number one!
America continues to fall behind the rest of the world
Submitted 3 weeks ago by VetOfTheSeas@discuss.online to workreform@lemmy.world
https://discuss.online/pictrs/image/a17885cc-25de-4cf5-aaed-68b502abfdcc.png
Comments
voidsignal@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
madejackson@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’d argue even with education, your defacto two party system still prevents true change/progress. Not sure if better education would be enough to change this.
DagwoodIII@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
The two party system worked for a long time because both sides were committed to the idea that a functional government was a good thing.
A multiple party system didn’t save Germany from Fascists. When enough citizens decide their fellow citizens are the problem decent government becomes impossible.
voidsignal@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
well, at least people will be able to conceptualize this is a completely stupid system.
Right now they have the sport-fan mentality. Us vs Them, Me vs You, Good vs Bad. Baby view of the world.
(and it’s not my de-facto :) )
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
a UNIPARTY, the gop and dinos are a coalition. not even a true 2 party system. DInos are allowed to throw people a bone once in a while so they dont form an uprising or take over the party
running_ragged@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I think the education is a symptom of a deeper problem still, and that is corporate entities owning significant parts of the governing process, through lobbying, campaign financing and a rotating door of government positions and coproate advisers.
They want an uneducated population, because that is how they get a greater and greater share of the say in what the government does each election cycle. Getting Citizens United through was one of the worst they accomplished in recent years, but it won’t end there.
lemmyng@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Step 1: Reform the Supreme Court (term limits, mandatory retirement age of 65, etc). Step 1.5: Abolish Citizens United.
voidsignal@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Oh yes, but I still think this is only possible because people are uneducated. Then, sure, it becomes a feedback loop. I have no idea how to fix USA and I think at that point it is beyond repair.
LadyButterfly@reddthat.com 3 weeks ago
I can’t fathom how anyone is against free healthcare. CHILDREN have to go without healthcare FFS CHILDREN. How can anyone justify that?
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I don’t have kids so why should I pay for their healthcare
That’s how they justify it. They’re fucking ghouls
abigscaryhobo@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The problem is there’s a false scarcity. Healthcare is expensive for people in the US right now, so the idea of paying for someone else’s healthcare via universal healthcare doesn’t sound like a good thing, it sounds like taking the money you need for your healthcare to pay for someone else’s.
It’s NOT like that, but people have it in their heads that it is. And it’s very hard to change a made up mind when there are people rallying against it to protect their own private interests.
Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s no reason to not have universal healthcare.
Sure, some people think as you describe, but they are the minority. We’re supposed to be a representative democracy.
90% of Democrats want universal healthcare. 70% of Independents want universal healthcare. Even 40% of Republicans want universal healthcare.
(many polls, pick your favorite)
PhoenixDog@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They believe rights are a pie. And if someone else gets a piece of that pie, they will somehow end up with less pie.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Even within free market logic free healthcare just makes sense. It enables people to more comfortably quit their job to start a business or take any better job. It also allows people more freedom to choose medical professionals based on their merits rather than on who their insurer says they can use.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
It’s also cheaper for everyone, and results in much better outcomes on average. It’s truly win/win/win.
The only losers would be the insurance companies that would no longer exist. And fuck them.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Even within free market logic free healthcare just makes sense.
It doesn’t make sense because it doesn’t maximize the short term profits of a health care business.
It enables people to more comfortably quit their job
No American capitalist wants this.
You can be hired. You can be fired. You can’t go around quitting without your boss’s permission.
aphonefriend@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
That’s long term thinking you fool. How does that help my next quarter!? Think of my bonus!
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I can’t fathom how anyone is against free healthcare
“We CaN’T aFfOrD iT! wE wIlL rUn OuT oF mOnEy!”
Every fucking time it’s suggested. Every fucking time, you get some clown screaming about how it costs too much and it will bankrupt the country and how health care will go away if you try to federalize it.
And under this government? Maybe they’re right. Maybe American business leadership would just rip the wires out of the walls anyways. Look at what UK politicians have done to the NHS, ffs.
It’s very possible that Americans don’t have access to health care because we are simply too greedy and cruel and stupid as a population to value it above carpet bombing the Global South.
