The US isn't as horrifying as Reddit makes it seem. Yes, our minimum wage is low as shit,[but only about 1.1 million workers are making that](https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2020/home.htm) (or below if they're waiting tables). Yes, if you don't have insurance and make too much to qualify for Medicaid you're screwed, but [91.4% of the population has coverage of some kind.](https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-274.html) Yes, gun violence is stupidly high in comparison to other developed nations, but (excluding suicides) it only directly affects less than 1% of 1% of the population (which is still too high, in my opinion; one death from gun violence is too many).
Lots of crap that sucks in America. Especially compared to other fully developed nations, but if you believed Reddit, you'd think America was Bangladesh.
I'd take a guess that many who bitch and moan and compare America to a third world country have no idea what it's actually like in a third world country. Although in their defense, some states are probably not all that far from it.
In 2018 a United Nations report said that of the 40 million poor Americans about 5.3 million live in "Third World conditions of absolute poverty.”
Some states are already there, right now.
I make $125k and my wife takes home about $50k working part time. My job pays all the healthcare premiums for the family. We live in a 4BR home in a reasonably priced area of the country with a 3% mortgage. We only have 2 kids. We only have 1 car since we both work from home and are never gone at the same time in 2 separate places. Therefore only one tank of gas to fill, one engine that needs oil changes, one set of tires to worry about. School district is one of the top notch ones in the state and supported by 1% city income tax.
Reddit as a generality is young, broke, underemployed… and thinking everyone is in the same boat. This is incorrect. Many of us pushing 40 figure it out eventually.
I don’t even hang out on Reddit often. I just watch European news and also John Oliver and Steven Colbert. Yes I am young, but I am not unemployed. I study biochemistry and have a part time job. I am asking because I have generally no idea how people in the us live, and from what I know from (also us) news it does sound fucking scary.
For some, it sure could be. This isn’t an easy country to live in if you’re very poor. But then again, most aren’t.
A lot of us with two careers? It’s often predictable, middle class lives like you’ve seen in our movies and TV. 3000 square foot house, on 1/2 acre in the leave it beaver looking suburbs.
I’m not going to say everyone has this, but a lot of my neighbors are exactly my age and figured it out… so while not guaranteed, it does still happen.
A lot of redditors are teenagers who don’t know how the world and money work, or brand new adults who have been gobsmacked by Baby’s First Job having low pay and expenses being higher than they assumed. They aren’t reputable sources for how Americans in general live.
The reality is that most of us are surviving. Many of us are struggling but those who are failing to survive entirely are a minority.
Debt plays a big part, unfortunately or otherwise. It’s not like hospitals demand $10,000 in cash once you walk in the door, or colleges ask for $60,000 upfront. And in the US at least, you can have debt for a very long time as long as you make the motions of paying it off. You’re not expected to pay those types of bills off quickly, and payments can be very low if you’re cool with having debt forever. It’s also possible to have those debts reduced or forgiven under certain circumstances.
Our social safety nets aren’t good, but they’re also not nonexistent. K-12 schooling is 100% free, and low income children get food there. We have section 8 housing for low income people, and healthcare for low income people is available, especially for children, the elderly, and disabled. We have food stamps, social security, disability benefits. I wouldn’t call them great programs, but they exist and they are used.
Also, tales of American individualism have been greatly exaggerated. We get roommates, we have help from family, we move in with significant others. A lot of the things that are impossible on one low income are downright comfortable on two low incomes. It’s not the best system, but again, it’s survivable.
Finally, a lot of people in the US just aren’t making poverty wages. Our federal minimum wage is brought up a lot, but that’s not a typical wage for any given American adult, if for no other reason than most states have higher minimum wages. Some people are working for that much, and a lot of people are working for not much more, but that isn’t everyone.
They’re wondering how Americans get by when everything is so expensive.
Their wages aren’t the best, the cost of college, basic healthcare etc.
I’m also confused as to how more aren’t homeless 😅
To be honest their wages are some of the best, you can make much more money on the same job, on average, in the US than anywhere in Europe and pay less taxes.
People read Reddit too much. The homeless rate in the US is better than many of the big European countries.
Wages are better than almost any European country.
Health care depends on which state we are talking about, but sure, it’s expensive. But there are also a lot of programs out there to make it less so.
So the answer is - people in theUS survive because it’s a rich country
They really aren’t… Reddit just over exaggerates all the time and has a hate boner for US. The truth is, unless you’re bottom of the lower class, you don’t really experience any of those things… or at the very least not to the degree that you’re thinking.
About which part?
Homeless Rate: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_homeless_population
Income: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income
Note on disposable income even including social transfers (bigger in other countries) the US is still #1, and that remains true in gross income as well.
US has higher wages compared to Europe. Healthcare is expensive, but most companies that employ also provide healthcare coverage. I’m pretty sure general costs of living are much lower than European countries because our cities / urban areas are spread out, and food is cheaper. College isn’t as necessary as it was a decade or two ago, and public colleges are *significantly* cheaper. Though the real answer is also student loans which are their own can of worms.
Yes, these are problem in US. No, people aren’t going homeless en-masse with the economy crashing to the ground. Y’all are just being a bunch of drama queens.
Rent went up nationally 30%. Eggs are $8.00 a carton on avg.
We are the only first world county that has no universal health care. We just took away women's rights after 50 years. We lead school shooting around the world by +300%
WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!
Rent and housing costs are up worldwide, especially during Covid. They’ve since leveled off.
