I dropped over 200$ just in application fees. You want to hear the most fucked up part? Out of those 6/7 applications, I did not receive one returned call. Such a scam. I fucking hate this existence. I hate being a slave to the dollar. Wish I had the balls to actually take a dirt nap instead of fantasizing about it
Corporate culture in the US is pretty intense, it seems.
I often hear about people being on PTOs but are still on call or expected to be available beyond the supposed working hours.
My wife used to be on call. They would ask her if she would still have her work phone/computer with her not only after normal working hours, but also when she used vacation time. They asked her if she would be able to answer her phone when she was out. Of. The. Country. She said no. Fortunately, she doesn't work there anymore.
My (former) boss did this to me as well. Once he asked I just withdrew my formal PTO request from HR, and then left on vaca anyway. When I returned they tried to force me to take the PTO days off my balance, to which I replied that I was working the whole time per my boss' formal request.
Fights ensued, but they paid out all my PTO balance when I bounced
And people who don't are considered bad employees (the vogue term now appears to be "quiet quitters"). I worked in a company where their model employee's vacation time was weeks he came in an hour late and wore sweat pants, t-shirt, and sandals. 60 hours a week (salaried for 40 hours) was a slacker. It took me so long to realize those people were collectively crazy.
The Ontario government just passed a law that prevents employers from demanding that anyone work or be contactable during hours outside of their scheduled working time.
It's all pretty insane too, so much time and effort is wasted because the person above you is doing the same because... profit? Though it doesn't seem to really change the margins, it just makes productivity shite and everyone miserable. I have to assume misery is the goal.
I’m actually on vacation now. I “requested” 4 days of pto and my company approved the first 2 days and the last day but scheduled me for the 3rd day (tomorrow) due to being understaffed. Needless to say I’m gonna be spending tomorrow sipping Pina Coladas on the beach instead
My boss makes sure to mention every time they are taking time off "I'll still be checking and answering emails and can be reached by phone as well if needed."
Makes me not want to move up in this company since it's clearly the culture and expectation. At my current level I don't expect to get any messages when I get around to taking time off.
100%. (source: I am this boss. For the record, I do it only so my team knows they’re not alone if a huge emergency happens and they legitimately need me, but I can also see how it would scare people away from ever wanting my job). I don’t answer emails, but my direct team knows they can reach me via text if shit really hits the fan.
…that’s…just not true. At least not if you’re talking about true “corporate America” type jobs, where there is no real end to the workday because the other half of the global company wakes up and needs stuff from you . If you’re paid to solve a problem, not work a set number of hours, the expectation is that you do what you have to do get it done, even while on vacation / PTO.
(For the record, this culture is bullshit and I hope we can all burn it to the ground someday soon, just highlighting the insane reality that Americans have accepted as “normal” in some jobs).
Yup. And even states that try to do it right, Ohio citizens voted to pass a rule you couldn’t gerrymander and the state legislature just ignored it. Florida of all places tried to be reasonable and Desantis kicked it back because it wasn’t partisan enough. It’s insane.
Some states have looked to their state constitutions to try and deal with it because the United States Supreme Court refuses to do anything about it and just shouts "political question" whenever a case comes up about it. It drives me insane.
Voting reform is definitely necessary, but isn't the same problem as Gerrymandering and doesn't fix the problem. Regardless of what voting system we have, someone needs to draw the voting districts, and unless we have an unbiased way of doing that, Gerrymandering will exist.
Proportional systems often address Gerrymandering by just eliminating voting districts. Having the entire country, or state, vote together as a single unit. In that case though, it's not the voting system that has fixed the problem. It's the elimination of voting districts that has. And that solution also eliminates any concept of local representation, which a lot of people desire. That tends to be the reason we have smaller districts in the first place, so it needs to be conserved.
And so, if we're going have local representation, we need local districts. Which means the way to keep Gerrymandering at bay is to have an unbiased method to draw districts. Such as the Shortest Splitline Algorithm. A very simple concept where you just keep splitting the area in half, based on population, using the shortest possible line to do so, until you have the number of required districts.
Also, if we're talking about the United States, it should be noted that all proportional systems have been ruled to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This is because the political parties used to do some nasty shenanigans with Block Voting in the past. So, any proportional system would require a national constitutional amendment. But if you stick with single winner systems, you can reform on a state level, like Maine and Alaska have done.
And if we're sticking with single winner systems, I recommend checking out [STAR voting](https://www.starvoting.us/). Single winner Ranked Choice voting still has a problem with third party candidates spoiling an election, though not nearly as often as happens in first past the post elections. And if we can't do a proportional system, we should try to find a single winner system that at least does a good job addressing the spoiler effect.
This is a perfect example of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
Originally, gerrymandering was simply redistricting with an eye towards ensuring minority communities would actually have a say in their representation.
So basically areas that were poor couldn't get outvoted by the suburbs, traditionally black communities wouldn't get their schools funding shifted to the larger white neighborhood, etc.
But, just like with everything good, some assholes used it for evil. Then when we didn't drag them out in the streets and shoot them (proverbially speaking) everyone else was like "Oh I guess this is okay now cool."
Every economist knows the data: Compared with single payer healthcare systems, the US overpays for healthcare by $6000 per capita, annually ($8500 vs $2500). Over the entire population, that's $1.8 Trillion wasted, every year, going to no positive health effect.
$1.8 Trillion is an obscene amount of money to waste.
If you can't work you don't deserve healthcare. That's the deal the American citizens took. Your health is directly tied to your ability to produce value for an employer. When insurance is tied to a job, if you can't work, you can't live.
My son had to have an echocardiogram recently. We had to wait for insurance approval before the specialist would schedule the appointment. I was thinking about what would be his options if we didn't have insurance or they denied the procedure. I'm assuming they would have wanted us to pay up front. The bill came to $3716 for a 20 minute procedure, still waiting to see what the insurance pays. Healthcare in America, yay.
I've got a chronic condition, and I usually just count on having a medical bill payment every month. Most hospitals have loan companies they work with to provide interest free loans for medical bills, also for medications and things; some you can get payment assistance from the actual clinic. And the obvious ones like asking for an itemized list of services provided.
One thing about debt is if you’re already homeless/jobless/whatever and you can’t work at all, you can just not pay your medical debt and while it destroys your credit it goes away when you die at the age of 50 from hypothermia during the winter while sleeping on a piece of cardboard in the alley behind a Muffler Man
I would say health *insurance*. Everyone needs health *care* and if we had a functioning government run health care system we wouldn't need health insurance.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, but you’re correct.
> When bread is stored in a cold (but above freezing) environment, this recrystallization, and therefore staling, happens much faster than at warmer temperatures.
I have high quality bread with very few preservatives if any. And it lasts a week easily. And tastes the same on day seven as it does on day one. Moldy on day 8 or 9 though.
I always hear this and just assume everyone is talking about generic, mass produced, grocery store bread like wonder bread. Because you can get all sorts of good breads that aren't sweet and full of preservatives from tons of places in the US.
