Just like the survey on TSD they failed to take into consideration that there are people in the world that don't work in high-tech and related industries. Does Federated Media think that only Techies read blogs or are they so used to only serving high-tech blogs that they are blinded to the real world?
Awesome post. I have had a post on a few months I spent in Paris and how fantastic it was, then I was going to break down the things about it that made me so happy and try to recreate them today.
Things like not having a TV, hanging out with different people, and speaking a different language. You, sir, have beaten me to the punch.
It's all very well and good to say that they don't like this system or that system but people are really suffering so the US better come up with something soon.
I live in Belgium - universal health care, guaranteed at least 20 days vacation, extra vacation money in May, 13th month bonus at the end of the year, money back for child care, complete reimbursement for vaccinations (and we got every vaccination available), long maternity leaves (plus the hospital insisted that I stay for a full 5 days after the birth to make sure that everything would be fine and the hospital near us is first rate). Had I not had the socialized health care, I still would have paid for all this because it wasn't expensive - the average doctor visit is only €22. Beyond that, if I lose my job tomorrow, I would be guaranteed a significant compensation package - none of this "thanks for 20 years service, don't let the doorknob hit you in the butt on the way out" crap - depending on how long you have worked with the company, compensation starts at 3 months pay and goes up from there. And do I need to mention that I would still have health care insurance even if I lost my job?
I think that Americans are going to have to reach rock bottom before they finally decide to change things instead of just complaining about them.
As I understand it, the real value play with USPS is the Priority Mail flat rate box ... you can put in whatever fits and the weight does not affect the price ...
I've used a site called Gazelle http://bit.ly/rQwQD to recycle my electronics. When the items were worth something Gazelle offered me some money and the offers seemed fair.
When the items weren't worth anything, Gazelle still sent me a postage paid label to send them my stuff so they could recycle it.
It's worth a shot if you have an old iPod, laptop, etc. you are looking to get rid of. Just make sure you wipe it clean of any personal data.
There are always local organizations that will often take clothes and make them available to members of your community, especially if you live in a small town. Check churches and libraries for more information.
I am currently living in Denmark, and I reflect on these issues a lot. There are a lot of benefits with these high taxes: retirement is taken care of, kids go to university for free, and you don't have to worry about not being able to afford medical bills. That takes away a lot of psychic anxiety we have about a major illness making us homeless. Public transportation is fantastic also. People in Denmark are much more relaxed than people in the States, and seem to enjoy life much more. Denmark is well known as the happiest country in the world, I wonder if there is a correlation between and social democracies.
I think a lot about these two philosophical questions:
Is it better in a society for everyone to have mediocre healthcare, or for some people to have great healthcare and some to have no access to healthcare?
Can a national healthcare system scale for a country the size of the US? Netherlands, Denmark, and even Germany are considerably smaller than the US. Also, the government works in Denmark; I don't think many of us trust the US government to be efficient or effective.
I do believe that the Danish healthcare is not as good as what I received in the US - for example, I have a family history of breast cancer, yet I will not be getting an annual mammogram while I am here, they believe in once every three years after 50, not once a year after 40. Many people here have private healthcare over the state system.
That being said, the system is much easier to administer than having to deal with insurers and health care providers. We just get a health card when we get our equivalent of a social security number, we bring it to our assigned doctor or to the pharmacy. No co-pays, no crazy claims or claims systems or provider cards with strange IDs.
Despite the economic crisis, unemployment is at 2.5% here in Denmark, and there's a great talent shortage for skilled and technical jobs. It rarely gets below freezing in the winter, though it is very dark.
Thanks for chiming in and sharing your thoughts. I agree that no system is perfect, and if you really want guaranteed delivery, you have to pay for it. In the end, I'm not out to villify the USPO, and want to reiterate that for the most part, I've had nothing but good experiences with them.
Jim, I agree that there are no guarantees with Priority.
Daniel, thanks for setting me straight. I love that expression, even in lieu of the fact that I've been using it incorrectly.
Jesse, kudos to you for getting your money back. Just goes to show you that you've got to try.
