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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% b

• 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.
  • HNJE 6y ago
    I think the poster you're responding to was specifically talking about his experience of socialism in a former soviet block country: > that's part of the former soviet block
  • randomchars 6y ago
    How nice of you to call my real life experiences, and the experiences of the 10 million people rubbish. You never once mentioned the UK in your initial comment, just socialism. Yeah, we have different things here than in the UK, that does not make what I said invalid. > Majority of people can afford one non-local vacation every year Maybe in the UK, but come to Eastern Europe, and try telling that to people. No, we absolutely can’t. > You are comparing unpaid holiday to paid holiday I’m comparing them, but not conflating them. From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_annual_leave_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_annual_leave_b... The average number of paid vacation days offered by private employers is 10 days after 1 year of service, 14 days after 5 years, 17 days after 10 years, and 20 days after 20 years.[186][189 I’d be okay with earning 3/4x times as much, and having to negotiate vacation days, versus not earning enough to go on a vacation in the first place. > The choice is obvious. In non-extreme examples, in the UK I have 28 PAID days of holiday allowance every year. Your non-extreme example is 40% more than what I have, so again, how is that not extreme? > Women in the UK […] Nothing else needs to be said So it’s fine in your country, end of story, and fuck me for living somewhere where that’s not the case. Got it. > you listing some tax stuff in the UK Non of that here. > No it isn't free any more in the UK, but it is in most of Europe So let me get this straight, when it’s good in the uk, than “nothing else needs to be said”, when it isn’t, you just wave your hand that it’s free in most of Europe. Okay. > This again is complete nonsense. Having free healthcare doesn't prevent you from paying for private healthcare I am (well, my employer) is paying for it, because I don’t want to wait a year for small stuff. The funny thing is, it costs less than what the government is taking from my salary for healhtcare. > not acute life threatening conditions. You don't have to wait to have an urgent operation No, not for an urgent one, but for important, quality of life improving operations you absolutely have to. Yeah, they won’t let you bleed out on the street corner, but that’s a fucking low bar. > you can get non-urgent medical procedures done "free" should you wish to wait. Because healthcare is a basic human right in Europe Again, not true, healthcare is not a basic human right in Europe. There are various laws in some Europen countries about denying you care if you don’t pay, and they’l even send the tax collection agency after you for the price of a life saving operation. > Pensions Which pay like shit, and there’s a high probability that all will collapse by the time I’d get to "enjoy it”. > worker rights It was very convenient that you ignore my comment about discrimination against hiring women of child bearing age. Workers rights sounds nice, but the reality is far from ideal. We also have a law that was dubbed “slave law”, because it allowed companies to have absurd amount of overtime without extra compensation. > public transportation Which has nothing to do with socialism? It’s not free, and it’s even more expensive in the UK. > surely YOU must know better than them Of quit it. Why are attacking me? You started off saying "Socialism is not just free healthcare, it's a mentality”, and I, someone who lives in a socialist country, that was with very part of the literal social soviet block, tell you that NO, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns, and than you have the audacity, from the UK, to tell me that I’m wrong??? The UK is one of the richest countries in the world, and ex empire. Let’s not compare some socialism things of a monarchy, with actual socialism.