Edit: right now in my pantry I have a loaf of Dave's Killer Rye bread that is available in any standard US grocery store bread aisle (not the fresh bakery section) that has no added sugar at all and is like maybe $1.50 more than the cheap white bread. This "sweet" bread people claim plagues the US is just the cheapest of the cheap shit.
Edit 2: a quick google search or some of the top grocery store bread brands in different European countries (Sweden and Germany were brought up in this thread) indeed list sugar in their ingredients in the same basic quantities as what can be found in local US grocery stores. About 2-5 grams per slice. So this whole thing sounds like some people came to the US and tried something like Kings Hawaiian bread which is insanely sweet for bread and think that's all that's available. Some even just list "sugar syrup", seems awfully similar to American bread if you ask me.
I remember my first actual visit to an American mega supermarket, expecting aisle after aisle stocked with crappy corn syrup food items. And sure, there's that.
Perhaps it's because it was in California (somewhere north of LA) but I've never seen such an abundance of really cheap, quality vegetables and fruits of all kinds. I can't remember the bread specifically but I've often come across small artisan cafés and bakeries in the US just as good as anything here.
The US is definitely the land of choices, if nothing else. There is plenty of garbage laden foods to please any of your gluttonous or you can go to one of the three bakeries in town and get an amazing sourdough. You can get mass farmed, commodity beef at the supermarket, or you can go to the farmer’s market on Saturday and get a local farmer’s strip steak.
That's definitely not just California, it's everywhere. Healthy alternatives are easy to find, almost nobody rounds up their change, no one thinks 100k for school is normal (and very few actually pay that), we know tipping is weird but servers overwhelmingly *don't* want to move away from tipping, and so on, but people just like to say "lul Uhmurica dumb"
>That's definitely not just California, it's everywhere. Healthy alternatives are easy to find,
In wealthy neighborhoods and for people who can afford a $6 loaf of bakery bread that stays fresh for a couple of days instead of $2 Target brand white bread that lasts a couple of weeks. And a lot of major metropolitan areas have food deserts where real grocery stores just aren't there.
Yeah, that's never been an issue. Local biggish bakeries have always supplied a varied amount of breads, from brioche to breads with whole grain and plenty of nuts and seeds to get stuck in your teeth.
The sad thing is this is a pretty primo job among unskilled workers because literally regular citizens are willing to pay us sooooooo much more than our employers.
Ooohhh I love this one (not). It all comes from pay them a wage to make them feel like they are earning money, and then make them pay to stay in the houses that you own, so they are "free slaves". Once wait staff are paid livable wages without tips is when I'll start to go out to restaurants again.
As an American, I’m equally confused by these. Shouldn’t my doctor know what medications I should be on? Why would I tell them “hey, saw this commercial for this med, can I get some of that?”
Sure, some medicines work like that. You've heard of viagra, right? If you stop getting boners, you might be like "ay doc, I heard of Viagra - can I get something like that?".
Insert prescription drug / malady of your choice over the boner pills thing.
Not in the US but in my home country we also have a fair amount of adds for medication. Remember once my elderly aunt (who’s hypochondriac) went to her GP to renew her prescriptions and told him she also needed one for X that she has seen on TV. Doctor said she most definitely didn’t need it but my aunt insisted. Turns out it was a medication for prostate…
Those commercials work too! People go to their doctor, ask for the drug, and many times, as long as it's not contraindicated, walk out with prescription.
There are so many things messed up about US healthcare.
Definitely a scam. It's designed to hide the true price of an item. Sales tax rates vary from place to place. The merchant knows which items are taxable and which aren't. They have to for their POS system. The only reason they don't include tax in the price on the shelf is because they know that seeing a lower price will compel more buyers to throw an item in their shopping cart. It allows them to do things like price items at $5.99, which tricks our brains into seeing the $5 part while ignoring the .99 part. The real price of the item is $6.35 (using 7% as the sales tax). Total scam.
Paying $400,000 in hospital bills so you just don’t die.
Edit: because everyone thinks healthcare is oh so cheap just because they have insurance, it was meant as an exaggeration. Just so you know since quite a lot of you don’t, you actually have to pay for insurance. I know, crazy right. And even with insurance its still insane, You still have to pay like 10k for small operations and stuff. My point is americas healthcare is dogshit
Yeah why is it that expensive in the US? Genuinely asking.
In the Netherlands, we pay rougly € 2.200 per year in tuition. There are some small additional fees, but that is it in general. A difficult degree might take you 6 years, so you would probably have to spend roughly € 15.000 on getting your degree.
Which I find expensive, but tons cheaper than in the US. I get that it is partially funded by the government here, but what I don't understand is why it is THAT expensive.
Subsidies. Your government is offsetting the cost, significantly, using taxes. That's the big reason.
US universities are also just doing a lot... Some of that comes from regulations and some of that comes from competition for students.
Historically, largely because of government subsidies of student loans, students have been able to "afford" school and so there is a lot of competition for schools to provide better experiences and not much pressure to keep prices low.
>offsetting the cost, **significantly**, using taxes
I'm curious on the actual ROI calculation on this. [This article](https://www.tijd.be/opinie/analyse/overheid-verdient-meer-aan-hoger-onderwijs-dan-afgestudeerde/9561925.html) I found makes an effort but it's rather old (2014) (and in Dutch, and applying to Belgium instead of NL):
* It establishes the total cost (including missed tax payment from if they went to work right away instead of studying) for the government at 34k
* The total cost for the student meanwhile (including missed wage payments if they started to work right away) at 40k
* Then they calculated the total average increased gain from someone who has a higher education across their lifetime is 170k. (note this 170k is already the increased income from taxes, not the increased income for the person itself, which is only 118k, makes sense since higher education level income increase will mostly be in the highest tax bracket)
So a 136k of profit from the average higher educated student for the government.
Ofc by now these numbers will be higher/distorted by inflation and shifts in job market since then, but imo we can still conclude a subsidy is already a form of hidden student loan by the fact that you repay it with taxes anyways.
Which isn’t normal in the US. That’s an outlier.
https://educationdata.org/average-debt-for-a-bachelors-degree
Only 1 in 1000 borrowers owe $100k or more.
Yeah this whole thing with billion dollar corporations asking consumers to donate money to fund their “do good” causes really irks me.
Use the money I just gave you when I bought whatever you were selling.
If you read the small print it usually says something like "will donate up to $100,000" or whatever. So basically they decided they wanted to donate $100,000, are willing to let the customer pick up the slack, and anything donated on top of that is pure profit.
Yeah, you guys are really getting screwed on that aspect. Most of our taxforms come prefilled. Any document we need for tax reasons is essential paint-by-numbers. Each amount has number, and on the taxform each cell has a number. Match both and fill the amount in. Oh, and the whole process is done online (you still have the option to get a paper form too).
In my and probably other countries it is all done by employer. You just fill a form with like 5 checkboxes if you have a wife, kids etc. As then you get something back. Otherwise you just sign.
