No, you're right, the US sucks in a large way, in many, many areas. What we're all a bit put off by, and maybe it's the time zone difference, or a cultural communication difference, is that we're having g a discussion, receive information that doesn't fit the pattern of our experiences. For example, and I'm not quoting your words, just how I received them: everyone I know leases, oh, and the company pays it, oh, and this is in Germany. This Information wasn't presented initially, and I suppose it is on us and our assumptions, but the reader had to sus it out over several threads and we are lambasted as insipid when we're not in possession of all the relevant data.
As stated, perhaps that is our fault. Maybe when first presented with an outlier claim, we should ask: "oh, wow - that's amazing - what country do you live in?" and that would promote a more upbeat dialog.