Frenchgeek@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Funny how there’s always money to bomb schools, on the other hand…
kylie_kraft@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
“protect the children” mfs when children
MashedTech@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Children can’t work. So they shouldn’t get any benefits actually.
CADmonkey@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The issue really seems to be old people. And where I live it’s a whole lot easier for old people to vote.
Noodle07@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They dont care 🤷
dethedrus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Because to them, the fight against the Others is so profoundly tied to their core identity that they would choose a rapacious trillionaire or low rent pedophile mob boss to lead them despite OVERWHELMING evidence either would gladly see them dead for a nickel.
Anyone not of their inner circle (church, Trump worship, family of they accede to the previous conditions) are the enemy. And they don’t deserve even basic human rights. Unless they’re a zygote/fetus, in which case they get a pass until birth.
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Europe doesn’t have socialism. I want socialism.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The modern use of the word Socialism means having significant publicly funded institutions. When people say they want socialism they mean they want more of it, because most likely they already have lots of publicly funded institutions - like police and fire protection, public libraries, unemployment compensation… What they want is more, and Europe has more than the US.
TrickDacy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I agree and also would note that “developed” is the current, more sensitive term which specifically seeks to avoid unfair judgement in favor of a term that looks at metrics that measure general well being. You cannot tell me it’s racist to acknowledge and want to improve the quality of life for billions of people who needlessly suffer disease, death, and other miserable preventable (with resources/education) situations.
HumanOnEarth@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Socialism is impossible. It cannot exist with a species like ours that is hardwired for greediness and self-preservation.
At the end of the day, too many people will look at socialism and see "this is bullshit, why should insert marginalised/oppressed minority get that when insert marginalised/oppressed minority that person identifies with gets less. Or just happen to be staunchly opposed to a population protected by the socialist system.
It’s idealist. And I fucking hate capitalism. But at the end of the day the very best we can really hope for is capitalism with strong, firmly enforced and well thought out regulations.
We will get neither just so we are clear. But it’s the best possible type of system in my mind.
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
You’ve convinced me. I will stop wanting socialism now. It can never happen.
chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
It cannot exist with a species like ours that is hardwired for greediness and self-preservation.
In general this is a myth, being a self interested economic agent is something we’re trained to conform to, not something we do instinctually. Which isn’t to say we are naturally suited for large scale cooperation, but what the Hobbesian perspective misses is that whatever behavior you’re assuming is human nature has a context, and that context could be made very different.
teslekova@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
If I’m hard-wired for greed and self-preservation, why do I let people go ahead of me in traffic? Why do I give money to beggars? Why do I vote for people who will raise taxes on me?
And why do so many other people do these things? If they are hardwired for greed and self preservation? Are they not human?
Bo7a@piefed.ca 3 weeks ago
hardwired for greediness and self-preservation.
Speak for yourself. Some of us are out here building communities with our own blood, sweat, and tears.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Socialism isn’t a binary concept any more than Capitalism is. You can have capitalist activity alongside freely available publicly funded institutions - national parks, libraries, etc. People who say they want socialism usually want a specific list of human needs publically funded. This is perfectly possible in a capitalist economy, as OP’s list illustrates.
Nonconfrontational@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
We are literally hardwired for cooperation, as a hyper social species. Maybe do some scientific research before you go spouting off your garbage political opinions which aren’t based in science.
HrabiaVulpes@europe.pub 3 weeks ago
And americans will tell you it’s because they are better or different.
forkDestroyer@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
Gotta fund the military somehow, mirite?
benjirenji@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
The “military power” reputation took a huge hit this year too. Really? That bs is why they forego all these benefits for their people?
ddplf@szmer.info 3 weeks ago
I’m not even American, but what the fuck are you even talking about, no one’s saying that
Daft_ish@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
You dont know this but some Americans are profoundly stupid. By some I mean more then any body can manage.
Do just because you dont ride in those circles, dont think for a moment american exceptionalism isnt dome sort of self defeating pride that will soon have my country on its knees.
FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
There are plenty who don’t, but there are an unfortunately large number who do
They’re stupid, indoctrinated, uneducated etc. but they’re very real
I’ve had people from all over the world tell me that the US is the greatest country in the world,
They were all stupid, racist and had never been there
MrMakabar@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
Honestly FOX News might be the organization, which helped the term “socialism” the most in the US. When you call every good policy “socialist” then people wanting that will call themself that.
