4 ms·

It's not just healthcare, there's holiday, maternity leave, tuition, public spaces, tax incentives... all sorts of benefits. Socialism is not just free healthca

by bsd44 6y ago

It's not just healthcare, there's holiday, maternity leave, tuition, public spaces, tax incentives... all sorts of benefits. Socialism is not just free healthcare, it's a mentality. You may lose your high paying job next year, but the right to being treated medically will stay forever. Did you know that American women mostly give birth at home because they can't afford to go to a hospital? How sad is that and the most ironic thing is that Americans pay the same or more taxes than we do. Just thought to share a different view, as not everyone who works in tech will chase money.

rendang 6y ago
> American women mostly give birth at home because they can't afford to go to a hospital Where in the world did you hear that? "roughly 99 percent of U.S. children are born" in a hospital https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/700829719/home-birth-can-be-appealing-but-how-safe-is-it https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/7008297...
randomchars 6y ago
I live in a mostly socialist country, that's part of the former soviet block. I always get angry when I read about the benefits of socialism, because it's 90% bullshit for everyone not in the low classes of society (and mostly bullshit for them too). > holiday If you earn significantly more, you can just take unpaid vacation. Also, quite a lot of companies voluntarily offer more paid vacation days. On the other hand, I have 20+ days off, but can't afford to go to any interesting place. > maternity leave New mothers can have up to 3 years break from work, except this means that there's rampant discrimination against women of child bearing age. > public spaces What do you mean by this? > tax incentives That 99% of population can't take advantage of. > tuition University is not free in the UK either. From what I found quickly, in-state tuition in public US universities is comparable to tuition in England. > healthcare Left my favorite to the last. Yeah, it's free. But need to get something done? - Want a hip replacement? 219 to 1300 days. - Need a radiofrequency ablation? 42 to 279 days. - Have to get your tonsil removed? 57 to 609 days. - Have a gallstone? 109 to 469 days. The numbers are not a typo, nor did I cherry pick them, just the first random numbers for the website that tracks them. So yeah, it's free, but you absolutely get what you pay for: shit. Now please, tell me, how good socialism is :)
- bsd44 6y ago
  "holiday If you earn significantly more, you can just take unpaid vacation. Also, quite a lot of companies voluntarily offer more paid vacation days. On the other hand, I have 20+ days off, but can't afford to go to any interesting place." You are comparing unpaid holiday to paid holiday. I think we are done talking right here since you are not likely to be reasoned with, but I will still reply to your rubbish. Majority of people can afford one non-local vacation every year, if you can't afford one you are in a large minority in which case you are talking about extremes. In the extreme example you are choosing between having money but not being able to take holiday and having holiday but not being able to go anywhere. The choice is obvious. In non-extreme examples, in the UK I have 28 PAID days of holiday allowance every year. In the US people get two weeks of UNPAID holiday. Nothing else needs to be said. "New mothers can have up to 3 years break from work, except this means that there's rampant discrimination against women of child bearing age." Women in the UK get 41 weeks PAID maternity leave. Women in US get 10-12 weeks UNPAID. For the record, WHO recommends minimum 16 weeks for mothers to stay home with the children after birth. Nothing else needs to be said. "public spaces What do you mean by this?" A percentage of tax collected is being spent on public spaces; parks, playgrounds, squares, pedestrian zones... in the US these mostly belong to a development, which is a private area. Exceptions are large projects in NYC and Boston. Public spaces directly affect and increase the living standard and "happy index". " tax incentives That 99% of population can't take advantage of." This is complete nonsense. Every UK resident receives tax-free allowance per year, depending on the income tax band, which they can use to earn extra money on the side without paying any tax. In majority cases that amount is £12k pa which is not negligible. Every resident also has the option to open a S&S ISA where they can deposit up to £20k every year and use that money to invest in stocks and other financial instruments without paying any tax on the profit. Every house owner has the option to sell the house without paying any tax on the profit. There are so may more such schemes that Americans can only dream of. "> tuition University is not free in the UK either. From what I found quickly, in-state tuition in public US universities is comparable to tuition in England." No it isn't free any more in the UK, but it is in most of Europe. "> healthcare Left my favorite to the last. Yeah, it's free. But need to get something done?" This again is complete nonsense. Having free healthcare doesn't prevent you from paying for private healthcare. They are no mutually exclusive. If you can afford it you can have both, but in the US you don't have that choice. You have to either pay or die. Tonsils, gallstone... are not acute life threatening conditions. You don't have to wait to have an urgent operation. But you can get non-urgent medical procedures done "free" should you wish to wait. Because healthcare is a basic human right in Europe, whereas in US it's a luxury and a privilege because you not just need to be able to afford to pay for it, you also need to be HEALTHY before you can apply for one. There is a screening process when you apply for healthcare and if you are sick or are likely to inherit a medical condition that will require long treatment you will NOT be granted healthcare. If you have chronic condition that needs to be treated but can't be cured, you will only be entitled to a certain amount of medicine before on your policy. After that you are on your own. Pay or die. This barely scratches the surface. I haven't even mentioned pensions, worker rights, public transportation. Every American that came here through internal transfer in our company decided to stay here and doesn't want to go back. I wonder why, surely YOU must know better than them.

