the coast, do they help you in any way?

New Zealand is okay you could say. Healthcare is universal, their is social security and the poverty rate is relatively low.

actually they live in town but vacation often on the coast. when I say frail I mean I have musculoskeletal issues [arthritis all over and joint issues] that means I can't do physically intensive jobs anymore. I live about 40 minutes away from my sister. on thanksgiving day they invited me over. so tell me, what is life like for you in NZ? what would you change if you could?

In a word good. I live in a fairly well off house, go to Private School and at this stage have a relatively easy life.

I am 16 currently as as things stand I do not have the solutions to the country's problems. In New Zealand we have fines for possession of cannabis which could be reversed in the future. It also might help police deal with more serious incidents.

I suspect that the gains in pot decriminalization here will be at least partially reversed under the new administration. I hope your country goes in the opposite direction and fully legalizes it.

Yeah I hope so too.

Where in the USA do you live?

I live in the great green northwest. about 3 hours southwest of seattle. deep in the smogwoods. surrounded by lakes and rivers and streams and sound inlets. where in NZ do you call home?

Auckland. Or more precisely my suburb of Epsom. In the last election, that seat was the only one won by the Act Party. A very right wing, Libertarian party.

Are their many Trump supporters in your area?

I live surrounded by the rightest of right wingers, trump signs everywhere. I saw one house that dared display an Obama sign and it was repeatedly vandalized and the residents hounded and forced to move away. our lamestream media didn't report this.
but neighboring Thurston county [state capital seat] is solid blue [democrat] as is king county [seattle]. the neighboring [to the west] grays harbor county is also very red [GOP or republican]. do you live near B19?

I have no idea but imagine somewhat close by. We might have cross paths numerous times and not even known.

Wow that level of intolerance is surprising. Why do they support Trump?
Was it like that in 2008?

it was something I noticed as soon as I moved there in 2008. this county [mason] is like a transplanted bit of Mississippi. it was the whitest place I've ever seen, but last few years more and more latin americans are moving here. anyways, the locals overwhelmingly support whatever right winger comes down the pike, in '08 it was senator McCain they supported in his run for POTUS.

No Mason county voted Obama in 2008 they voted Trump in 2016. Do you ever talk to the people about politics there?

judging by the number of McCain bumper stickers and yard signs, at least my local neighborhood part of mason voted overwhelmingly for McCain. and if a person wants to stay safe here, a person who is considered an outsider even though I've lived here since 2008, that person would be smart to keep as low a profile as possible and pointedly not try to get to know the locals. just having a long ponytail marks me for harassment by the locals.