this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2025
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Actually Infuriating

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[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 13 points 1 day ago

Would you look at that, Brazil has all of those! The problem with UHC is that right wing politicians have been doing everything in their power to dismantle it ever since its inception.

The previous govt (fucking bozo) was also keen on "isn't it better to have some work and no rights, rather than having rights and no work?"

Public universities, while being free, often can only be attended by the well off, since class times might be all over the week (Monday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning AND night), fucking anyone that needs to work to sustain themselves.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Paid sick leave exists in some US states, for example vermont. It’s not a lot but it’s better than nothing.

[–] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Sadly we are all not blessed by having Bernie as a governor.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Bernie isn’t our governor. Republican Phil Scott is. With ~70% of the vote.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Whilst you are correct, he said a governor, not the governor. So they were implying your Congress members and senators are also governing bodies. (Bernie being one of your 2 senators)

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[–] zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

Yeah. The Democrats screwed up that opportunity for us. Twice.

[–] Clbull@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Free college is no longer a thing here in the UK. But our student loan terms are bloody generous.

[–] camelbeard@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (4 children)

The world isn't this black and white, so you can't just compare things at a basic level like this

For example the Netherlands has intuition fee's for universities. It's about 2500 euro per student per year. I'd much rather have it free, but it's still nothing compared to the 50K or 100K some people pay for an American University

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And the UK for that matter. You only get free education up to A Levels (18 years old).

If you want a degree then you pay for it.

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[–] howrar@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Similar in Canada. It may not be free, but it's ridiculously cheap compared to what the US deals with and we still have great financial assistance for those who can't afford that.

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[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Luckily there's still many other important things such as food safety, workplace safety, consumer protection... um...

[–] meliaesc@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Add disaster management and informing people about disease outbreaks ans product recalls! America is so great about... um.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Republicans: Don't care, owned the libs.

[–] zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

What was that quote? "A Republican would eat shit if they thought a Democrat would have to smell it"?

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

We used to have free college, but college students protested things which pissed off Reagan so he campaigned against it

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This is new to me

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Indeed, but nothing is for free and we pay for the so-called "free" services through taxes. Yes, the 1st Class EU members are way ahead of the piss poor US labor laws and public services. Thanks to the MAGAts, working conditions will become 3rd World.

One matter, the blue-collar apprenticeship system in Germany is outstanding and the only organization that comes close are the trade unions in the USA, but it depends on which local you are in. Some are superb and some are WTF.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes healthcare is paid for via taxes so it isn't strictly speaking isn't free, but it also isn't the same as paying for health insurance. For one thing you don't pay more money just because you've got a Pre-Existing medical condition. In a way everyone pays less because all of the people that would otherwise pay for private healthcare, still pay the taxes, so everyone else is being subsidized by the rich, who in the US wouldn't contribute to anyone else's healthcare.

I don't think anyone ends up paying more in taxes than they would if we operated under the US private health care system.

So while your point is strictly speaking true, it's also a bit pedantic.

[–] tlou3please@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

No disrespect to the guy individually but "it's not free, it's paid for by taxes" is mentioned every single time when this conversation comes up.

Everybody knows. Nobody actually thinks these these things appear out of thin air. We all know how taxes pay for public services and employment rights.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago

I love the way Germany has trade unions that are trade wide rather than smaller unions. I wish we could import that to America.

[–] Resol@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (7 children)

Well, there's one country I'm not moving to. It amuzes me that a first world country, hell, a global superpower, doesn't have any of that stuff, it would benefit everyone, especially free healthcare because you wouldn't have to worry about going bankrupt just to get that surgery you know you need. It doesn't even have to be free, just making it affordable for everyone is already a huge step.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago

We’re a first world country for the top 10% of the population and a third world country for the bottom 90%.

[–] viking@infosec.pub 7 points 1 day ago (4 children)

America isn't a first world country. It favors the rich in the same way as most African and Central Asian nations.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The first/second/third world designation is a cold war relic. America is first world by definition, but we probably should have ditched the whole framework after the Berlin Wall fell.

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I agree that it should no longer be used in a modern context. It's like calling Russia the USSR; people usually know what you mean, but it doesn't make sense, and when talking about specifically American geopolitics, it's easy to misunderstand what is meant if you are older than 35.

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[–] Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world 78 points 2 days ago (27 children)

It's not strictly true collage or university as it's know in the rest of the world, in the UK it's only Scotland that gets free tuition, not the rest of us, higher education which is 16-18 is free

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[–] uis@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

Countries with labour laws and free education: "Learn and work, work and learn!"

[–] Cypher@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (7 children)

Australia could have been included here, the only missing one is free 'college' which is known as University here.

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