Why Other Countries Treat Their People So Much Better
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- Опубликовано: 6 июл 2024
- Original Video: • America Compared: Why ...
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A lot of good points! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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Nobody outside of America thinks America is the best country in the world.
Besides the millions of people desperately trying to get into America that is. But yeah, quality of life is a lot better in a lot of other nations.
@@libertyprime6932 most of them are from south america because you can get there by land, europe has their own to deal with from africa and the middle east
@@libertyprime6932 maybe if America stopped screwing up so many countries people would stay home.
@@libertyprime6932 same goes for a lot of European countries with Middle Eastern and African people trying to get into Europe and UK. Just goes to show how dire their situation was that they flee to the USA.
Not even the best country in North America!
Out of all the developed countries, the USA has the lowest life expectancy, the highest infant and maternal mortality rates, the highest murder rates, the highest overall crime rates, the highest incarceration rate, the worst education outcomes, the least employee benefits and rights
And yet they think they are ‘free’ and it’s the ‘best country in the world’ lol how can so many American ppl be that numb to it!
@@robocop3961 USA media propaganda is relentless and very effective. People don't bother to check the facts. Let's face it, the vast majority have never been outside the USA, so to them it is the whole world.
@ Archie Bald, but yet here you are using the USA’s inventions and technologies like satellites, computers while bitchiing. Most Americans just don’t care, get over yourself and move on.
@@richardeast3328 Computers were invented in the UK, see Charles Babbage, Lady Ada Lovelace (daughter of Byron), Tommy Flowers, William Tutte and Alan Turing.. One in four of all satellites launched across the world are manufactured in the UK. The US citizens who don't get health care, go bankrupt due to the massive costs or die early, certainly care about the so called healthcare system. Various studies have found that a substantial number of bankruptcies are due to healthcare costs. Nobody in Western Europe, in Australia, in New Zealand or in Canada is forced to declare bankruptcy due to medical costs.
@@richardeast3328 The first satellite launched is a soviet one, spoutnik ... The first man in space a soviet one ... the first woman in space a soviet ... the first step in space a soviet ...
Patriotism is not defending the ills of your society, it is fixing them.
Love you guys.
Love this comment😀
You're so right ✅
In Europe you can be asked to work more than your 40 hours / week (some countries 35 hours). You have the right to refuse with no consequence. If you agree your employer will have to pay you twice the hourly rate than your normal rate for those extra hours as it's considered overtime. Same if you work on a National Holiday
Yeah. In my country (Slovenia), you're even not allowed to work extra for longer period of time. If company needs more working hours for long period of time it basically means they need another full time worker and are obligated to get one.
Time and a 1/3, maybe time and a 1/2 ,sunday double time . Not double pay for overtime ,not here anyway (UK).
Not to mention that overtime is either paid or you get additional time off
@@johndowds5770 : I'm retired now but when I was working it was usually time and a half for overtime and double time for Sunday work (also for Saturday work in some jobs).
I don't now 35 but I'm sure is 37 votat from U.E.
That "commie?" reaction was basically the explanation why american labor market is how it is
thats what happens after 40+ years of "red menace" propaganda does to a country, The US through the ages have always felt the need to have an "enemy" to fixate on.
I always had the feeling, that americans believe doing anything for other people will turn the USA immediately into Russia...
@@Jekanadar Got to be honest, as an American 'Red', every time I see a response like that it really stings. Especially when it's coming from fellow workers who are willingly taking the side of their own enemy.
The knee jerk reaction is to for any change in the present system to be labelled commie or socialist. This is the thinking drummed into the population to maintain the present capitalistic system. If citizens fear any thinking that is different, there is no change possible.
The reds are coming the reds coming!
It's interesting that when an American hears about treating workers fairly they think commy. Its quite sad.
Thats something I can never get my head around.
Its not their fault. They were all given the Kool-aid to drink as infants. The vast majority of the population gets brainwashed into the ideology of 'individualism' from the day they are born. Individualism is as toxic and as barbaric as communism. They are both extremist ideologies that do not benefit the majority.
Somewhere in the middle lies democratic socialism, where capitalists can still flourish all they want, but safety nets are provided for all... Like universal health care.
US citizens, America is a continent buddy
@@gastonhitw720 none of my many yank friends say that. They all call themselves Americans. Maybe it varies but in my limited English experience I've not heard anyone say that. Fair point though.
What I was thinking is the US government have people thinking wanting rights at work is bad. Clever move
America has never recovered from the extreme McCarthy years. It'll take generations for basic universal healthcare.
"Leave it to the employer to decide on these issues so you can pick the best one" is another sign of crony capitalism brainwash. I'd suggest you research how many people can actually pick the job they work at.
Companies in Europe offer additional benefits to attract workers, since all these things are covered (along with free healthcare). You get cinema tickets, free lunches, gym memeberships, additional days off, etc.
If I may had, the real problem isn't that he thinks that free market is gonna gave advantage to the worker,
The real problem is he doesn't see, that the logic is flawed as soon as the companies agrees on giving less to workers, and that the state mandating something doesnt mean that compagnies won't try to give more to lure worker in.
For example I'm french and yet out of the jobs I have been offered more than half the potential employers were saying this: In /other Compagnies/ you will get only the minimal, we offer you x more paid vacation day.
What state mandate is a safety net, nothing more.
When it comes to tipping in the UK it's usually done as a 'thank you for your hard work' it's not done to say 'you're under paid have this'.
I have worked with many Americans in Europe who are surprised people here do not want Europe to be like the U.S.
Missionary zeal and the same blind faith
If you are born into a Catholic family, you grow up believing in Jesus. If you are born into a Muslim family you grow up believing in Allah. If you are born into an American family you grow up believing in individualism. They have no say in it. Its not their fault. They are programmed.
Which literally proves how ignorant Americans are if this is the case because they assume America is the most amazing country in the world therefore everyone should live there or adapt to be like America now that would be crazy. I'm just happy there's a big ocean separating the UK and U.S.
@@Danny_kay Because the government makes us dumb and blind so we dont revolt and stand up to ourselves
But the politicians aka corporations want Europe to be like the USA.
Honestly, as an outsider, The US comes across as an incredibly backward and brainwashed culture. Everyone is brought up to believe they are living in the greatest country on Earth, and yet to not have a national healthcare service is so utterly archaic. A country where people are scared to seek medical attention for fear of financial ruin is certainly not the greatest country on Earth, and nowhere near it. The population of the US needs to wake up and understand just how bad things really are in comparison to a lot of other nations, and stop distracting themselves with whatever good is present. The place really is a laughing stock to the rest of the world.
(Love your channel and videos, this is in no way directed to you)
3th world country with a Gucci belt
Do they not understand the politicians are sold to the corporations? Why would they raise the min wage? Is the American worker paying the politician? Well yes, just not as much as the corporations pay. In my country we call it "corruption".
I think it’s a real shame for the American people that they are so closed minded about many things. They can be so passionate about what they believe and could do so much to improve things if they just believed in taking care of their own people and giving them a better work / life balance rather than focus on money / profit / capitalism all the time. There is more to life than money!
les USA ce n est pas trop formidable pour certaines choses. Pour moi quitter l Europe c'est impensable surtout la France. En Europe les agissements des États-Unis sous beaucoup de prétexte sous connues comme de détruire l économie européenne celle de l Allemagne en particulier. La guerre en Ukraine est un des exemple. Pousser Poutine à cela était facile et détruire les gazoduc en mer du Nord pour donner un coup à l économie Allemande est scandaleux !!! Cela les medias n en parle pas ! Notre président et la présidente du parlement européen et d autres sont 'des traîtres ! Il y a une immense colère en Allemagne en France en Europe. Bien sûr les polonais voient les choses autrement. Mais cette guerre à été poussée par les occidentaux sans l accord 'des peuples occidentaux !!! Désolé mais les instances américaines sont vraiment des salaud !! Tous les Européens le savent !! Le peuple Américains sont abrutis par les média, le cinéma. En Europe moins et les Européens commence à voir clair dans le jeu diabolique des États-Unis. Désolé la Chine en Europe, même si elle est critiquable, est moins perçu comme un danger qu aux États-Unis.
