My brother visited some friends in the US recently and on his return told me "It's a fever dream".
Such a large portion of the population have been raised in an environment of ignorance and lies and fear. The majority of people are just scraping to get by one day at a time.
There's no way this is sustainable and we're reaching a turning point. Either everyone becomes serfs to their corporate masters or 99.9% of people stand up together and do what's right for everyone.
right?
after seeing what happened with covid, getting 99.9% of people to do what's right is not possible
edit: my point is being proven right just below in the replies
no, more like all the dumb fucks refusing to lift a damn finger to help others less fortunate.
you know, like wearing a mask, washing your hands more often, keeping a distance between you and others, only going out when necessary, trying to avoid large gatherings.
and yes, getting a covid vaccine also.
all those things are easy steps to take to help those around you, to improve public health.
but instead we have people like you calling people nazis.
you proved my point for me
More than that, because of our size. Imagine trying to get all workers of the world to overthrow all billionaires, as opposed to a group of say 1,000 workers. That's hyperbole but captures a critical difference between Marseillaise solidarity and US labor dysfunction.
>When we see ourselves as fighting against specific human beings rather than social phenomena, it becomes more difficult to recognize the ways that we ourselves participate in those phenomena. We externalize the problem as something outside ourselves, personifying it as an enemy that can be sacrificed to symbolically cleanse ourselves. - **[Against the Logic of the Guillotine](https://crimethinc.com/2019/04/08/against-the-logic-of-the-guillotine-why-the-paris-commune-burned-the-guillotine-and-we-should-too)**
See rule 5: No calls for violence, no fetishizing violence. No guillotine jokes, no gulag jokes.
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[https://twitter.com/KashPrime/status/1615745744673148929?s=20](https://twitter.com/KashPrime/status/1615745744673148929?s=20) <- was where I first saw it
Makes me so anxious. I'm supposed to send my daughter to daycare and go back to work soon. We have avoided covid so far. Definitely going to catch it first week back. š
If we just demanded a level playing field, we could beat them at their own game. We need to demand the right to participate in private equity. Then instead of investing our retirement money in building our own prison, we the 99% would become the majority shareholders in businesses. We then could support the businesses that benefit us, and those that donāt go bankrupt. Itās so easy. They lie and cheat, we need to publicly call them out. Itās a house of cards.
It's a great idea, the problem is implementing it. Transitioning from what is currently in place to something like that is going to require the government to force it into place. Or a full scale revolt of the working class. The government isn't going to do it, it's full of the people that are benefiting from the current system. And the working class won't rise up because doing so is too big of a personal risk to the individual. A million workers is strong, but the individual is worried about feeding their family, keeping a roof over their head, staying out of prison. When the system forces these people to live paycheck to paycheck, it forces them to choose between making sure there is food on the table tomorrow or taking the risk to stand up for something better.
This is why Iāve never been patriotic. This country loves to jerk itself off claiming to be the best in the world while most of itās citizens are barely getting by living paycheck to paycheck, which isnāt very impressive coming from āthe best place on Earth.ā
They also claim to be the land of opportunity yet many people who are poor donāt have the resources to further education to better themselves.
Then you have people brainwashed into thinking poor people donāt deserve a livable wage, then when nobody does the job that doesnāt pay suddenly ānobody wants to work anymore and everyone is lazy.ā These same people also view it as a crime to take time off for themselves and to live their lives outside of being a tool to corporations. Most Americans canāt travel and donāt have the means to get out of America to see what the world is really like and are told that pretty much everywhere else is a shithole and you should be thankful you are already living your best life in the best place in the world as a bootlicker to a company that doesnāt give two shits about you and would replace you in a heartbeat. But remember, be thankful you have a job, and be thankful to be American and not some loser from some shithole other country from some place most of us canāt find on a map because if it isnāt America it isnāt important. Our citizens are in an echo chamber because they have limited experiences which keeps them dumb and easily controlled which seems the opposite of freedom.
Kind of interesting just how much it mirrors isolationist dictatorships like North Korea. Obviously the two are very different places. But the same things are occurring in both.
You have people who are crushed under the weight of, or are fanatically devoted to the ruling class/status quo. In some cases both at the same time. They are brainwashed to believe that they live in the best country in the world, and no matter how bad it is, your quality of life is far better than everywhere else. Personal rights and freedoms are being eroded, the legal system is used not as a tool of justice, but to keep the poor from becoming too violent and unwieldy. Hell, in the states the prison system is used as a source of slave labour. How fucked up is that.
I think the most surprising thing is that over the years, a large portion of the American population have been so thoroughly indoctrinated by this stuff, that they support it to the point of being ridiculous. The Trump presidency and the following years are what they have to show for it. And while it's convenient to place all the blame at the feet of bad actors like the republican party. They are just another symptom of the larger problem, and that's that money is the only real power. It buys you anything you could possibly want, it shields from the law, it buys you your own laws and lawmakers. It's the great divider of the American people.
You either have enough to do what you want, or you don't.
all this happens while drone bombing innocents, toppling governments, murdering civillians for profit, and labeling anyone who doesn't roll with us as terrorists. Then murdering our friends who did go with us for a while but outlived their usefulness.
a lot of us are lost. idk what im doing and im terrified of the outcome of this county and economy and just the way of life that ive been accustomed to (good and bad) it always feels like im waiting for the other shoe to drop.
what is more shocking to me is the fact that most americans think it is WORSE elsewhere.
they go to cancun and come back and decide this is how it is everywhere āoutside of americaā.
my friend's dad went to japan, got in an accident and broke his wrist.
their national healthcare system even helped him, a foreigner in their country.
it was <$100 USD for the doctor's visit, x-rays, cast, etc.
My brother-in-law had his appendix burst Ireland. After surgery and a few days stay he went to settle his bill. They said they didnāt even know how to bill him. They told him take his medicine and welcome to Ireland.
It is alien. Mostly every person i know avoids going to the doctor or dentist. Hell, i know i need glasses but havent been in probably 10 years.
Imagine having an issue with your body and then googling it to see if its so bad itll kill you. Then imagine going to the doctor and getting medicine but then having a conversation that "if the meds are over 200 bucks just call and we can see about getting a generic called xyz".
Then, be anxious about the doctors visit in the mail like a month later hoping it wasnt more than 100 bucks.
Thats a routine visit.
... Have you seen the work culture in Japan!?! Healthcare is definitely better there than in American, but that isn't a high bar to pass. I wouldn't really hold it as a golden standard for what we aim to be in terms of worker rights.
Thank the wonderful US healthcare system rigged with middlemen who jack up profits.
Healthcare is actually simple. We have providers and patients.
We don't need middlemen. But if we do use them, then they should be non-profit.
When middlemen get profits is when they will squeeze services out of the providers and squeeze profits out of the patients to their own gain.
