The world Today.

[neorichieb1971]

I paid $700 a month health insurance when I was in the USA. My mortgage was $800. I left in 2006. A few of my friends in the USA make north of $70k right now but I have no idea what health insurance costs are now.

They seem to be able to buy new cars and homes that have pools and double garage and home theater basements with laser projectors so it can't be bad for all.

But one thing is true about Americans, they live for money. Thats all they know. I don't wake up every morning thinking how I am going to make my next $100k I just want to coast along doing what I am doing. Then of course, depending on geography the USA treats the hatchery worker in KY the same as it does the suit in NYC or LA. The argument that both are USA citizens and are treated the same with equal opportunity only works if you're willing to migrate to another state, leave family behind and just see $$$$ signs in your eyes.

As someone rightly put it regarding health insurance in the USA. If everyone became a suit with a high paid job, who would work in Mcdonalds, who would be the janiter in the hospital? This is why universal healthcare is important, because those minor jobs give people worth as well and they might be as important to keeping the GDP cogs turning as anyone else. Most rich people or middle class people put all their money in hiding places and do not push GDP that well because only a small fraction on their income is going into local communities.

When I watched "Sicko" a decade or so ago a UK doctor said the USA doctors have 3 homes, 10 TV's and 6 cars where as he only needed 1 car, 1 TV and 1 home. If you were in the medical field and you were "comfortable plus" that should be be ok in my opinion. But we know this is a minor problem in the USA compared to the mafia style healthcare programs on offer. I am surprised the borders of the USA don't operate like a dry state does, where on the border you can buy alcohol. If surrounding governments put up pharmacies and medical practices inside their lands without passport control I am sure 100s of 1000's of folk would pour in every day

[orange808]

To be fair, most of the bloated expense of the American health care system doesn't go to people that actually provide care. Doctors can earn handsome compensation, but the majority of the money ends up in the hands of "supermanagers" that don't do much of anything--besides scheme ways to siphon more money out of our economy and destroy America's efficiency, health, and standard of living for personal gain. Doctors are useful professionals that do things. The grifters and gangsters ripping us off are standard street three card monte grifter types. They have no trade or skill of any use to society.

[vol.2]

If the minimum wage is raised, they'll just fire everyone and move overseas or contract out.

This won't happen. Not fully. It has been attempted to varying degrees of success. Any tech firm can currently hire software engineers or any tech position in India for 1/8 of what they pay a Silicon Valley engineer. But guess what... they don't!

Not from my experiences.

I’m a degreed mechanical engineer and worked for ConocoPhillips, Boeing, and GE. And mostly Boeing but also GE, I was working with almost exclusively India Engineers making 25% of their prevailing wage.

The whole building was full of Indian, and Chinese contract engineers. This was back in 2008 before the last recession, but I have a strong feeling, the incentives for saving costs have not changed a bit.

I also find that my workplaces (generally in the tech industries and engineering related) have a lot of foreign contractors. However, no one at any of these jobs would even be remotely effected by federal minimum wage laws. Totally different kettle of fish.

[Sima Tuna]

To be fair, most of the bloated expense of the American health care system doesn't go to people that actually provide care. Doctors can earn handsome compensation, but the majority of the money ends up in the hands of "supermanagers" that don't do much of anything--besides scheme ways to siphon more money out of our economy and destroy America's efficiency, health, and standard of living for personal gain. Doctors are useful professionals that do things. The grifters and gangsters ripping us off are standard street three card monte grifter types. They have no trade or skill of any use to society.

This. A lot of the money spent in our health system goes to the insurance companies, who are always looking for more excuses to deny care.

[neorichieb1971]

To be fair, most of the bloated expense of the American health care system doesn't go to people that actually provide care. Doctors can earn handsome compensation, but the majority of the money ends up in the hands of "supermanagers" that don't do much of anything--besides scheme ways to siphon more money out of our economy and destroy America's efficiency, health, and standard of living for personal gain. Doctors are useful professionals that do things. The grifters and gangsters ripping us off are standard street three card monte grifter types. They have no trade or skill of any use to society.

This. A lot of the money spent in our health system goes to the insurance companies, who are always looking for more excuses to deny care.

A Mcdonalds employee who can afford health care should get the same care as the President of the United States. Denying care should be for terminal patients only. Do these people who deny care operate these practices with auto accidents? The main issue for me is the pricing structure around healthcare, most bills i've seen online seem to be complete fabrication. The USA is a really strange beast to me. If the fire service on 911 worked the same way they would of said "nope, we are not covering that", but they went in anyway and lost their lives. Then you have the USA military are the insurance of the whole country, giving life and limb to protect it. So yeah, in certain situations you have an "expectancy" of service, and in healthcare you have a service based on discretion and greed. From personal experience if the healthcare fix is a 1 off, like fixing a broken leg it gets done. But if its a long winded process with uncertain outcome they shy away. In both situations the billing is likely exageratted. The USA to me has broken capitalism. It works on the basis of contingency to keep the country on top and if anyone gets left behind, so be it.

[BryanM]

It's not broken, that's how capitalism is supposed to work. Various pirate ships looting everything they can as fast as they can. The maximum extraction from the land and people that they're allowed to get away with.

Company scrip was a particularly wonderful little kind of slavery they used to have. With chattel slavery, you had to furnish the slave's basic needs. With scrip, the slaves would often usually leave their service in debt to you. These days, the only thing comparable to that are prisons that charge you rent for being there.