by bsd44 6y ago

rendang 6y ago

> American women mostly give birth at home because they can't afford to go to a hospital Where in the world did you hear that? "roughly 99 percent of U.S. children are born" in a hospital https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/700829719/home-birth-can-be-appealing-but-how-safe-is-it https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/7008297...

randomchars 6y ago

I live in a mostly socialist country, that's part of the former soviet block. I always get angry when I read about the benefits of socialism, because it's 90% bullshit for everyone not in the low classes of society (and mostly bullshit for them too). > holiday If you earn significantly more, you can just take unpaid vacation. Also, quite a lot of companies voluntarily offer more paid vacation days. On the other hand, I have 20+ days off, but can't afford to go to any interesting place. > maternity leave New mothers can have up to 3 years break from work, except this means that there's rampant discrimination against women of child bearing age. > public spaces What do you mean by this? > tax incentives That 99% of population can't take advantage of. > tuition University is not free in the UK either. From what I found quickly, in-state tuition in public US universities is comparable to tuition in England. > healthcare Left my favorite to the last. Yeah, it's free. But need to get something done? - Want a hip replacement? 219 to 1300 days. - Need a radiofrequency ablation? 42 to 279 days. - Have to get your tonsil removed? 57 to 609 days. - Have a gallstone? 109 to 469 days. The numbers are not a typo, nor did I cherry pick them, just the first random numbers for the website that tracks them. So yeah, it's free, but you absolutely get what you pay for: shit. Now please, tell me, how good socialism is :)

bsd44 6y ago
"holiday If you earn significantly more, you can just take unpaid vacation. Also, quite a lot of companies voluntarily offer more paid vacation days. On the other hand, I have 20+ days off, but can't afford to go to any interesting place." You are comparing unpaid holiday to paid holiday. I think we are done talking right here since you are not likely to be reasoned with, but I will still reply to your rubbish. Majority of people can afford one non-local vacation every year, if you can't afford one you are in a large minority in which case you are talking about extremes. In the extreme example you are choosing between having money but not being able to take holiday and having holiday but not being able to go anywhere. The choice is obvious. In non-extreme examples, in the UK I have 28 PAID days of holiday allowance every year. In the US people get two weeks of UNPAID holiday. Nothing else needs to be said. "New mothers can have up to 3 years break from work, except this means that there's rampant discrimination against women of child bearing age." Women in the UK get 41 weeks PAID maternity leave. Women in US get 10-12 weeks UNPAID. For the record, WHO recommends minimum 16 weeks for mothers to stay home with the children after birth. Nothing else needs to be said. "public spaces What do you mean by this?" A percentage of tax collected is being spent on public spaces; parks, playgrounds, squares, pedestrian zones... in the US these mostly belong to a development, which is a private area. Exceptions are large projects in NYC and Boston. Public spaces directly affect and increase the living standard and "happy index". " tax incentives That 99% of population can't take advantage of." This is complete nonsense. Every UK resident receives tax-free allowance per year, depending on the income tax band, which they can use to earn extra money on the side without paying any tax. In majority cases that amount is £12k pa which is not negligible. Every resident also has the option to open a S&S ISA where they can deposit up to £20k every year and use that money to invest in stocks and other financial instruments without paying any tax on the profit. Every house owner has the option to sell the house without paying any tax on the profit. There are so may more such schemes that Americans can only dream of. "> tuition University is not free in the UK either. From what I found quickly, in-state tuition in public US universities is comparable to tuition in England." No it isn't free any more in the UK, but it is in most of Europe. "> healthcare Left my favorite to the last. Yeah, it's free. But need to get something done?" This again is complete nonsense. Having free healthcare doesn't prevent you from paying for private healthcare. They are no mutually exclusive. If you can afford it you can have both, but in the US you don't have that choice. You have to either pay or die. Tonsils, gallstone... are not acute life threatening conditions. You don't have to wait to have an urgent operation. But you can get non-urgent medical procedures done "free" should you wish to wait. Because healthcare is a basic human right in Europe, whereas in US it's a luxury and a privilege because you not just need to be able to afford to pay for it, you also need to be HEALTHY before you can apply for one. There is a screening process when you apply for healthcare and if you are sick or are likely to inherit a medical condition that will require long treatment you will NOT be granted healthcare. If you have chronic condition that needs to be treated but can't be cured, you will only be entitled to a certain amount of medicine before on your policy. After that you are on your own. Pay or die. This barely scratches the surface. I haven't even mentioned pensions, worker rights, public transportation. Every American that came here through internal transfer in our company decided to stay here and doesn't want to go back. I wonder why, surely YOU must know better than them.