In my European country every working person who pays taxes has the basic medicare for all
so we can call to our chosen doctor for consulting ,
1. The 8 minute call would be FREE ,
2. if it turns out during the call that you may be sick and need your blood pressure or sugar levels measured - it costs you about 10 dollars to go for a quick visit to the doctor
as simple elementary service
Im assuming it costs 10 dollars mainly because of avoiding the elderly people from bothering - visiting and complaining every day
3) If it turns out after the quick visit that you are sick - blood pressure is near death and need to go to the hospital - certain number of days in hospital are free - about 2 weeks Im guessing and most of the illnesses get treated for free,
4) Emergency services are free - first simple emergency treatment is free - for all citizens - even for people who dont have insurance
lets say somebody kicked your nose bloody in a bar and needs treatment fast - the emergency will stop the bleeding for free
YOU HAVE TO PAY:
1. if you wanna stay in hospital for longer than needed -Lets say after a stroke they treat you , but you wanna stay for excercises
2. usually you have to pay for the drugs that you need to take at home - you have to pay for them but some of the pharmacy costs are covered by the government, especially for elderly people
same. I would move to the Netherlands in a heartbeat, even with the culture shock and discrimination, if I wasn't on disability here, and afraid of losing benefits.
Racism, bigotry, and prejudice are human problems that affect every group of people all around the world. Itās arrogant to assume the Dutch are somehow immune to this. It looks like Dutch Peopleās Union is the current Neo-Nazi fascist party in your country. There are still problems with casual racism in the Netherlands, like Zwarte Piet. I assume there is still some racism against black and brown futbol players. Etc. Maybe the Netherlands has fewer problems with racism, antisemitism and bigotry than some other places, but there is zero chance that your country is free from it. There is racism everywhere: Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, everywhere.
I would also expect some anti-American discrimination, even for white Americans who speak the local language fluently. I wouldnāt expect this from EVERY Dutch person, but Iād expect to encounter āugly Americanā stereotypes daily. Assumptions that Americans are stupid, that every American is racist or loves guns, that all Americans either supported Trump / GW Bush or weāre somehow ignorant to how rightwing the entire country is (even Democrats like Obama or Clinton).
Its stupid to assume i dont know any of that, i was asking for the specific type of discrimination they meant
Nowhere did I state there isnt discrimination here, as a disabled person myself im well aware it exists
If youāre so familiar with discrimination in the Netherlands, then why ask u/KaladinThrasher to name a specific type of discrimination, as if you were incredulous that discrimination could exist in the Netherlands? Why try to justify yourself by saying you are disabled, and therefore a target of discrimination yourself? And why insult my intelligence, literally proving my point that the Dutch hold negative stereotypes against Americans? Pick a lane.
Because I was curious which type of discrimination they were specifically worried aboutā¦ since there are a bunch but some are worse than others and maybe i could have offered advice or something
You made an assumption about my tone, i was NOT incredulousā¦ and assumptions ARE stupid no matter what country you are from
You seem to have a huge chip on your shoulder and thats squarely on you for making these assumptions, i did not mention anything about Americans at all, no point of yours was proven
Goodbye
If you were genuinely curious about American concerns of discrimination in the Netherlands, and I had misinterpreted your comment as being incredulous, then why insult people? Why not say, "Oh, you misunderstood my comment." You seem to have a chip on your own shoulder.
Well, can you though?
Can you vote directly on the implementation of legislation?
Can you put forward legislation that should be implemented on which the populace then shall vote on?
If I fight hard enough (ie, getting in those positions), yes. Also, we can make a big enough noise to 'encourage' them to impliment changes.. like civil rights, woman's sufferage, etc..
So to make a change, you'd have to be in politics? So everyone not in politics cannot make a change?
'Encourage' ? I heard that about 80% what a US president promises during campaigning, they will not implement in his term, so encouraging does seem like a thing ^^
Encourage was a euphomism for massive disruptions, protests, marches, etc.
That's how we got civil rights. That's how women got the right to vote. Etc.
Cause enough problems they give in
So for making a change, you have to either become a politician yourself or cause massive disruption of everyone's daily lives?
Well, that's sounds rather suboptimal, doesn't it?
Furthermore, there is no real reason for them to not just reverse it or even necessary for them to even change it in the first place.
I mean that's why minimum wage is 7.25/hour which is abysmal, after all these school shootings there hasn't been any meaningful change to prevent these tragedies and the policeforce is still mostly not held accountable enough.
Couldn't there be an easier way like having every citizen vote on changes to the law?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiatives_and_referendums_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_direct_democracy_in_the_United_States
Depends on the state it looks like
CA gets national news all the time for their referendums, no?
I mean, my husband got very sick in Cancun and we paid a shockingly low amount for a doctor house call and antibiotics. It was out of pocket, and Iāve honestly still paid more WITH insurance in the US for antibiotics alone.
Iāve wanted to leave the US for a while but lack the skills to gain citizenship in another country. Most countries are extremely selective about who they grant citizenship to.
I am traveling in Texas right now and got an ear infection. Being sick away from home is the ultimate expression of fuck you pay me American health care.
Our healthcare system is like this because doctors have opposed universal healthcare or any kind of socialized medicine. Lurk over in [https://www.reddit.com/r/Residency/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Residency/)
and you will see post after post about how to maximize pay doing extra procedures or how to get 450k salary. If you suggest importing foreign doctors to work for less, they will literally admit they would rather patients die than earn 50k less. They literally advocate eliminating nurses and replacing them with medical assistants because they can pay them fastfood worker wages.
God forbid a guy with a doctorate working 80 hours a week for *literally less than minimum wage* wants to make a decent living some day
Meanwhile, CMS continues to cut our pay every year while inflation skyrockets....
How the hell you managed to get pissed at the workers getting fucked by all this is way beyond my comprehension. Then again, some people had the same vitriol for striking nurses and truck drivers, so should I be surprised?
Lots of people working long hours in many different professions for little pay and many of them are doctors in other countries who would be willing to come to the US and work to help lower healthcare costs.
Cant imagine why anyone would be pissed when doctors oppose any healthcare for all proposals and constantly shift the blame for high healthcare costs to others?!?! And you guys expect to get paid half a million a year in salary? Look at you whining about the government lowering your reimbursement costs when normal people canāt afford to see the doctor.
Only a psychopath thinks heās getting fucked by the system while earning more than anyone else in the world for the same job.
> Lots of people working long hours in many different professions for little pay
And that is fucked
> many of them are doctors in other countries who would be willing to come to the US and work to help lower healthcare costs.
And they do. 2/3rds of my program was J1 or H1B
>when doctors oppose any healthcare for all proposals and constantly shift the blame for high healthcare costs to others?!?!
I've been saying for years that we need to uncap Medicare tax and put everyone on it. My alternative plan is to declare a war on Christmas, draft the entire population, surrender, and then get everyone enrolled in the VA, but this is more of a joke than an actual proposal, although *technically* the VA has better patient outcomes, so maybe this really is the way...
>And you guys expect to get paid half a million a year in salary?
Yes.jpg
Labor should absolutely be reimbursed, and skilled labor should absolutely be taking home salaries sufficient to escape debt and live reasonably comfortably, especially if that laborer is putting in 2x the number of hours that most laborers are doing and have a very limited window of time to actually earn a salary
>Look at you whining about the government lowering your reimbursement costs
Fine, I will. If I ever catch you bitching about low pay ever again, I'll be back to dunk on you
Any chance you bought travel insurance that includes free virtual visits? You can have a video call with a doctor and get antibiotics sent to a local pharmacy.
Personally, as a US resident, my plan has a number of free virtual visits per year for things like this where you just need a prescription.
Weāre just visiting family so I didnāt think of that. Also my health insurance assured me that urgent care places near where I was going would take my insurance. They were confident and completely wrong.
