An American expat's view of why Christmas in Europe is merry

[Joanne98]

While we can all be proud Americans we don't have to be proud of the weak American social safety net. Christmas should serve to remind us we can do better than that. 59 million Americans who don't have any medical coverage, 132 million don't have any dental coverage, 60 million don't have any paid sick leave & 40 million on food stamps.

While I do miss home, family and friends during the holidays, I don't miss driving by scores of people during the holidays, some of them with children standing along side the road and holding up signs that say We'll work for food. I've never seen families doing that anywhere in the European Union. I think Christmas should remind us that we can do better than that. We can build a European style social safety net in America to restore the hope of the American dream and that's a Christmas gift worth giving.

Democrats Ramshield's diary :: ::
I am in Germany. Did you know that in Germany most workers get a Christmas bonus as part of the social safety net as equal to a 13th month full wage? Please note, I didn't say manager's Christmas bonus. Because in America, for the managerial class you get a Christmas bonus seems to be an entitlement, almost a birth right. But rank and file workers in Germany, even in the service sector for the most part seem to be able to get Christmas bonuses.

Interestingly enough, that Christmas bonus is equal to a full month's wage, even for McDonald's employees. They're also entitled to receive 4 weeks paid vacation, paid sick leave, paid maternity leave and complete medical and dental for them and their families. This also includes a prescription medication coverage. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not at all trying to sing the songs of praises of McDonald's Germany, I'm just asking why don't American McDonald workers get any of things? How come McDonald's Germany can afford to pay for things but McDonald's in America can't pay them without crying bankruptcy. Let's multiply that times all fast food franchises in Germany and all low wage service jobs of any type or description and we start to understand why Germans are in the Christmas spirit. But then again most of this true across the European Union, which has a bigger economy and more people than America does.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/12/25/931537/-An-American-expats-view-of-why-Christmas-in-Europe-is-merry

[MindandSoul]

1. Applause!!!! You are absolutely right!

[Kurovski]

2. K&R. (nt)

[Demeter]

3. K&R +1Trillion

it would be equitable, considering how much US money went to European banks, if people here at home got SOMETHING out of the deal besides debt...

[dickthegrouch]

4. One very simple answer

The prices in Europe for ALL medical care are a tiny fraction of what the same care costs in the US. And the majority of the supposed cost in the US is insurance (or lawyers) to make sure that the company doesn't go bankrupt every time an individual has a bad reaction to some medicine.

Give up the lottery-like damages claims and massive legal fees and Europe is showing us what the effect is.

[toddwv]

5. A yes, tort reform.

What does it amount to? Less than 1% of all medical costs and nearly all states have laws on the books which limit these types of lawsuits. The result? Premiums continue to go up and more people can't afford health care insurance.

Yet the insurance companies and their enablers continue to propagate the bold-faced lie tort reform is the answer to keeping health care costs down.

[Tsiyu]

21. thank you

the "tort reform" argument is as truthful as the "no taxes for the rich creates jobs!" bullshit.

It's the medical industry covering its ass and making excuses.

There is no reason why we can't have European style health care.


No reason at all except pure, unadulterated greed on the part of Insurance companies, for-profit hospitals and pharmco.

[left is right]

6. It is funny you don’t mention that the reduced cost has

anything to do with universal care subsidized (in full or in part) by the various European governments that have a great vested interest in controlling the cost of the healthcare for their citizens

[unblock]

7. the lottery-like damages are few and far between and normally knocked down on appeal

they make headlines, though, so people mistakenly assume they're the norm, just as the papers don't cover the thousands of airline flights that don't crash.

moreover, the vast majority of legal fees relating to insurance claims are because insurance companies and the parties at fault refuse to pay a reasonable claim and effectively tell the victims, "you'll have to sue us to get a dime out of us." they do this because they have ZERO INCENTIVE to settle in a reasonable amount of time or at a reasonable level. if they force the victim to sue, they win in one of 3 ways:

1) the victim may not bother to sue or may tire and give up or even die before they have to pay anything. given that we're talking about several years and a damaged victim, this is a non-trivial consideration.
2) the judge and/or jury may find in their favor, whether or not they deserve a favorable finding.
3) the final payment may be less than the original claim.

in fact, the ultimate payment is rarely more than the insurance maximum, but the insurance company gets to pay this 3 year later, so they earn interest for 3 years on the victim's money.

there ought to be a law requiring, at a minimum, interest to be awarded to the victim as of the date of loss, but that's just not the way it works in this country.

