"Preferably at 15-16?" Come on, Van! Don't be a moron.
It's one thing of a man to have a parent live with him than he living with his parents. There is, or use to be, a desire for a man to get out there and strike out on his own. It's different for women. And it doesn't surprise me that it's different in Europe. They come from a far more socialist culture than we do (though that's changing here in the US) and are every comfortable being taken care of by others. Whether it's the government or their parents. But there's always a trade off between freedom and security. One of the traditions of Americans and one of the reasons it was founded was for freedom. But as people become lazy and soft they tend to leave it in the hands of others to take care of them even if it means giving up some freedoms.
How old where you Van before you finally cut the umbilical cord? Or do you still live with your parents.
Remember someone posted that video of a Danish bodybuilder who was very massive but emotionally stunted? One of things that made him so pathetic was that he still lived with his mother. He even lied about it when he was out on a date and a girl asked if he had his own place. At least he was ashamed about it. The final nail in the coffin of arrested development was when, after being chewed out by his mother, he comes to her room later and asks if he could slept with her. It was obvious that there wasn't anything sexual about it but that he felt sad and wanted to be with his mommy.
I guess some people think this is touching and endearing.
Listen, I'm in Europe which is why I said my
impression was that the ideal was to cut the chord real early in America. I wasn't really making a value judgment for either scenario, it was more an observation of different views in different cultures. I don't know if those who live at home always do it because they want someone else to take care of them financially. Maybe they just feel secure in other ways, I don't know. Like my friend who had the money but still lived at home.
I was a bit over 20 when I moved (over 30 now), pretty normal for Sweden I guess.