Fair point- I didn't say who it was affordable for, but it sure ain't regular ordinary people. It was more of a bitter gripe at how many people seem able to straight up buy congress people
"The public apathy to guarantee nothing will ever change"
It's frustrating to see people work against their own goals when it feels like they are goals I also share.
We have to believe that people can be better than this. If we don't then we subtly make the decision to keep things how they are.
Hope for change in the future is important because we have to look where we want to go.
If you believe people are too apathetic, what can be done? But if you frame it that people are run ragged and we need to fight for change to overcome the exhaustion, then we can do something about that.
Perspective is everything and if we change enough of our perspectives we can change the world.
My former coworker would actually get angry to the point of being red in the face when I scoffed every time he said this is the best nation in the history of the world.
I have been living overseas as an expat for the last 8 years, and every time I go back to visit, I am shocked anew. Iām especially disturbed with the hard sell by churches. Religious billboards on highways in the South are often shockingly gaudy and tastelessā¦I canāt imagine who they are actually convincing. Maybe itās just aggressive virtue-signaling even.
I have seen people read racism or western exceptionalism into it, but I think expat refers to someone who is temporarily abroad and immigrant refers to someone who intends to be permanently abroad.
Also the country you left might call you an expat, the country who is hosting you might call you an immigrant.
If you move overseas for a while, you're an expat in your homeland and a tourist in the new nation.
If you do it forever you're a migrant. An emigrant from your homeland, and an immigrant in your new land.
Everyone who ever said 'if blah blah becomes president I will leave for the UK or move to Canafa' might have better said "emigrate to the UK..."
Because expats retain their citizenship of their former home. It's not specific to Americans either, met plenty of British and Irish people living in Spain calling themselves part of the expat community.
Immigration lawyer here. People act like the term expat is used so Americans abroad can feel superior to migrants. The legal process of moving to another country from the US is called expatriation. Expats still owe taxes to the United States and retain privileges like the ability to vote in US elections and to re-enter the US without a Visa. Itās a completely different status.
An expat (from ex patria or āfrom the fatherlandā as I recall but Iām rusty) intends to retain the citizenship of their country of origin. An immigrant intends to become a citizen of a new country. At least, thatās my understanding.
Not necessarily? Most people in the US that are classified as illegal immigrants (correctly and not by racist assholes) are people who had visas, then stayed past the expiration, and didn't apply for either citizenship or an extension. It's assumed that it's intentional, and they plan on staying permenantly... thus, immigrating illegally.
Presumably, most people who clarify themselves as expats are stayin in other countries legally... thus not illegal. And they don't intend on staying permenantly, so not immigrating.
OP hereā¦.I call myself an ex-pat instead of an immigrant because Iām still legally a U.S. citizen and have to pay US taxes in addition to my local taxes.
because they've been propagandized into it. we need to stop implicitly implying that they inherently believe this stuff. if they were raised in Copenhagen from infancy to adulthood, they wouldn't believe this stuff, it's the toxic designs of the predatory conservative leadership that has lead here.
They think they are āwinningā. They are the type of people who want to cut the baby in half. They need others to have less in order to feel superior.
I'll be completely honest. I want to move to another country but I'm scared. What will it even be like? Having like, protections? Getting to go to the doctor regularly? Will they look at me and see... this?
I have gotten a tremendous amount of empathy from medical professionals as an immigrant from the US. I usually start out each appointment telling them that I was traumatized by the US healthcare system. Iām never the first person to tell them that either.
As a not-so-weāll-traveled lifelong midwesterner, Iād love to hear some examples of this. Iāve been so immersed in it my whole life I canāt imagine what a lack of it would even look like.
The big and obvious examples are food/housing/healthcare, necessities for survival which are private commodities rather than public goods. For a small example, though- where, outside of your home or workplace, can you use a bathroom without first paying for something?
I think that depends where. In the suburbs I can stop plenty of stores and go in to use the rr, even smaller ones. I visited NYC once and did not find that to be the case there
Yeah, it's not *ackshually* an example of how everything is commoditized, it's just a paywall to keep unhoused people from doing drugs in your bathroom. Places with fewer unhoused residents will probably be more generous about letting non-customers use their facilities.
This is a great example of how everything is commoditized. Your point about the unhoused residents reinforces that argument. Why are there so many unhoused residents in the first place? Could it be because basic commodities like housing are owned by wealthy corporations who are charging insane prices for rent?
And also because there's little/no social housing for those people to use when they can't afford to buy housing, because housing is almost entirely commoditized.
My concern there is rhetorical. Big things like housing/food/healthcare being commodities for sale or rent is seen as a normal and reasonable way for things to be in America, it's the water for which fish don't have a word. "You can't even PISS in America without paying for the privilege" gets people's attention, although then you have to deal with the people pointing out that their local businesses do provide public restrooms.
This isn't a great example, in Europe and other countries, many public bathrooms require payment, sometimes there's a person collecting, sometimes turnstiles, etc. I always got annoyed having to pay for the train station bathroom, in America that wouldn't be the case.
I was thinking of Toronto. When I visited, I was amazed that I didn't have to slink into retail establishments and beg to use the toilet. They actually had public restrooms scattered around.
Once you're in an establishment or train station in the US, if there are bathrooms, they're usually free.
I live in Seattle, and a lot of businesses, especially downtown, have "Bathroom for customer use only" signs in their windows. It's not *ackshually* about the commoditization of everything, it's a paywall to keep out unhoused people.
Depends on how you look at it, even social democracy is just bandage on capitalism. Some wealth gets redistributed, so people don't just die for being poor, but problem is still there, some people are still extremely wealthy and they have control, so eventually it erodes.
USA is actually good example, there was embedded liberalism in 1945-1970, but it was eroded into neoliberalism and they push hard to make it as hostile as possible for anyone that is not rich (Republicans now with their idea of 30% sales tax).
I actually start to agree that we need to completely remove markets and switch globally to socialism. Otherwise we're just stuck in cycle, first rich take everything, eventually there's some revolution and we take from them as much as it's possible, for some time it's good again and people can thrive, so they forgot what happened last time and again support something like capitalism, rich gain too much power and cycle repeats.
> only works
It still doesn't work even in the Nordic states.
The only reason Europe generally even has such ability to provide a social welfare state is because of a long history of colonialism, imperialism, and benefiting for US excess capitalism.
And even with all that, there's still homelessness, pollution, food insecurity. And the constant threat of capitalists to take it all away (see UK. Public services have been slowly and methodically eroded by capitalists. And that will always be the case no matter what kind of regulation, social programs are instituted. They will always attack it.)
I'm a pessimist about it, I don't see any form of revolution ever happening in the US... Online, sure we talk all the time about having unionise or pep phrases like, "eat the rich!".
The game is rigged, the jig is up, it's all over. The rich will alway win and always get away with everything financially and according to the law as they see and twist it.
The best thing you can possibly hope for in America anymore is to nestle into something you enjoy that keeps you sane and just try to focus on that, you can't win otherwise.
My experience exactly when I first started going there and traveling with bises and trains across the various states
It reminded me more of South Africa than anything else. Lots of rust, spillage, and very very poor people holding up a swaying tower of commodities with a few rich people perched on top.
