Who cares?

I’m really, really starting to question how much of an Ultimate Flex “good for companies” is, when it comes at the expense of: standard of living, worker’s rights, privacy, a safety net, and everything else America lacks due to its single minded focus on being “good for business.”

> Who cares?

Me, who enjoys higher salaries, more jobs, better benefits, better healthcare, better schools, more diversity, and higher purchasing power.

Also it's more fun to work for US tech companies than Nokia :).

You don't have better healthcare, and most Americans don't have any of those things

Are you claiming that if you have the money, America doesn’t have better healthcare?

Correct. As a well off person paying out the ass for "great insurance," the system is absolutely drastically worse than other developed countries. A complete joke.

I don't pay out the ass... My premiums are covered by my employer, and I have no co-pays. It literally does not cost me anything to see my doctor.

> the system is absolutely drastically worse than other developed countries

I can see my GP same day, and a specialist within a week, for $0. It really can't get any better for me...

So it’s not about whether you “have the money” but whether you happen to have one of those rare employers offering platinum plated health plans. I suppose in that narrow case, US health care may be good.

It's still pretty bad. This person clearly doesn't have chronic pre-existing conditions, or ever needed surgery.

You're not gonna believe this, but you are paying for it. Every dime your employer spends on your insurance is one dime they're not paying you in cash.

> You're not gonna believe this, but you are paying for it. Every dime your employer spends on your insurance is one dime they're not paying you in cash.

You're not gonna believe this, but you are paying for it. Every dime your employer spends on taxes is one dime they're not paying you in cash.

Wow, really?

As somebody who has money and lived in the US, absolutely.

The system is a joke. It takes forever to get MRI appointments. Everything has so much bureaucracy. You fill out forms and make calls and get letters and all this bullshit.

Meanwhile, I can just book stuff online instantly now that I live in europe.

And it's visible in outcomes, too. Life expectancy in the EU is around 5 years higher than in the US.

Every single time I've went to a practice in the US, the first thing I had to do was fill out stacks of forms. I've never had to deal that here in the EU. Has that really changed in the past five years?

I’m in the US and it’s the same for me. Every single doctor I visit, it’s the same stack of papers with the same personal information and health history.

The vast majority of health systems use EHR systems. I mean, you can go to small clinics that don't share data with anyone, but that's on you.

Yes. Every doctor in my hospital group has access to my records. I don't fill out anything when I go.

It hasn't

There are multiple studies showing exactly that.

> Who cares?

Capitalists (the class, and the ideological faction devoted to promoting the interests of that class.)

I think it might depend on how you define success?

Profit for the founders and the shareholders is the only definition anyone cares about in the states.

The idea that a business could be considered successful by just providing a living wage for its owners and employees or contributing to the community is not a consideration.

People in this country see a single person startup making a few million dollars to be a greater success story than providing for the lives and well being of 20 employees for a decade.