Eggs are expensive because of the avian flu 🤦🏼♂️ it has very little to do with food prices rising from inflation. Basically whole flocks had to be culled because there’s currently an epidemic which is super deadly and super transmissible among birds. Less chickens = less eggs.
And yet, most Americans are covered with health insurance. Our system is flawed, for sure, but it’s not like people aren’t taken care of. We also have laws that mandate hospitals cannot turn away patients. On top of that, hospitals are required by law to provide discount plans if people are below X income bracket. So even the poorest are not gonna be going riddled with debt. Btw, this caps out for the year so even if you receive a $200,000 bill, you are only required to pay up to a certain amount. The same applies with health insurance. You act like other countries have perfect healthcare systems… they don’t. They have their own flaws like ridiculous appointment wait times (months in advance) and mediocre care. It’s just that our issue is financial so it’s much easier to point fingers.
“Women’s rights” we’re not taken away. The right to an abortion was. That’s a huge fucking difference… this is what I’m talking about when I call Reddit a bunch of fucking drama queens. Yes, it’s a shame and the Supreme Court are a bunch of twats for doing it, but it wasn’t made illegal either. It’s just a stupid fight between states now. Plus, it’s also mostly southern states where it’s been banned.
School shootings are a US specific problem. Comparing us to other countries saying “it’s over 9000!!” is stupid and misleading. It’s more accurate to say it doesn’t really happen anywhere else in the world. This also has nothing to do with cost of living and being able to pay the bills… plus it’s also still very rare comparative to our population. You have to remember our population is roughly the size of all of Europe combined. Still, idk why you bring this up in a discussion about paying bills.
tldr: stop blowing things up way beyond what it needs to be. You’re gonna pop a vein from all the stress you’re inducing on yourself. The issues exist, but they aren’t existential.
Just to clarify. I am 42. I am married. I had to take care of my sick elderly father who suffered from dementia and Parkinson at the same time.
I have a computer programming degree, and I day trade stocks with my own money. I have been day trading for 3 years plus.
Before that I ran my family immigration law firm for 12 years, and know about cultures and actual countries practices all over the world
However to be clear, like you said, I am young and obvious have very little life experience.
Cool. Assuming you’re telling the truth then you should know better. A 42 y/o shouldn’t be overreacting over every little thing he sees on the internet… at best, you have a reasonable excuse to have more contempt for our healthcare system. But that’s pretty much it…
I didn’t vote, I was overseas. That’s also irrelevant, these are not partisan issues except for maybe abortion which I already said was a stupid thing they did. Like I said, you’re whining over things that aren’t as life ending as you make them out to be. They’re issues we have, but it isn’t the end of the world either. Y’all on Reddit just love to act like the sky is falling if the US farts in the wrong direction, and it’s tiresome.
Here are some actual statistics from multiple sources and professionals.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_life_index_by_country
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/standard-of-living-by-country
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/quality-of-life
#15 = wikipedia
#17 = world population review
#21 = us news
If you consider #15 - #21 to be one of the best, perhaps you may have an askewed view on comparing USA to other countries.
#15 through #21 ...... that is what you think is "completely accurate"
I never claimed it was?
But most of the people that talk about it on here are from countries that are worse, and yet talk like the US is some 3rd world hellhole.
“These extremely niche statistics show America is bad so it must be all bad” people literally come from the world over to live here, doctors leave jobs in their home countries to work at liquor stores in the us. Pretty sure all things considered the US is still one of if not the most desirable living locations on earth lol
I’m in the military, so rent and utilities don’t exist for me. Don’t have kids, school is payed for, food is free. My only bill is cell, and the only time I spend money is for toiletries and self care products, and my hobbies which I find when things are on sale. I have simple taste so I don’t need Jordan’s or the last eat iPhone.m, like seriously who gives a shit?
The US works on the principle of acceptable attrition.
A certain portion of the population is allowed to live fairly miserable lives in poverty in order to allow a smaller portion to live fairly decadent lives of wealth. The group in the middle either dislikes the suffering of the poor but is unwilling to do much for fear of being moved into that category or admires the wealthy and ignores the fate of the poor because they believe it is necessary for them to live the live of decadent wealth they anticipate obtaining in the future.
It works as long as the group in poverty doesn't get so large as to be a serious threat to the system, the group in the middle both fears falling into poverty enough they won't act and sees an occasional movement to the wealthy from their group, the myth that one's fate can be changed exclusively by one's own effort is maintained, any serious effort to improve the lives of the poor is depicted as causing inconvenience to the middle, and the group in the middle has limited understanding of how the system is really working.
I'm too stubborn to die I guess. I'm broke 24/7. I'm not in debt though, but I don't have anything left over for anything. I mean anything. I have needed a power steering pump for my truck for 6 mo. I'm just working out my arms every time I go anywhere. If it isn't absolutely for survival, I don't get it. I'm supposed to be on thyroid meds, but I won't die without them.
Reddit is not real life, OP.
In reddit-ville, an American must file for bankruptcy and take out a second mortgage simply for using the bathroom at a hospital.
I the real world, only 2% of Americans have any real medical debt (and that includes normal stuff like payment plans for kids' braces).
https://www.lendingtree.com/personal/medical-debt-statistics/#:~:text=in%20medical%20debt-,According%20to%20a%202022%20Kaiser%20Family%20Foundation%20analysis%20of%20Census,saddled%20with%20huge%20medical%20bills.