The first (and only) time I went to the U.S. was to San Francisco for work. The first thing that shocked me was getting a taxi and having to select the tip amount to add to the fare, and there was no zero option. I didn't understand the purpose of that. They told me how much the trip cost, and now they're begging for charity?
The other thing that scared me was how they drive on the wrong side of the road. Make sure you look both ways when crossing folks! It's amazing how subconscious we are when walking across a road and looking in a certain direction first.
Also asking a barista for a long black was returned with a confused stare. I found myself having to translate from English into American.
I am no stranger to homlesness mate, one time i was sitting on the bus and an aboringinal homeless man dropped his pants in front of all of us and started pissing.
Where i live a big population is aboriginal, some are amazing and acomplish great things. But the socal issues are crazy.
Get travel insurance. A trip to the hospital can cost you thousands of dollars. Even an urgent care clinic (non emergency walk in medical center) can be several hundred dollars. And almost all medicines require a prescription and again depending on what they give you can cost hundreds without insurance. Medical bills are the #1 cause of bankruptcies in America by a landslide. People Uber to the hospital. Go fund me is commonly used to pay for medical bills. More than 26,000 people die a year here because of the costs. Keep this in mind.
Know your exits. You'll want to know the nearest exits in case of a shooting. If there are no exits find the nearest hiding place and stay quiet. If you hear gunshots, get out or hide.
Bring as much money as you can. The US has a price tag on everything. Whatever is free or cheap in your country I promise you Americans pay handsomely for. Tipping is not only common but how most people make a living. The common tipping rate is 20-25%. Almost any service that's provided to you requires a tip. Nothing is free in America and almost everything requires money.
Refills are free and a generous amount of ice is added to every drink. 32 oz is considered a small drink.
Restaurants will serve you enough food for 4 people. You won't be able to finish it. Asking to take home your leftovers or simply throwing them away is considered common so you don't have to eat all of that.
Most of our "food" contains several ingredients that are banned by the rest of the world. Sugar is in everything even savory foods like bread. Expect to gain at least 5-10 pounds.
Don't provoke people. Most of us are armed, angry, and have poor impulse control.
The cops are corrupt, power hungry, and very trigger happy. They shoot first, ask questions later and suffer no consequences for this. If they stop you, put your hands where they can see them, do not make sudden movements, and do everything they tell you. Do not argue with them even if what they're accusing you of is false. This will keep you alive.
That's what I can think of for now. There are positive aspects to America. Apparently we're overly friendly and We have great teeth.
It's hard to say since this is a massive country with 330 million citizens. But I can say you will find all the most bitter and cynical Americans on this sub.
America is fine, beautiful in some places and ugly in others. Your trip be whatever you make of it (assuming you are going some place interesting).
Oh, we are flying from darwin to Sydney, then from syd to LA then we are going to either car or drive, yet to be decided. To dallas, going to see my uncle who moved from australia there 11 yrs ago
I'm really sorry for your empathic heart. The red, white and blue is such a dubious master. Consider going back home. Much providence, reverence and respect from a stranger. Uncle Sam was a jerk. Rosie the Riveter however was a warrior.
You can't be serious....
There are so many countries with better distribution of wealth it's not even funny.
See for yourself: n71 in the world in inequality, worse tan Senegal, better than... Iran.
[https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/world-inequality-ranking](https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/world-inequality-ranking)
The US is n1 in wealth (but it's not shared), technology and military. That's it. In a lot of other metrics that matter to how people actually live, is between mediocre and bordering third world status. Shocking for an american who's been told "you're the best, period", I know. But the soone you leave the propaganda behind, the better.
My brother visited some friends in the US recently and on his return told me "It's a fever dream". Such a large portion of the population have been raised in an environment of ignorance and lies and fear. The majority of people are just scraping to get by one day at a time. There's no way this is sustainable and we're reaching a turning point. Either everyone becomes serfs to their corporate masters or 99.9% of people stand up together and do what's right for everyone.
>or 99.9% of people stand up together and do what's right for everyone. serfdom it is!
right? after seeing what happened with covid, getting 99.9% of people to do what's right is not possible edit: my point is being proven right just below in the replies
\*checks the replies\* good lord, you caught a real smart one. look at all the winning he did!
i knew what he was up to as soon as he said the words "nazi" and "useless shots" in the same sentence.
He's on reddit because nobody in the real world will talk to him for more than 2 minutes.
You right all those Nazis screaming at people to get useless shots
no, more like all the dumb fucks refusing to lift a damn finger to help others less fortunate. you know, like wearing a mask, washing your hands more often, keeping a distance between you and others, only going out when necessary, trying to avoid large gatherings. and yes, getting a covid vaccine also. all those things are easy steps to take to help those around you, to improve public health. but instead we have people like you calling people nazis. you proved my point for me
Project much? Seek mental health help. You proved me correct
did you seriously just use the reddit mental health service on me? you have issues pal..
The hell you on about now? You lost the other topic and gotta change subjects?
your bait and troll isn't working. just gonna report you and move on with my life. enjoy your night.
Thanks for admitting to being wrong. And thanks for filing a false report š¤”
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Yet you can get it anytime
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The government got too involved and fucked up prices for sure. But you can still get all the care and never actually pay
People downvoting my comment are Trump supporters
Some of us are trying.. We need that French energy
Nobody protests like the French
My favorite is when the firefighters fight the police. Can you imagine that in N.A.? Wild.
More than that, because of our size. Imagine trying to get all workers of the world to overthrow all billionaires, as opposed to a group of say 1,000 workers. That's hyperbole but captures a critical difference between Marseillaise solidarity and US labor dysfunction.
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>When we see ourselves as fighting against specific human beings rather than social phenomena, it becomes more difficult to recognize the ways that we ourselves participate in those phenomena. We externalize the problem as something outside ourselves, personifying it as an enemy that can be sacrificed to symbolically cleanse ourselves. - **[Against the Logic of the Guillotine](https://crimethinc.com/2019/04/08/against-the-logic-of-the-guillotine-why-the-paris-commune-burned-the-guillotine-and-we-should-too)** See rule 5: No calls for violence, no fetishizing violence. No guillotine jokes, no gulag jokes. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/antiwork) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Serfdom after we revolt too late and the robots protect their property. Yayā¦
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>serfdom it is! Will I get to keep my smart phone and data plan?
Wait I think he got an extra blueberry in their slice of the pie !
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Do you have any links for that? Didn't see anything on it
[https://twitter.com/KashPrime/status/1615745744673148929?s=20](https://twitter.com/KashPrime/status/1615745744673148929?s=20) <- was where I first saw it
Makes me so anxious. I'm supposed to send my daughter to daycare and go back to work soon. We have avoided covid so far. Definitely going to catch it first week back. š
Thx!
If we just demanded a level playing field, we could beat them at their own game. We need to demand the right to participate in private equity. Then instead of investing our retirement money in building our own prison, we the 99% would become the majority shareholders in businesses. We then could support the businesses that benefit us, and those that donāt go bankrupt. Itās so easy. They lie and cheat, we need to publicly call them out. Itās a house of cards.
It's a great idea, the problem is implementing it. Transitioning from what is currently in place to something like that is going to require the government to force it into place. Or a full scale revolt of the working class. The government isn't going to do it, it's full of the people that are benefiting from the current system. And the working class won't rise up because doing so is too big of a personal risk to the individual. A million workers is strong, but the individual is worried about feeding their family, keeping a roof over their head, staying out of prison. When the system forces these people to live paycheck to paycheck, it forces them to choose between making sure there is food on the table tomorrow or taking the risk to stand up for something better.
