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You ask should the US require employers a minumum certain paid days time / vacation time for employees?
ABSOLUTELY.
For some time now, this country has been headed backwards, almost to the Gilded age of the late 1800s when wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few super rich.
Pensions are increasingly at a end for private workers, 401ks are slowly no longer being matched by employers, holidays and vacation days are being cut, health benefits are being slashed. We have been flooded with massive cheap labor and exposed to both unfree and unfair trade.
In the last 5-10 years I have literally changed my political thinking by 180 degrees and I simply no longer trust private corporations to do the right thing. They increasingly need to be both watched and regulated.
That was my first thoughts as well. Starting to show their true colors. Just a matter of time before we are all stupid, fat, lazy Americans; which has been said before. I just wish those who don't like it here would just go back to their home Country instead of griping and crying about how the US is different. No kidding, we like it that way. Go back and make a living where ever you came from.
What is my home country? My ancestors came here nearly 300 years ago. I cannot become a citizen of the countries (They are not even the same geographical countries anymore) of my ancestors without much difficulty.
I had no choice to be born into this country. I find your "If you don't like it, leave" rhetoric to be painfully simplistic. It is an assault on a healthy political discourse. How would you feel if every time you had a complaint about the government, you were told "If you don't like it, leave!" This type of thinking is not conducive to a free-thinking society.
I do not find the American quality of life, especially with regards to work, to be the best in the world. What are my options? I would love to move to another country and experience the social benefits of being a citizen of that country. But IT IS NOT THAT EASY! You cannot just become an insta-citizen in any country you choose.
What is my home country? My ancestors came here nearly 300 years ago. I cannot become a citizen of the countries (They are not even the same geographical countries anymore) of my ancestors without much difficulty.
I had no choice to be born into this country. I find your "If you don't like it, leave" rhetoric to be painfully simplistic. It is an assault on a healthy political discourse. How would you feel if every time you had a complaint about the government, you were told "If you don't like it, leave!" This type of thinking is not conducive to a free-thinking society.
I do not find the American quality of life, especially with regards to work, to be the best in the world. What are my options? I would love to move to another country and experience the social benefits of being a citizen of that country. But IT IS NOT THAT EASY! You cannot just become an insta-citizen in any country you choose.
Get over yourself. That post was CLEARLY meant for the OP or for those who come here from another Country and then try to change the US to match the one they just left. It was NOT directed to those of us who have family that came over hundreds of years ago. Sometimes one just has to have the ability to read something within the surrounding context to get a portion of the meaning out of the statement. Next time I will have to remember that there are those of us who lack that ability; and read each individual posts as a stand alone entity and have no skills at actually interpreting the written language within the context it is written.
You ask should the US require employers a minumum certain paid days time / vacation time for employees?
ABSOLUTELY.
For some time now, this country has been headed backwards, almost to the Gilded age of the late 1800s when wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few super rich.
Pensions are increasingly at a end for private workers, 401ks are slowly no longer being matched by employers, holidays and vacation days are being cut, health benefits are being slashed. We have been flooded with massive cheap labor and exposed to both unfree and unfair trade.
In the last 5-10 years I have literally changed my political thinking by 180 degrees and I simply no longer trust private corporations to do the right thing. They increasingly need to be both watched and regulated.
everything that you said.
why on earth would a business give a ____ about its employees over profits?? they won't. they will work an employee to the bone for the almighty dollar. get sick? so the hell what. come to work. you better not think about taking a day off. oh, you want the day off? how about i fire you. i don't need you. i have 25 other ppl that NEED this job at all costs and will work many hours and many weekends, etc. out of necessity and out of fear.
i used to work for a company where you'd only get 5 vacation days a year. 5. FIVE. CINCO.
Many economists support mandatory paid vacation. This is because, economically, we know that employees who take vacations tend to be healthier and function better at their jobs. However, without the law requiring that efficiency to occur, there is a "race to the bottom" effect where many companies fail to achieve that efficiency because management has incorrect ideas about the costs or benefits involved.
So, in a case like this, quite a few economists do indeed support some type of minimum paid vacation time to prevent this "race to the bottom."
Pay me a little more for the time that I actually spend AT work, and don't pay me when I'm not there.
I'll save that extra money and use it when I'm on vacation.
Paying people for time that is spent anywhere other than at work is the "gateway drug" to an entitlement mentality.
You wouldn't have any extra money. Think about it...paying you slightly more when you're at work but not paying you at all when you're on vacation VS. paying you what you make now, but always paying you that amount even when you're on vacation.
So if I lived in Vietnam shrimp farming, or Bolivia sustenance farming, or growing poppies in Pakistan, I'd get a paid day off? Sounds great! Too bad I would be dirt poor and have no healthcare As a female-forced work/marriage at a very young age (no education either) Oh and a very low life expectancy
Are you serious? Last time I checked, the US still doesn't provide healthcare to all of its citizens (even though third world nations like Colombia and Trinidad-Tobago have no problem doing so), the US has one of the worst public education systems among developed nations, and we also have one of the lowest life-expectancies of any industrialized nation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by leighland
Are you willing to live in those places? There are 195 official countries in the world. How many have the paid days off you speak of?
And yes, the USA is very rich (not as much as Russia is right now, or Switzerland but I digress). The US gives TONS of money to charities and assistance to countries worldwide. Do you think the Scandinavian countries or Europe in general do as much?
In absolute terms, Japan gives more money to charity than the US, and when adjusted to represent a percentage of GDP, the US ranks 21 out of the 22 wealthiest nations on earth.
Charity Across the World
"Denmark is top of the table, giving 1.01% of GDP, while the US manages just 0.1%. The United Nations has long established the target of 0.7% GDP for development assistance, although only four countries actually achieve this: Denmark, 1.01%; Norway, 0.91%; the Netherlands, 0.79%; Sweden, 0.7%. Apart from being the least generous nation, the US is highly selective in who receives its aid. Over 50% of its aid budget is spent on middle-income countries in the Middle East, with Israel being the recipient of the largest single share."
That was my first thoughts as well. Starting to show their true colors. Just a matter of time before we are all stupid, fat, lazy Americans; which has been said before. I just wish those who don't like it here would just go back to their home Country instead of griping and crying about how the US is different. No kidding, we like it that way. Go back and make a living where ever you came from.
Speak for yourself. Most Americans have no idea what type of gov't programs are enjoyed by people in Western Europe. That's probably due to the fact that most Americans never leave the country in their lifetime and believe everything that they're fed by the American news media. You know how we're the greatest country on earth and all that jazz. If Americans knew that France provides weekly nanny service to the parents of newborns or that people in the Netherlands get extra spending money for their already paid-vacations, then I think they would be pretty irritated that we can't even get universal healthcare in this country.
It's called a perk and it's about being competitive. Company A gives more paid vacation time than Company B, you chose Company A if that's important to you. Company B might pay more, give you more sick leave or offer a better insurance deal. You may not like it but this is still a free capitalist country.
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As a female-forced work/marriage at a very young age (no education either)
Last time I checked, the US still doesn't provide healthcare to all of its citizens (even though third world nations like Colombia and Trinidad-Tobago have no problem doing so), the US has one of the worst public education systems among developed nations, and we also have one of the lowest life-expectancies of any industrialized nation.