Sadly we know.
This reminds of the time Toys R Us opened their first store in Sweden with their usual American way of treating their workers. It did not go well for Toys R Us.
I'm not surprised of your reaction, a lot of Americans that come to Canada when they see all the benefits you get, they are just like you, they get awe struck, can't believe and question everything, then they come to the realization that they've been screwed up for the longest time. xD
In Europe it's not called benefits, but simply workers rights. Even when you are temporarily unemployed, your health insurance or right to go on vacation, are continued.
Wanna know what us Australians say when we start going a little downhill? "Do we really wanna end up like the USA?".
A few years ago, when Trump was elected and Boris took over Brexit I had a nightmare that Palmer was going to get some power in Australia. With slogans like "Make Australia Great" (what does that sound like) you can see where that would have headed. So glad that Palmer United Party has less (maybe non-existant) power now.
@@4101demo Our worst politicians are still better than the best leaders the US or UK have put forward lol. Well, maybe Tony Abbott..
@@4101demo I'm British and Trump is the only reason I respect America. Biden, the democrats, lefties and the media are the ones I despise.
@@Red-hh7dm - You’re a freak of nature. You hero worship a crook who stole millions of dollars from a charity, when he’s a billionaire?! You hero worship a married man who rode a porn star bare back while his wife was nursing his newborn son? Your moral bar is set so low you must have crawled from the sewer to type your comment.
Same in the UK too!
I remember, years ago, seeing films of a German guy who would lecture companies on how to treat their employees to get the most out of them. The bottom line was, the better you treat them, the better they work.
Guess why only the silicon valley giants , media and and pharma industry gets a proper treatment in the US? Propaganda and keeping them sick and weak
Love how you actually listen. In Europe we have free health care, I'm 46 and have never paid more than 9 bucks. Every job, minimum 28 days paid leave, in London! We are capitalist but also socialist, we found a balance, the US is Capitlism at its end result. Its so far down the rabbit hole, idk how the US changes it now. My heart breaks for Americans.
Every European country has somewhat different regulations, but surely we are much better off than US citizens when it comes to the work balance, pay maybe little less for the middle income, but comfort and security takes away a lot of stress.
"Do you think there's much more of a competitive nature between employees in the US..."
Yes, there probably is, in an environment where your boss can fire you for practically no reason, and country where there is basically no social safety net, you are pretty much forced to go above and beyond at work and work yourself into the ground, for fear of being the at the top of the list of people to get rid of next time management decide they want to save a little bit of money to make a specific profit figure, just so they get their bonus.
Everybody outside of the United States thinks like: “Oh yeah, people in the US think that they live in the best country in the world. That’s so cute & funny…”
Before 9/11, many had respect for the US and Americans around the world, now most in the developed world feel sorry for them and a big part of that is thanks to the internet opening peoples eyes.
@@paul1979uk2000
Yes, very true. Even the US’s spying/propaganda apparatus cannot pull the wool over the world’s eyes, in the internet age.
@@angelogandolfo4174 This is also whiles there is a threat from China, if it wasn't for that, I suspect a lot more countries would pull away from the US already.
@@paul1979uk2000
Definitely. It is human nature that people are selfish and they ‘use’ other nations, to a degree, even if they don’t realise they’re doing it. So yes, the US is a very useful friend/ally to have, when countries like China could be a rising threat. But if that threat vanished for whatever reason….. Like you said, I wonder how many nations would stick around with the US still… good point…….. ‘
@@angelogandolfo4174 We are all guilty of it but because it's seen as out of sight, out of mind, people don't think about it.
Honestly, I think the only way we are going to solve these problems is to develop the entire world to first world and then bring them under one roof with a world government, the alternative what we have now is kinda tribal where we are all fighting among ourselves over stupid things.
It's sad really because we could all achieve so much more if we just work together but we're still in the world of power play, especially the US and China and to a less degree, the UK, Russia and a few others and ironically, it's those power play countries that cause most of the problems.
As for the US, it's not looking good for them, they are basically dividing the west, just look at the latest deal with the US, UK and Aus which dismissed Canada, Japan and Europe, that's playing right into the hand of what China wants, a divided west and if we are not careful, the EU and it's members could end up doing it's own thing which are not in the interest of the US, being dismissive goes both ways and in the end, it's China that's winning out because they want a divided west as we are weaker that way.
In the 80s I really wanted to live in the states. But now I'm 50 and in poor health, I'm so fucking glad I live in the UK.
The conditioning is strong. Try these: when discussing facts or how people are treated by their governments with someone, just mention "conspiracy theory" or "communism" and watch their reaction.
I’m from Sweden and we top even Norway and Denmark in parental leave with over a year off and a bonus if mother and father splits it equally. I think it’s important to point out to Americans that it isn’t your employer paying you salary during your time off for parental leave: it’s the government. We are very pro-small businesses. We like our high taxes and all our benefits from them 👍
also, we don't think that women get pregnant, to get a nice, paid vacation :D
(EDIT: I remember, that was a thing, at least some years ago)
I've just become a father this week in the UK. I get 2 weeks paternity leave and my employer gave me another 2 weeks full paid leave without me even asking. I'm also taking 30 days holiday so I've now got 2 months off at full pay. Oh and I didn't have to pay to hold my child in the hospital. I didn't even pay to park there 🤣
Congratulations on becoming a father i'm a father of three in the UK.
Congrats to you and yours mate.
@@Danny_kay thank you!
@@rickybuhl3176 thank you!
Congratulations to you and your family
First reaction to the words "class struggle" is "Commie". Props to you for viewing this with a fairly open mind, but, that reaction shows just how brainwashed North America is. I'm English and find it baffling how strong the aversion to improving what we see as basic worker rights and conditions is. It's proven that happier workers are more productive workers, mind blown by this.
Kevin Brigden - Please do not lump in Canada with the US when you say North America is brainwashed. I live in Canada. The minimum wage, depending in which province or territory you live, ranges from 11,45$ to 16$, we have universal healthcare, paid sick days, paid vacation days and paid parental leave for one or both parents.
@@realise6 many of the US's problems still directly apply to Canada.
It's pure coincidence that Canada had the better end, both situations could have been reversed.
@ronylouis - It is not coincidence at all. Canadians have a social conscience sadly lacking in USers who are more egocentric.
@@ronylouis0, it is absolutely not a coincidence that Canada has developed a much stronger social safety net than the USA. The differences between Canada and the US began in the vastly different ways in which our two countries were formed and has continued ever since. The US born in rebellion, revolution and individualism.
Guess why only the silicon valley giants , media and and pharma industry gets a proper treatment in the US? Propaganda and keeping them sick and weak , not that we don't have heavy propaganda in Europe, but this goes 100 steps further on all layers in their society
As an Italian I was literally shocked to hear how workers are treated in the US.
Based on my experience I can say here in Italy: 33 days of paid vacation, 2 extra wages every year, unlimited sick leave.
And of course we do have paid maternity leave, as in other EU countries.
I would say that for an European citizen in general US working conditions are hardly understandable.
I personally believe that GDP is not the only parameter that makes a country "great".
Its fun watching this guys journey to the truth...
He's eyes are slowly opening up.
❤️
Class struggle does notmean "Commie" at all. All countries have their version of Class system. Socialism is not Communism either
See, your reaction of “Commie”, although half in jest, is exactly why America is the way it is. Other countries, people just think “fair” or “right” or “socialist” (that’s not a dirty word outside of a very few countries). Americans are conditioned to dismiss or fight against things which would benefit them.
You have a very good point, take the massive opposition to health care for example. But at the same time the American Left is always willing to vote for higher taxes and increased costs of living.
