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As a Scandinavian, the US seems like a third world country. I am genuinely sad for you.
by martin_bech 7y ago
As a Scandinavian, the US seems like a third world country. I am genuinely sad for you.
- DoreenMichele 7y agoAmericans sometimes joke that we live in a third world country. Many people here are dissatisfied with our family and healthcare policies, but no one seems to know how to actually fix it. Obamacare wasn't really a good solution. It was just the most politically viable. So you need more than a good plan for what works better. You also need to somehow get it accepted politically and that ends up being a sticking point.
- Pfhreak 7y agoHow to fix it? Get involved with your local DSA chapter. Work on putting socialists on your local ballot and getting initiatives passed locally. Educate your friends and neighbors that 'socialist' policies are much broader than what has been demonized in the US since the red scare. Edit: Also, consider unionizing and bargaining for parental leave, healthcare, living wages, employee board representation, etc.
- senderista 7y agoScandinavian countries are not socialist and using the word "socialist" (as Bernie does) to advocate for social-democratic policies is both inaccurate and unnecessarily polarizing.
- Pfhreak 7y agoDemocratic socialists and social democrats agree on many policies, and both are largely absent from the political stage in the US.
- matchbok 7y agoExcept that isn't what we are talking about.
- Pfhreak 7y agoNot talking about universal healthcare, a policy position held by both democratic socialists and social democrats?
- cbHXBY1D 7y ago> Get involved with your local DSA chapter. I've been in the DSA for years now and would recommend it to anyone who is interested. But just to be clear: most of the organizing does not revolve around electoral politics. There are those like myself who don't want DSA to become "the left wing of the DNC" (RIP Refoundation). I know HN trends techno-utopian libertarian but I'm sure there's some here who have socialist sympathies.
- ggambetta 7y agoI think of the US, only half-jokingly, as a rich country, but not a developed or civilized one.
- praptak 7y agoUS is a third world country. There is a layer of first world on top though.
- rootusrootus 7y agoDon't be. It's actually great, if you don't hang out on HN too much.
- IAmEveryone 7y agoIt’s really both... it does Trump, like no other self-respecting country would. But it also had Obama, who would arguably had had a more difficult time in Europe. And that goes through everything: people dying from deceases of despair, yet medical research is still top of the field. Obese people on these scooters everywhere, but also a far larger number of people that are incredibly fit. A fast food culture that as hedonistic and short-sighted as a late Roman dictator, but also the most elaborate selection of fresh organic vegetables I’ve ever seen in supermarkets. A tradition of values-based jurisprudence that is far ahead of anything Europe has, but suddenly deciding to try corruption for a bit—and then dominating that particular field again in no time flat. It’s really quite impressive. I’m somewhat certain it causes Americans more pain than it is worth. But I’m not quite as firm on judging if the rest of the world isn’t sometimes getting a pretty good deal out it.