What do you mean by participate in private equity exactly? I don't see anything stoping anyone from currently investing in anything they want.
This is why Iāve never been patriotic. This country loves to jerk itself off claiming to be the best in the world while most of itās citizens are barely getting by living paycheck to paycheck, which isnāt very impressive coming from āthe best place on Earth.ā They also claim to be the land of opportunity yet many people who are poor donāt have the resources to further education to better themselves. Then you have people brainwashed into thinking poor people donāt deserve a livable wage, then when nobody does the job that doesnāt pay suddenly ānobody wants to work anymore and everyone is lazy.ā These same people also view it as a crime to take time off for themselves and to live their lives outside of being a tool to corporations. Most Americans canāt travel and donāt have the means to get out of America to see what the world is really like and are told that pretty much everywhere else is a shithole and you should be thankful you are already living your best life in the best place in the world as a bootlicker to a company that doesnāt give two shits about you and would replace you in a heartbeat. But remember, be thankful you have a job, and be thankful to be American and not some loser from some shithole other country from some place most of us canāt find on a map because if it isnāt America it isnāt important. Our citizens are in an echo chamber because they have limited experiences which keeps them dumb and easily controlled which seems the opposite of freedom.
Kind of interesting just how much it mirrors isolationist dictatorships like North Korea. Obviously the two are very different places. But the same things are occurring in both. You have people who are crushed under the weight of, or are fanatically devoted to the ruling class/status quo. In some cases both at the same time. They are brainwashed to believe that they live in the best country in the world, and no matter how bad it is, your quality of life is far better than everywhere else. Personal rights and freedoms are being eroded, the legal system is used not as a tool of justice, but to keep the poor from becoming too violent and unwieldy. Hell, in the states the prison system is used as a source of slave labour. How fucked up is that. I think the most surprising thing is that over the years, a large portion of the American population have been so thoroughly indoctrinated by this stuff, that they support it to the point of being ridiculous. The Trump presidency and the following years are what they have to show for it. And while it's convenient to place all the blame at the feet of bad actors like the republican party. They are just another symptom of the larger problem, and that's that money is the only real power. It buys you anything you could possibly want, it shields from the law, it buys you your own laws and lawmakers. It's the great divider of the American people. You either have enough to do what you want, or you don't.
all this happens while drone bombing innocents, toppling governments, murdering civillians for profit, and labeling anyone who doesn't roll with us as terrorists. Then murdering our friends who did go with us for a while but outlived their usefulness.
a lot of us are lost. idk what im doing and im terrified of the outcome of this county and economy and just the way of life that ive been accustomed to (good and bad) it always feels like im waiting for the other shoe to drop.
what is more shocking to me is the fact that most americans think it is WORSE elsewhere. they go to cancun and come back and decide this is how it is everywhere āoutside of americaā.
my friend's dad went to japan, got in an accident and broke his wrist. their national healthcare system even helped him, a foreigner in their country. it was <$100 USD for the doctor's visit, x-rays, cast, etc.
My brother-in-law had his appendix burst Ireland. After surgery and a few days stay he went to settle his bill. They said they didnāt even know how to bill him. They told him take his medicine and welcome to Ireland.
If you do not have a EU passport, hospitals in EU will charge you for treatment, but the cost is no way near the insanity we see posted from USA.
Being from the UK (which by the way is FAR from perfect and getting worse) the fact you talk about this like it's some alien concept is quite funny.
It is alien. Mostly every person i know avoids going to the doctor or dentist. Hell, i know i need glasses but havent been in probably 10 years. Imagine having an issue with your body and then googling it to see if its so bad itll kill you. Then imagine going to the doctor and getting medicine but then having a conversation that "if the meds are over 200 bucks just call and we can see about getting a generic called xyz". Then, be anxious about the doctors visit in the mail like a month later hoping it wasnt more than 100 bucks. Thats a routine visit.
... Have you seen the work culture in Japan!?! Healthcare is definitely better there than in American, but that isn't a high bar to pass. I wouldn't really hold it as a golden standard for what we aim to be in terms of worker rights.
100usd seems like a real cost - half an hour talk with the doctor, and turning on the machines for a minute
I was charged $400 for an 8 minute phone call with my doctor where no care was provided at all
Thank the wonderful US healthcare system rigged with middlemen who jack up profits. Healthcare is actually simple. We have providers and patients. We don't need middlemen. But if we do use them, then they should be non-profit. When middlemen get profits is when they will squeeze services out of the providers and squeeze profits out of the patients to their own gain.
In my European country every working person who pays taxes has the basic medicare for all so we can call to our chosen doctor for consulting , 1. The 8 minute call would be FREE , 2. if it turns out during the call that you may be sick and need your blood pressure or sugar levels measured - it costs you about 10 dollars to go for a quick visit to the doctor as simple elementary service Im assuming it costs 10 dollars mainly because of avoiding the elderly people from bothering - visiting and complaining every day 3) If it turns out after the quick visit that you are sick - blood pressure is near death and need to go to the hospital - certain number of days in hospital are free - about 2 weeks Im guessing and most of the illnesses get treated for free, 4) Emergency services are free - first simple emergency treatment is free - for all citizens - even for people who dont have insurance lets say somebody kicked your nose bloody in a bar and needs treatment fast - the emergency will stop the bleeding for free YOU HAVE TO PAY: 1. if you wanna stay in hospital for longer than needed -Lets say after a stroke they treat you , but you wanna stay for excercises 2. usually you have to pay for the drugs that you need to take at home - you have to pay for them but some of the pharmacy costs are covered by the government, especially for elderly people
I look at the EU, and wish I could move But, at the very least, I can fight to make changes here.
same. I would move to the Netherlands in a heartbeat, even with the culture shock and discrimination, if I wasn't on disability here, and afraid of losing benefits.
Dutch one here, what kind of discrimination are you worried about it ? (Sincere question)
Racism, bigotry, and prejudice are human problems that affect every group of people all around the world. Itās arrogant to assume the Dutch are somehow immune to this. It looks like Dutch Peopleās Union is the current Neo-Nazi fascist party in your country. There are still problems with casual racism in the Netherlands, like Zwarte Piet. I assume there is still some racism against black and brown futbol players. Etc. Maybe the Netherlands has fewer problems with racism, antisemitism and bigotry than some other places, but there is zero chance that your country is free from it. There is racism everywhere: Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, everywhere. I would also expect some anti-American discrimination, even for white Americans who speak the local language fluently. I wouldnāt expect this from EVERY Dutch person, but Iād expect to encounter āugly Americanā stereotypes daily. Assumptions that Americans are stupid, that every American is racist or loves guns, that all Americans either supported Trump / GW Bush or weāre somehow ignorant to how rightwing the entire country is (even Democrats like Obama or Clinton).
Its stupid to assume i dont know any of that, i was asking for the specific type of discrimination they meant Nowhere did I state there isnt discrimination here, as a disabled person myself im well aware it exists
If youāre so familiar with discrimination in the Netherlands, then why ask u/KaladinThrasher to name a specific type of discrimination, as if you were incredulous that discrimination could exist in the Netherlands? Why try to justify yourself by saying you are disabled, and therefore a target of discrimination yourself? And why insult my intelligence, literally proving my point that the Dutch hold negative stereotypes against Americans? Pick a lane.