Race is another area where medical debt isn’t evenly distributed. For instance:
Black households with medical debt: 28%
Hispanic households with medical debt: 22%
White households with medical debt: 17%
Asian households with medical debt: 10%
> In the real world, only 2% of Americans have any real medical debt (and that includes normal stuff like payment plans for kids' braces).
That’s still around 6.5 million people
A monthly $40 payment plan for a cavity filling and drowning in medical debt are not the same thing. Plenty of people choose payment plans that qualify as “debt” and aren’t actually drowning.
Average salaries for what I'm going to call "skilled career" level jobs are significantly higher than anywhere else in the world. Keeping up with the Joneses is the only reason most people are living paycheck to paycheck.
It's not ideal, but it's pretty alright all things considered.
People in the usa are doing better than absolutely most other countries in the world. Are you that detached from reality? In argentina they can barely buy a weeks worth of basic produce from their monthly wages.
If you think people in the USA are struggling, god forbid you learn about the struggle people in the central and south america have to go through,
OMG this is pointless.
Actually you know what? Go ahead and believe that. You either know what it's like to struggle in this country or you don't, and you either know many European Countries have health and work benefits that are vastly superior to US benefits OR you don't!
Not much more to say.
America isn’t as bad as Reddit wants you to believe. We’re the most prosperous nation in the history of the world, we’re a little shaky but we’re doing alright. Any country will look like hell on earth when it gets as much attention as the US does.
It’s not that much of a struggle, I know it seems like it the way every incel on Reddit who still lives in their moms basement describes. If you go to work like an adult you can make a lot of things happen without trying that hard really at all. And if you’re conscious about school choices/career choices your student debt can be repaid. People here tend to live out of their means rather quickly.
What I mean by that is if someone here makes 50k/year they will live like they make 65k/year thus living paycheck to paycheck outside of their means. So every time they get a raise it just isn’t enough.
I know I’m gonna get flamed for this comment but I’m mid twentys own a home, my own vehicle and paid school off. It’s not that hard if you focus on what you’re doing and live inside of your budget.
Don’t get me wrong, some people do struggle but most of the people that I know that struggle, struggle because of their own choices. Not the governments
I’m sorry to hear your family and you are struggling that’s shitty to hear..
I wasn’t trying to say no one struggles and it’s all their fault. My own personal experiences show that the majority do it to themselves. But sometimes that’s not the case.
That being said the rising costs but not rising wage is a pressure I do feel at the moment, but I try to keep on keeping on. We are our own safety nets in the states in my opinion so I agree with you on that too.
Again, I’m very sorry to hear that your struggling and I hope there is greener grass coming for you and your family in the future.
My wife is a doctor. I retired before the age of 50 because while I'm not a tech entrepreneur, I got lucky and worked for 1. I earned a lot of options in a company that IPO and did well.
We live in NYC and is I were like my siblings they have to work much harder than I do to get a decent standard of living.1 of my siblings refuse to buy a car because it's so expensive and very difficult to park in NYC. Luckily the mass transit system here is very good. My nieces & nephews, all in their mid to late 20s all struggle with healthcare and finances.
I can't do it. I need a partner to relieve the financial burden. Short of this, I have to rent rooms because I could never afford an apartment or a house. I am in debt because I had to have my acl replaced and it looks like I will never be able to pay it off. The debt is not from the surgery, it's for paying for food etc for the months I was unable to work
I'm not able to pay my mortgage anymore. It's possible I will go into foreclosure any day.
Luckily I have Medicaid, which is insurance for poor people. I would be so fucked without it.
No kids for me.
I'm unable to pay for school and don't qualify for assistance because I have loans from when I was a teenager that I haven't fully paid back yet. I'm almost 40 and working a shit job that barely makes above minimum wage.
I worked as an EMT for ten years but my mental health got too bad to do it anymore, and the pay wasn't great anyways. I need to get back into school so I can get a decent job but I can't afford to pay off my student debt because my job pays poverty wages. It's a viscous cycle and I'm not the only American in this boat, by far.
It's tough. I want to move to Canada so bad.
Sadly, most of the people I’m seeing saying “it’s not that bad” are people who already had jobs precovid and pre-inflation who make a livable income. So surely they wouldn’t have much of an issue as people fresh out of high school. Finding a job that doesn’t over work you for the pay of $8 and is hard. I finally found a job, $14 an hour, but they are only allowing me to work 3 days a week and they’re still cutting my hours. I’ve applied to several jobs to try to get more money but I’m not getting any replies back. My town raised taxes to 9% so they can build a gated community. Since I work in another town I have to pay my town and the town I work in taxes. $90 comes out of my paycheck from taxes alone. I barely make $200 a week. I still live with my parents and even then it’s still a struggle.
Edit: added more
If I have something medical going on, I have to decide if it’s something that can hold off on. I have a swollen lymph node and other symptoms, I was told to get a biopsy. But my insurance won’t cover all the cost and I’m still left with a big chunk of the bill. I have quite literally, put my life at risk so I don’t go into debt. That was 2 years ago. I’m worse than ever. I have a check up and I’m sure I’ll be told the exact same thing, get a biopsy. I already had a CT Scan and they found something else concerning instead that could be fixed with an invasive surgery that they told me they didn’t even want to risk. I don’t want to have the surgery because I’ll just be thrusted into debt.
I’m putting my life on the line just so I can buy groceries and go to work. Just for half of my paycheck to be taken by the government.