Kathryn, I agree, the difference in sending parcels Priority or Parcel Post is often negligible, which always made me scratch my head.
Nancy, I've actually found that Fedex can be surprisingly cheaper at times.
Lacey, you just never know. I've had for the most part excellent service from the USPS, and very few reasons to complain.
MLR, thanks for the insight.
And Kelja, what I expect from a quasi-governmental organization is quasi-governmental service.
Thanks again for sharing all your thoughts. We've all had our share of good and bad experiences, but when you really get down to it, most of the USPS service is just fine. We get our mail every day of the week without having to even think about it. When something goes wrong, it's easy to condemn the entire system, when in fact the system is doing it's job.
As someone who has lived in Canada, and now reside in the Netherlands, the arguments here are really interesting. In Canada, health care is a provincial matter, so every province sets their own payment rates. In Alberta, for example, it tops out (per person) around 400 bucks a year. In Ontario, I believe it's something around 300. This is income tested, so if you are a student or a low-income earner, you pay nothing.
In the Netherlands, the cost of health care is actually high (compared to Canada). A fairly good coverage costs around 1,000-1,600 euros a year person (approx). There are also co-payments for visit to specialists, etc, which may or may not be covered depending on your package. But I believe for seniors, the government does pick up a good portion of the tab. And having had some experience with the system, doctors here for some reasons are reluctant to write prescriptions or do very detailed check-ups, so I'm less than thrilled with the quality of care (it could also be a cultural matter, I'm not sure). The system was recently revised, as the system used to be completely free.
Since moving here for school over a year ago, I've become really amazed at how much money the system wastes on education, by allowing their students to literally loiter for a decade in the post-secondary system. Germany, I believe, battles with the same problem. So yes, there are a lot of inefficiencies in the system, definitely. This place makes Canada look like the wild wild west.
But it is undeniable that people on average are much happier and more content than the average Canadian, or American that I meet. I think it has as much to do with the lack of burdens, good weather, and good lifestyle choices overall that the government and the system actively promote. The country is not set-up to groom the next Bill Gates or Larry Page, but it is there to ensure the average Joe has a good life. To that end, it does the job.
It is true that the gap between the rich and poor is getting wide in China, but people are definitely enjoying more economic freedom. In the past it was tough for people to even move to a neighboring city to work, but now the Chinese people are mostly free to work in all parts of the country. People from rural areas also have the opportunity of moving up in society by working in the cities simply because there are a lot more jobs available due to capitalism. Additionally, most Chinese people are free to start their own businesses now. Good public education and decent healthcare was only available in the urban areas to begin with, and rural people with more economic means are able to afford these services.
I'm going to disagree with FB @2 as well- I've lived in both Canada and the UK and I'm happy to pay the tax rates I have because I've gotten so much back.
Healthcare (which I've been unlucky enough to use a fair bit in both countries and has been excellent), education- my four year degree and masters combined cost less than $15k and only cost that much because my parents were high income earners, good public transit etc.
I have a relative who has been in a care home for 18 months now and the only concern is making sure there is a rota of visitors, not the costs of keeping her there.
You can also donate prom dresses to Becca's Closet (http://www.beccascloset.org/). There are chapters throughout the United States. They collect prom dresses, shoes, accessories, and sometimes suits for young men (depending on the chapter).
My freezer is full, my fridge is full, my fridge freezer is full, my pantry is full, and my bookcase is holding the pantry overflow. Before I read this article, I made a list of 15 must-have items, and vowed to actually use up the rest of the stuff I have.
I figured that if I opened the overflowing fridge and couldn't see anything I wanted to eat, it was time to change my priorities. I hope it works - and if nothing else, it should save us some money. :)
I'm shocked by your assessment of Chinese capitalism.
Yes, things are much better for the urban middle class. They are getting worse for everyone else. The rural poor have no health care and no public education. (No public education and rising illiteracy in one of the oldest literate civilizations in the world!) Modern-day China has the worst of both worlds: an authoritarian government, but none of the social security of a welfare state. It's hard to see that that equates with increased freedom.
Please note that for a Dutch citizen making up to €17,579 ($23,384) the tax rate, including everying, is 2.45%.
