Why can't we be like this?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30363790

Other countries of the world take care of their own. They are smaller in size and population, have
smaller gross national product but can offer their citizens security that we do not have. Sure, every country has its' problems but in most of Europe, the government takes care of its own. Yes, they have higher taxes but their standard of living is much the same. Higher taxes mean nothing if your health care, job needs and education needs are met with those higher taxes. You are not paying additional money for something you need as an add-on to your regular taxes. It evens out and the general population benefits.

We, on the other hand, take care of the wealthy, even though they can take care of themselves.

We pay and pay and still have no health care for all, no real job security, pitiful help for Seniors...it goes on and on.

Yes, I'm cynical but for the life of me, I can see nothing going on to help the average American to survive. Neither emotionally or physically. We give the military all it wants and we are blowing half of the middle east to smithereens, our dollars down countless, endless holes.

Seems to me in my sage old age, that it is far past time to address just those things mentioned in the link above.

It is not Socialism, it is a free society whose government gives a damn.

while vehemently professing that this is a "Christian Nation". How do they not choke on those words?

i've read the bible. i find exactly zero references that say GOVERNMENT should be the basis of charity.

PERSONALLY, i believe in a social safety net etc. but i don't think that the christian (or hebrew) bible mandate it.

they mandate charity, NOT govt. charity.

as a nation, we give a pretty high %age of our income to charity. that's by choice, not by force.

Church buildings.. When a great many of those buildings are already only half full and then only on one or two days of the week.

And government is just a way of organizing a population and setting priorities.

but my point stands.

the hebrew and christian bible both emphasize charity.

but they emphasize that the INDIVIDUAL should be charitable, not the govt.

like i said, if somebody is aware of biblical cites promoting government based charity, feel free to cite them.

i don't recall any, and i've read the torah and the new testament.

What praying for if it's not about begging God to give you what you don't deserve.

and wondered if Americans ever will be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone is taken care off.

edit for spelling

The entire electoral system needs to be revamped and funded by tax dollars with no monies being allowed by lobbyists or Corporations. They need to outlaw lobbying all together in order to get honest Government in place. Then we might see our elected politicians work for the good of the Country instead of the good of themselves.

Another thing that needs to happen is limitations on the length of service of Supreme Court Judges to something like 4 years.

Wyoming has about the same population as Oklahoma City, but it has two US senators. The UK's House of Lords is more democratic than this. If California had as many US senators per capita as Wyoming, there would be 69 of them.

California doesn't already get a lion's share of the representation in Congress.

The fact of the matter is the needs of California are not necessarily the needs of Wyoming, but just because California has more people doesn't mean that people in Wyoming don't deserve to be heard. This nation would not have survived as long as it has without a Senate, and abolishing it is a flat out stupid idea.

... then the way to go about doing it is to break the state up into smaller states. This achieves two objectives:

(1) Representatives who can focus more on representing their particular constituents without worrying about the desires of people who live practially half a continent away, and
(2) A larger Senate representation for a smaller number of people

Campaign finance reform must happen or we can kiss universal health care goodbye.

I am surprised that this is not mentioned more often as one of the main problems of our government.

They are much happier than the average American. When you don't have to worry about health care and you don't have to worry about retirement, you can pretty much enjoy life. Americans are paranoid about losing their health care and about living in a cardboard box during retirement. But then, if they weren't worried about that, most of them wouldn't put up with the shit they take from the companies they work for. You'd almost think someone planned this state of affairs.

iow, your friends may be happier than the average american.

however, are there studies that show the average european is happier?

i have no opinion either way, but a few anecdotes =/= data.

i FAR prefer living in the US . i've been to europe, heck i've been all over the world, and i've never been to a country i would prefer living in. not even close.

i do REALLY like costa rica though

When I left my last job, I can't tell you how many people came up to me in the office and said "I would love to get out of this shithole too, but I need the health care."

That's a pretty awful way to live.

considering the high levels of suicide in many european countries, i at least SUSPECT that on average they may be unhappier.

but that's no more concrete than suspicions of the opposite.

i certainly know i would WAY rather live in the US than most european countries.

some european countries slightly intrigue me, but i still can't think of one i would prefer living in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate

There doesn't seem to be a correlation between social safety net and suicide. Also it depends on accurate reporting. You can't convince me that there were 0 suicides in Egypt. Also if the numbers are at all accurate it seems that the more heavily catholic or muslim the country, the lower the rates.

