I'm honesty surprised that in 2021 people still believe the US is the only good place to live/be a citizen.
There are lots of great places to live but the US is one of the best and easiest places to live if you're a US citizen.
Unless a person's native country is a legitimately bad place to live, living where you are born is going be one of the best options for anyone. There are lots of good places in the world to live but for non-natives its frequently not a guarantee you'll be allowed to live there. Its also not a given that you'll have an easy time living the same quality of life as you could in your homeland. Or be able to find a job that pays well. More importantly, its not always easy for a person to integrate and be accepted by the community in another country.
If I didn't have a family that wanted to stay I'd probably consider moving somewhere else, but there would be a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about my future for a long time.
It depends on where you go, your specific circumstances, etc. Its an objective fact that not every wealthy/safe country has open borders or easy immigration. Not all of these places pay tech workers anywhere near what they could make in other places, even adjusting for inflation and cost of living. Its also objectively true that not every such country welcomes outsiders with open arms, gives them equal opportunities, and allows them to become part of the community.
As an example Japan is a beautiful country and seems like it would be a good place to live, but they have a process for immigration that involves a points system. If you don't naturally have enough points from your education/experiences you can do some kind of charity work or get involved with various things that contribute to Japan. But from reading about the process it doesn't seem like I would be guaranteed a visa just because I apply.
I'm sure there are many places that do all of these things right. But I wasn't intending to make a universal statement to scare people away from it. I'm just saying that to a person that's thinking about it, those are all concerns that need to be explored before moving. And its also partially an explanation for why some of us stay.
Since you and your friends have had good experiences, can you recommend some countries to look into?