In the USA the rate for the same income is 15%, plus 6.2% for Social Security, plus state income tax. Who says that the USA has lower taxes? It's just not true.
Here is a link to the official Dutch government page, in English, listing income tax rates.
Your taxes are high and benefits are low because of America's military spending, pure and simple.
I used to live in Germany (not in the military) and can report first-hand that the Germans have a system very similar to that of the Dutch.
The bis thing I recognized is that the Germans don't have to walk around shouldering the risk burden that Americans do. Nor do they need to be stock market experts as we do; their pensions are just there when they need them, as expected, as are vacations, child care, education, etc.
Did I mention that German universities are publicly funded? They are, as are our primary schools in this country. So, if you want to go to medical school and have the grades to get in, society will pick-up the tab. Why? Because society needs doctors! I have a German friend whose name is prefaced by Dr. Dr. because he has two doctorates, one in medicine and the other in dentistry. The government paid for both educations.
Wow, after Katrina I could never explain a) our lack of infrastructure investment and b) our governments lousy response. Germans always wanted to know why we were in Iraq when we hadn't taken care of business at home. In a country that doesn't hav telephone poles because all utilities are buried I really couldn't explain it to them.
When it came to our lack of healthcare and the need for "boxtops for education," forget it. The truth is, our politicians run our country not for us, the citizens, but for the corporations who fund their campaigns. That's why they got the bailouts while the newly-marginalized citizens were allowed to live in one of the tent cities that has popped-up around the country.
Americans are being fleeced and for some reason defend those who are fleecing them - go figure.
Until you've experienced hearing your mother on the phone, who's just been in a serious car accident and is in the ER, crying because she's not sure if can afford the visit to the hospital, even with health insurance and a job, then you know that this "freedom" we have in U.S. healthcare is bullcrap. When you're still paying for a three-day hospital stay that saved your life, years later (even though you had insurance!), then you know this systems doesn't have "freedom."
Again and again, I've known people who have had life-threatening symptoms and health issues, who were hard workers all their lives but either didn't have health insurance with their job benefits or had health insurance that didn't cover squat, have to choose between providing for their families or medical treatment. And personally, I don't think I've ever had an insurance claim that was correct -- it seems like after every dr.'s visit, I'm fighting on the phone with the health insurance company to get things covered that SAID would be covered in their policy -- I believe they automatically deny the majority of claims w/o even looking at them. It's stressful, especially if you're sick or hurt.
Well, I don't think you've actually lived in a 3rd world country. The quality of life in America is really above that of a lot of countries in terms of living space per person and available resources per person. As to the American model of capitalism, I'm not sure if it's clearly not working considering that America is still undeniably the number one economy in the world despite all the recent trials. You could argue that multiple European countries put together would beat America, but there is no single country that has exceeded America's economy, yet. I am personally wary of the European type of social capitalism because the United States government is already in so much debt, and it doesn't seem like throwing more money at an inefficient system would improve it. If the government can be as efficient in administrating social programs as it collects income taxes, then maybe there is hope.
I think Trent had this same survey over at TSD recently. Same problem - homemakers were supposed to choose an industry and number of employees. He got a lot of complaints. You would think that Federated Media could fix these things!
Yes, you have been brainwashed. I have lived in a number of western welfare states and then in USA for the last 15 years. The quality of life here is that of a 3rd world country. Nothing compares to the ability NOT to worry about health care or education ( GOOD, public education) for yourself and your children. I am so sorry to hear that even in times of such grave economic crisis, when the American model of capitalism is clearly not working, so many Americans are still weary of trying a European type of capitalism. You deserve everything you get!
I'm going to go glass-half-empty here and say that, yes, government-run healthcare bureaucracy would be an absolute mess. But I think it's pretty clear that the current corporate-run healthcare bureaucracy is just as bad. Many of the arguments I've heard against increased government involvement in the healthcare system depend on the idea that we don't want our personal healthcare decisions being made in a back room somewhere by technocrats; thing is, that's already happening--it's just some corporate drone telling us what to do rather than a G-man.