@@libertyprime6932 The US actually has pretty high taxes when you look into it. When you consider the cost of taxes plus health insurance, you’re overpaying massively. You spend more public money on covering 20% of the population through Medicare/Medicaid, than we do in the UK for covering 100% through the NHS. The problem is that public money in the US is used to finance private businesses, very inefficiently. The corrupt lobbying system has destroyed all of the promise which the country once had.
Show me a good communist country , think you’re forgetting about China , The Soviet Union Venezuela etc
@@jamieanderson3475 Democratic Socialist/Social Democrat nations outperform the US by virtually any measure of quality of life. Most of us see the hyper-capitalism of the US as just as much of a failure as those communist regimes you mention. Being the wealthiest nation is meaningless when you don’t look after most of your people.
@@jamieanderson3475 The point is not that communism is good. The point is that Americans see communism at every turn. Universal health care is a far cry from collectivised farms and gulags.
On the topic of creating a competitive environment between workers. I think that this forced competition between people especially when it concerns survival is destructive for our social with one another. How can we live peacefully together if we only see each other as competitors for survival. That doesn't mean competition should be completely eliminated. But it should not exist in things necessary for our survival. (I hope this translates my thoughts. English is not my First language)
Australia allows 4 weeks annual leave, plus up 10 days sick leave. There are also 7 public holidays which are extra. Also 18 weeks maternity leave at the National minimum wage ($740/week).
You seem like a nice guy who's interested in learning about the rest of the world, but it is quite amusing watching somebody getting so speechless & tongue-tied at the same time at how shite America treats it's own people.
Agree. They're brought up to believe otherwise and buy into the Hollywood version of the States. The insane arguments used as to why they don't need gun regulations is only further confirmation of their widespread brainwashing. No questions the trillions spent on the military but all agree universal healthcare is unaffordable. If too many channels like this start doing well the US will start banning content from other countries. Never say never.
@Big Mac why are you and everyone else so engrossed by the USA? You don’t like us, big deal move on and get a life.
@@richardeast3328 Interesting comment, not sure where you got off saying I don't like America. Perhaps you shouldn't be so thin-skinned about 1 negative comment about a small part of American culture, a lot of which is admirable.
@@richardeast3328 Its not that easy when the country is an Empire who is also able to vote in a crazy person into office of President ;)
Isn't it every American right to be paid a fair living wage and the right to affordable healthcare instead of treating like they live in a 3rd world country however some so called 3rd world countries treat there citizens better the America . So much for the land of the free
I have to say... The USA's working conditions and overall social security system are really barbaric. There is no other word to describe it, especially when looking at the american health care system. Why is this the case? Because big buisness holds your country firmly in its grip. The reason isn't competition, it's just greed. Most companies make enormous profits and it wouldn't hurt them at all to share a tiny little bit of their profits with their employees (in the shape of paid parental leave, vacation, etc.)They just don't because they can get away with it. Because there are no laws forcing them to do so. They could easily do it.
It wouldn't hurt them to pay a few extra cents in the dollar in tax that could fund programmes like universal health care either. The American version of "democracy" is probably the most dysfunctional the world has ever seen. So many "checks and balances" that its become completely ineffective.
When you see the lack of social security and care for workers lives you can imagine just how bad the prison systems are where they don’t deem these people as human almost. The prison system is bad enough where I live but in America it is practically accepted slavery fuelled by a disturbing world view of revenge, punishment and greed for money
I think the USA took "Freedom from the Brits" too far and started their downfall from the get-go. They decided that they were now a free country and took it a step further by highlighting the freedoms they have, and by doing so, exposed themselves to the world of capitalism and are now governed by the people who profit from the shortcomings of 90% of the people.
@@ceevio_art And if you suggest that, you get labelled a Socialist (which is almost a Communist, and the argument is over)
@@dancast1159 We .get the blame again. When do we not .?
Interesting to see your views on this McJibbin, as I think you probably have very similar perspective to many Americans on this. I lived in the US before (I am from Norway) and indeed it seems a lot of this is very unknown to the average American. It is probably hard to improve conditions if the majority think Americans already have the best conditions in the world. To ask for better conditions you need to first realize that conditions are not actually that good in America.
I think a lot of this attitude exists because America has been so much better off than the rest of the world so long, that Americans have come to think it is a permanent reality. I am from Norway and when a large portion of our population immigrated to America in the 1890s and early 1900s, Americans unskilled wages were 4 TIMES HIGHER! Think about that. You made FOUR TIMES as much as an unskilled worker in America. A Norwegian farmer with the homestead act would get farmland 9 TIMES larger than an average farm in Norway. America was simply a dream back then.
However since then a lot of us have caught up with America. But among European-Americans the stories live on about the poor countries they left. I know many Norwegian-Americans flat out refuse to believe how prosperous modern day Norway is. Reality is that the tables have turned. From America paying their low skilled workers the best, and being most egalitarian, now it pays its low skilled workers the worst. Low skilled jobs in Norway pay 2-3 times American wages today. And we have a lot more holidays. Here in Norway I got 5 week guaranteed by government. But that is addition to all the fixed holidays which everybody get off. We got a lot of days off in Easter and around Christmas e.g. My company gives me another extra week. Thus I have 6 weeks full paid vacation I can spend whenever in addition to fixed holidays. Oh and I had 3 months paternity leave with each of my children. My wife had 9 months maternity leave. My wife is American and I noticed how her family relatives had to save up vacation days over many years to have time off after birth. We don't save up days. The maternity and paternity leave is full paid days on top of all the other vacation days.
There are of course tradeoffs. Europeans work about 30% less than American due to shorter days and more vacation. The means major European economies have about 30% smaller GDP per capita than the US. Thus Europeans are picking safety and leisure time over consumption. I noticed that while living in the US. Americans spend more money on stuff. We Europeans spend our money more on experiences. Traveling on vacations, relaxing on the beach etc. We are paying for better work-life balance and less stress.
We also have opted to share the wealth more. You don't make as much as a CEO, doctor or lawyer in Europe as in the US. On the flip side you make more as a warehouse worker or burger flipper. Of course it depends on what people value. You want you CEOs better compensated or your cleaners, fast-food workers, truck drivers etc.
It's funny how surprised you were about parental leave...I live/work in Czech Republic and we are eligible for 28 weeks of maternity leave (70% of pay) and after that up to 3-rd year of child of parental leave- both father and mother can take it (there is certain amount of money from the state you can count with during these 3 years). This is guaranteed by labor code not by the employers- they have to give it to you and the parent is also protected by law as the employer cannot fire him/her during this time.
As a Brit who lived and worked in Rhode Island for 8 years I saw all of this myself/ I think you miss the point when you were saying that companies had to offer better deals to attract people like more paid leave or maternity leave. In the USA that's not how it works in practise. The companies offer as littrl;e as possible because the dollar is king. This over time brings the whole industry benefit package lower and lower. Remember as well not just the point that say in Denmark the McD's pay is three times higher, or that US minimum wage staff can't afford a place to live, but more than that all these countries has comparing, have some for of free state health care and pension scheme. The exploitation of the workforce is even praised as you saw in the magazine article. It's an entrenched mindset, that starts its indoctrination with the daily pledge of allegiance in the classroom. My Final point would be your reaction to the phrase class struggle. In all the time I was there I never meet an American who understood the difference between socialism and communism, they are not the same thing. For that matter I meet very few who understood what the ideas of communism were, as opposed to the various dictatorships in the world that use the name to hide the iron fist the the subjugate their people with. I ask though is there much of a difference to keeping people as wage slaves who can't afford a one room apartment, or get any form of health care and live in a country which imprisons a higher percentage of its population than any other. not just in the world now, but at at any point in history?
Holy shit that's a beautiful comment.
Wow! Fellow Brit here! We have issues at home, but not the same as USA 🇬🇧
Your communism comment really hit the nail on the head. I studied for a semester over there and an American student argued with me saying that "communism and socialism is the exact same" and then said if I was right, I'd need to talk to their lecturer. And he was mostly a pretty smart dude.