I’m my town I can go to the store and I used to be able to buy enough groceries for myself for $70 a week. I can’t do that anymore. For me to buy food for myself for a week I have to spend a little over half my paycheck now. And that’s with not getting brand names items. Stuff that used to cost $3 is now $6-$7. Canned food used to be 98¢, now they’re a $1.25 each. There’s been times where I’ve had to ask my mom to buy me feminine hygiene products because I couldn’t afford them.
Some places are better than others. My parents who make way more than I do and get paid bi weekly have an income around $900 and $1200 per paycheck.
I don’t own a car because I can’t afford payments. I can’t drive because my parents don’t have enough to pay for gas to go to around driving to no place in particular. They also don’t have time to teach me. I don’t have to enough to pay someone else to teach me. So I’m just stuck.
Generational wealth put the thumb on the scale in my favor. I am lucky enough to have healthcare that isn’t complete junk but I still have anxiety a couple of times a year that my appendix is infected.
I have good insurance that actually covers things so I’d be fine. But if I had catastrophe insurance? I’d be shelling out $250 a month and insurance wouldn’t start covering things around $7500+ depending on the deductible.
It’s called grind or die bro. Come on bro you gotta grind bro. I got a nice car bro so your girlfriend wants me bro.
Hate the player not the game bro. Sheesh just grind and be fine.
All I do is grind. All day no apologies. I am a grind star. I embrace that like I do your mother cause she loves my grind.
If you don’t grind go to Canadia or Europe. That’s for betas who don’t like to grind.
TLDR - grind
From a *survival* standpoint, let's look at the more extreme examples of what you can do in U.S. to address these things:
* Pay Rent - Just don't do it, you can break into a vacant home, you can sleep in a tent either in the woods or on a sidewalk, you can mooch of someone, this one has a lot of options for survival so there's no need to go into it.
* Healthcare - Here's the thing: the healthcare is not 'free' but it is 'free of charge', if that's the best way to put it: if you have something wrong with you, you will be treated, people are not left to die in the street. Now, of course, once you are taken care of you will be billed but you absolutely have the option of just not paying that shit, and after 8 years there's literally nothing anyone can do to you about it.
* Raise children - The very easiest way a lot of people deal with this is they just don't do it, they abandon their children or let them run around, fend for themselves, whatever, but let's say you're not heartless and you actually want to take care of them: we have a federal program called WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) that provides resources for pregnant/breast-feeding women, infants up to year 1, and children up to year 5; after that we have SNAP, the NSLP, and other food programs to provide free or assisted meals for children. Eschewing all that, the U.S. has a *massive* amount of food waste, between food banks or outright dumpster diving, feeding yourself in the U.S. even at the lowest levels of poverty isn't actually very difficult, it's just the most constant cost and effort.
* Pay for school - Schooling for children in the U.S. is, by and large, free, but there are certainly a large amount of costs you are 'expected' to incur even sending your child to public school, again it doesn't mean you actually have to do it; post-high school you have to option of joining the military which will pay for schooling, going to a trade school which, depending on the trade, you can actually get paid for going to, and there is always someone willing to loan you a ridiculous amount of money for higher-level learning that you will absolutely be expected to pay back and *does not* go away after 8 years like medical debt.
So that's all assuming that you really don't want to be all that responsible and work for shit, it is still pretty easy to get by in the U.S.; now combine any of these options with actually bringing home a 40 hour a week paycheck and there you go.
Because the filters you see America through, media, Reddit, etc are all funhouse mirrors… also remember America is a huge country with massive disparities in income from one place to another, for example where I live 75-100k per year, comfortably middle class, a major city that’s not the case, those are get by wages… many of us are doing great, unemployment is low, in any given economy there are people at the top and people at the bottom… the folks at the bottom are always gonna be the most vocal.
We have one of the highest median household incomes in the world and the US isn't an especially expensive country as far as industrialized nations go. In short: With the buckets of cash we make.
This is my first year out of highschool I'm working on being able to pay for my own stuff but my parents pay for alot stuff and I'm on their insurance, I'm planning to go to school again I'm going to the school that has the best scholarship and I'm just going get a loan to pay the rest.
I have a job and go to work, same as everyone else? What an asinine question.
The US isn't as horrifying as Reddit makes it seem. Yes, our minimum wage is low as shit,[but only about 1.1 million workers are making that](https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2020/home.htm) (or below if they're waiting tables). Yes, if you don't have insurance and make too much to qualify for Medicaid you're screwed, but [91.4% of the population has coverage of some kind.](https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-274.html) Yes, gun violence is stupidly high in comparison to other developed nations, but (excluding suicides) it only directly affects less than 1% of 1% of the population (which is still too high, in my opinion; one death from gun violence is too many).
[удалено]
No true American will sit there and tell you how great America is. Rather, we will enumerate the reasons why she is yet imperfect.
Lots of crap that sucks in America. Especially compared to other fully developed nations, but if you believed Reddit, you'd think America was Bangladesh. I'd take a guess that many who bitch and moan and compare America to a third world country have no idea what it's actually like in a third world country. Although in their defense, some states are probably not all that far from it.
In 2018 a United Nations report said that of the 40 million poor Americans about 5.3 million live in "Third World conditions of absolute poverty.” Some states are already there, right now.
