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This touches upon something that Europeans generally don’t understand about Americans’ individual wealth: the very last years of your life can drain almost any

by pavlov 1y ago

This touches upon something that Europeans generally don’t understand about Americans’ individual wealth: the very last years of your life can drain almost any retirement account. I’ve often had the conversation with Finns who are envious of American 401k balances. But they fail to see the real value of a national pension system that is guaranteed to pay roughly 52% of your last salary for the rest of your life, and a healthcare system that guarantees that the expensive cancer you get won’t mean selling your house. Not having to think about whether you’ll be bankrupt at 80 is a kind of freedom too.

pyrale 1y ago
> This touches upon something that Europeans generally don’t understand about Americans’ individual wealth: the very last years of your life can drain almost any retirement account. This is also true in some parts Europe. Retirement home is very expensive, and the service is usually mediocre at best. There's also been the same kind of stories with some kindergartens lately. On many services, we're much better off than the US, but when it comes to retirement homes, we're very bad aswell.
- EA-3167 1y ago
  Europe also seems to more readily accept "A cold snap killed off thousands of elderly people living alone", and that's doubly true in the UK. It tends not to get covered in the US because after all it's very local news and we already barely cover major world events, but if you pay attention to country-specific news it's surprisingly grim. Maybe it was different before 2008, but since then in the age of "austerity" I wouldn't want to be old, sick, and alone in Europe.
  - pavlov 1y ago
    Old people dying in the US is simply not news because there isn’t a murderer with a gun or a knife, or someone trying to take away said person’s gun. It was plain during Covid. For most American media, the real news wasn’t how elderly people were dying like flies, but how somebody was forced to wear a mask.

by pavlov 1y ago

pyrale 1y ago

> This touches upon something that Europeans generally don’t understand about Americans’ individual wealth: the very last years of your life can drain almost any retirement account. This is also true in some parts Europe. Retirement home is very expensive, and the service is usually mediocre at best. There's also been the same kind of stories with some kindergartens lately. On many services, we're much better off than the US, but when it comes to retirement homes, we're very bad aswell.

EA-3167 1y ago
Europe also seems to more readily accept "A cold snap killed off thousands of elderly people living alone", and that's doubly true in the UK. It tends not to get covered in the US because after all it's very local news and we already barely cover major world events, but if you pay attention to country-specific news it's surprisingly grim. Maybe it was different before 2008, but since then in the age of "austerity" I wouldn't want to be old, sick, and alone in Europe.
- pavlov 1y ago
  Old people dying in the US is simply not news because there isn’t a murderer with a gun or a knife, or someone trying to take away said person’s gun. It was plain during Covid. For most American media, the real news wasn’t how elderly people were dying like flies, but how somebody was forced to wear a mask.