I'd rather live in the U.S. as long as I have money and am healthy. Whenever I've had financial, or health trouble...I've wished I lived in Europe.

http://www.happiness.org/Resources/Happiness_Studies/Happiest_Countries.aspx

Haven't researched their methodology. but 8 of the top 10 are European, with only Canada and Mexico (!) breaking the trend. Another attempt, with different results:

http://www.happyplanetindex.org/calculated.htm

Again, the US does not fare well.

corporations.

it is the citizens of those countries who realized that their was value in taking care of each other and had the political will to make it so. They didn't worry that someone somewhere was getting a "perk" (education, healthcare, a home, food, etc.) that they don't "deserve".

The notion that the government is "giving" the citizens anything is the first problem. An expanded social safety net, an increased quality of life, the responsibility to ease the human condition, is ours. The government has the responsibility to administer the means of our will.


We actually have the opportunity now to take one baby step towards the goal of creating a better life for every single woman, man, and child in the U.S. and that would be a single-payer health care system. But we are not going to get that or any thing approximating it by typing on the internet while our elected representatives stack their hearings with same people the designed the system that is harming us economically and physically.

There are two great scenes in SiCKO... the one with Tony Benn in which he mentions the fear that collective anger instills in the elected and forces them to do the right thing; and the other with the U.S. expats in France in which the woman breaks down and reveals that she feels guilt over the fact that she enjoys the benefits of everything that her U.S. union member dad struggled for his entire life but she enjoys the benefits in another country.

We abandoned the ideals of unions and we abandoned the ideals of The Great Society for increased militarization, law enforcement and prisons.

preferred less government control, less government intrusions, less taxes, more self-determination, and more freedoms.

Though there likely have always been urges by many to want to rely on others, it was typical that such views were branded as selfish, irresponsible, self-defeating, and even...'less manly'.

cared about the well-being and education needs of it's citizens, the biggest losers would be the greedy elite and their spawn.

This country is not a democracy or a republic.

Why in the world are democratic socialist countries pose more of a threat to the ruling class in the U.S. than communists or dictatorships?

There is more hatred in the U.S. for Hugo Chavez than all the sheiks in UAE and Saudi Arabia. Why? Because more economic justice, quality education & healthy citizens) would promote a meritocracy... and it may leave behind the greedy and their spawn.

The U.S. being the last great expanse of undeveloped land with rich, plentiful natural resources led people to believe we were 'special' and to think that the individual was solely responsible for either his/her success or failure. We (collectively) are still too immature to understand history/sociology/process, etc...

We that realize 'success' is always built on the shoulders of others can make a change. ...With dedication, committment, service and understanding of the necessity of doing so we must not let the naysayers and backward thinking people prevail. I want my kids/grandkids to have a social net if needed!

you also get the same pattern in "neo-Europes": settler colonies like Argentina, South Africa, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Australia--a strong, exploitive and gun-crazy subculture, plus severe racism and chauvinism at some point (and of course it's tied in with all sorts of international currents, from environmentalism to post-1880s imperialism)

:kick:

It's really that simple.

To effect social change in this country, you have to make it palatable to the business community instead of declaring them all to be evil cretins.

One of the reasons that we have even the educational standards that we have today is because businesses saw a benefit in having a literate workforce. To clear the business lobby out of the way on issues like health care and retirement, we need to work to create a palatable solution for us AND them so that they will not actively resist us. You don't have to get ALL of business behind you, just enough of it to make the changes.

Personally, I'm for single payer healthcare. I'm also for single payer home owner's insurance, property insurance, and home owner's insurance. Why should people make huge profits off of the basic public good?

Also, I'd like to see a subsidized home ownership system in place so that everyone can purchase a home at a low, flat rate, regardless of credit history but taking into wages into consideration. But, like student loans, if you run into a patch of financial hardship, you don't lose the home for any reason, but you still have to pay the loan back.

I'd also like to give people the option of paying a supplemental pension tax, so that when you retire, your pension plus SS benefits guaranteed to be equal to the average worker's salary from the last census, plus a cost of living increase.

Imagine one day taking home a paycheck and knowing that every bit of it is YOURS. No worries about insurance, paying the house note, or whether you'll have enough saved for retirement. That all gets deducted straight from the check.

We don't GIVE nuthin' to noone, we take what we WANT...if we kaint buy it then we make is no one can.

At least, that's the way it was set up. We are responsible for allowing the scum that screw it up to rule us.