It looks to me like the choice is between the waste, inefficiency, and possible abuse of a government-run system, and the impersonal, bewildering, and profit-driven private model. Is there a better way?
What the heck do you expect from a quasi-governmental business?
The good ol' USPO -- their business has dropped precipitously because businesses and individuals just don't send the mail they used to. That and more efficient private businesses are kicking their butt.
Naturally, they want to cut service - cut out Saturday service. But woe to those who suggest cutting bene's or pensions. The Post Office CEO, during these most recent trying times, pulled down $850,000 last year. How's that for rewarding the incapable?
They are socialist dictatorships, to align them with Holland is a fallacy. Holland, at best, could be coloured partially as a country based on social democracy ideals..
The thing you need to ask yourself.. Since you can't take it with you when you 'go'.. why not share some if it along the way with others you are not as fortunate?
Needless to say, but I will, I am a social capitalist, let me create my own success, but I do believe we have a collective responsibility to one another that can't be abrogated in any easy way..
ok. your ad&d explaination is totally correct. why not get aflac? it pays cash if you or a family member has an accident or illness and remain living!!!
I live in Canada and I guess I don't earn enough money to get up there in the 50% bracket, that is why it is called a Progressive income tax. I also work with a lot of Americans who are trapped in their jobs because of their health insurance. In fact, I don't believe that Fabulously broke is telling the truth, I just checked and the highest rate appears to be about 41% when your income is over $123,000.
You guys have been sold a bill of goods, I have more freedom because I can leave a job and not worry about my health care, it has nothing to do with my workplace. And I can tell you, the health care is pretty good.
Subtract from my taxes your health care costs to you and your employer, the price for decent schools and the cost of transportation because you have lousy transit and I really doubt I am paying a dime more in tax. To write "I think that when citizens depend too much on their government they are essentially giving up a lot of free will" is silly. I pay them taxes and they provide me with health care and decent schools and transit. I put two kids through the best universities in the country for $4,000 tuition per year each. You get what you pay for.
Just like the survey on TSD they failed to take into consideration that there are people in the world that don't work in high-tech and related industries. Does Federated Media think that only Techies read blogs or are they so used to only serving high-tech blogs that they are blinded to the real world?
Awesome post. I have had a post on a few months I spent in Paris and how fantastic it was, then I was going to break down the things about it that made me so happy and try to recreate them today.
Things like not having a TV, hanging out with different people, and speaking a different language. You, sir, have beaten me to the punch.
Well done!
The Writer's Coin | Follow me on Twitter
It's all very well and good to say that they don't like this system or that system but people are really suffering so the US better come up with something soon.
I live in Belgium - universal health care, guaranteed at least 20 days vacation, extra vacation money in May, 13th month bonus at the end of the year, money back for child care, complete reimbursement for vaccinations (and we got every vaccination available), long maternity leaves (plus the hospital insisted that I stay for a full 5 days after the birth to make sure that everything would be fine and the hospital near us is first rate). Had I not had the socialized health care, I still would have paid for all this because it wasn't expensive - the average doctor visit is only €22. Beyond that, if I lose my job tomorrow, I would be guaranteed a significant compensation package - none of this "thanks for 20 years service, don't let the doorknob hit you in the butt on the way out" crap - depending on how long you have worked with the company, compensation starts at 3 months pay and goes up from there. And do I need to mention that I would still have health care insurance even if I lost my job?
I think that Americans are going to have to reach rock bottom before they finally decide to change things instead of just complaining about them.
As I understand it, the real value play with USPS is the Priority Mail flat rate box ... you can put in whatever fits and the weight does not affect the price ...
I've used a site called Gazelle http://bit.ly/rQwQD to recycle my electronics. When the items were worth something Gazelle offered me some money and the offers seemed fair.
When the items weren't worth anything, Gazelle still sent me a postage paid label to send them my stuff so they could recycle it.
It's worth a shot if you have an old iPod, laptop, etc. you are looking to get rid of. Just make sure you wipe it clean of any personal data.
There are always local organizations that will often take clothes and make them available to members of your community, especially if you live in a small town. Check churches and libraries for more information.