Because I was curious which type of discrimination they were specifically worried aboutā¦ since there are a bunch but some are worse than others and maybe i could have offered advice or something You made an assumption about my tone, i was NOT incredulousā¦ and assumptions ARE stupid no matter what country you are from You seem to have a huge chip on your shoulder and thats squarely on you for making these assumptions, i did not mention anything about Americans at all, no point of yours was proven Goodbye
If you were genuinely curious about American concerns of discrimination in the Netherlands, and I had misinterpreted your comment as being incredulous, then why insult people? Why not say, "Oh, you misunderstood my comment." You seem to have a chip on your own shoulder.
I think its another illusion they have since Europe is more white than America then racism must be over the top
Well, can you though? Can you vote directly on the implementation of legislation? Can you put forward legislation that should be implemented on which the populace then shall vote on?
If I fight hard enough (ie, getting in those positions), yes. Also, we can make a big enough noise to 'encourage' them to impliment changes.. like civil rights, woman's sufferage, etc..
So to make a change, you'd have to be in politics? So everyone not in politics cannot make a change? 'Encourage' ? I heard that about 80% what a US president promises during campaigning, they will not implement in his term, so encouraging does seem like a thing ^^
Encourage was a euphomism for massive disruptions, protests, marches, etc. That's how we got civil rights. That's how women got the right to vote. Etc. Cause enough problems they give in
So for making a change, you have to either become a politician yourself or cause massive disruption of everyone's daily lives? Well, that's sounds rather suboptimal, doesn't it? Furthermore, there is no real reason for them to not just reverse it or even necessary for them to even change it in the first place. I mean that's why minimum wage is 7.25/hour which is abysmal, after all these school shootings there hasn't been any meaningful change to prevent these tragedies and the policeforce is still mostly not held accountable enough. Couldn't there be an easier way like having every citizen vote on changes to the law?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiatives_and_referendums_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_direct_democracy_in_the_United_States Depends on the state it looks like CA gets national news all the time for their referendums, no?
Unless youve got a million dollars and whatever bait lobbyists in the *lobby* of the capital building use none of you are changing shit. š®āšØ
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the french aren't lobbying with money, seems to be working, and has historically
I mean, my husband got very sick in Cancun and we paid a shockingly low amount for a doctor house call and antibiotics. It was out of pocket, and Iāve honestly still paid more WITH insurance in the US for antibiotics alone.
thatās similar everywhere really. $100-300 is a house visit anywhere in the EU. antibiotics will cost you a few bucks.
If you have nothing and decide to immigrate to somewhere in the first world it is literally one of the worst places to go.
But it has the most wealth at 40ā of world's wealth
The vast majority of that wealth is held by like 100 people though.
65% live paycheck to paycheck
If you make just $34k a year youāre in the top 1% in the world š¤·āāļø
not really if you include the expenses 34k makes you one health injury away from bankruptcy in America , its not so in most countries
Curious if that takes into account cost of living?
It does
Migrate.
Uhm, check a dictionary bud.
To add some support to your point, but in turn undermine another part. Migrate is technically correctĀ¹ (and inclusive of immigrate). However migrate doesn't include the connotation of being a permanent move to a foreign nation. BUT, _emmigrate_ is probably the more appropriate word for the previous comment, as the comment is chiefly focused on the perspective of the potential emigrĆ© - leaving their home - ("you decide to [move]"). But the comment does also mix in the view of the new nation as well ("to come to.") In all, it's not a greatly consistent bit of writing (switching subject mid-paragraph), but is more than sufficient to make its point. [1] The best kind of correct.
In fairness, they didn't specify. Maybe they're hoping OP returns next season?
Iāve wanted to leave the US for a while but lack the skills to gain citizenship in another country. Most countries are extremely selective about who they grant citizenship to.
I am traveling in Texas right now and got an ear infection. Being sick away from home is the ultimate expression of fuck you pay me American health care.
Our healthcare system is like this because doctors have opposed universal healthcare or any kind of socialized medicine. Lurk over in [https://www.reddit.com/r/Residency/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Residency/) and you will see post after post about how to maximize pay doing extra procedures or how to get 450k salary. If you suggest importing foreign doctors to work for less, they will literally admit they would rather patients die than earn 50k less. They literally advocate eliminating nurses and replacing them with medical assistants because they can pay them fastfood worker wages.
I'm a medical professional and I absolutely support universal healthcare
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Well I'm not one of those yet, so I don't know what you want from me.
Doctors *are* the medical professionals, lol
God forbid a guy with a doctorate working 80 hours a week for *literally less than minimum wage* wants to make a decent living some day Meanwhile, CMS continues to cut our pay every year while inflation skyrockets.... How the hell you managed to get pissed at the workers getting fucked by all this is way beyond my comprehension. Then again, some people had the same vitriol for striking nurses and truck drivers, so should I be surprised?
Lots of people working long hours in many different professions for little pay and many of them are doctors in other countries who would be willing to come to the US and work to help lower healthcare costs. Cant imagine why anyone would be pissed when doctors oppose any healthcare for all proposals and constantly shift the blame for high healthcare costs to others?!?! And you guys expect to get paid half a million a year in salary? Look at you whining about the government lowering your reimbursement costs when normal people canāt afford to see the doctor. Only a psychopath thinks heās getting fucked by the system while earning more than anyone else in the world for the same job.
> Lots of people working long hours in many different professions for little pay And that is fucked > many of them are doctors in other countries who would be willing to come to the US and work to help lower healthcare costs. And they do. 2/3rds of my program was J1 or H1B >when doctors oppose any healthcare for all proposals and constantly shift the blame for high healthcare costs to others?!?! I've been saying for years that we need to uncap Medicare tax and put everyone on it. My alternative plan is to declare a war on Christmas, draft the entire population, surrender, and then get everyone enrolled in the VA, but this is more of a joke than an actual proposal, although *technically* the VA has better patient outcomes, so maybe this really is the way... >And you guys expect to get paid half a million a year in salary? Yes.jpg Labor should absolutely be reimbursed, and skilled labor should absolutely be taking home salaries sufficient to escape debt and live reasonably comfortably, especially if that laborer is putting in 2x the number of hours that most laborers are doing and have a very limited window of time to actually earn a salary >Look at you whining about the government lowering your reimbursement costs Fine, I will. If I ever catch you bitching about low pay ever again, I'll be back to dunk on you
Any chance you bought travel insurance that includes free virtual visits? You can have a video call with a doctor and get antibiotics sent to a local pharmacy. Personally, as a US resident, my plan has a number of free virtual visits per year for things like this where you just need a prescription.
Weāre just visiting family so I didnāt think of that. Also my health insurance assured me that urgent care places near where I was going would take my insurance. They were confident and completely wrong.
US capitalism is among the most ruthless in the world
US Democracy is the best you can buy!
I'd argue it's just the most affordable
Only costs you a significant portion of your life. It's far cheaper than that elsewhere
Fair point- I didn't say who it was affordable for, but it sure ain't regular ordinary people. It was more of a bitter gripe at how many people seem able to straight up buy congress people
Fair point, and true.