Bang on mate .
@@alimar0604 damn straight, I have bemoaned what I consider England’s failings whilst on my travels but England/Uk have absolutely nothing on the US.
As a Brit, I've been preaching these messages for years. Americans have never understood why so many people dislike them. Actually, it's not that we dislike Americans, it's that we don't like what America stands for. It's a society of silent indoctrination - My country first; My country good or bad; we are the greatest country in the world; We are the leaders of the free world; We must love and respect our flag.
From pre-school age to University Graduate, they are not taught anything of value beyond their own borders, but they are taught that money is the thing of worth, to the point of obsession with it. When you compare the education levels of the people with those of other - even Third-World - countries, their levels of knowledge are appalling, but they still like to think they know more than everyone else.
I've been a harsh critic of the USA for many years, and I've often said "I've met many Americans in my lifetime, but never met one I'd want as a neighbour!" That's not because I dislike them, I just hate their bombast, their ignorance, their self-aggrandisement, their bloated self-servitude, and their take all-give-nothing attitude, and their unwillingness to admit to their mistakes - the latter is always someone else's fault. Of course not all Americans are like that - just the majority!
In Britain, we tend to call a spade a spade, but Americans would call it an American spade, the suggestion being that anything they have is better than the rest. If you check the American histories of WW2, you won't see any mention of their Allies, other than in some general form. Ask an American about the Normandy Landings and they believe it was an all-American battle, when the reverse is really the truth. Again, it's this unwillingness to give credit to anyone but themselves.
All of the above is ingrained in their parochial, insular, introspective educational system, and becomes almost a part of their DNA. All the descriptive words I've used fit like pieces in a jigsaw, and I've only given the surface a brief wipe!
We did know we were not liked, we fear our government to much to take action which is why we let america be hated... They're gonna say we are communist and kill us..
As a 65 year old could I just say, your thoughts echo the way I have seen Americans for decades, as a young kid I looked at America with envious eyes dreaming of living in the land of milk and honey. Alas having been there and with the advent of the internet, social media etc (and trump) you actually realise what a thoroughly toxic place it is. To be honest I wouldn't even cross the street to get there now.
@@FACELOWNER A man after my own heart Mr H! I haven't even skimmed the surface in my above comments. Yes, as a kid in the 1950's, I believed that America was the place that provided everything for everyone, but as I grew older and wiser, I learnt differently.
Here in the UK, people don't seem to realise that America owns us!! Every High Street and every corner has one American "eaterie" after another, most of our shops are Ami-owned, all our computer software and internet services are American, as are most of our mobile phones and services, our hire care companies and many logistic companies. Our supermarkets are stocked floor to ceiling with American Brand Names in every form of canned, bottled and other packaged foods. Most confectionary is American, and so are the board games and children's toys All our former British Brands are now Ami-owned, and some 20 former RAF airfields are American. Turn on your TV and the mass of programmes are American; Go to the cinema..... the list just goes on and on... then that self-obsessed Trump tells the American people - and the rest of the world - that the country is not getting a fair deal from its trading companies - who is he trying to kid?
In my experience they hold top place in the world for low-quality education - the people are so ignorant of world history, they can't speak a civil language, and the certainly don't have the first idea of spelling or grammar. I could write a book on it all, but no-one would want to read it. I've never come across a more insular, ignorant and false people anywhere. So "Toxic" is as good a word as any for probably the most racist and self-indulgent people in the world. No, you'd never find me visiting the place, and I'm finding that the UK is getting more like it every day!
This has managed to nail the general opinion of my country's populace on the head. We're a tourist country with lots of American visitors each year and everytime we get big ego muricans with absolutely no class or shred of respect by the truckload. Its really haunting to realize that despite being in a shitty third world country, the grass is not greener on the other side. The scarier part of that is the realization that many of those American tourists are incapable of coming to the same conclusion that we did.
Having worked as a tour guide before, I can say that one of the two tourist groups I hate the most are those from the USA. I sure as hell do not want them as neighbours. Thats not to say all Americans are like that... just far too many are.
@@brainletfag Stop copying my lines...on the other hand, why not, we're singing from the same hymn sheet, Lol. Just as a matter of interest, what's the second tourist group? Chinese perhaps?
I really enjoy watching your reaction videos, mostly because you *have quite the analytic mind*! Unlike many reactors, you actually remember stuff you've seen in previous videos and actively use it to question or clarify what you are currently watching. You do not just absorb content, you understand. And that's a great example for the rest of the RUclips reactors community!
On another note, this particular video has always striked me. I've watched it a couple times now, it's so eye-opening... and I'm not even american! I can hardly imagine how it must make you feel. That's why it matters so much that these types of videos are shared amongst the youth, because who can change the system (hopefully for the better) if not the future citizens of america?
About leaving parental leave up to the employer... That's why we (the rest of the world) have LAWS to protect us ALL from greedy employers. Our bosses don't get to use paid leave as a tool in the job market to the obvious disadvantage of the employee.
Laws should be written by the people for the people, not by corporations for corporations, as they clearly are in the States..
18:25 In Sweden you get 480 parental days, that can be shared between the parents. A single parent with sole custody can use all of the days herself or himself, but if it´s a couple then one of them has to use at least 90 of the days. (It´s usually called "Pappamånader", "Daddy months" because it´s usually the mom who takes the bigger share of the parental leave, so 3 months has been "reserved" for the dads. But it´s of course up to the couple if they want to switch). You don´t get full time pay though, but 80 % or something like that.
Also I heard that the economy of Sweden improved when they reduced the hours of the working week!
@@cambs0181 I think cause less time at work means more time outside and more money spent on other things, instead of work sleep repeat. I'm guessing
@@jeffimix7405 Less time at work means less money in your the pocket , means less money to spend in economy . You are NOT going to sleep in MY workplace , or you are not going to work at ALL !! Sweden is trying to get membership in NATO , because all this time they was "neutral" means they did not contribute NOTHING to theirs defense . IF it is up to me , i 'd NOT give them a membership
we in germany also have 1 year of paid parental leave. and with us, the wife doesn't have to stay at home; the father can also take his parents on vacation. We call this equal rights. ;)
It's a shame that the American reactors have to be so defensive.
Gaz last. They're defensive because they can't believe other countries are better. Brought up to believe America is best in the world. So it's a total shock to them when they realize it's not. Americans are do ignorant of anything outside of America.
"Americans" are all people who live in the American continent, not just in the United States
If you leave decision up to the employer they will always go for the option that saves them the most money. that is why national laws setting the bar is important
It's Greed, plain and simple. There is still job competition in other countries but the difference is the lowest threshold is high enough to provide a living wage and benefits. Anything else above that that an employee can negotiate is great but the lowest rung on the ladder is still able to provide for themselves and their families.
Great video. It looked like a bit of a hard watch in places for you bro. Just remember, it only takes 1 step to start moving forward. 🙏
When nine out ten countries are telling you that you're drunk its time for a lie down.
HAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAH
Here in sweden, having worked in McDonalds is actually considered a merit. Especially if you work in retail or sales.
Most employers here see it as a good sign that he/she is good at handling stress and a fast-paced working environment.
That said, no one wants to spend any longer amount of time working there.
Because even though it is unlawful here to employ anyone in a manner that smacks of serfdom the way america does, McDonalds is still infamous for not paying its employees adequately for the amount of work and stress that go into their jobs. There's also very little in terms of upward mobility or branching out to find there.
People here generally agree that working at McDonalds long enough to know the job (like maybe a year or two as your first job fresh out of school) is a good work and life experience.
It's thought of as humbling, in a way. Gives you an understanding for people who are stuck doing jobs like that and makes you not look down on people for having low-income jobs.
And hopefully you'll end up building up some resilience to stress.