Hueristic_Autistic@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It’s the abuse of the system, the tax hikes, the standard of care given vs the biased care we can exploit now and the amount of productivity lost is badfor the US. Why? Idfk, that’s just what they tell us.
MrMakabar@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
and the amount of productivity lost is bad for the US. Why? Idfk, that’s just what they tell us.
The US would not loose productivity at all. For any health care system it is cheaper to prevent somebody from getting sick, then to pay for the treatment. So countries with such systems have good reason to have strong environmental and food regulation for example. Hence people are less sick and can therefore work.
UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Nah, been going on probably before the banana republics. Soon as the people of the banana republic fought back, the American capitalist would cry socialism, then the American army would come and squash the uprising. Hey Mrs. tally man tally me banana.
Piatro@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Glad to see some political commentators catching on to this too.
someguy3@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m convinced the reason is “We can’t do that, black people would get it. White people have the good jobs and will get that all on their own.”
teslekova@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
You think you’re the only racist developed country in the world?
Nah, mate. It’s capitalism. Capitalism, as a system, always needs a powerful country to be its base, where capital can politically defend itself and control the political system to keep the corporations strong, and wield that country’s military against any foreign country that refuses to accept the domination of the corporations.
It was Amsterdam at first, then Britain for a long while, then in the 19th century it started moving to the USA, where it prospered mightily.
Capitalism cannot let the people be the priority. It must hold profit above all else, it’s the nature of the machine. This is not a decision made by a person, this is how the system of capitalism works.
Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I used to watch shows in the US where sometimes people would get fired on the spot in in a dramatic way, I thought it was just artistic license until I realized Americans literally have no protections and can be fired at will for no reason at all. It is horrifying. What’s even worse is that people celebrate this as a “fluid labor market” , as if placing people under chronic insecurity is a virtue.
VitoRobles@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
I have coworkers from other countries who came to America and asked me if the contract they signed was true - that they can be fired at will.
It’s incredibly embarrassing.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yes, but the first one is not true.
Tired of calling what countries like Australia and Germany have as “universal healthcare”.
It isn’t. Simply isn’t.
In the case of Australia in most familiar with. It’s a weird mix of public and private, with most medical costs covered under a private subsidy model, where your health service can change whatever, and you have to pay the gap between the Medicare rebate and what the services charges.
Doesn’t cover dental, has a small rebate for physio and other allied health (again, private providers, public rebate) and covers a basic check up for eyes every 3 years only, but doesn’t cover most optical.
The hospital system is also and absolute mess of a two-tiered system I won’t get into here.
It’s not fucking universal and I’m sick of people pretending like it is. It’s just kilometres better than the USA, which is the lowest bar ever.
grrgyle@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
Yeah, same thing in Canada which actually is single payer so yay, but is constantly, constantly under attack by privatisation hawks.
Vintor@retrolemmy.com 3 weeks ago
That’s not at all how it works in Germany, though. Dental treatments are paid, as is medication. There is a surcharge for medication, which is capped at 10 Euros. And some dental options, which are not strictly necessary (debatable in many cases, I’ll give you that!) are not included. Physio and optical costs are also included.
Some of the payments require a doctor’s prescription in order to be accepted, but I would call that pretty fucking universal.
porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Dental treatments are paid
Nonsense. Dental treatments are slightly subsidised, but even with the subsidy are more expensive than paying outright in cash in France. They are only covered if you’re, like, gonna die from a tooth infection or something, and then they’ll remove it but not do anything about the missing tooth. The subsidy doesn’t even cover simple fillings, which still cost more than 100€ even for shitty resin ones. Why do you think everyone goes to Poland or Turkey when they need real dental care?
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
If it covers everyone, then it’s universal. Doesn’t mean that it can’t be improved, but that’s literally what universal healthcare coverage means.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Universal healthcare means it covers all healthcare. If you’re needing pay pay out of pocket to private providers, and it doesn’t even cover a bunch of things, I refuse to call that universal - and so should you.
Universal means nothing, otherwise.
Medicare defenders really need to dream bigger, damn.