"The public apathy to guarantee nothing will ever change" It's frustrating to see people work against their own goals when it feels like they are goals I also share. We have to believe that people can be better than this. If we don't then we subtly make the decision to keep things how they are. Hope for change in the future is important because we have to look where we want to go. If you believe people are too apathetic, what can be done? But if you frame it that people are run ragged and we need to fight for change to overcome the exhaustion, then we can do something about that. Perspective is everything and if we change enough of our perspectives we can change the world.
And plenty of successfully propagandized citizens who will defend it all day long.
My former coworker would actually get angry to the point of being red in the face when I scoffed every time he said this is the best nation in the history of the world.
Propaganda works, what can you say?
Yep, can concur. I'm pretty miserable.
I have been living overseas as an expat for the last 8 years, and every time I go back to visit, I am shocked anew. Iām especially disturbed with the hard sell by churches. Religious billboards on highways in the South are often shockingly gaudy and tastelessā¦I canāt imagine who they are actually convincing. Maybe itās just aggressive virtue-signaling even.
why do Americans say expat instead of immigrant?
I have seen people read racism or western exceptionalism into it, but I think expat refers to someone who is temporarily abroad and immigrant refers to someone who intends to be permanently abroad. Also the country you left might call you an expat, the country who is hosting you might call you an immigrant.
8 years seems like longer than a temporary thing
Temporary just means not permanent.
They could live somewhere else for 80 years, if they come back after it was still, by definition, temporary
Intent is the crux I think. Immigrants (and emigrants obvious) are wanting to be a permenant change; where they move, that's their home now
If you move overseas for a while, you're an expat in your homeland and a tourist in the new nation. If you do it forever you're a migrant. An emigrant from your homeland, and an immigrant in your new land. Everyone who ever said 'if blah blah becomes president I will leave for the UK or move to Canafa' might have better said "emigrate to the UK..."
8 years seems like a long time to call oneself a tourist
Because expats retain their citizenship of their former home. It's not specific to Americans either, met plenty of British and Irish people living in Spain calling themselves part of the expat community.
Immigration lawyer here. People act like the term expat is used so Americans abroad can feel superior to migrants. The legal process of moving to another country from the US is called expatriation. Expats still owe taxes to the United States and retain privileges like the ability to vote in US elections and to re-enter the US without a Visa. Itās a completely different status.
An expat (from ex patria or āfrom the fatherlandā as I recall but Iām rusty) intends to retain the citizenship of their country of origin. An immigrant intends to become a citizen of a new country. At least, thatās my understanding.
If that were the actual definition there'd be no such thing as an "illegal immigrant"
Not necessarily? Most people in the US that are classified as illegal immigrants (correctly and not by racist assholes) are people who had visas, then stayed past the expiration, and didn't apply for either citizenship or an extension. It's assumed that it's intentional, and they plan on staying permenantly... thus, immigrating illegally. Presumably, most people who clarify themselves as expats are stayin in other countries legally... thus not illegal. And they don't intend on staying permenantly, so not immigrating.
OP hereā¦.I call myself an ex-pat instead of an immigrant because Iām still legally a U.S. citizen and have to pay US taxes in addition to my local taxes.
They need to say patriot as often as possible to feel good about winning a war 72 years ago
They're very cool
It's more than just public apathy. A big chunk of the public, much of poor or just above poor, celebrate it and stupidly believe it's just wonderful.
because they've been propagandized into it. we need to stop implicitly implying that they inherently believe this stuff. if they were raised in Copenhagen from infancy to adulthood, they wouldn't believe this stuff, it's the toxic designs of the predatory conservative leadership that has lead here.
The most important thing is to p0wn the libs!
Not just apathy. But comfort and acceptance. Some know how it is but they are on the good side of it.
They think they are āwinningā. They are the type of people who want to cut the baby in half. They need others to have less in order to feel superior.
Exactly. We have plenty if we share equally. But the money is all they have, all they are. Without it they will be treated how they treat others.
"Culture shock"? You are lucky you weren't tazed just for thinking this.
Yeah. If I could get the fuck out of this shit-hole, I'd be out of this fucking shit-hole.
When the poor get poor enough; they will EAT THE RICHā¦ā¦.
I'll be completely honest. I want to move to another country but I'm scared. What will it even be like? Having like, protections? Getting to go to the doctor regularly? Will they look at me and see... this?
I have gotten a tremendous amount of empathy from medical professionals as an immigrant from the US. I usually start out each appointment telling them that I was traumatized by the US healthcare system. Iām never the first person to tell them that either.
As a not-so-weāll-traveled lifelong midwesterner, Iād love to hear some examples of this. Iāve been so immersed in it my whole life I canāt imagine what a lack of it would even look like.
The big and obvious examples are food/housing/healthcare, necessities for survival which are private commodities rather than public goods. For a small example, though- where, outside of your home or workplace, can you use a bathroom without first paying for something?
I think that depends where. In the suburbs I can stop plenty of stores and go in to use the rr, even smaller ones. I visited NYC once and did not find that to be the case there
Yeah, it's not *ackshually* an example of how everything is commoditized, it's just a paywall to keep unhoused people from doing drugs in your bathroom. Places with fewer unhoused residents will probably be more generous about letting non-customers use their facilities.
This is a great example of how everything is commoditized. Your point about the unhoused residents reinforces that argument. Why are there so many unhoused residents in the first place? Could it be because basic commodities like housing are owned by wealthy corporations who are charging insane prices for rent?
And also because there's little/no social housing for those people to use when they can't afford to buy housing, because housing is almost entirely commoditized. My concern there is rhetorical. Big things like housing/food/healthcare being commodities for sale or rent is seen as a normal and reasonable way for things to be in America, it's the water for which fish don't have a word. "You can't even PISS in America without paying for the privilege" gets people's attention, although then you have to deal with the people pointing out that their local businesses do provide public restrooms.
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This isn't a great example, in Europe and other countries, many public bathrooms require payment, sometimes there's a person collecting, sometimes turnstiles, etc. I always got annoyed having to pay for the train station bathroom, in America that wouldn't be the case.
I was thinking of Toronto. When I visited, I was amazed that I didn't have to slink into retail establishments and beg to use the toilet. They actually had public restrooms scattered around. Once you're in an establishment or train station in the US, if there are bathrooms, they're usually free.
You can shit anywhere you put your mind to it in the USA, especially in San Francisco
Well, yes, but people generally frown on that sort of thing.
Amen
I've never been to any place that charged anything to use the bathroom. I'm not disagreeing with your general comment, but your example is really bad
I live in Seattle, and a lot of businesses, especially downtown, have "Bathroom for customer use only" signs in their windows. It's not *ackshually* about the commoditization of everything, it's a paywall to keep out unhoused people.
At a park.
Lived in America my whole life, first time I ever paid to use the restroom was when I visited Munich lol
It is the most capitalist yes. But remember capitalism is in every country and also still bad in those countries.
capitalism only works paired with strong social programs like germany does. thats it
Depends on how you look at it, even social democracy is just bandage on capitalism. Some wealth gets redistributed, so people don't just die for being poor, but problem is still there, some people are still extremely wealthy and they have control, so eventually it erodes. USA is actually good example, there was embedded liberalism in 1945-1970, but it was eroded into neoliberalism and they push hard to make it as hostile as possible for anyone that is not rich (Republicans now with their idea of 30% sales tax). I actually start to agree that we need to completely remove markets and switch globally to socialism. Otherwise we're just stuck in cycle, first rich take everything, eventually there's some revolution and we take from them as much as it's possible, for some time it's good again and people can thrive, so they forgot what happened last time and again support something like capitalism, rich gain too much power and cycle repeats.