But yeah, generally speaking most nations see the US as both a cautionary tale and a bully/boogeyman same as Russia and China.
Personally, when I look at america and what happens there I get the feeling that the quintessence of the US is pretty much every bad idea that western civilization ever came up with condensed into a single nation and culture. You're like a living funhouse mirror or bizarro-world. Only less fun and more depressing and scary.
38 days off in austria doesn't equate to "a month and a week", you only count days you would have worked. so lets say you usually work from monday to friday, so 5 days a week, that means with those 38 days you can take 7 weeks and 3 days off.
"you get a month of?" no, we get one and a half month of, since the normal work week has five days, so 30days are 6 weeks of vacation
To put it simply from an irish perspective America has had 2 right wing parties and no real left. Economics is always a push and pull between right and left... the lefts wants more the right brings it back in a little bit. but with the democrats and repubiclans you have 2 pro business parties republicans far right and dems center right so the push/pull is always between right and further right.
And no i dont think its competition between employees its the lack of unions employees need bargaining power versus employers not to mention in america peoples healthcares are often tied to emplyment making it much harder to stand up for higher wages and higher work standards in fear of losing healthcare
Its never the workers always big business and the government!
Americans are also indoctrinated to believe that things like Trade Unions, worker's rights and Universal Healthcare are Socialist and against what America supposedly stands for and therefore evil. When the truth is that these are basic human rights that are certainly more worthy of being in a constitutional document than "the right of the people to keep and bear arms"
@@michaelscott7166 Well said.
@@michaelscott7166 The NHS here in the UK is a joke. Just the other year, it spent over £ 2.5 billion in compensation for medical negligence.
@@michaelscott7166 That’s what she said.
I immigrated to the central European homelands of my ancestors two years ago, after living for nearly fifty years in Texas. My life has never been better, and I will not go back. My life is not perfect here, but it is far better than it was in the US.
"It's called the american dream, cause you have to be asleep to believe in it." - George Carlin.
16:38 The attitude of Americans definitely plays a role in all this. Americans 'live to work', while Europeans and people from many other first world countries 'work to live'. If my boss tells me: "He's working 15 hours per week overtime, so I expect from you to do at least the same." I'd say: "Well, good for him, but that's his decision. I get my specified work done in time, so there's no need for me to do overtime." A lot of Americans would probably agree with their boss and work the overtime, either because they're afraid to get fired otherwise or because they think that they have to along with every such request their boss makes, just because he is their boss and he's higher up in the hierarchy of the company.
Something like this actually happened to me as a European. My contract specified that I had to work 40 hours per week, but after a while my boss began to delegate some of his more annoying tasks to me. Keep in mind that this was work that he was supposed to do and not me. I went along with it for a while, but after a while I was starting to fall behind on those tasks. I could get my own work done easily within the 40 hours, but the extra work would take me at least one hour to finish everyday and he just kept giving me more work. After a while he started complaining that I never finished all my tasks. I told him that I always finished my tasks, but that I was never able to finish HIS tasks. He then got angry, demanded that I should stay at the office longer and work more hours every day to finish all the tasks. I couldn't because I've got children at home who are waiting for me to get home and cook them dinner. I told him this and he told me that my job must always come first. I turned around, went straight to his manager and told him the whole story. He, against my expectations (because he always seemed like a good guy), agreed with my boss. I went to HR and told them the story. They agreed with my boss. Then I just told them: "Well, then I'm happy to tell you that this was my last day at this company." I immediately resigned. They clearly didn't value all the important work I did for them.
While I was at college I had a part time job. I asked for 2 weeks off for my exams. He said "what's more important your education or your job?". He actually said those words! I just turned around and walked out and never went back.
@@ozric4122 Wow....That's ridiculous, but sadly, I'm not at all surprised.
In many of the EU countries you simply couldn't do 15 hours per week of overtime. You would hit the maximum allowed limit hours per year or another time period. EU countries take the reasonable approach that if an employer needs his employees to work 30% more he should just hire more people instead.
If a employer acted in that fashion in my country you could find yourself in a court of law
That's American work culture. I am American and that always happened to me, and I knew it was not the way I wanted to live my life, so I left the Company and America!
Practically all of these examples can be put down to a single issue - how civilised your society is. You pay your workers fairly because thats the civilised thing to do. You pay annual leave because that's the civilised thing to do. etc. etc.
People from the USA are often regarded as loud and uncouth, which genuinely reflects the societal stage the country is at.
I watch a great deal of "Americans reacting to things" channels and it never ceases to amaze me how much listening they do with their mouths! It seems the less they know about a subject, the more they have to say about it.
well said - if only they would shut their mouths and open their ears they might learn something
"I'm not wanting to sound defensive", he said defensively.
As a pioneer country, it's a "Everyman for themselves" mentality. Very dog eat dog thinking.
I always thought it was "Shoot first, ask questions later.
The USA the nation the rest of the modern world uses as an example of how not to run a society.
In Australia for example when there is an issue , our leaders will say do we really want to go the same way as the USA and everyone says fuck no, end of issue lol.
That’s why your lockdowns are terrible , Australia is a shithole compared to the US
@@jamieanderson3475People like you would prefer to watch a million of your fellow countrymen die if it means you have to wear a mask when you visit Walmart. That's the definition of a f*#ked up.
@@jamieanderson3475 That's why when we have a similar population as Texas, but instead of 58,000 deaths we have 1000. Our biggest city, Sydney covers a similar area to LA, with 2Mill more people only has 108 deaths. I'd prefer to be alive, than what you think of as "free". I prefer to have a country that cares for it's people by helping them live rather than submitting to mob rule, be that lockdowns, universal healthcare, or gun control.
@@jamieanderson3475 I appreciate how it looks with lockdowns, etc currently happening in Australia. Short term loss for major long term gains. Looking after others matters.
Have you visited Australia? Have you seen how we live? We invite you here (once it is safe to do so) to take a look. Live here for a little bit, and we hope you find that we Aussies will welcome you, treat you like a human, have travelled and seen other ways to live -and hopefully learn from it and others and try to do better (& yes we are not perfect but we try our damn hardest!).
There is beauty in its people and its scenery in the US. But in terms of general lifestyle and treating people kindly, politely and wanting everyone to simply live in as peaceful as possible is vastly different in the US compared to many people in the rest of the world.
I appreciate RUclipsrs like this one who is open to learning & to simply listen. Thanks for being open minded to simply recognising that there are different ways of treating people with this video. Great video. Thanks!
@@jamieanderson3475 Your comment is so American to my Australian ears.
Our lockdowns are life saving & not near as bad as is being reported. It's basically commonsense since we ARE in the midst of a global pandemic but thanks to modern medicine, we now have a vaccine which is obviously the only way to resume life as close to normal as possible, while staying out of icu or worse, death.
In a few short weeks we should have enough citizens with full protection 80+% so our deaths rates totals will remain lower than what the US is currently experiencing on a daily basis.
I'm off to one of many pristine beaches soon, only early spring but our weather affords us pretty much a year round outdoors lifestyle.
No, Australia is not a shithole - maybe one day you can come down and find that out for yourself ;) Cheers!
Watching another reaction video of this same one, he stated that during the lockdowns the food service industry was classed as essential workers. Yet they are belittled by so many
in case anyone was wondering, im pretty sure the actor hes talking about at 2:15 is Frank Grillo
The fact is that, certainly in the UK, they would treat workers in exactly the same way as the US if there was no legislation to prevent it. That is the only way we got minimum wage, minimum leave, paid sick leave, paid maternity and paternity leave and maximum hours set was via legislation.
Exactly the point, big money companies cannot be trusted to watch themselves
The Conservatives in the UK never stop trying, by stealth, to roll back all those worker gains & rights, hard won by unions & worker campaigns. Brexit is helping them accelerate that, as the UK no longer has to align with EU employment laws & regulation.
Unfortunately, some of the UK union leaders in the 70s became corrupted by their own power & privilege and stupidly overplayed & abused their leverage, crucially losing public support, allowing Thatcher to pass legislation to curtail their power.