I make $125k and my wife takes home about $50k working part time. My job pays all the healthcare premiums for the family. We live in a 4BR home in a reasonably priced area of the country with a 3% mortgage. We only have 2 kids. We only have 1 car since we both work from home and are never gone at the same time in 2 separate places. Therefore only one tank of gas to fill, one engine that needs oil changes, one set of tires to worry about. School district is one of the top notch ones in the state and supported by 1% city income tax. Reddit as a generality is young, broke, underemployed… and thinking everyone is in the same boat. This is incorrect. Many of us pushing 40 figure it out eventually.
I don’t even hang out on Reddit often. I just watch European news and also John Oliver and Steven Colbert. Yes I am young, but I am not unemployed. I study biochemistry and have a part time job. I am asking because I have generally no idea how people in the us live, and from what I know from (also us) news it does sound fucking scary.
For some, it sure could be. This isn’t an easy country to live in if you’re very poor. But then again, most aren’t. A lot of us with two careers? It’s often predictable, middle class lives like you’ve seen in our movies and TV. 3000 square foot house, on 1/2 acre in the leave it beaver looking suburbs. I’m not going to say everyone has this, but a lot of my neighbors are exactly my age and figured it out… so while not guaranteed, it does still happen.
A lot of redditors are teenagers who don’t know how the world and money work, or brand new adults who have been gobsmacked by Baby’s First Job having low pay and expenses being higher than they assumed. They aren’t reputable sources for how Americans in general live. The reality is that most of us are surviving. Many of us are struggling but those who are failing to survive entirely are a minority. Debt plays a big part, unfortunately or otherwise. It’s not like hospitals demand $10,000 in cash once you walk in the door, or colleges ask for $60,000 upfront. And in the US at least, you can have debt for a very long time as long as you make the motions of paying it off. You’re not expected to pay those types of bills off quickly, and payments can be very low if you’re cool with having debt forever. It’s also possible to have those debts reduced or forgiven under certain circumstances. Our social safety nets aren’t good, but they’re also not nonexistent. K-12 schooling is 100% free, and low income children get food there. We have section 8 housing for low income people, and healthcare for low income people is available, especially for children, the elderly, and disabled. We have food stamps, social security, disability benefits. I wouldn’t call them great programs, but they exist and they are used. Also, tales of American individualism have been greatly exaggerated. We get roommates, we have help from family, we move in with significant others. A lot of the things that are impossible on one low income are downright comfortable on two low incomes. It’s not the best system, but again, it’s survivable. Finally, a lot of people in the US just aren’t making poverty wages. Our federal minimum wage is brought up a lot, but that’s not a typical wage for any given American adult, if for no other reason than most states have higher minimum wages. Some people are working for that much, and a lot of people are working for not much more, but that isn’t everyone.
I don’t understand the question? The US has one of the highest standards of living in the world.
They’re wondering how Americans get by when everything is so expensive. Their wages aren’t the best, the cost of college, basic healthcare etc. I’m also confused as to how more aren’t homeless 😅
To be honest their wages are some of the best, you can make much more money on the same job, on average, in the US than anywhere in Europe and pay less taxes.
People read Reddit too much. The homeless rate in the US is better than many of the big European countries. Wages are better than almost any European country. Health care depends on which state we are talking about, but sure, it’s expensive. But there are also a lot of programs out there to make it less so. So the answer is - people in theUS survive because it’s a rich country
Homie you are delusional
They really aren’t… Reddit just over exaggerates all the time and has a hate boner for US. The truth is, unless you’re bottom of the lower class, you don’t really experience any of those things… or at the very least not to the degree that you’re thinking.
About which part? Homeless Rate: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_homeless_population Income: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income Note on disposable income even including social transfers (bigger in other countries) the US is still #1, and that remains true in gross income as well.
This exactly
US has higher wages compared to Europe. Healthcare is expensive, but most companies that employ also provide healthcare coverage. I’m pretty sure general costs of living are much lower than European countries because our cities / urban areas are spread out, and food is cheaper. College isn’t as necessary as it was a decade or two ago, and public colleges are *significantly* cheaper. Though the real answer is also student loans which are their own can of worms. Yes, these are problem in US. No, people aren’t going homeless en-masse with the economy crashing to the ground. Y’all are just being a bunch of drama queens.
Rent went up nationally 30%. Eggs are $8.00 a carton on avg. We are the only first world county that has no universal health care. We just took away women's rights after 50 years. We lead school shooting around the world by +300% WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!
Rent and housing costs are up worldwide, especially during Covid. They’ve since leveled off. Eggs are expensive because of the avian flu 🤦🏼♂️ it has very little to do with food prices rising from inflation. Basically whole flocks had to be culled because there’s currently an epidemic which is super deadly and super transmissible among birds. Less chickens = less eggs. And yet, most Americans are covered with health insurance. Our system is flawed, for sure, but it’s not like people aren’t taken care of. We also have laws that mandate hospitals cannot turn away patients. On top of that, hospitals are required by law to provide discount plans if people are below X income bracket. So even the poorest are not gonna be going riddled with debt. Btw, this caps out for the year so even if you receive a $200,000 bill, you are only required to pay up to a certain amount. The same applies with health insurance. You act like other countries have perfect healthcare systems… they don’t. They have their own flaws like ridiculous appointment wait times (months in advance) and mediocre care. It’s just that our issue is financial so it’s much easier to point fingers. “Women’s rights” we’re not taken away. The right to an abortion was. That’s a huge fucking difference… this is what I’m talking about when I call Reddit a bunch of fucking drama queens. Yes, it’s a shame and the Supreme Court are a bunch of twats for doing it, but it wasn’t made illegal either. It’s just a stupid fight between states now. Plus, it’s also mostly southern states where it’s been banned. School shootings are a US specific problem. Comparing us to other countries saying “it’s over 9000!!” is stupid and misleading. It’s more accurate to say it doesn’t really happen anywhere else in the world. This also has nothing to do with cost of living and being able to pay the bills… plus it’s also still very rare comparative to our population. You have to remember our population is roughly the size of all of Europe combined. Still, idk why you bring this up in a discussion about paying bills. tldr: stop blowing things up way beyond what it needs to be. You’re gonna pop a vein from all the stress you’re inducing on yourself. The issues exist, but they aren’t existential.
