5 ms·
? Not sure if you're making a point or trying to be funny, but socialism is far from a Soviet (or even a Cold War) thing. European countries pioneered mandatory
by GuiA 9y ago
? Not sure if you're making a point or trying to be funny, but socialism is far from a Soviet (or even a Cold War) thing. European countries pioneered mandatory paid vacation and paid medical leave over a century ago, a fundamental workers' right which the US still does not give its citizens.
- AdrianB1 9y agoI always thought the people that left Europe for USA did it for a different life, not to get socialism and get back in line with the herd. But it seems that the people in California had afterthoughts about this and decided to go commie. Not kidding, Hacker News commenters are very much biased towards socialism - take it from a guy that was born and lived in a socialist country and had the chance to feel it the hard way, not dream about it.
- GuiA 9y agoI was also born and lived in a socialist country, not sure I get your point. If being "in the herd" means that janitors get vacation, medical leave, and don't have to work from 6am to 2am like the janitor in the article, it's an alright herd I'd say.
- randallsquared 9y agoNot sure if "6am" was a typo, or if you decided the janitor in the article was working 20 hours a day. :)
- AdrianB1 9y agoYou know that an employer is calculating the overall cost per year and the overall productivity per year. If you want to work X months and get 12-X months of vacation, just tell the employer and you will get a reduced salary and paid vacation, so in the end you cover your total cost. Medical leave? Buy an insurance that covers medical leave. Everything has a cost, who should cover it, the Holly Pope? Big salary? Well that poor janitor earns 10 times a Chinese janitor in a big city and 50 times a Chinese janitor in rural areas. You janitor is extremely rich by comparison, why don't you pay some more tax to help the Chinese janitor? Or your moral fiber ends to your border?
- tchaffee 9y agoUniversal healthcare helped get me over there and it's one of the reasons I'll settle down there. I think all the socialized services are great. Excellent value for the taxes you pay.
- fapjacks 9y agoYes! This is another huge misconception about raising taxes: The American government is massively wasteful in spending! We get so little value for the taxes we pay! People don't want to contribute even more money to the wasteful spending, which I can totally understand, but it doesn't have to be that way! In Sweden for example, you get tremendous value for the taxes you pay. The tax rate is higher, but you really do get quite a deal in exchange. Americans are completely unfamiliar with this kind of benefit.
- jessaustin 9y agoIf it could be guaranteed that a particular program would be administered by Swedes, I'd be more likely to support it...
- ams6110 9y agoWhy is it that the Swedes don't speak German today?
- fapjacks 9y agoThen you should ask yourself why it is that Germans don't speak Swedish today.
- AdrianB1 9y agoIf you pay small taxes and you get great value, good for you. Other people pay much bigger taxes and get nothing in return. Tax based healthcare is robbery, richer people are not sicker and there is no justification to pay for services a percentage of your income. Otherwise you should pay for groceries a percentage of your income, for gas, for rent etc, so in the end everyone is equal in what they can buy. Better than socialist utopia, you can go directly to communism.