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Hungary also did that under Orbán, but we were told once we will have enough “national billionaires”, the money will start to trickle down. When the billionaires arrived and we asked when the money will finally trickle down, we were told money is not everything, and we’re acting like “spoiled children”.
TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I wouldn’t call the US developed. There is development, with the sky scrapers, mega companies and billionaires, but there are also palaces built in South Africa, North Korea and Turkmenistan. North Korea and Turkmenistan have better infrastructure than the US. But I wouldn’t call insane poverty rates, insane inequality, autocracy, oligarchy, insane incarceration rates, corrupt government and legal system, institutionalized racism and still legal slavery any form of modern development.
FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Developed
Not civilised
Iusedtobeanalien@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The corrupt gop fuckers will recreate the commode folk devil that worked during the cold war, they will claim communism will end America they will turn voting for social democracy into national crisis
They are always lying
Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Americans also fall for it every time so that says a lot about the citizens
DarkFuture@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Americans, by and large, are, unfortunately, some of the dumbest humans to ever exist on this planet.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I’m hoping Mamdani can help shift people’s perspectives here.
doingthestuff@lemy.lol 3 weeks ago
Obama made Healthcare companies more money than any President before him. He could have given us a public option but the big Democrat donors said no.
AlecSadler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Good, America sucks.
jaykrown@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The tax system and healthcare system are genuinely fucked in the US. Both could be simplified greatly and benefit people, but those in the small handful of decision making power to do benefit from keeping it complex. The IRS is spineless, and private health insurance is disgusting.
mydude@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It’s because you have the most capitalist country, so you are number 1 in exploitation. Congratulations 👍🎉
DarkFuture@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Lol.
We got fed so much propaganda about this country growing up. Basically North Korea Lite.
zergtoshi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Does all this winning start to hurt eventually?
fizzle@quokk.au 3 weeks ago
Ah yes but the US has the “freedom” to not have all of those things.
Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
America is full of uneducated monsters who are too dumb to have a functional democracy
some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
You want society to treat you like you belong to it?! You stupid fucks.
“Anyone who doesn’t have to suffer is a slight against me because I had to suffer at some point!” Fucking assholes.
Guess what? I inherited money. It didn’t make me stop advocating to help people or tax those with the most. These fuckers are inhuman.
But, honestly, we have to stop the socialist threat that will destroy our country because the want to feed people and that’s UNAMERIKAN!
kreskin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
OK, so how many of those developed countries do we have to invade to pump our numbers up?
Kaligalis@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
So you say, that the US has the purest capitalism while everyone else has diluted it with some soviet communism?
Nonconfrontational@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
America has always been behind the rest of the world. They still do slavery for fuck sake.
Hauntology95@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Freedom to starve
farmgineer@nord.pub 3 weeks ago
It’s interesting that Japan is below the US in the main rankings. I feel more free here in almost every regard than I did as an adult in the US.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah but we have mythical Freedom! and the whole world except us is mythically oppressed by socialist tyranny!
Professorozone@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I need sources.
Cybersheeper@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
No, there are approximately 190 fully capitalist countries, stop whitewashing capitalism. Capitalist countries also include: Afghanistan, Burundi, South Sudan, DRC and India. Stop with this evolutionist nonsense.
atro_city@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
It's how they keep people under control. Keep them dumb, desperate and distracted. Now wonder the US has the best entertainment on the planet.
Zephorah@discuss.online 3 weeks ago
They sell it to a third of the population, and those people rabidly vote for corporate USA every year.
crandlecan@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
USA! USA!! 💥
Embargo@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Greatest country in the world apparently.
M137@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
It’s the bully who constantly has to tell everyone how great they are and acts like an asshole tworads everyone while they’re actually very mentally broken, scared, dumb etc.
halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
This show is feeling relevant every single day now.
https://youtu.be/fJh9t9h6Wn0
darkstar@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I live in a third world country, and I get asked now and then if I’d ever move to the USA, and my answer is always
“No, if I’m going to move to a country it must be better than the one I am currently living in”
rayyy@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
For billionaires, it seems.
VoteNixon2016@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
And they say that American exceptionalism is a myth
lividweasel@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Hang on. They said, “except Us,” so you’re supposed to drop that letter. The chant is now “SA! SA!!” 🇿🇦
crandlecan@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
I think it then should be just “A” then… Ay?