Every time this comes up on Reddit I wonder what I'm missing. Are we just talking the simple case of a single person working for a company and that's it? I agree that's simple and could be automated. Outside of that, there are so many factors when it comes to doing taxes that I don't know how it could all be done for you. Things like owning your own business, charitable donations, claiming various sources of income, capital gains, various tax credits and deductions, etc, etc. How are these things done outside of the US? I get that the US tax code is fairly complicated and definitely not straight forward, but do other countries not have to worry about any of these other factors?
Yes, generally if you’re employed in other countries tax is deducted for you so whatever you get in your current account each month is yours.
In the UK for example the only people who have to file self-assessment are the self-employed. Any employed person is on PAYE - pay (tax) as you earn.
Any tax credits are a separate thing as part of benefits (welfare). Not everyone is entitled to this.
If you have two sources of income you’ll only need to do self-assessment if one of those sources is self-employment. If you’re employed in both then it’s just straightforward PAYE.
Most people won’t be rich enough to ever have to deal with capital gains but that too is a separate form to fill out if you need to.
Obviously this is a very simplified answer but essentially you never need to worry about doing your own taxes unless you are self-employed
My mortgage company sells my info to advertisers too, they even sent a letter explaining that I could not opt out of it. America is the most advertised to culture in the history of cultures.
It is like not including the taxes or having a cutlery fee: It makes the prices appear lower. Places that pay a decent wage without tips are pricier, with the staff leaving because they were making more with the tips.
Tipping.
For EVERYTHING.
It used to be 15% max, and that was for outstanding service. It was a TIP - a way of saying thanks for service above and beyond the norm.
Now, it’s a way for an increasing number of business to pad their bottom line or have me pay their workers’ wages.
And, the percentages are getting out of hand. 15% is already high, but now 18% is considered low and I’ve seen 25% and even 30% “recommended gratuity.”
Agreed, and I don't mind paying more for food but tips are a hidden fee that allows restaurants to advertise "$20 for 2 dinners" when we know damn well the bill is going to be $45 when it's all said and done.
I once paid a cover to get into a bar (ladies were free of course) and the person collecting the cover also had a tip jar......if I'm already paying just to get into the bar then why would I also tip the person whose just collecting my money????
An employer being able to fire you at any time for any reason.
That not having vacation/parental leave is normal.
Dying from curable illness because you have no insurance.
Being loyal to a company. Screw that. Go where you’re appreciate and/or make more $$$. If you want to go for that better offer, do it.
I’m a recruiter and I will fight tooth and nail for those "job hoppers" that hiring managers dislike. There’s no guarantee that someone who job hops every few months will leave, and someone who stayed at their previous company for 10 years will stay.
There is a story about Guiness where they had to switch to steel kegs to be compliant with health and saftey regulations. They had families that had previously been the Guiness cooper's (keg makers) for several generations. The master grandfather's would teach the kids as they aged into working for the company. When the standard switched to metal kegs after hundreds of years, Guinness decided they would rather not turn their backs on faithful employees and the families that had supported them for hundreds of years. Guiness bought back every single wooden keg. They stopped teaching new cooper's, but the old cooper's went Into working the old Guiness kegs Into lawn furniture. They made furniture until the last Cooper retired.
THIS IS WHAT ACTUAL LOYALTY LOOKS LIKE; IT GOES BOTH WAYS ABOVE AND BEYOND.
If you aren't going to step up for employees don't expect them to step up for you.
In Australia, one of our kids got pneumonia a few years ago: three days in hospital in a private room, and on the way out we paid about $30 for medicines at the pharmacy. That was it.
I went to the doctor to figure out my shoulder problems and the doctor just... pressed down on my shoulder a bunch and asked if it hurt, then gave me a printout of some stretches to do when it gets stiff.
Bill was 35$, almost 140$ without the hospital's bill reduction program. I had to pay over 30$ for a lady to hurt my shoulder and print the results of a Google search.
Oh this, so much this. I couldn't go to the Dr for like 2 years because even though I had insurance, I couldn't afford the copay or the deductible...so it was useless. I got rid of it, finally, figuring, well, guess since I haven't been able to go and things resolved themselves, I'll be fine.
Cue like 2 months after ending my insurance, and I pass out at work, take an ambulance ride to the ER (all WAY more expensive than I could ever hope to pay)...I almost refused the ambulance, but if I didn't go, I wouldn't have a Dr's note saying that yes, I was indeed sick enough to be sent to the ER, and that I should or or shouldn't be able to come in the next day.
When I got to the hospital, they did the triage/blood work/etc, and I got rushed back WAY quicker than I ever had. Apparently if I'd gone home instead of the ER, I'd possibly have bled to death. All because of my monthly being ridiculously heavy, and unending. No one seemed too keen on doing anything about it either. Just told me I know where to go if I feel low! Because I'm a woman, and women's lot in life is to suffer these things. Besides, I might want to have a baby more than I want to NOT to bleed to death.
I had 7 transfusions in 2 years. 1 year of it I thankfully got married and my husband's insurance paid for it. But even with insurance. My life didn't matter enough to give me a hysterectomy, or any other definitive action, because I never popped out a baby. And they made sure to tell me so. It wasn't until I found a new dr, this one a man, and he was absolutely appalled at how I'd been treated. He actually did more than just scans and blood work, did some biopsies etc. Turns out it was cancer. One month later, I was with an oncologist who took my uterus out, and finally had relief. It wasn't until it was cancer that I was a person worth saving.
My dad needed some anti biotics when we were in America for some throat infection and it was a massive ass process where here you just see a doctor and they give you a referral and that’s it no charge you just buy the pills
My wife gave brith at a specialist women's hospital, my son was rushed to a specialist children's hospital where he was stabilised for two weeks before having open heart surgery by expert surgeons who all had 15-20 years experiance each, looked after until ready to go home.
All absolutely amazing people, nurses were especially lovely, treating all the kids as kids instead of just patients.
And after all this, we just go home. No bills to worry about, no insurance needed.
I can't even begin to imagine stress of dealing with money issues on top of the regular stress of a situation like this.
can’t quite help here but brought my child to the er with a fever of 103°. was there 2 hours total & billed $4,000. such a lovely place
edit- my child was also 4 months at the time. not like they cared but was very scary for me
I get pissed off every time my company sends out a gift card or a stupid gimmicky thing that has their logo on it. Everyone else gets excited about it and I'm sitting here thinking why can't I just get paid more!? Screw this stuff.
The two-party system is a brilliant distraction. It lets people feel passionate about something that means nothing at all. All the big decisions are made further up the line.
It depends on community, I live in an HOA and it's not really all that bad, the dues mostly go to upkeep of shared spaces like parks, sidewalks, etc. And alot of the community rules are designed so your BS doesn't make the neighborhood unsightly and therefore drop property values. Yes sometimes you get Karen's but I'd rather have a Karen than someone who keeps broken ass clothes washing machines on their front lawn, or literal garbage piled up in the driveway.