There are states where the prisons charge you rent. Srs.

I'm assuming it's more likely that scrip is going to have a comeback than not, at the current rate things are going. I don't think it's what the crypto bros had in mind when they wanted to overthrow the federal reserve, but I could be very wrong.

[neorichieb1971]

It's not broken, that's how capitalism is supposed to work. Various pirate ships looting everything they can as fast as they can. The maximum extraction from the land and people that they're allowed to get away with.

Company scrip was a particularly wonderful little kind of slavery they used to have. With chattel slavery, you had to furnish the slave's basic needs. With scrip, the slaves would often usually leave their service in debt to you. These days, the only thing comparable to that are prisons that charge you rent for being there.

There are states where the prisons charge you rent. Srs.

I'm assuming it's more likely that scrip is going to have a comeback than not, at the current rate things are going. I don't think it's what the crypto bros had in mind when they wanted to overthrow the federal reserve, but I could be very wrong.

The internet broke it. The internet only requires the world to run on 100 streams of business in reality. I know its much more than that now. Apart from services and supply chain/logistics, no jobs need even exist in the Western hemisphere. If you're an investor you're more likely to be a winner than if you actually work for a living. Only mugs these days work for a living. In the UK you can say you have depression and get months off work fully paid. If you're an immigrant they put you in a nice home probably better than half the workers that live in that country. If there is a scam in the world, the internet will teach you it. If you want pirate material, the internet will teach you have to pirate, if you want to put 50000 games on a retro pi, the internet tells you how to do it.

One of the reasons home prices go up, is because people don't pay for anything but food, energy, holidays and vehicles. If you're like me and actually buy shit, your a mug. Just save all your money and buy a home so the next generation need to pay 3x for it than what you did. To me that means capitalism is broken.

[vol.2]

To me that means capitalism is broken.

The concept that capitalism can be broken is in itself to miss the point; you can't get there from here. There is no one economic and political ideology to rule them all if you want a society that actually functions. What we have isn't something that was intended to function, it's a system that was established to keep money and power in the hands of those who already have it, and any progress to the contrary has just been collateral attrition in efforts to distract and placate.

[BryanM]

One of the reasons home prices go up, is because people don't pay for anything but food, energy, holidays and vehicles.

Clothes, furniture, and various other signifiers of social status are huuuuge with the normies, Richie. I know so many normie idiots who refuse to live within their means and go into debt just to keep up appearances. The song Still Fly encapsulates this mentality perfectly.

The housing market has been turned into another speculation instrument though, like tulips or art or bitcoins. Banks intentionally throttle the supply since no one wants to ever take a loss.

[o.pwuaioc]

One of the reasons home prices go up, is because people don't pay for anything but food, energy, holidays and vehicles.

Clothes, furniture, and various other signifiers of social status are huuuuge with the normies, Richie. I know so many normie idiots who refuse to live within their means and go into debt just to keep up appearances. The song Still Fly encapsulates this mentality perfectly.

The housing market has been turned into another speculation instrument though, like tulips or art or bitcoins. Banks intentionally throttle the supply since no one wants to ever take a loss.

I don't think I've seen any reference Big Tymers or any Cash Money in over a decade. Guess I know which nostalgic trip I'm gonna take today.

[neorichieb1971]

I understand we all need clothes and furnishings. Americans are still the luckiest around because they have homes that are fit to fit a few more tennants with a bit of extra rent.

Come to the UK where homes are 3x smaller for the same amount of money. Then think that there is no off road parking in 40% of homes so everyone is congesting roads with cars parked on both sides of the road with 1 ft either side of it. Contrary to my days as a child in the 1970's and 1980's most homes in my area had off road parking and the roads were clear. Over 4 decades i've witnessed everyone getting more and more compact. In Japan they park cars on top of each other.

My son lives in FL USA and just had a kid, he now lives with his girlfriends parents home.

We now live in a world where clothes are quite cheap, kids have everything they could ever want (my niece has 5 games consoles, netflix, iphone etc) and that is quite extraordinary for me as I had a bike, a 14" TV and a cheap computer.

I currently have the car I want, the games consoles I want, the PC I want and I go on 2 or 3 magnificient holidays a year and a chunk of change in my bank account but I Cannot upgrade my home because what is in my price range doesn't hit the mark. I suppose my stint in the USA spoiled me in this regard as I had a house 2x bigger than I needed for a fair price at 2600sq ft. I think my current house is around 1000sq ft.

1 thing I do not envy of Americans is their lack of travel or time off. I rarely see anyone from the USA on social media travelling anywhere. You will see the new vehicle purchase, the converted basement into a home cinema room, a swimming pool install and a big gaming collection, but nobody goes anywhere and I can relate to that myself as when I was in the USA no matter how much money I had, I just never had the time to go anywhere. Even relatives out of state only get a visit once every 5 years. I only work 160 days a year in the UK so time is something I have in adundance.

I say this about capitalism right now. If you work your ass off, you should have the means to buy the basic commodities and be able to have leisure time. You should live in a place that you're proud to own or mortgage. You should be able to do this without supplementing cash from external avenues, manipulation of taxes, selling your kidneys, drug dealing, selling your body or working 80 hours a week. Then people wonder why folk have depression and mental health issues. If you just want to be on the righteous side and still get the things you need and want, its getting more difficult.