@@ericy4522 I think they'll succeed fairly quickly now we are out of the EU
@@valeriecarlin1524 P&O ferries sacked without notice 800 British employees, but were unable to play the same stunt on their EU employees.
@@garethgriffiths1674 it was blindingly obvious employment rights would reduce after brexit (as well as a host of other rights). EU maintains a min standard bit not a maximum
For comparison this year, in UK I have 25 days basic AL, carried 10 days over from last year and have 8 bank holiday days. And I bought an extra week, so I have sum 50 days AL this year. I'm an executive for a large IT company. You guys are getting bent over backwards and thank them for the opportunity
As a Scot, who has lived all over Europe, Asia & North America, I find it absolutely bizarre that many of my American colleagues wear the poorer working/family conditions as a badge of pride. They positively sneer at Europe & Europeans as if they should be ashamed at having more time away from work enjoying time with their families.
Oh and our lower taxes often mean poor roads, poor or no mass transportation, schools begging for donations…..ad infinitum.
I give my staff extra time off to make them more productive, rather than rob them of all motivation and energy. They are more productive for having time away to recharge their batteries….
Bizarre……
When I worked for GM (Vauxhalls) I got 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week at whit, 3 weeks in the summer, all bank holidays plus service days, all at time and a third. We got paid 4 hours for a hospital appointment during work time. We had our own surgery dealing with many things including physiotherapy.
Much the same this side of the Irish Sea. I have flexi time which means that I can work up an extra 7 hours in a calander month and take a day off the following month. For example Monday bank holiday, Tuesday flexi day , Wed. Thurs Friday Annual leave days so it means I have used up only 3 days and still have a full working week off, This would just blow American minds.
At 15'30, "38 days off" is generally not "a month and a week", because we don't count weekends. So 38 days of is 7.5 weeks. Almost 2 months.
Parental leave is usually for 1 of the parents. In Norway family can chose what parent will take it, also you can split, half of the time one, half other. In Lithuania both parents get 1 month, after its for 1 of the parents.
I just watched an old show where Joan Rivers very proudly said "We look after the world, you're welcome" and Jimmy Carr says "Yeah, but no one asked you to". She replies with something along the lines of "We won WWII", and he says "Yeah, 3 years too late". I love what comes OUT of America - TV, film, music... but as a nation? No thanks. Just like my ex GFs... great looking .... but total 'Tards. Oh, and if you look into it - Russia won WWII, no doubt. I don't like admitting that but it's true.
Facts.
Russia, and the British colonies! Britain would have fell if not for the brave men of her Empire. America did have a big part to play though, lots of Americans lost their lives in that war.
@@adriansmith3427 Shure i am norwegian and non american soldier won anything in my country.
Not even the sabotage on the heavy water plant in vemork was a disasterwhen the americans tried.
As history shows that the us is very good at messing things up all around the world.
Just watch what they have done since the early 50s.
@@karstenstormiversen4837 I didn't say they won anything, I said that they gave their lives. Show some respect for braver men than we will ever be! That goes for the German soldiers as well as the allied ones. Governments start wars, but it is ordinary people who fight in them!
@@adriansmith3427 As a former soldier who has served overseas i have all the respect for the individual soldier who fought during the war!
But to put the us on a pedistal that saved the world is wrong anyway and not factual!
To be honest the US is the last place on earth I’d want to live. I have friends there that I love and your scenery is stunning but God your culture 😬. I know you love your country but this is the 21st century and you have to treat people with respect and it’s nuts the citizens stand for this 🤷♂️.
The reason the citizens stand for this is pretty much explained in that video. They don't know any better. I've met Americans who don't want to go back to the US after experiencing working life in Europe or Asia.
"I know you love your country". They love it only because they are never get to be curious about how the rest of the world actually works.
same
Try being an American who does realize how it is elsewhere. Not pleasant, I can assure you.
Thank you for sharing, and please share it with your friends and family. Americans in general need to get educated on the world and not just their own country. I love the fact you're doing just that 👍
Like the narrator said, in America it's all about the mighty $. We also have strong Unions in Europe AND "social democracy". It's a construction with Capitalism combined with "socialism" ...and I'm almost afraid of saying the last one out loud because it's become such a fear-monger and misinterpreted word in America. In my country we're 6 million people and have almost 1 million private companies. So we're not a "socialist" country by definition. A social democracy equals both as important. It actually makes the so-called American Dream so much easier to obtain than in America. Sadly for the majority of Americans the American Dream is nothing but a dream. Your entire life you're tought that America is the greatest country in the world. Well, that depends on the eyes watching.
Re' vacation days, bear in mind that most people usually get 2 days off a week, meaning they work 5 days a week. Thus, 38 days of paid vacation actually accounts for just under 8 weeks vacation, per year.
Corporate greed and the false belief in American "exceptionalism", and calling anything that helps the ordinary person "Socialism". No. It's simply recognising that life shouldn't revolve around work.
"Americans" are all people who live in the American continent, not just in the United States
@@revolucion-socialista So, how often do all of the other countries in the Americas refer to themselves as the "exceptional" nation and people? Only one country in the Americas is called "America" and refers to itself as "exceptional".
When you talk about paid holidays in Europe, you talking about work days. So 38 paid holidays per year = only Monday to Friday, Saturdays and Sundays and Bank Holidays, recognised religious holidays (Christmas, Good Friday) are extra. Also some companies in some countries if you work on Saturdays you get 1.5 pay, Sundays - double, Bank Holidays - 1.5 or double + day in lieu.
I'm the UK, we have a statutory 28, this is inclusive of bank holidays.
From the UK. 26 days holiday PLUS all bank holidays. I carried 10 days over from the COVID year which included five bank holidays TOIL (time off in lieu). 36 working days holiday. Five working days = one calendar week.
it's not the same everywhere. some countries consider weekends into the paid days as well.
@@hullmees666 well you have to take your occupation into account
It’s a bit more complicated than that, I get 34 days plus Xmas and Boxing Day, no other bank holidays, but I also only work a 4 day week so my 36 total days is actually 9 weeks.
Studies have shown that having workers work more and longer hours can be counter productive. Here in Europe, there are even trials where they are shortening the full time cap from 40 hours to 30 hours. The results has been positive. People are more productive during office hours. And with more time to rest, they come to work well rested and will be productive throughout the day.
As for parental leave: The 56 weeks for Norway is shared between the parents, with different time spans reserved for each parents. Usually, the mother gets time off from the 8th month of pregnancy. Then, there is 2 weeks where both parents gets time off to settle in with their newborn at home. After that, there is a certain amounts of weeks that the dad HAS to take off from work, or else they get forfeited. And they also failed to mention that you can choose between having 11 months off with 100% off your salary, or 11 months of with 80% of your salary.
My daughter left her career to work in retail. Her training wage was $25.00 an hour and that was 15 years ago. She earns way more now. She gets paid sick leave, 6 week paid holidays a year, one working paid day off every 4 weeks, her company and all employers in Australia must pay into her retirement fund and if she adds some of her money to it, it is not taxed. We get paid Maternity and Paternity leave and paid long service leave and the Company cannot tell you when you take that leave. My sister was paid 10 months Maternity leave 46 years ago.
We have free healthcare, Hospital and the Government pays most of medications and childcare. Do you know that your body doesn’t know how to relax until you have had 2 weeks holiday. That is a medical fact and you need more holidays after that to recover. My daughter used to love working public holidays and there are 15 in her State, back when she started public holidays paid $65.00 an hour.
Nothing is going to change in America until people all stand together and refuse to go to work, join a Union and make a loud noise. We have never thought you were number one, you might have been once and you could be again.
"The country [the US] was founded on the principle that the primary role of government is to protect property from the majority. And so it remains today." - Noam Chomsky.