You don’t need an HOA for the city to pass an ordinance against keeping garbage everywhere. If your city allows people to turn their front lawn into a landfill you need to focus on local elections more.
To preface. I would never even think about living in an HOA.
However, anyone in an HOA reads, signs and agrees to the rules prior to purchasing their house there. If you didn’t like the expectations why move there? Or did they think they could’ve been the one to change it?
HOA’s are a Karen’s heaven. But the people living there cannot complain because they agreed to live that lifestyle, knowing that things can possibly be made worse through the HOA board.
It’s not a scam if you’re made fully aware of it upfront.
I agree with you - nobody HAS to move into an HOA - but many people think they do. There are lots of areas, usually large suburban areas, where you cannot find a home that isn't either a rental or an HOA. I lived in one such area for most of my life, and never knew that HOAs were optional in other places. Luckily I learned this before purchasing a home. If you grow up thinking of it as a fact of life rather than an option, I can understand buying a home and then being pissed that you have to deal with the HOA. That's what makes them perfect for this thread actually: the scam isn't getting you to agree to one, it's making you think you have no other choice.
I lived in Texas during the winter storm and the water heater at my grandmothers house broke, despite it being wrapped and us doing the best we could to preserve it. She had a valid warranty but they refused to cover under an "act of God" clause.
McDojos. Essentially martial arts gyms operating as businesses and don't really about teaching you taekwondo, judo, muay thai, or BJJ. I like the ones that charge you $5000 for taking "advanced training" LoL.
Most speed limits in interstate highways are 65-75 mph and traffic regularly goes 5-10 mph over that. The 55moh limit is from the 70s fuel crisis I believe.
That was temporary, to conserve gas. Aerodynamic drag is proportional to the square of speed, so at 55 MPH a little goes a long way.
Now the speed limit is generally 65 or 70
Private healthcare.
You’re telling me that we’d really all rather let our healthcare be determined essentially by whatever job we’re able to get? Every employer chooses the plan they like best with the benefits and coverage they think you deserve, set your deductible and out of pocket maximum as they see fit, contribute as little or as much to monthly premium as they decide — and we’re all just cool with that?
And if you don’t or can’t work, you don’t really deserve for the government to provide you with healthcare unless your monthly income is like $0.25 or some ridiculous ass shit like that?
Sounds like a scam to me.
As usual with this question, everyone names particular symptoms without realizing they're all caused by the same disease.
The correct answer is "capitalism."
Health insurance is the biggest scam you could ever conjure up. They limit who you can see; what medications you take and oh yeahhhhh they won't help you out A DIME. Until you hit you're deductible (WHICH NEVER HAPPENS). We need socialized Healthcare so bad.
I agree our system isn’t the best, but with all my health issues this year I would’ve had to pay $500,000. Instead I’ve paid like 3k and all my medicine is free before that.
American Health Care, DH had a head cold on a US Ship cruise, $3500 for 2 lots of antibiotics, 1 doctor visit, 1 nurse visit, blood test and some Tylenol. If we were in Australia, it would have been $40 out of pocket for Dr's visit, blood test, bulk billed, antibiotics at our concessional rate $11 for both, $6 for Tylenol, $5.50 for Ventolin. The cost to diabetics for Insulin in the US is a disgrace. So glad we had travel insurance. Also tipping paying some poor waiter 20% on top of the bill, we only pay for excellent service. So glad I'm Australian
I wouldn't agree on the going to college part. But forcing 18 year olds to get thousands of dollars in school loans that they will be paying off the rest of the lives with huge interest rates. I just talked to my friend recently. He took out $10k in student loans. Paid $150 a month for 7 years. Still have $12k to pay off. it's the same for a lot of people. If you pay the minimum (which most people can't afford much more than that) you will literally never pay it off. It's legal loan sharking to teens.
Apartment complexes charging fees just to APPLY to rent an apartment.
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Request a refund and if they're not responsive, submit a complaint to the state attorney general - because that's theft.
Isn't that also the same for applying to a university?
You're not helping the case lmao
...You...you have to pay to apply to university in the USA ?!
Is that a thing ? Damn
I dropped over 200$ just in application fees. You want to hear the most fucked up part? Out of those 6/7 applications, I did not receive one returned call. Such a scam. I fucking hate this existence. I hate being a slave to the dollar. Wish I had the balls to actually take a dirt nap instead of fantasizing about it
Corporate culture in the US is pretty intense, it seems. I often hear about people being on PTOs but are still on call or expected to be available beyond the supposed working hours.
My wife used to be on call. They would ask her if she would still have her work phone/computer with her not only after normal working hours, but also when she used vacation time. They asked her if she would be able to answer her phone when she was out. Of. The. Country. She said no. Fortunately, she doesn't work there anymore.
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The problem for us was that my wife received 0 extra pay for being on call, or overtime. She was salary without overtime.
My (former) boss did this to me as well. Once he asked I just withdrew my formal PTO request from HR, and then left on vaca anyway. When I returned they tried to force me to take the PTO days off my balance, to which I replied that I was working the whole time per my boss' formal request. Fights ensued, but they paid out all my PTO balance when I bounced
"yes, you can come with me so I'll tell you my Thai number once I buy the simcard"
And people who don't are considered bad employees (the vogue term now appears to be "quiet quitters"). I worked in a company where their model employee's vacation time was weeks he came in an hour late and wore sweat pants, t-shirt, and sandals. 60 hours a week (salaried for 40 hours) was a slacker. It took me so long to realize those people were collectively crazy.
>(the vogue term now appears to be "quiet quitters" I prefer the term "setting boundaries".
"Acting your wage"
The Ontario government just passed a law that prevents employers from demanding that anyone work or be contactable during hours outside of their scheduled working time.
It's all pretty insane too, so much time and effort is wasted because the person above you is doing the same because... profit? Though it doesn't seem to really change the margins, it just makes productivity shite and everyone miserable. I have to assume misery is the goal.
I’m actually on vacation now. I “requested” 4 days of pto and my company approved the first 2 days and the last day but scheduled me for the 3rd day (tomorrow) due to being understaffed. Needless to say I’m gonna be spending tomorrow sipping Pina Coladas on the beach instead
Every single day for my mom. Every. Single. Day.
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My boss makes sure to mention every time they are taking time off "I'll still be checking and answering emails and can be reached by phone as well if needed." Makes me not want to move up in this company since it's clearly the culture and expectation. At my current level I don't expect to get any messages when I get around to taking time off.
100%. (source: I am this boss. For the record, I do it only so my team knows they’re not alone if a huge emergency happens and they legitimately need me, but I can also see how it would scare people away from ever wanting my job). I don’t answer emails, but my direct team knows they can reach me via text if shit really hits the fan.