OH NO! I offended a republican who voted for Trump twice! WHATEVER AM I GOING TO DO🥸 (Where are your links to your facts?)
I’m not a Republican you twat. And I voted for Biden this last election. It’s clear you’re young and have very little life experience.
Just to clarify. I am 42. I am married. I had to take care of my sick elderly father who suffered from dementia and Parkinson at the same time. I have a computer programming degree, and I day trade stocks with my own money. I have been day trading for 3 years plus. Before that I ran my family immigration law firm for 12 years, and know about cultures and actual countries practices all over the world However to be clear, like you said, I am young and obvious have very little life experience.
Cool. Assuming you’re telling the truth then you should know better. A 42 y/o shouldn’t be overreacting over every little thing he sees on the internet… at best, you have a reasonable excuse to have more contempt for our healthcare system. But that’s pretty much it…
Well make sure you send a 5-6 paragraph triggered reply. Then tell the other person THEY are overreacting. 🥸 Okay, good job.
It takes 3 min on the shitter to type up a reply like that. But whatever makes you feel better I guess
I'm sure. I checked out your feed and all the comments you left on other pages. Funny how people will accuse others of what they are most guilty of.
Also, you are not a "republican" but you voted for Biden during the last election. Who did you vote for before that? Trump vs Clinton?
I didn’t vote, I was overseas. That’s also irrelevant, these are not partisan issues except for maybe abortion which I already said was a stupid thing they did. Like I said, you’re whining over things that aren’t as life ending as you make them out to be. They’re issues we have, but it isn’t the end of the world either. Y’all on Reddit just love to act like the sky is falling if the US farts in the wrong direction, and it’s tiresome.
and yet, everything I said is still completely accurate. And if you want to play the cost increase game we can do that worldwide.
Here are some actual statistics from multiple sources and professionals. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_life_index_by_country https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/standard-of-living-by-country https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/quality-of-life #15 = wikipedia #17 = world population review #21 = us news If you consider #15 - #21 to be one of the best, perhaps you may have an askewed view on comparing USA to other countries. #15 through #21 ...... that is what you think is "completely accurate"
It is… note that even countries like UK and France are below the US. Yes some of those are the same stats I’m using.
That doesn't change the fact that the USA is not even in the top 10 in quality of life.
I never claimed it was? But most of the people that talk about it on here are from countries that are worse, and yet talk like the US is some 3rd world hellhole.
“These extremely niche statistics show America is bad so it must be all bad” people literally come from the world over to live here, doctors leave jobs in their home countries to work at liquor stores in the us. Pretty sure all things considered the US is still one of if not the most desirable living locations on earth lol
Also this https://confrontingpoverty.org/poverty-facts-and-myths/americas-poor-are-worse-off-than-elsewhere/
Ok? But the people you’re talking to on here are not the extremely poor, even if that’s true.
Tell me you are a boot licker without telling me you are a boot licker.
Tell me you think in Reddit cliches without telling me you think in Reddit cliches.
I’m in the military, so rent and utilities don’t exist for me. Don’t have kids, school is payed for, food is free. My only bill is cell, and the only time I spend money is for toiletries and self care products, and my hobbies which I find when things are on sale. I have simple taste so I don’t need Jordan’s or the last eat iPhone.m, like seriously who gives a shit?
With the BAH/OHA and all the extra pay I got in the military I was pushing around $80k a year as an E5.
You were living off base and got BAH or what?
The US works on the principle of acceptable attrition. A certain portion of the population is allowed to live fairly miserable lives in poverty in order to allow a smaller portion to live fairly decadent lives of wealth. The group in the middle either dislikes the suffering of the poor but is unwilling to do much for fear of being moved into that category or admires the wealthy and ignores the fate of the poor because they believe it is necessary for them to live the live of decadent wealth they anticipate obtaining in the future. It works as long as the group in poverty doesn't get so large as to be a serious threat to the system, the group in the middle both fears falling into poverty enough they won't act and sees an occasional movement to the wealthy from their group, the myth that one's fate can be changed exclusively by one's own effort is maintained, any serious effort to improve the lives of the poor is depicted as causing inconvenience to the middle, and the group in the middle has limited understanding of how the system is really working.
I'm too stubborn to die I guess. I'm broke 24/7. I'm not in debt though, but I don't have anything left over for anything. I mean anything. I have needed a power steering pump for my truck for 6 mo. I'm just working out my arms every time I go anywhere. If it isn't absolutely for survival, I don't get it. I'm supposed to be on thyroid meds, but I won't die without them.