I think that the root of the problem in the States is the lack of unions, with only a union density of 10,3%. In Denmark we have a union density of 67,3% and they are the ones who have fought for all of these benefits and countinues to do so.
Exactly!
The problem is that we Americans as a whole are idiots' we fight AGAINST our own better interests so that our politicians and government can s c r e w us all while corporations siphon every bit of prosperity out of our hands' it is sickening' the greed and corruption is first class'
Australian here. I've visited the US a couple of times, and enjoyed it. But I could never live there. I would lose so many rights and benefits. Don't even get me started on the inferior heatlhcare system.
But apparently in Australia we don't have rights or freedom 🙄
McJibbin, your points about American companies offering more days leave or parental leave to incentivise people to join are still valid in other countries. The numbers stated are what is required by law. In the UK for example you are guaranteed 25 days paid holiday a year, however companies can and regularly do offer more than this as an incentive to join.
Tipping is not discouraged in Europe as far as I know. I know Japan does not like tipping because they see it as unnecessary and good service as standard so tips are not needed and is considered rude.
Basically think of it this way...the USA, where profit in healthcare takes more of a priority then the wellbeing of their actual citizens.
I mean, any country that charges you to hold your new born baby is definitely not one of the greatest countries in the world. Also, to clarify, no country is. Each county has some problem or another...the USA just has a lot of them.
I once had a conversation with an American visiting the restaurant I was working at in the Netherlands. She asked about tipping, so I explaned that I consider a tip as a thank you, you liked my service and it is a token of appreciation, but it isn't mandatory and if you want to give a tip, you decide how much. I also told her that a tip between €5 and €10 is considered generous. After diner she tipped me €20 so I reminded her of our little conversation earlier, she replied I know, but you deserve it, you are a very nice waiter.
In Norway, the 56 (not entirely accurate) weeks are divided 1/3 for the mother 1/3 for the father and 1/3 the family can decide themselves between mother or father. (Somewhat simplified)
I just found this video, and on topic of pregnancy leave here's the situation on Croatia. You get a year maternity leave. It is on two parts, first part is a 6 month period "birthing leave" followed by 6 months of "maternity/parental leave". If you had an early birth of a month premature or 2 months like my case was, you get the two months extra on top 12 months you get by default. In case you had a difficult pregnancy and had to have bed rest before term (or any kind of movement restriction) you can open a sick day period that is recommended by your obgyn and can last up to 6 months before term, and is also payed. You ste also requred by law to go on pregnancy leave a month before term.
As for payed vacation, everyone gets at least 20 days per year. And those are working days. So, holidays don't deduct from them, and also weekends don't deduct from them if the company doesn't have working weekends. Croatia is by no means a ritch country. We also have dental insurance covered by the basic health insurance that your employer covers by law. And on case you are unnemployed the goverment covers you.
Also ist is to say that the 30 days (Germany) are business days - so when you take a week off it is not 7 days off but 5. so the 30 vacation days are not 1 month it is 6 weeks
I'm from Germany and have 38 paid days of vacation every year. The reasons is also that we have strong unions making good Contracts about working. Conditions with the Factories
The reason for this is: McCarthy "Red Scare" politics, jingoism, (illegal) union busting, a bent political system, and apathy.
Don't forget Hollywood & tv which feeds them all movies of the way they want the citz to believe it is.
I’ve lived in many parts of the world over the 8 years I’ve been in the military. Other countries just take better care of their people than we do. Don’t even get me started on healthcare, work-life-balance, and colleges! I’m GTF outta here to get my Masters degree in Germany…and I’m never coming back!…except for Christmas and holidays. ;-)
it happens a lot in some Asian countries too.
In Indonesia for example, many job vacancy ads had a lot of requirements for the job, but they will pay below the minimum wage for the first year, for the 2nd year until the 5th year, they "might" raise the wage by 5~10% each year but that's still below the minimum wage for employment.
Only when you finally raise to managerial level or higher that you are paid the minimum wage (at least, not including bonuses, etc). As long as you are an employee, they will treat you as "Laborer" (they had lower minimum wage by law). We don't have hourly wage here but monthly, so work hour is very uncontrollable. Some may work from 7AM to 7PM, 6 days a week, and still got paid the same as those who work 6 hours a day, 6 days a week.
The whole 'companies that want to attract the top talent in the field to their company will offer benefits' thing kinda falls apart when you take into account that that's still the case in countries where minimum paid leave, minimum sick days, and minimum paid holiday/vacation days still do the same thing. The mandated amounts of time off with pay are just the minimum you can expect - the companies that want to attract top talent will offer even more than that.
First of I'm from Denmark and love your content.
I've watched some videos of Americans that have moved to Denmark, and one thing they mentions is that when the Wife had to go to the Hospital and stay there for a few days, at night she could not help herself but doing the math of how much it would cost, and how long she could afford staying there, and that can lead to people wishing to go home before they should.
One of the things I hear from companies in Denmark is that, they prefer you to be less at work but when you are at work you are there 100%.
So in Denmark the philosophy of most companies is if your base (home) is working you are more focused while you at work, and it reduces blunders, and blunders can be quite expensive no matter if you are a blue collar worker or a office guy.
And if you are happy at your work you will not start looking for another job.
No matter what the Company tells you, it is expensive to replace an employee and even worse do you leave for a competitor and bringing your knowledge with you.
1. You loose experience, both work experience (how many years you have done the job), and how long time you have been at the Company, each Company does things differently. You might have some courses the new doesn't
2. You need someone new, the new guy, does he have your work ethics (be on time, etc.), does he "click" with his co-workers, or does the chemistry not work. etc. And it takes time to get people interviewed for the job.
3. And if you get a new guy that is what you hoped (and not just a guy faking it at the interview), it still takes time for that person to get up to speed and "how its done around here".
I don't understand why we don't talk about our wages more with our co-workers, the only ones that benefits from us being quite is the Company, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't talk to strangers on the internet about my salary either, but with my co-workers I would, you would be surprised how many people who are doing the same job, gets paid differently.
Oh yeah I hate when the rich say we are in this boat together, no we are not I'm in my little row-boat, and you are on a cruise ship, we might be in the same Ocean but the experience of this storm will be different.
I do believe that one of the reasons that America is falling behind on some of these topics are Worker unions in Denmark (and Europe general I assume) are stronger than in the US.
"Americans" are all people who live in the American continent, not just in the United States
Hi, a Norwegian here :)
Our 56 weeks of parental leave is split between the father and the mother, the mother gets the most, but the father has his right to get between 10 and 15 weeks of perental leave, which they usually take a few months after the baby is born :)
Hope this helped a little
Loved the reaction
it is because the government have zero laws on treating workers fairly.
Leave entitlements are calculated on the basis of a 5-day work week, so the 38 days in Austria is not “over a month off”, it’s 7 weeks and 3 days.
I was born in Germany. My parents own a restaurant and you are welcomed and my parents and people find it great if you tip them. That is extra in the US you have to do it because they don’t get paid enough. That is such a stupid idea.
If you tip someone here, it is because they were friendly but not because you have to.😊
Et oui ce n est pas l Europe. Franchement en Europe nous sommes mieux. Attention les américains veulent détruire l économie Allemande pour détruire l Europe. C'est très sournois méfiez vous amis Allemands. Ce qui c est passé en mer Baltique en est une preuve. Personnellement je préfère vivre en Allemagne ou en France par exemple.
"You get over a month off? A month and a week?"
Actually its roughly a month and three weeks, since weekends don't count ^^
I can only speak for what I know how this works in the netherlands.
The parental leave's are mainly payed by the goverment, the goverment pays the employer, and the employer pays you.
The goverment pays the employer 80% off your salary and it's up to the employer to make it 100% for an amount of time.
Same goes for sick leave, but the employer pays your salary for an amount of time, and after that the goverment take's it over (all employers are insured for this).
So it is not that an employer have to pay a years salary from his own pocket to pay an employee that isn't working.