…that’s…just not true. At least not if you’re talking about true “corporate America” type jobs, where there is no real end to the workday because the other half of the global company wakes up and needs stuff from you . If you’re paid to solve a problem, not work a set number of hours, the expectation is that you do what you have to do get it done, even while on vacation / PTO. (For the record, this culture is bullshit and I hope we can all burn it to the ground someday soon, just highlighting the insane reality that Americans have accepted as “normal” in some jobs).
Gerrymandering. How is this even legal?
Because the people doing it are the ones who make the laws.
Can't argue with that. And it helps them to stay this way. Vicious circle.
And it’s one thing both parties agree on. People in power benefit while constituents get collectively fucked.
One of the most ridiculous concepts I’ve ever heard of in a “democracy”.
Yup. And even states that try to do it right, Ohio citizens voted to pass a rule you couldn’t gerrymander and the state legislature just ignored it. Florida of all places tried to be reasonable and Desantis kicked it back because it wasn’t partisan enough. It’s insane.
I love and hate humans so much. So many of our issues stem from ignorant assholes that decide they know better.
I don't think there's a more openly antidemocratic concept short of coup d'etat.
Some states have looked to their state constitutions to try and deal with it because the United States Supreme Court refuses to do anything about it and just shouts "political question" whenever a case comes up about it. It drives me insane.
I know. Blatant undemocratic and pathological practice that has no place in the modern world.
Beats me. The word itself even sounds like doing something illegal
Check out Proportional Ranked Choice Voting. https://www.fairvote.org/prcv#what\_is\_prcv
Voting reform is definitely necessary, but isn't the same problem as Gerrymandering and doesn't fix the problem. Regardless of what voting system we have, someone needs to draw the voting districts, and unless we have an unbiased way of doing that, Gerrymandering will exist. Proportional systems often address Gerrymandering by just eliminating voting districts. Having the entire country, or state, vote together as a single unit. In that case though, it's not the voting system that has fixed the problem. It's the elimination of voting districts that has. And that solution also eliminates any concept of local representation, which a lot of people desire. That tends to be the reason we have smaller districts in the first place, so it needs to be conserved. And so, if we're going have local representation, we need local districts. Which means the way to keep Gerrymandering at bay is to have an unbiased method to draw districts. Such as the Shortest Splitline Algorithm. A very simple concept where you just keep splitting the area in half, based on population, using the shortest possible line to do so, until you have the number of required districts. Also, if we're talking about the United States, it should be noted that all proportional systems have been ruled to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This is because the political parties used to do some nasty shenanigans with Block Voting in the past. So, any proportional system would require a national constitutional amendment. But if you stick with single winner systems, you can reform on a state level, like Maine and Alaska have done. And if we're sticking with single winner systems, I recommend checking out [STAR voting](https://www.starvoting.us/). Single winner Ranked Choice voting still has a problem with third party candidates spoiling an election, though not nearly as often as happens in first past the post elections. And if we can't do a proportional system, we should try to find a single winner system that at least does a good job addressing the spoiler effect.
This is a perfect example of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Originally, gerrymandering was simply redistricting with an eye towards ensuring minority communities would actually have a say in their representation. So basically areas that were poor couldn't get outvoted by the suburbs, traditionally black communities wouldn't get their schools funding shifted to the larger white neighborhood, etc. But, just like with everything good, some assholes used it for evil. Then when we didn't drag them out in the streets and shoot them (proverbially speaking) everyone else was like "Oh I guess this is okay now cool."
it's 'legal' because the Constitution says nothing about how the districts are drawn, just when they are redrawn, and how many people are in each one.
Healthcare
Every economist knows the data: Compared with single payer healthcare systems, the US overpays for healthcare by $6000 per capita, annually ($8500 vs $2500). Over the entire population, that's $1.8 Trillion wasted, every year, going to no positive health effect. $1.8 Trillion is an obscene amount of money to waste.
Let's not forget that "wasted" means "goes to rich people".
If you can't work you don't deserve healthcare. That's the deal the American citizens took. Your health is directly tied to your ability to produce value for an employer. When insurance is tied to a job, if you can't work, you can't live.
My son had to have an echocardiogram recently. We had to wait for insurance approval before the specialist would schedule the appointment. I was thinking about what would be his options if we didn't have insurance or they denied the procedure. I'm assuming they would have wanted us to pay up front. The bill came to $3716 for a 20 minute procedure, still waiting to see what the insurance pays. Healthcare in America, yay.
I've got a chronic condition, and I usually just count on having a medical bill payment every month. Most hospitals have loan companies they work with to provide interest free loans for medical bills, also for medications and things; some you can get payment assistance from the actual clinic. And the obvious ones like asking for an itemized list of services provided.
Partially true. Not all jobs provide insurance. A LOT do not and many that do provide subpar insurance.
One thing about debt is if you’re already homeless/jobless/whatever and you can’t work at all, you can just not pay your medical debt and while it destroys your credit it goes away when you die at the age of 50 from hypothermia during the winter while sleeping on a piece of cardboard in the alley behind a Muffler Man
I only had to work a decade to get my credit score back after not being able to afford 8 stitches as a teenager. True story.
How many homeless people are there because of medical debt?
...if you can't live, you can't work too...
I would say health *insurance*. Everyone needs health *care* and if we had a functioning government run health care system we wouldn't need health insurance.
Sugar in everything.
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A fresh baguette lasts a day
Because I eat the whole thing in one go.
That's just insane! ^(lies mmm fresh bread after work all mines)
2 hours if there is some good cheese around
Less with good cheese
I didn’t want to appear like a glutton
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Don't put bread in the fridge it lasts longer out of the fridge.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, but you’re correct. > When bread is stored in a cold (but above freezing) environment, this recrystallization, and therefore staling, happens much faster than at warmer temperatures.
I have high quality bread with very few preservatives if any. And it lasts a week easily. And tastes the same on day seven as it does on day one. Moldy on day 8 or 9 though.
A fresh baguette only lasts 5 minutes when I'm hungry... ;-)
I always hear this and just assume everyone is talking about generic, mass produced, grocery store bread like wonder bread. Because you can get all sorts of good breads that aren't sweet and full of preservatives from tons of places in the US. Edit: right now in my pantry I have a loaf of Dave's Killer Rye bread that is available in any standard US grocery store bread aisle (not the fresh bakery section) that has no added sugar at all and is like maybe $1.50 more than the cheap white bread. This "sweet" bread people claim plagues the US is just the cheapest of the cheap shit. Edit 2: a quick google search or some of the top grocery store bread brands in different European countries (Sweden and Germany were brought up in this thread) indeed list sugar in their ingredients in the same basic quantities as what can be found in local US grocery stores. About 2-5 grams per slice. So this whole thing sounds like some people came to the US and tried something like Kings Hawaiian bread which is insanely sweet for bread and think that's all that's available. Some even just list "sugar syrup", seems awfully similar to American bread if you ask me.