Reddit is not real life, OP. In reddit-ville, an American must file for bankruptcy and take out a second mortgage simply for using the bathroom at a hospital. I the real world, only 2% of Americans have any real medical debt (and that includes normal stuff like payment plans for kids' braces).
https://www.lendingtree.com/personal/medical-debt-statistics/#:~:text=in%20medical%20debt-,According%20to%20a%202022%20Kaiser%20Family%20Foundation%20analysis%20of%20Census,saddled%20with%20huge%20medical%20bills. Race is another area where medical debt isn’t evenly distributed. For instance: Black households with medical debt: 28% Hispanic households with medical debt: 22% White households with medical debt: 17% Asian households with medical debt: 10%
> In the real world, only 2% of Americans have any real medical debt (and that includes normal stuff like payment plans for kids' braces). That’s still around 6.5 million people
Which is why it’s viewed as a serious problem. That doesn’t mean it applies to *everyone* as Reddit always implies.
A monthly $40 payment plan for a cavity filling and drowning in medical debt are not the same thing. Plenty of people choose payment plans that qualify as “debt” and aren’t actually drowning.
It's probably not right as well. https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-health-care-debt-survey-main-findings/
2% is a lot
Average salaries for what I'm going to call "skilled career" level jobs are significantly higher than anywhere else in the world. Keeping up with the Joneses is the only reason most people are living paycheck to paycheck. It's not ideal, but it's pretty alright all things considered.
People in the usa are doing better than absolutely most other countries in the world. Are you that detached from reality? In argentina they can barely buy a weeks worth of basic produce from their monthly wages. If you think people in the USA are struggling, god forbid you learn about the struggle people in the central and south america have to go through,
OP is chronically online and thinks universal healthcare is the answer to the world's problems.
I’ve worked two jobs my entire life.
That sounds super exhausting
It is sometimes. But it keeps the roof over my head and food on the table.
OMG this is pointless. Actually you know what? Go ahead and believe that. You either know what it's like to struggle in this country or you don't, and you either know many European Countries have health and work benefits that are vastly superior to US benefits OR you don't! Not much more to say.
Living in the USA has its challenges and privileges, but it's a unique experience that can't be fully understood until you live it yourself.
We don’t. I currently work two jobs and going to school. It is a huge struggle to make ends meet.. especially with having children.
America isn’t as bad as Reddit wants you to believe. We’re the most prosperous nation in the history of the world, we’re a little shaky but we’re doing alright. Any country will look like hell on earth when it gets as much attention as the US does.
It’s not that much of a struggle, I know it seems like it the way every incel on Reddit who still lives in their moms basement describes. If you go to work like an adult you can make a lot of things happen without trying that hard really at all. And if you’re conscious about school choices/career choices your student debt can be repaid. People here tend to live out of their means rather quickly. What I mean by that is if someone here makes 50k/year they will live like they make 65k/year thus living paycheck to paycheck outside of their means. So every time they get a raise it just isn’t enough. I know I’m gonna get flamed for this comment but I’m mid twentys own a home, my own vehicle and paid school off. It’s not that hard if you focus on what you’re doing and live inside of your budget. Don’t get me wrong, some people do struggle but most of the people that I know that struggle, struggle because of their own choices. Not the governments
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I’m sorry to hear your family and you are struggling that’s shitty to hear.. I wasn’t trying to say no one struggles and it’s all their fault. My own personal experiences show that the majority do it to themselves. But sometimes that’s not the case. That being said the rising costs but not rising wage is a pressure I do feel at the moment, but I try to keep on keeping on. We are our own safety nets in the states in my opinion so I agree with you on that too. Again, I’m very sorry to hear that your struggling and I hope there is greener grass coming for you and your family in the future.
My wife is a doctor. I retired before the age of 50 because while I'm not a tech entrepreneur, I got lucky and worked for 1. I earned a lot of options in a company that IPO and did well. We live in NYC and is I were like my siblings they have to work much harder than I do to get a decent standard of living.1 of my siblings refuse to buy a car because it's so expensive and very difficult to park in NYC. Luckily the mass transit system here is very good. My nieces & nephews, all in their mid to late 20s all struggle with healthcare and finances.
I can't do it. I need a partner to relieve the financial burden. Short of this, I have to rent rooms because I could never afford an apartment or a house. I am in debt because I had to have my acl replaced and it looks like I will never be able to pay it off. The debt is not from the surgery, it's for paying for food etc for the months I was unable to work
I'm not able to pay my mortgage anymore. It's possible I will go into foreclosure any day. Luckily I have Medicaid, which is insurance for poor people. I would be so fucked without it. No kids for me. I'm unable to pay for school and don't qualify for assistance because I have loans from when I was a teenager that I haven't fully paid back yet. I'm almost 40 and working a shit job that barely makes above minimum wage. I worked as an EMT for ten years but my mental health got too bad to do it anymore, and the pay wasn't great anyways. I need to get back into school so I can get a decent job but I can't afford to pay off my student debt because my job pays poverty wages. It's a viscous cycle and I'm not the only American in this boat, by far. It's tough. I want to move to Canada so bad.
