I prefer co-op games like the James Webb telescope. Thanks ESA for a perfect launch.
Instead of being smug Europeans could try to help foster solidarity amongst the workers of the world and help Americans fight for their labor rights
Don’t want to brag, but I took my compulsory 2-week vacation in July. I’m having another week of vacation in the middle of August and I’m taking a whole month off in the middle of October when my second child is born (dad-vacation, in addition to the 18 months that the mom has as paid maternity leave). Oh and all of this is fully paid.
Having lived and worked in both the UK and US, yes I pay roughly 4% less “tax” in the US.
but, as I didn’t have to pay for Healthcare, and my student loans payments were a percentage of my earnings — vs the amount I’ve had to pay for Healthcare, copay, scripts, etc here. If we actually compare like for like and assume that Healthcare payments are only not called a tax out of a semantic convention for political reasons despite being practically a tax by nearly any definition - I’ve pay way more in “”““tax””“” in the US.
Assuming the average person earns roughly $65k, would you pay an extra $200 for 100% fully covered, fully comprehensive, $0 co-pay, you walk in (to your nearest hospital, no need to check if they’re in network) get an x-ray, a blood test, your appendix removed, stay over night, go back the next day for kidney dialysis or chemotherapy and pay nothing more than that monthly extra $200/rate in perpetuity? Especially as the average cost is $456 (+ co pay) for Healthcare and that usually isn’t a “good” let alone the “best” package.
God I wish I lived in a country with that kind of medical system.
I’m sick of being afraid of getting hurt (enough to need to visit a doctor at a hospital) not because of the injury to my body but the unknowable-ahead-of-time-and-might-also-bankrupt-you bill.
Fuck the selfish people in this country who are ruining it for everyone because they don’t want “undeserving” people getting free healthcare! Drives me bonkers!!!
Which side means I get to have rights and keep them?
For this question it’s important to understand that there are positive and negative rights, a positive right might give you the ability to do something like shoot a gun, a negative right might be a right that forbids killing you, both are very important and are often in conflict with one another.
Knowing this a 40h work week and paid vacation of 5 weeks is a negative right forbidding your employer from exploiting you for more than that time. On the other hand social security and similar things are positive rights allowing you access to resources where otherwise you wouldn’t have any/enough.
Keeping this in mind and assuming that economic rights are generally the most important for freedom under a capitalist system, because fundamentally almost every positive right you want to use also requires you to have money. And assuming freedom is greater if more people are reasonably free than if few people are completely free.
Europe I’d say.
This reddit-ass post
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