I remember my first actual visit to an American mega supermarket, expecting aisle after aisle stocked with crappy corn syrup food items. And sure, there's that. Perhaps it's because it was in California (somewhere north of LA) but I've never seen such an abundance of really cheap, quality vegetables and fruits of all kinds. I can't remember the bread specifically but I've often come across small artisan cafés and bakeries in the US just as good as anything here.
The US is definitely the land of choices, if nothing else. There is plenty of garbage laden foods to please any of your gluttonous or you can go to one of the three bakeries in town and get an amazing sourdough. You can get mass farmed, commodity beef at the supermarket, or you can go to the farmer’s market on Saturday and get a local farmer’s strip steak.
That's definitely not just California, it's everywhere. Healthy alternatives are easy to find, almost nobody rounds up their change, no one thinks 100k for school is normal (and very few actually pay that), we know tipping is weird but servers overwhelmingly *don't* want to move away from tipping, and so on, but people just like to say "lul Uhmurica dumb"
>That's definitely not just California, it's everywhere. Healthy alternatives are easy to find, In wealthy neighborhoods and for people who can afford a $6 loaf of bakery bread that stays fresh for a couple of days instead of $2 Target brand white bread that lasts a couple of weeks. And a lot of major metropolitan areas have food deserts where real grocery stores just aren't there.
Yeah, that's never been an issue. Local biggish bakeries have always supplied a varied amount of breads, from brioche to breads with whole grain and plenty of nuts and seeds to get stuck in your teeth.
Underpaying servers, and putting the responsibillity of a livsble wage on customers
The sad thing is this is a pretty primo job among unskilled workers because literally regular citizens are willing to pay us sooooooo much more than our employers.
This is why you'll see people actually working in the industry support tipping. The amount you can make in one shift can be ridiculous if you're good.
That’s because tips naturally keep with inflation. As the menu becomes more expensive, the servers make more money.
Ooohhh I love this one (not). It all comes from pay them a wage to make them feel like they are earning money, and then make them pay to stay in the houses that you own, so they are "free slaves". Once wait staff are paid livable wages without tips is when I'll start to go out to restaurants again.
Playing adds for medication on TV and encouraging you to go to your Dr and ask for them. WTF!
"Side effects include... everything"
They have to include everything that happened during trials even if it probably wasn’t caused by the drug.
When the disclaimer is longer then the actual message, you know you’re in trouble.
As an American, I’m equally confused by these. Shouldn’t my doctor know what medications I should be on? Why would I tell them “hey, saw this commercial for this med, can I get some of that?”
Sure, some medicines work like that. You've heard of viagra, right? If you stop getting boners, you might be like "ay doc, I heard of Viagra - can I get something like that?". Insert prescription drug / malady of your choice over the boner pills thing.
Not in the US but in my home country we also have a fair amount of adds for medication. Remember once my elderly aunt (who’s hypochondriac) went to her GP to renew her prescriptions and told him she also needed one for X that she has seen on TV. Doctor said she most definitely didn’t need it but my aunt insisted. Turns out it was a medication for prostate…
Yeah this was so shocking the first time I went to the US
Those commercials work too! People go to their doctor, ask for the drug, and many times, as long as it's not contraindicated, walk out with prescription. There are so many things messed up about US healthcare.
So right! Thank big pharma lobbyists for that.
The fact that taxes are not listed on price labels
I don’t know about a scam but definitely annoying
Definitely a scam. It's designed to hide the true price of an item. Sales tax rates vary from place to place. The merchant knows which items are taxable and which aren't. They have to for their POS system. The only reason they don't include tax in the price on the shelf is because they know that seeing a lower price will compel more buyers to throw an item in their shopping cart. It allows them to do things like price items at $5.99, which tricks our brains into seeing the $5 part while ignoring the .99 part. The real price of the item is $6.35 (using 7% as the sales tax). Total scam.
Paying $100,000 for a college degree
Paying $400,000 in hospital bills so you just don’t die. Edit: because everyone thinks healthcare is oh so cheap just because they have insurance, it was meant as an exaggeration. Just so you know since quite a lot of you don’t, you actually have to pay for insurance. I know, crazy right. And even with insurance its still insane, You still have to pay like 10k for small operations and stuff. My point is americas healthcare is dogshit
Honestly I would rather die.
Yeah why is it that expensive in the US? Genuinely asking. In the Netherlands, we pay rougly € 2.200 per year in tuition. There are some small additional fees, but that is it in general. A difficult degree might take you 6 years, so you would probably have to spend roughly € 15.000 on getting your degree. Which I find expensive, but tons cheaper than in the US. I get that it is partially funded by the government here, but what I don't understand is why it is THAT expensive.
Subsidies. Your government is offsetting the cost, significantly, using taxes. That's the big reason. US universities are also just doing a lot... Some of that comes from regulations and some of that comes from competition for students. Historically, largely because of government subsidies of student loans, students have been able to "afford" school and so there is a lot of competition for schools to provide better experiences and not much pressure to keep prices low.
>offsetting the cost, **significantly**, using taxes I'm curious on the actual ROI calculation on this. [This article](https://www.tijd.be/opinie/analyse/overheid-verdient-meer-aan-hoger-onderwijs-dan-afgestudeerde/9561925.html) I found makes an effort but it's rather old (2014) (and in Dutch, and applying to Belgium instead of NL): * It establishes the total cost (including missed tax payment from if they went to work right away instead of studying) for the government at 34k * The total cost for the student meanwhile (including missed wage payments if they started to work right away) at 40k * Then they calculated the total average increased gain from someone who has a higher education across their lifetime is 170k. (note this 170k is already the increased income from taxes, not the increased income for the person itself, which is only 118k, makes sense since higher education level income increase will mostly be in the highest tax bracket) So a 136k of profit from the average higher educated student for the government. Ofc by now these numbers will be higher/distorted by inflation and shifts in job market since then, but imo we can still conclude a subsidy is already a form of hidden student loan by the fact that you repay it with taxes anyways.
Which isn’t normal in the US. That’s an outlier. https://educationdata.org/average-debt-for-a-bachelors-degree Only 1 in 1000 borrowers owe $100k or more.
Rounding up your change while going through the drive-thru
NO TACO BELL I WILL NOT ROUND UP TO DONATE.
Yeah this whole thing with billion dollar corporations asking consumers to donate money to fund their “do good” causes really irks me. Use the money I just gave you when I bought whatever you were selling.
If you read the small print it usually says something like "will donate up to $100,000" or whatever. So basically they decided they wanted to donate $100,000, are willing to let the customer pick up the slack, and anything donated on top of that is pure profit.
I think they usually match up to 100k in donations. They don't just get to keep anything extra. At least not in Canada
That’s because it’s really about them taking advantage of your generous heart to get them a free tax write off.
When they ask me if I'd like to round up, I say "No, I'd like to round down please." Keeps 'em on their toes.
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Doing your own taxes.
Yeah, you guys are really getting screwed on that aspect. Most of our taxforms come prefilled. Any document we need for tax reasons is essential paint-by-numbers. Each amount has number, and on the taxform each cell has a number. Match both and fill the amount in. Oh, and the whole process is done online (you still have the option to get a paper form too).