I am currently living in Denmark, and I reflect on these issues a lot. There are a lot of benefits with these high taxes: retirement is taken care of, kids go to university for free, and you don't have to worry about not being able to afford medical bills. That takes away a lot of psychic anxiety we have about a major illness making us homeless. Public transportation is fantastic also. People in Denmark are much more relaxed than people in the States, and seem to enjoy life much more. Denmark is well known as the happiest country in the world, I wonder if there is a correlation between and social democracies.
I think a lot about these two philosophical questions:
Is it better in a society for everyone to have mediocre healthcare, or for some people to have great healthcare and some to have no access to healthcare?
Can a national healthcare system scale for a country the size of the US? Netherlands, Denmark, and even Germany are considerably smaller than the US. Also, the government works in Denmark; I don't think many of us trust the US government to be efficient or effective.
I do believe that the Danish healthcare is not as good as what I received in the US - for example, I have a family history of breast cancer, yet I will not be getting an annual mammogram while I am here, they believe in once every three years after 50, not once a year after 40. Many people here have private healthcare over the state system.
That being said, the system is much easier to administer than having to deal with insurers and health care providers. We just get a health card when we get our equivalent of a social security number, we bring it to our assigned doctor or to the pharmacy. No co-pays, no crazy claims or claims systems or provider cards with strange IDs.
Despite the economic crisis, unemployment is at 2.5% here in Denmark, and there's a great talent shortage for skilled and technical jobs. It rarely gets below freezing in the winter, though it is very dark.
Thanks for chiming in and sharing your thoughts. I agree that no system is perfect, and if you really want guaranteed delivery, you have to pay for it. In the end, I'm not out to villify the USPO, and want to reiterate that for the most part, I've had nothing but good experiences with them.
Jim, I agree that there are no guarantees with Priority.
Daniel, thanks for setting me straight. I love that expression, even in lieu of the fact that I've been using it incorrectly.
Jesse, kudos to you for getting your money back. Just goes to show you that you've got to try.
Kathryn, I agree, the difference in sending parcels Priority or Parcel Post is often negligible, which always made me scratch my head.
Nancy, I've actually found that Fedex can be surprisingly cheaper at times.
Lacey, you just never know. I've had for the most part excellent service from the USPS, and very few reasons to complain.
MLR, thanks for the insight.
And Kelja, what I expect from a quasi-governmental organization is quasi-governmental service.
Thanks again for sharing all your thoughts. We've all had our share of good and bad experiences, but when you really get down to it, most of the USPS service is just fine. We get our mail every day of the week without having to even think about it. When something goes wrong, it's easy to condemn the entire system, when in fact the system is doing it's job.
As someone who has lived in Canada, and now reside in the Netherlands, the arguments here are really interesting. In Canada, health care is a provincial matter, so every province sets their own payment rates. In Alberta, for example, it tops out (per person) around 400 bucks a year. In Ontario, I believe it's something around 300. This is income tested, so if you are a student or a low-income earner, you pay nothing.
In the Netherlands, the cost of health care is actually high (compared to Canada). A fairly good coverage costs around 1,000-1,600 euros a year person (approx). There are also co-payments for visit to specialists, etc, which may or may not be covered depending on your package. But I believe for seniors, the government does pick up a good portion of the tab. And having had some experience with the system, doctors here for some reasons are reluctant to write prescriptions or do very detailed check-ups, so I'm less than thrilled with the quality of care (it could also be a cultural matter, I'm not sure). The system was recently revised, as the system used to be completely free.
Since moving here for school over a year ago, I've become really amazed at how much money the system wastes on education, by allowing their students to literally loiter for a decade in the post-secondary system. Germany, I believe, battles with the same problem. So yes, there are a lot of inefficiencies in the system, definitely. This place makes Canada look like the wild wild west.
But it is undeniable that people on average are much happier and more content than the average Canadian, or American that I meet. I think it has as much to do with the lack of burdens, good weather, and good lifestyle choices overall that the government and the system actively promote. The country is not set-up to groom the next Bill Gates or Larry Page, but it is there to ensure the average Joe has a good life. To that end, it does the job.