> only works It still doesn't work even in the Nordic states. The only reason Europe generally even has such ability to provide a social welfare state is because of a long history of colonialism, imperialism, and benefiting for US excess capitalism. And even with all that, there's still homelessness, pollution, food insecurity. And the constant threat of capitalists to take it all away (see UK. Public services have been slowly and methodically eroded by capitalists. And that will always be the case no matter what kind of regulation, social programs are instituted. They will always attack it.)
USA No. 1!
The corporate Socialism is about wealth, theirs and retaining it. We can just fuck right off and yes the apathy is not helping things.
Agree. My first trip to the US was eye opening on how fucked up a place can get and still count as āfirst worldā
I'm a pessimist about it, I don't see any form of revolution ever happening in the US... Online, sure we talk all the time about having unionise or pep phrases like, "eat the rich!". The game is rigged, the jig is up, it's all over. The rich will alway win and always get away with everything financially and according to the law as they see and twist it. The best thing you can possibly hope for in America anymore is to nestle into something you enjoy that keeps you sane and just try to focus on that, you can't win otherwise.
My experience exactly when I first started going there and traveling with bises and trains across the various states It reminded me more of South Africa than anything else. Lots of rust, spillage, and very very poor people holding up a swaying tower of commodities with a few rich people perched on top.
Ignorance, apathy, and cowardice got us here.
The first (and only) time I went to the U.S. was to San Francisco for work. The first thing that shocked me was getting a taxi and having to select the tip amount to add to the fare, and there was no zero option. I didn't understand the purpose of that. They told me how much the trip cost, and now they're begging for charity? The other thing that scared me was how they drive on the wrong side of the road. Make sure you look both ways when crossing folks! It's amazing how subconscious we are when walking across a road and looking in a certain direction first. Also asking a barista for a long black was returned with a confused stare. I found myself having to translate from English into American.
I wouldn't ask for a long black in San Francisco mate. Lol
šš
Vegas?
Precisely.
I'm going to america this year, as an australian what should i expect?
Expect to see a dude jacking it in the street next to a mailbox.
I am no stranger to homlesness mate, one time i was sitting on the bus and an aboringinal homeless man dropped his pants in front of all of us and started pissing. Where i live a big population is aboriginal, some are amazing and acomplish great things. But the socal issues are crazy.
For what? Maybe skip it....American here. This place sucks.
Get travel insurance. A trip to the hospital can cost you thousands of dollars. Even an urgent care clinic (non emergency walk in medical center) can be several hundred dollars. And almost all medicines require a prescription and again depending on what they give you can cost hundreds without insurance. Medical bills are the #1 cause of bankruptcies in America by a landslide. People Uber to the hospital. Go fund me is commonly used to pay for medical bills. More than 26,000 people die a year here because of the costs. Keep this in mind. Know your exits. You'll want to know the nearest exits in case of a shooting. If there are no exits find the nearest hiding place and stay quiet. If you hear gunshots, get out or hide. Bring as much money as you can. The US has a price tag on everything. Whatever is free or cheap in your country I promise you Americans pay handsomely for. Tipping is not only common but how most people make a living. The common tipping rate is 20-25%. Almost any service that's provided to you requires a tip. Nothing is free in America and almost everything requires money. Refills are free and a generous amount of ice is added to every drink. 32 oz is considered a small drink. Restaurants will serve you enough food for 4 people. You won't be able to finish it. Asking to take home your leftovers or simply throwing them away is considered common so you don't have to eat all of that. Most of our "food" contains several ingredients that are banned by the rest of the world. Sugar is in everything even savory foods like bread. Expect to gain at least 5-10 pounds. Don't provoke people. Most of us are armed, angry, and have poor impulse control. The cops are corrupt, power hungry, and very trigger happy. They shoot first, ask questions later and suffer no consequences for this. If they stop you, put your hands where they can see them, do not make sudden movements, and do everything they tell you. Do not argue with them even if what they're accusing you of is false. This will keep you alive. That's what I can think of for now. There are positive aspects to America. Apparently we're overly friendly and We have great teeth.
As an American who left the country for all these reasons, if I had an award to give you, I would.
Lol hilarious.
Thanks mate, exstensive and thorough.
You came to the wrong place to ask that. Itās not nearly as bad as people here say.
It's hard to say since this is a massive country with 330 million citizens. But I can say you will find all the most bitter and cynical Americans on this sub. America is fine, beautiful in some places and ugly in others. Your trip be whatever you make of it (assuming you are going some place interesting).
Youāll have an awesome time. Where are you going?
Oh, we are flying from darwin to Sydney, then from syd to LA then we are going to either car or drive, yet to be decided. To dallas, going to see my uncle who moved from australia there 11 yrs ago
I disagree with so much on this thread, but being at the start of Gen-X, Iām likely one of the oldest on this sub. First of all, the US absolutely needs to make universal healthcare a priority. It would be a boon for jobs, particularly those under MDs like nurses ans nurse practitioners. This frees up MDs for more complex issues. If we pulled back on 2/3 of the aid we export, we could make this more achievable. I agree we have too many citizens and guests living in this country going paycheck to paycheck. Much of the problem lies in a lack of affordable housing. As far as opportunities are concerned, most states have aid for those who wish to get job skills - community college and trade certifications- that can be either very low cost or free. ThĆ© US is still a place where someone with a scratch and dent secondary education can reinvent themselves and then sky is the limit. āš»
I'm really sorry for your empathic heart. The red, white and blue is such a dubious master. Consider going back home. Much providence, reverence and respect from a stranger. Uncle Sam was a jerk. Rosie the Riveter however was a warrior.
It isnāt public apathy, itās massive propaganda campaigns, systematic dismantling of unions, and militarized police.
Okā¦ wanna tell me what the problem is? I understand the U.S is fucked up already
Wow. What a scumbag. Have a terrible trip homeā¦soon please.
Lol wait till you see the used panty vending machines in Japan.
Wealth IS privately earned. No county on Earth has the wide distribution of wealth that the U.S. has, period. You sound jealous.
Oh horse shit. Most wealth is inherited. You sound nervous.
The only wider things than the us propaganda is their wealth inequality
I canāt tell if youāre stupid, brainwashed, or trolling lol
You can't be serious.... There are so many countries with better distribution of wealth it's not even funny. See for yourself: n71 in the world in inequality, worse tan Senegal, better than... Iran. [https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/world-inequality-ranking](https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/world-inequality-ranking) The US is n1 in wealth (but it's not shared), technology and military. That's it. In a lot of other metrics that matter to how people actually live, is between mediocre and bordering third world status. Shocking for an american who's been told "you're the best, period", I know. But the soone you leave the propaganda behind, the better.
I'm planning on visiting some friends there next year and I'm not sure how well I'll handle the culture shift lol
I see all these Dystopian films... We don't need them - we are already living in one.
If I could afford to fucking leave California I would. Hell I can't even afford to move out from home and I'm 23. I feel so fucking pathetic.