In my and probably other countries it is all done by employer. You just fill a form with like 5 checkboxes if you have a wife, kids etc. As then you get something back. Otherwise you just sign.
Every time this comes up on Reddit I wonder what I'm missing. Are we just talking the simple case of a single person working for a company and that's it? I agree that's simple and could be automated. Outside of that, there are so many factors when it comes to doing taxes that I don't know how it could all be done for you. Things like owning your own business, charitable donations, claiming various sources of income, capital gains, various tax credits and deductions, etc, etc. How are these things done outside of the US? I get that the US tax code is fairly complicated and definitely not straight forward, but do other countries not have to worry about any of these other factors?
Yes, generally if you’re employed in other countries tax is deducted for you so whatever you get in your current account each month is yours. In the UK for example the only people who have to file self-assessment are the self-employed. Any employed person is on PAYE - pay (tax) as you earn. Any tax credits are a separate thing as part of benefits (welfare). Not everyone is entitled to this. If you have two sources of income you’ll only need to do self-assessment if one of those sources is self-employment. If you’re employed in both then it’s just straightforward PAYE. Most people won’t be rich enough to ever have to deal with capital gains but that too is a separate form to fill out if you need to. Obviously this is a very simplified answer but essentially you never need to worry about doing your own taxes unless you are self-employed
Credit rating companies... They shouldn't be able to sell our data
My mortgage company sells my info to advertisers too, they even sent a letter explaining that I could not opt out of it. America is the most advertised to culture in the history of cultures.
The whole credit score system is so weird as a european
It's an extremely effective way to reduce economic mobility, so the people that it helps love it.
Tipping - why do 'top up' the wages of service staff? Paying a competitive wage is the employer's job.
It is like not including the taxes or having a cutlery fee: It makes the prices appear lower. Places that pay a decent wage without tips are pricier, with the staff leaving because they were making more with the tips.
Tipping. For EVERYTHING. It used to be 15% max, and that was for outstanding service. It was a TIP - a way of saying thanks for service above and beyond the norm. Now, it’s a way for an increasing number of business to pad their bottom line or have me pay their workers’ wages. And, the percentages are getting out of hand. 15% is already high, but now 18% is considered low and I’ve seen 25% and even 30% “recommended gratuity.”
Agreed, and I don't mind paying more for food but tips are a hidden fee that allows restaurants to advertise "$20 for 2 dinners" when we know damn well the bill is going to be $45 when it's all said and done.
I was asked by a machine at the counter of a gas station in Arizona if I wanted to tip the clerk. Wtf? What did he do?
I once paid a cover to get into a bar (ladies were free of course) and the person collecting the cover also had a tip jar......if I'm already paying just to get into the bar then why would I also tip the person whose just collecting my money????
An employer being able to fire you at any time for any reason. That not having vacation/parental leave is normal. Dying from curable illness because you have no insurance.
Yeah ‘at will’ employment is a total scam
""pastors"" needing mega mansions and private jets and MILLIONS in donations
Being loyal to a company. Screw that. Go where you’re appreciate and/or make more $$$. If you want to go for that better offer, do it. I’m a recruiter and I will fight tooth and nail for those "job hoppers" that hiring managers dislike. There’s no guarantee that someone who job hops every few months will leave, and someone who stayed at their previous company for 10 years will stay.
There is a story about Guiness where they had to switch to steel kegs to be compliant with health and saftey regulations. They had families that had previously been the Guiness cooper's (keg makers) for several generations. The master grandfather's would teach the kids as they aged into working for the company. When the standard switched to metal kegs after hundreds of years, Guinness decided they would rather not turn their backs on faithful employees and the families that had supported them for hundreds of years. Guiness bought back every single wooden keg. They stopped teaching new cooper's, but the old cooper's went Into working the old Guiness kegs Into lawn furniture. They made furniture until the last Cooper retired. THIS IS WHAT ACTUAL LOYALTY LOOKS LIKE; IT GOES BOTH WAYS ABOVE AND BEYOND. If you aren't going to step up for employees don't expect them to step up for you.
Well that's cause Guinness, and the Irish as a whole, are awesome.
I’ve seen Americans argue that they have a better healthcare system and it’s like no you don’t your government has just make you think you have
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In Australia, one of our kids got pneumonia a few years ago: three days in hospital in a private room, and on the way out we paid about $30 for medicines at the pharmacy. That was it.
I went to the doctor to figure out my shoulder problems and the doctor just... pressed down on my shoulder a bunch and asked if it hurt, then gave me a printout of some stretches to do when it gets stiff. Bill was 35$, almost 140$ without the hospital's bill reduction program. I had to pay over 30$ for a lady to hurt my shoulder and print the results of a Google search.
Oh this, so much this. I couldn't go to the Dr for like 2 years because even though I had insurance, I couldn't afford the copay or the deductible...so it was useless. I got rid of it, finally, figuring, well, guess since I haven't been able to go and things resolved themselves, I'll be fine. Cue like 2 months after ending my insurance, and I pass out at work, take an ambulance ride to the ER (all WAY more expensive than I could ever hope to pay)...I almost refused the ambulance, but if I didn't go, I wouldn't have a Dr's note saying that yes, I was indeed sick enough to be sent to the ER, and that I should or or shouldn't be able to come in the next day. When I got to the hospital, they did the triage/blood work/etc, and I got rushed back WAY quicker than I ever had. Apparently if I'd gone home instead of the ER, I'd possibly have bled to death. All because of my monthly being ridiculously heavy, and unending. No one seemed too keen on doing anything about it either. Just told me I know where to go if I feel low! Because I'm a woman, and women's lot in life is to suffer these things. Besides, I might want to have a baby more than I want to NOT to bleed to death. I had 7 transfusions in 2 years. 1 year of it I thankfully got married and my husband's insurance paid for it. But even with insurance. My life didn't matter enough to give me a hysterectomy, or any other definitive action, because I never popped out a baby. And they made sure to tell me so. It wasn't until I found a new dr, this one a man, and he was absolutely appalled at how I'd been treated. He actually did more than just scans and blood work, did some biopsies etc. Turns out it was cancer. One month later, I was with an oncologist who took my uterus out, and finally had relief. It wasn't until it was cancer that I was a person worth saving.
My dad needed some anti biotics when we were in America for some throat infection and it was a massive ass process where here you just see a doctor and they give you a referral and that’s it no charge you just buy the pills
My wife gave brith at a specialist women's hospital, my son was rushed to a specialist children's hospital where he was stabilised for two weeks before having open heart surgery by expert surgeons who all had 15-20 years experiance each, looked after until ready to go home. All absolutely amazing people, nurses were especially lovely, treating all the kids as kids instead of just patients. And after all this, we just go home. No bills to worry about, no insurance needed. I can't even begin to imagine stress of dealing with money issues on top of the regular stress of a situation like this.