It is true that the gap between the rich and poor is getting wide in China, but people are definitely enjoying more economic freedom. In the past it was tough for people to even move to a neighboring city to work, but now the Chinese people are mostly free to work in all parts of the country. People from rural areas also have the opportunity of moving up in society by working in the cities simply because there are a lot more jobs available due to capitalism. Additionally, most Chinese people are free to start their own businesses now. Good public education and decent healthcare was only available in the urban areas to begin with, and rural people with more economic means are able to afford these services.
I'm going to disagree with FB @2 as well- I've lived in both Canada and the UK and I'm happy to pay the tax rates I have because I've gotten so much back.
Healthcare (which I've been unlucky enough to use a fair bit in both countries and has been excellent), education- my four year degree and masters combined cost less than $15k and only cost that much because my parents were high income earners, good public transit etc.
I have a relative who has been in a care home for 18 months now and the only concern is making sure there is a rota of visitors, not the costs of keeping her there.
You can also donate prom dresses to Becca's Closet (http://www.beccascloset.org/). There are chapters throughout the United States. They collect prom dresses, shoes, accessories, and sometimes suits for young men (depending on the chapter).
My freezer is full, my fridge is full, my fridge freezer is full, my pantry is full, and my bookcase is holding the pantry overflow. Before I read this article, I made a list of 15 must-have items, and vowed to actually use up the rest of the stuff I have.
I figured that if I opened the overflowing fridge and couldn't see anything I wanted to eat, it was time to change my priorities. I hope it works - and if nothing else, it should save us some money. :)
I'm shocked by your assessment of Chinese capitalism.
Yes, things are much better for the urban middle class. They are getting worse for everyone else. The rural poor have no health care and no public education. (No public education and rising illiteracy in one of the oldest literate civilizations in the world!) Modern-day China has the worst of both worlds: an authoritarian government, but none of the social security of a welfare state. It's hard to see that that equates with increased freedom.
Please note that for a Dutch citizen making up to €17,579 ($23,384) the tax rate, including everying, is 2.45%.
In the USA the rate for the same income is 15%, plus 6.2% for Social Security, plus state income tax. Who says that the USA has lower taxes? It's just not true.
Here is a link to the official Dutch government page, in English, listing income tax rates.
http://www.belastingdienst.nl/variabel/buitenland/en/private_taxpayers/p...
Your taxes are high and benefits are low because of America's military spending, pure and simple.
I used to live in Germany (not in the military) and can report first-hand that the Germans have a system very similar to that of the Dutch.
The bis thing I recognized is that the Germans don't have to walk around shouldering the risk burden that Americans do. Nor do they need to be stock market experts as we do; their pensions are just there when they need them, as expected, as are vacations, child care, education, etc.
Did I mention that German universities are publicly funded? They are, as are our primary schools in this country. So, if you want to go to medical school and have the grades to get in, society will pick-up the tab. Why? Because society needs doctors! I have a German friend whose name is prefaced by Dr. Dr. because he has two doctorates, one in medicine and the other in dentistry. The government paid for both educations.
Wow, after Katrina I could never explain a) our lack of infrastructure investment and b) our governments lousy response. Germans always wanted to know why we were in Iraq when we hadn't taken care of business at home. In a country that doesn't hav telephone poles because all utilities are buried I really couldn't explain it to them.
When it came to our lack of healthcare and the need for "boxtops for education," forget it. The truth is, our politicians run our country not for us, the citizens, but for the corporations who fund their campaigns. That's why they got the bailouts while the newly-marginalized citizens were allowed to live in one of the tent cities that has popped-up around the country.
Americans are being fleeced and for some reason defend those who are fleecing them - go figure.
Until you've experienced hearing your mother on the phone, who's just been in a serious car accident and is in the ER, crying because she's not sure if can afford the visit to the hospital, even with health insurance and a job, then you know that this "freedom" we have in U.S. healthcare is bullcrap. When you're still paying for a three-day hospital stay that saved your life, years later (even though you had insurance!), then you know this systems doesn't have "freedom."