It's all about paying taxes and the way they are spending it.
You can't be fired for having a baby.
You can only be fired after 2 years if you are sick.
I am from Romania, Eastern Europe.
I have two children. Each time my wife had few weeks off, paid weeks, before giving birth and two years off paid after giving birth.
From our taxes we have pre-paid healthcare for the four of us, including pills, vaccines etc.
We work 40 hours per week and at this moment, considering for how long we've been employed we have 5 weeks per year paid vacation. Oh, plus national holidays off and paid!
We didn't paid for our education and we both graduated not only college, but also master's degree in our fields of education.
Why is that? Because that's the European way.
And this is not communism, it is fair treatment for the employee!
There comes a point when working longer is no longer productive! Most other countries work to live, not live to work, but as America is all about working hard to improve yourself, you've lost sight of the people at the top who are exploiting this to increase their own wealth expidentially!
The sad thing is they haven't lost sight of those at the top at all. In fact they stare up at them in awe, and are duped into believing that one day, it could be THEM at the top! YOU. ESS. AY. Bezos and Zuckerberg are inspirational heroes.
In New Zealand they’re trialing a 4 day working week. It has been shown that it not increases the well being of the workers, but also increases productivity.
Good reaction, all things considered! To answer in short to your questions, in my opinion the reason why your labor rights are as bad as they are can be summed up as following:
- the opposition, outright hostility and stigma your American society places on collective bargaining. When you are just a small person, with immediate needs - you need a meal the very next day, a roof over your head, various consumer goods - that has to negotiate on their own with a corporation, you are simply set in a position of disadvantage. What will you do if your company does not give you payed vacation, or a medical insurance? You will threaten to leave? Perhaps, if you are that one indispensable employee they got, but what if you are not that special guy or girl? What if you are just an average citizen? There will be nothing you can do at that point, there are more people where you came from, and you alone leaving won't cause a big problem for a corporation, but it will cause a major problem to you. If however you were part of a workers union, the entire workforce of a corporation threatening to leave or go on strike, now that would start hurting them too, so they are put in the position to negotiate on at least somewhat more equal terms, which means better results for the workers at the end of the day. It's the tragedy of the commons, look it up, it's interesting and well documented. :)
- your American political system is rigged. Not in the way mr Trump suggested it, he was simply using populist soundbites to get votes, but it is rigged in some way, and I'll explain. By electing representatives the way you do, in single seat circumscriptions in a country that is relatively culturally uniform, you basically set yourself on the long run to only having two parties. Why? Imagine an election where you'd have 5 parties, and you support the smallest one. If you vote your preferred choice, odds are your vote will be "wasted". Furthermore, perhaps one of the biggest ones is also the party you incidentally disagree with the most, so by voting your actual preference, you actually increase the chance that what is in your opinion the worst choice will actually end up winning, because by going to the 5th choice, your vote doesn't go to the second choice, the only one with a real shot to keep the first choice from being the winner. So what happens is that in time, many people understand that, and they start to vote strategically, basically voting against what is in their view the worst choice instead of voting for something they actually believe in. This, in turn, makes that 5th choice get even fewer votes this time around. This happens over and over, until only the biggest two choices remain with any real representation, and while popular opinion might be quite diverse, it is funneled artificially by this majoritarian type of electoral system into a much narrower array of options. If you also add to this the fact that single seat electoral circumscription boundaries can be rigged by those that administer the state or county, and you get this very process on steroids. This is why your Republican and your Democratic parties actually hold the same positions in over 70% of policy areas. If you had a proportional voting system of some sort or another in place instead of a majoritarian one, you'd end up with more parties, and more positions that people hold being actually represented in your parliament. Then, your parties might even be forced to form coalitions to be able to govern, and this in turn would result in more give and take, more negotiation between various interests of American society. Imagine if for instance instead of Republicans and Democrats you'd have hardline Republicans as one party, moderate Republicans as another party, centrist Democrats as yet another, democratic socialists as the 4th, perhaps even a libertarian party and a green party somewhere in parliament being represented... a lot more coalitions would be possible between various parts of such an establishment, and who knows? maybe one such coalition could be conditioned by, for example, extending labor rights, or increasing medical coverage, or regulating medical insurance so as to make it more accessible to the general public, or heavens knows what else. In fact, such an arrangement would also be harder to be controlled by special interests, lobby, because they would simply need to bring more sides about. And don't even get me started with the way your president is elected... you must be the only country on Earth where the candidate who gets fewer votes actually becomes president. And this didn't only happen once, to be brushed away as a quirk of the electoral system that is very unlikely to repeat. It happened twice in 5 elections in this century alone. That's 40% of the time in the 21st century, the United States of America were ran by the candidate that got the fewer votes. How is that even called "democracy" while keeping a straight face?
- the conviction that anything that is "commie" or "socialist" is outright wrong and shouldn't even be debated. So here's the thing: many things are, and I tell you this as someone that was born in a commie country, and lived a bit through it. Lots of things about socialism didn't work, that much is a fact. But does it follow that everything about it was outright wrong? I don't know, but the only way to find out is to actually debate the ideas, not put a tag on them and conclude they are bad before hearing them out. There is almost nothing that I heard of in my life as a debate shutdown more than American people using "socialism" as a conversation ender. This is such a widely spread and widely accepted idea in the United States that it seems almost like a cult or dogma in some way.
This is obviously not everything, but even working to change these few things would be a great start: changing the way the electoral system is rigged and allowing for proportional representation instead of a winner takes all system; legislating protections for labor unions and working to reduce the social stigma on unionism; working to change the mentality that assumes that everything labeled socialist is outright wrong and bad.
For the parental leave in Denmark (the 52 weeks) has been updated a bit just recently. It's 52 weeks combined between the parents, but 11 weeks has been mandated to the father, the rest can be taken by either parent, but IF the father doesn't take the 11 weeks they fall through, so that it's only 41 weeks of parental leave. That's at least what I'm understanding of the new rule, but I'm not a parent, and won't be for at least a while(if ever) so I haven't been looking into it too much.
The point is not that companies need be more social to their employees as a bargaining chip, the point is that the government must take and enforce fair labour laws. As the USA has only 2 political parties and a voting system that favours the rich, that is not very soon going to happen.
Too many guns and violence in USA. They also think money is the most important thing.
The clue was in the line "in the 1960s, when the US workers last had real bargaining power"
I love your American accent Connor: 'gotta get my wadder' 'have to get my water'
What you call " competitive " in America the rest of the world calls fear of your employer.
Fear of your employer and by tieing health care to a job, it adds another fear factor that you can't afford to lose your job without losing your health insurance, it's designed that way to pressure Americans into worse quality jobs with less pay, benefits and so.
In what other country could mainline news programme such as Fox News, a presenter could seriously suggest unemployment should be cut to force them to accept very low paid shit jobs.
@@grahvis True, that's something that would only be acceptable in the US or maybe Australia, that wouldn't even be acceptable in the UK and no chance would it be in other EU countries.
But then that's the Rupert Murdoch media for you which doesn't care about the well-being of the people in those countries and we do see that in the UK but it's not as bad as the US or Australia which it's quite fanatical, the Europeans were smart in making sure Murdoch didn't get too much of a footing in the EU which is the main reason Murdoch hates the EU so much because they keep blocking him to protect the people and we've seen how much damage is media can do in the US, UK and Australia.
I found his comment funny.
Surely more competition between companies to attract emoloyees would lead to better working conditions (all else being equal)
You discovered Second Thought! Very nice, I never would've expected to see a reaction to this channel. Please keep reacting to his videos, they are very important.
In New Zealand I work for a large US Corporation, the NZ government mandates minimum four weeks paid holidays (I work nights so I get five weeks) and twelve paid public holidays per year. Also with the Employment Relations Act, working thirty two hours per week is classed as full time employment.
In Norway it's normal that mum takes around 60-80% of the paid leave, the rest is for dad, but this is up to the parents to decide.