I just had to have my appendix removed on sunday and im legitimately worried how much its going to cost me. I have insurance and everything too.
can’t quite help here but brought my child to the er with a fever of 103°. was there 2 hours total & billed $4,000. such a lovely place edit- my child was also 4 months at the time. not like they cared but was very scary for me
the most american thing is americans thinking that it’s a good healthcare system. more like the most fucked thing to come across
Tipping
Insurance
going above and beyond for a company's profit while you get a block of cheese and a fuckin pizza party
I get pissed off every time my company sends out a gift card or a stupid gimmicky thing that has their logo on it. Everyone else gets excited about it and I'm sitting here thinking why can't I just get paid more!? Screw this stuff.
Bottled water
In some places it is not a scam. But yeah in most places it is (hydrohomie here)
Some places you shouldn't drink the tap water, otherwise it's a scam
Paying for an ambulance ride to the hospital....
Recently took a ride, they wanted $1900 for a 5 mile trip. Pfft
Politics
The two-party system is a brilliant distraction. It lets people feel passionate about something that means nothing at all. All the big decisions are made further up the line.
Having to save up for years incase you break your arm or your kids want to go to a better college.
Private health insurance rather than free at source healthcare
Paying monthly payments to HOA Karen's to dictate how you live on your own property.
It depends on community, I live in an HOA and it's not really all that bad, the dues mostly go to upkeep of shared spaces like parks, sidewalks, etc. And alot of the community rules are designed so your BS doesn't make the neighborhood unsightly and therefore drop property values. Yes sometimes you get Karen's but I'd rather have a Karen than someone who keeps broken ass clothes washing machines on their front lawn, or literal garbage piled up in the driveway.
You don’t need an HOA for the city to pass an ordinance against keeping garbage everywhere. If your city allows people to turn their front lawn into a landfill you need to focus on local elections more.
To preface. I would never even think about living in an HOA. However, anyone in an HOA reads, signs and agrees to the rules prior to purchasing their house there. If you didn’t like the expectations why move there? Or did they think they could’ve been the one to change it? HOA’s are a Karen’s heaven. But the people living there cannot complain because they agreed to live that lifestyle, knowing that things can possibly be made worse through the HOA board. It’s not a scam if you’re made fully aware of it upfront.
I agree with you - nobody HAS to move into an HOA - but many people think they do. There are lots of areas, usually large suburban areas, where you cannot find a home that isn't either a rental or an HOA. I lived in one such area for most of my life, and never knew that HOAs were optional in other places. Luckily I learned this before purchasing a home. If you grow up thinking of it as a fact of life rather than an option, I can understand buying a home and then being pissed that you have to deal with the HOA. That's what makes them perfect for this thread actually: the scam isn't getting you to agree to one, it's making you think you have no other choice.
Oh yeah I understand that. Places like Florida it’s near impossible to find new homes that aren’t in an HOA. It’s disgusting.
Some house insurance. One forest fire and you think you’re covered. But nope! Insurer finds a loophole.
What’s the loophole?
I lived in Texas during the winter storm and the water heater at my grandmothers house broke, despite it being wrapped and us doing the best we could to preserve it. She had a valid warranty but they refused to cover under an "act of God" clause.
McDojos. Essentially martial arts gyms operating as businesses and don't really about teaching you taekwondo, judo, muay thai, or BJJ. I like the ones that charge you $5000 for taking "advanced training" LoL.
Health “insurance”
Expensive medicines..
maybe its a movie thing, but american speed limit? I remember canonball run with 55MPH signs everywhere, that about 90km/h.
Most speed limits in interstate highways are 65-75 mph and traffic regularly goes 5-10 mph over that. The 55moh limit is from the 70s fuel crisis I believe.
That was temporary, to conserve gas. Aerodynamic drag is proportional to the square of speed, so at 55 MPH a little goes a long way. Now the speed limit is generally 65 or 70
And everyone drives at least 10 over that
You’d think but no im always stuck behind people going 50 in a 55 and looking at me like im crazy for going 60-65 on a freeway
Credit scores. Inherently classist and used to keep the poor poor.
Excessive driving
Tips.
Private healthcare. You’re telling me that we’d really all rather let our healthcare be determined essentially by whatever job we’re able to get? Every employer chooses the plan they like best with the benefits and coverage they think you deserve, set your deductible and out of pocket maximum as they see fit, contribute as little or as much to monthly premium as they decide — and we’re all just cool with that? And if you don’t or can’t work, you don’t really deserve for the government to provide you with healthcare unless your monthly income is like $0.25 or some ridiculous ass shit like that? Sounds like a scam to me.
Not only that, but you are willing to let other people die or bankrupt themselves, just because they were less lucky with their health, and poor.
As usual with this question, everyone names particular symptoms without realizing they're all caused by the same disease. The correct answer is "capitalism."
Paying as much taxes as other countries for healthcare, but you pay again.
The pledge of allegiance?
For profit healthcare, for profit insurance, for profit ambulance services.
40-hour work week
TikTok if you know you know
Electoral college...
Evangelical Christianity, MAGA, "Pro Life"
Health insurance
Health insurance
**gestures at almost everything**
The stock market as it is and how it is presented as “the economy.”
Health insurance is the biggest scam you could ever conjure up. They limit who you can see; what medications you take and oh yeahhhhh they won't help you out A DIME. Until you hit you're deductible (WHICH NEVER HAPPENS). We need socialized Healthcare so bad.
They literally make their profits by denying care!
I agree our system isn’t the best, but with all my health issues this year I would’ve had to pay $500,000. Instead I’ve paid like 3k and all my medicine is free before that.
American Health Care, DH had a head cold on a US Ship cruise, $3500 for 2 lots of antibiotics, 1 doctor visit, 1 nurse visit, blood test and some Tylenol. If we were in Australia, it would have been $40 out of pocket for Dr's visit, blood test, bulk billed, antibiotics at our concessional rate $11 for both, $6 for Tylenol, $5.50 for Ventolin. The cost to diabetics for Insulin in the US is a disgrace. So glad we had travel insurance. Also tipping paying some poor waiter 20% on top of the bill, we only pay for excellent service. So glad I'm Australian
Wallstreet stocks
Going to college
I wouldn't agree on the going to college part. But forcing 18 year olds to get thousands of dollars in school loans that they will be paying off the rest of the lives with huge interest rates. I just talked to my friend recently. He took out $10k in student loans. Paid $150 a month for 7 years. Still have $12k to pay off. it's the same for a lot of people. If you pay the minimum (which most people can't afford much more than that) you will literally never pay it off. It's legal loan sharking to teens.
Politics
Not even a American but spending tax payers money on wars that doesn't involve america sounds bit scammy
Americans having to pay for healthcare.
Trickle down economics
Ridiculously expensive Healthcare costs
The American "healthcare" system
Thinking guns are an essential part of civilian life.
Car being the only mode of transportation.
American dream ©. And Americans pay for it with paper checks in 2022.