Again and again, I've known people who have had life-threatening symptoms and health issues, who were hard workers all their lives but either didn't have health insurance with their job benefits or had health insurance that didn't cover squat, have to choose between providing for their families or medical treatment. And personally, I don't think I've ever had an insurance claim that was correct -- it seems like after every dr.'s visit, I'm fighting on the phone with the health insurance company to get things covered that SAID would be covered in their policy -- I believe they automatically deny the majority of claims w/o even looking at them. It's stressful, especially if you're sick or hurt.
Our system is broken.
Well, I don't think you've actually lived in a 3rd world country. The quality of life in America is really above that of a lot of countries in terms of living space per person and available resources per person. As to the American model of capitalism, I'm not sure if it's clearly not working considering that America is still undeniably the number one economy in the world despite all the recent trials. You could argue that multiple European countries put together would beat America, but there is no single country that has exceeded America's economy, yet. I am personally wary of the European type of social capitalism because the United States government is already in so much debt, and it doesn't seem like throwing more money at an inefficient system would improve it. If the government can be as efficient in administrating social programs as it collects income taxes, then maybe there is hope.
I think Trent had this same survey over at TSD recently. Same problem - homemakers were supposed to choose an industry and number of employees. He got a lot of complaints. You would think that Federated Media could fix these things!
Yes, you have been brainwashed. I have lived in a number of western welfare states and then in USA for the last 15 years. The quality of life here is that of a 3rd world country. Nothing compares to the ability NOT to worry about health care or education ( GOOD, public education) for yourself and your children. I am so sorry to hear that even in times of such grave economic crisis, when the American model of capitalism is clearly not working, so many Americans are still weary of trying a European type of capitalism. You deserve everything you get!
I'm going to go glass-half-empty here and say that, yes, government-run healthcare bureaucracy would be an absolute mess. But I think it's pretty clear that the current corporate-run healthcare bureaucracy is just as bad. Many of the arguments I've heard against increased government involvement in the healthcare system depend on the idea that we don't want our personal healthcare decisions being made in a back room somewhere by technocrats; thing is, that's already happening--it's just some corporate drone telling us what to do rather than a G-man.
It looks to me like the choice is between the waste, inefficiency, and possible abuse of a government-run system, and the impersonal, bewildering, and profit-driven private model. Is there a better way?
What the heck do you expect from a quasi-governmental business?
The good ol' USPO -- their business has dropped precipitously because businesses and individuals just don't send the mail they used to. That and more efficient private businesses are kicking their butt.
Naturally, they want to cut service - cut out Saturday service. But woe to those who suggest cutting bene's or pensions. The Post Office CEO, during these most recent trying times, pulled down $850,000 last year. How's that for rewarding the incapable?
Obama says that's just fine. No problem.
They are socialist dictatorships, to align them with Holland is a fallacy. Holland, at best, could be coloured partially as a country based on social democracy ideals..
The thing you need to ask yourself.. Since you can't take it with you when you 'go'.. why not share some if it along the way with others you are not as fortunate?
Needless to say, but I will, I am a social capitalist, let me create my own success, but I do believe we have a collective responsibility to one another that can't be abrogated in any easy way..
ok. your ad&d explaination is totally correct. why not get aflac? it pays cash if you or a family member has an accident or illness and remain living!!!
I live in Canada and I guess I don't earn enough money to get up there in the 50% bracket, that is why it is called a Progressive income tax. I also work with a lot of Americans who are trapped in their jobs because of their health insurance. In fact, I don't believe that Fabulously broke is telling the truth, I just checked and the highest rate appears to be about 41% when your income is over $123,000.
You guys have been sold a bill of goods, I have more freedom because I can leave a job and not worry about my health care, it has nothing to do with my workplace. And I can tell you, the health care is pretty good.
Subtract from my taxes your health care costs to you and your employer, the price for decent schools and the cost of transportation because you have lousy transit and I really doubt I am paying a dime more in tax. To write "I think that when citizens depend too much on their government they are essentially giving up a lot of free will" is silly. I pay them taxes and they provide me with health care and decent schools and transit. I put two kids through the best universities in the country for $4,000 tuition per year each. You get what you pay for.