[Doctor_J]

9. Total bullshit

thanks for this Hate Radio talking point.

[2 Much Tribulation]

10. about 1 out of 10 med malpractice claims recover a SINGLE DIME

And Big Three accounting firms have shown repeatedly in studies that legal right (what they call"malpracice suits) account for around 1 or 2 percent of the inflation in medical costs.

Meanwhile, medical "mistakes" kill more Americans than any war. Year in and year out. Tort reform, anyone? Sheesh.

[eridani]

12. Malpractice insurance is on average $1400 a year in Europe--

--and doctors rarely get sued. This is purely and simply because HEALTH CARE IS A HUMAN RIGHT over there. If victims of malpractice (or even of less than good outcomes) have the right to any additional care that they might need as a result, the motivation to sue just to get money to pay for health care drops to near zero.

[Democrats Ramshield]

14. Why can't health care be a human right in America?

I don't understand that. It is a human right in every major industrialized country in the world. Why isn't that the case in America? If people have time to comment on that or any other issue related to this diary, I really hope that you will extend yourself to post or if you like feel free to email me. Here's my email:

[e-mail]

Thanks and happy holidays!

[eridani]

19. 85% of Americans agree with that statement, so it's obvious that our representatives

--aren't actually representing us.

[reggie the dog]

8. living in france i can only agree with this

our quality of life is better here in France even if our wages are lower if that can make sense to those of you over in the usa

[indepat]

11. But people in the European Union do not have the joys of living in a rabidly RW society wherein

the three main branches of government foster burgeoning income disparity, accumulation of most of the nation's wealth among a precious relatively few, and spending as much on the military, with about 5% of the population, as does the rest of the world, all through a grossly unfair tax code and almost every piece of legislation signed into law. But make no mistake, America's the best place in the world to live for most in the top 1% of income and a number of wannabes. ;)

[Democrats Ramshield]

13. To Joanne98 - Thanks for the cross post

I am a first time poster here. I just wanted to give a link to my diary series at the Kos, "the American dream VS the European dream".
http://democrats-ramshield.dailykos.com

Besides saying thanks to Joanne98, I also wanted to say thanks for the comments.

Also here's a link to a front page piece that I wrote for AlterNet today, entitled "America in Decline: Why Germans Think We're Insane".
http://www.alternet.org/story/149324/america_in_decline%3A_why_germans_think_we%27re_insane/

Happy holidays to everyone!

[LongTomH]

15. May I be the first to welcome you to DU?

I hope you'll become a regular on this forum!:toast:

[Democrats Ramshield]

16. To LongTomH - Thanks

Well, thanks for the kind words and the warm welcome.
Both are sincerely appreciated and happy holidays to you!

[Democrats Ramshield]

23. I am new here

does anyone know how many posts you first have to make before you can start your own thread?

[RainDog]

18. great post. and thanks to Joanne98 for posting here

when I hear Americans complain about those "socialist" nations - I want to spit in their faces. they, literally, make me and others with no health insurance sicker than sick.

[Overseas]

17. K&R ! //nt

[txlibdem]

20. Thank you for posting this! K

Just wanted to agree with the poster who said that our representatives are definitely not representing us.

[Democrats Ramshield]

22. Well about half the members of Congress are millionaires

So what do they have in common with us?

------------------------------------------------------
(Guardian.co.uk) - US Congress aka the millionaires' club
No wonder the DC political class has a bad name – it's filthy rich. Here's a revolutionary idea: why not elect some poor people? It is one of the great moans of vast numbers of American voters: Washington politicians are just not like them. They are different. They are a breed apart, unable to understand what real life is like for tens of millions of ordinary folks.
-----
According to the survey, by the Centre for Responsive Politics, almost half of America's senators and members of the House of Representatives are millionaires. A full 261 one of them, in fact. Meanwhile, a mere 1% of the rest of Americans can claim such exalted status.

(Click here below to read full article)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/23/congress-us-politics