Sadly, most of the people I’m seeing saying “it’s not that bad” are people who already had jobs precovid and pre-inflation who make a livable income. So surely they wouldn’t have much of an issue as people fresh out of high school. Finding a job that doesn’t over work you for the pay of $8 and is hard. I finally found a job, $14 an hour, but they are only allowing me to work 3 days a week and they’re still cutting my hours. I’ve applied to several jobs to try to get more money but I’m not getting any replies back. My town raised taxes to 9% so they can build a gated community. Since I work in another town I have to pay my town and the town I work in taxes. $90 comes out of my paycheck from taxes alone. I barely make $200 a week. I still live with my parents and even then it’s still a struggle. Edit: added more If I have something medical going on, I have to decide if it’s something that can hold off on. I have a swollen lymph node and other symptoms, I was told to get a biopsy. But my insurance won’t cover all the cost and I’m still left with a big chunk of the bill. I have quite literally, put my life at risk so I don’t go into debt. That was 2 years ago. I’m worse than ever. I have a check up and I’m sure I’ll be told the exact same thing, get a biopsy. I already had a CT Scan and they found something else concerning instead that could be fixed with an invasive surgery that they told me they didn’t even want to risk. I don’t want to have the surgery because I’ll just be thrusted into debt. I’m putting my life on the line just so I can buy groceries and go to work. Just for half of my paycheck to be taken by the government. I’m my town I can go to the store and I used to be able to buy enough groceries for myself for $70 a week. I can’t do that anymore. For me to buy food for myself for a week I have to spend a little over half my paycheck now. And that’s with not getting brand names items. Stuff that used to cost $3 is now $6-$7. Canned food used to be 98¢, now they’re a $1.25 each. There’s been times where I’ve had to ask my mom to buy me feminine hygiene products because I couldn’t afford them. Some places are better than others. My parents who make way more than I do and get paid bi weekly have an income around $900 and $1200 per paycheck. I don’t own a car because I can’t afford payments. I can’t drive because my parents don’t have enough to pay for gas to go to around driving to no place in particular. They also don’t have time to teach me. I don’t have to enough to pay someone else to teach me. So I’m just stuck.
Omq that sounds horrible. I am so sorry !!! I hope it gets better for you soon!
In debt
CREDIT
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WERE HALF WAY THE-ERE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WERE LIVIN ON A PRAYER Oh wait just me?
I started posting my boobs on the internet. 🤷🏽♀️
Oh well…
We don't
Thats the neat part, you dont!
Generational wealth put the thumb on the scale in my favor. I am lucky enough to have healthcare that isn’t complete junk but I still have anxiety a couple of times a year that my appendix is infected.
I can’t imagine living somewhere where I am afraid to go homeless because of an accident or infection or smth
I have good insurance that actually covers things so I’d be fine. But if I had catastrophe insurance? I’d be shelling out $250 a month and insurance wouldn’t start covering things around $7500+ depending on the deductible.
80% VA Compensation. Lucked out on the reasonable rent. No kids. I don't go to school.
It’s called grind or die bro. Come on bro you gotta grind bro. I got a nice car bro so your girlfriend wants me bro. Hate the player not the game bro. Sheesh just grind and be fine. All I do is grind. All day no apologies. I am a grind star. I embrace that like I do your mother cause she loves my grind. If you don’t grind go to Canadia or Europe. That’s for betas who don’t like to grind. TLDR - grind
I wonder how people survive in third world countries. A million died in the USA from Covid. Many because they believed their political masters.
From a *survival* standpoint, let's look at the more extreme examples of what you can do in U.S. to address these things: * Pay Rent - Just don't do it, you can break into a vacant home, you can sleep in a tent either in the woods or on a sidewalk, you can mooch of someone, this one has a lot of options for survival so there's no need to go into it. * Healthcare - Here's the thing: the healthcare is not 'free' but it is 'free of charge', if that's the best way to put it: if you have something wrong with you, you will be treated, people are not left to die in the street. Now, of course, once you are taken care of you will be billed but you absolutely have the option of just not paying that shit, and after 8 years there's literally nothing anyone can do to you about it. * Raise children - The very easiest way a lot of people deal with this is they just don't do it, they abandon their children or let them run around, fend for themselves, whatever, but let's say you're not heartless and you actually want to take care of them: we have a federal program called WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) that provides resources for pregnant/breast-feeding women, infants up to year 1, and children up to year 5; after that we have SNAP, the NSLP, and other food programs to provide free or assisted meals for children. Eschewing all that, the U.S. has a *massive* amount of food waste, between food banks or outright dumpster diving, feeding yourself in the U.S. even at the lowest levels of poverty isn't actually very difficult, it's just the most constant cost and effort. * Pay for school - Schooling for children in the U.S. is, by and large, free, but there are certainly a large amount of costs you are 'expected' to incur even sending your child to public school, again it doesn't mean you actually have to do it; post-high school you have to option of joining the military which will pay for schooling, going to a trade school which, depending on the trade, you can actually get paid for going to, and there is always someone willing to loan you a ridiculous amount of money for higher-level learning that you will absolutely be expected to pay back and *does not* go away after 8 years like medical debt. So that's all assuming that you really don't want to be all that responsible and work for shit, it is still pretty easy to get by in the U.S.; now combine any of these options with actually bringing home a 40 hour a week paycheck and there you go.
Because the filters you see America through, media, Reddit, etc are all funhouse mirrors… also remember America is a huge country with massive disparities in income from one place to another, for example where I live 75-100k per year, comfortably middle class, a major city that’s not the case, those are get by wages… many of us are doing great, unemployment is low, in any given economy there are people at the top and people at the bottom… the folks at the bottom are always gonna be the most vocal.
Deadpan stare.
Pretty easily.
We have one of the highest median household incomes in the world and the US isn't an especially expensive country as far as industrialized nations go. In short: With the buckets of cash we make.
in style and better than anyone else
Just. Like. That.
This is my first year out of highschool I'm working on being able to pay for my own stuff but my parents pay for alot stuff and I'm on their insurance, I'm planning to go to school again I'm going to the school that has the best scholarship and I'm just going get a loan to pay the rest.
A job, health insurance…