@davidaugust all true for less than 6,000,000 people
@noplasticshower @davidaugust If it’s feasible with 6M people, then it should be much more doable with over 60 times as many.
@ArtHarg @noplasticshower @davidaugust Add to that just over 6 million people in Denmark.
I definitely take home a bigger part of what I have earned here in Denmark when I calculate in health care, childcare and education for myself and my family.
/Edit: My point was, I used to live in Brooklyn, so it is not a theoretical comparison.
@mjj @ArtHarg @davidaugust I understand your point and politically I agree with it. But it is very naive.

@[email protected] @davidaugust I wish that were true. I love Norway and have a great deal of respect for that approach. But you guys seem to have no sense of just how big and how disparate the US is.

For example, I live in the DC metro area which has more people in it than Norway and overlaps physically with the tips of two states and a District with different laws and different (sometimes nonexistent) representation.

California, about 20 states west is the same area as Norway with the 6.6 times more people.

@noplasticshower @davidaugust Then your argument should not be “for 6M people”, but “sorry, we chose a system of government that puts individual well and woe before collective action”. It’s not that you couldn’t do this in California or even in the entire US. The risks would be lower than for Norway. But it’s just that Americans are OK with paying for a stretch of road that they themselves drive on, but not for one that their neighbour drives on. That is what corporations exploit.
@ArtHarg @davidaugust that is my argument. Bye bye.
@noplasticshower @davidaugust in Germany it's truth für 83.500.000 people. If you are Not an idiot you can scale it Up . In the USA is health Care obsessed by criminals
@jugger1511 It might be somewhat fairer than in the US, but there is also a strong private sector in Germany‘s health system.
@jugger1511 @davidaugust the US includes at least 1/3 very stupid people
@noplasticshower @davidaugust I assume for the majority of us 450,000,000 EU Europeans it is pretty similar. Certainly all of western Europe.
@Mastokarl @noplasticshower @davidaugust I know plenty of old people that would be goners in Greece if it was not for the public health system, with all its issues and delays it has kept them alive.
These are poor people living with pensions 200-300 euro per month.
@davidaugust Oof. So true. They want less government, fewer social programs, no assistance, no "handouts." They aspire to selfishness, which they call independence and self-reliance. So far behind they think they're in front.
@davidaugust
I don't think people understand the idea of free Healthcare. Yes, paying for it in taxes, means it's not free. However, paying for it in taxes means, I don't have to go six years without glasses because I can't afford the exam. It means if my glasses break today, I can go to get an exam, get my prescription and go to get my glasses without taking from my food, rent, and clothing.
Not sure about glasses outside of the US, is that a separate charge?

@faliate
I average about 8 or 9 years per set of eyeglasses.

@davidaugust

@LibertyForward1 @faliate @davidaugust that may not last forever. At a certain age you might benefit from new glasses every 2-4 years
@DerPumu @faliate @davidaugust I would love to replace them that often, but I'm generally only able to scrape enough money together every decade or so
@LibertyForward1 @DerPumu @davidaugust
Right. My glasses broke six years ago, I cannot afford an exam, nor have the funds to get one.
If taxes go towards medical expenses, it should extend to the nearly blind as well. The longer we go without glasses the worse our eyes get. I know that is impossible in the US. However, for the countries that do have a universal health care, maybe petitioning the government departments that run these programmes and asking them to extend the medical benefits?
@faliate @LibertyForward1 @davidaugust in many countries glasses are part of "free" health care. Here in Germany it's covered by the mandatory health insurance.
To be precise, that's not taxes going towards medical, over here, taxes are separate from health insurance, so politicians can't line their industrial friends' pockets with that money.
@faliate @davidaugust In my country exams are free and glasses and lenses are subsidized.
@mihamarkic @faliate @davidaugust Eye tests are free in Scotland and NHS advises people to have one every 2 years.
Similarly dentist check ups cost less than 10£ with an X-ray and polish and they are also scheduled at least once per year via NHS. You can of course go in at any time if there is an emergency
@nickapos @faliate @davidaugust Free dentists checks and care over here in Slovenia including x rays.
@faliate @davidaugust Optical, dental, prescriptions are not covered in Canada. Well, not universally covered.
@faliate @davidaugust In Germany, though examination by an ophthalmologist is free, glasses are usually not covered, except if you're practically blind without them.
@ysegrim @davidaugust
This is why I wish my grandparents never left Germany. Also, one of the reasons why I want to migrate back to Germany. Besides the culture and food, there are many great things about Germany.

@davidaugust

I'd rather pay tax any day!

I don't understand people not wanting to pay their share of tax; we ALL benefit.

@grb090423 @davidaugust people nowadays dont care for "we", they only care for "I"

@twallutis @davidaugust

Yes, there's a lot of that thinking but I'm hopeful that gradual growth of Green Party membership worldwide proves otherwise.

@davidaugust
Not just Norway! Many European countries also have free healthcare, free college, parental leave, and more. It’s necessary to have a well-educated, healthy population that doesn’t fall for fascists…
@WiseWoman indeed, a real bulwark against fascism.
@WiseWoman As much as I love having free healthcare, parental leave etc, people in EU countries fall for fascism every other week.
@davidaugust

@j_bertolotti @davidaugust

True, although it is not every day. We still have lots of work to do!

@j_bertolotti @WiseWoman @davidaugust They forgot how communists, syndicalists and organising got them to a place of dignity. Thatcher and her lot have eroded the laws and institutions with austerity, technocracy, privatization and individualistic propaganda. It's still holding up though.
@j_bertolotti @WiseWoman @davidaugust Well, the #USofRael have been living under fascism forever, and yet don't get any of those things.
I don't know I kind of like my universal health care and strong unions things and still don't get fascists rulling my country.
@WiseWoman @davidaugust sadly there are plenty of European countries on the brink of falling for fascists lies and hollow promises.