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Well, I think for one homes in Europe are not as large. My hubby and I had a condo, very small compared with places here.
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Originally Posted by Jdawg8181
I PREFER time off... but when ya have a mortgage to pay it's kind of tough. I would love to have time off but I can't afford to. I don't know what the houses cost in Europe but I live in the most expensive area of America (NYC metro) and houses here about 5x people's incomes.
I'm watching a documentary on Japan, about suicide - specifically how the pressure, long-work hours, and obsession with status and financial security and doing well at their job drives many to suicide or at least madness. It got me thinking, it sounds like a hellish existence. For instance, wake up at 6am, two hours on the train, finish at 10pm, sometimes returning home well after midnight. Some of these Japanese workers - still largely men - do this 5 or even 6 hours a day! It sounds so exhausting! Sure they have a high GDP, low disease rates and long life expectancy, but a life of all work and no play doesn't sound like high quality of life!
Then I hear about the US, a nation with a minimum wage of $5 in some states, where the lower class is growing while the rich get rich, with no/poor health care for the poor, a relatively high violent crime rate, and where many people get barely two weeks vacation time a year, with many not even opting to take it! As somebody who works to travel, such a situation is unimaginable. They must either really love their jobs or be getting royally screwed.
Some might argue that things might not be so sunny (pun intended) in the Northern European nations, despite being lauded as examples of places with 'high quality of life.' High sales/income tax, but excellent government services, but gloomy weather and a pretty depressing climate.
There are also those at the lower end of 'first world' like New Zealand or Italy. Not sure if Poland is considered first world?
This is about the WORST...personally I feel Australia might just be tops everything considered: it has the climate, a good mix between free market and government control (the government at least cares about it's citizens while being far from socialistic), and the gap between rich and poor isn't too bad. There is a sense of community/human capital, I think the sense of social alienation is not quite as great as that in the US, UK or Canada.
New Zealand ranks 5th on the Human Development Index right below the U.S. and above Canada, not sure why you consider it a lower first world nation. As for Italy that one is ranked 24th above countries like the UK which I doubt people here would call a lower first world nation.
Not only that. Freedom of speech and press is heavily censored, chewing gums are banned, and homosexuality is considered taboo here.
Singaporeans also work one of the longest hours in the world, almost comparable to the Japanese.
It would be a haven, though, for a Fascist. (Even conservatives in the United States would be fine as it is typically the liberals who run afoul of censorship and challenge the law. Besides, not everyone likes gum.)
This is not entirely true. Obv there's always airplanes but even Amtrak has trains that go to a lot of destinations. If you're looking to get a train to Duluth, MN from NY that's probably tough but most bigger cities you can access by train. Amtrak can get you from NY to FL if u want, or NY to Chicago... Granted its a loooong ride but it's not impossible.
Look at a train map of the US. There's very little train service in the Western states. The train system quite clearly was set up to haul resources out of the West to the East. And Amtrak doesn't really work. It shares the rail system with freight trains, so the Amtrak trains often get sidelined and wait while the freight trains go past.
And don't get me started with America's education system! I have known people who finished h.s. earning their diploma who read at a 7 or 8th grade level. I actually met a guy who is now 26 years old, with two kids and made it all the way up to the 10th grade before dropping out! He is illiterate and cannot get his drivers license because he cannot read! How the hell he got up to 10th grade? I wonder! This is the crap education one gets if you are poor in the U.S.
He got to 10th grade because the schools have a policy of promoting kids regardless of ability to read. My nephew was getting promoted year after year, in spite of poor reading skills. My brother told the school to hold him back a grade, but they promoted him. My brother threatened to take them to court (he's a lawyer), not because he intended to do so, but because he thought they would take his concern seriously and hold his son back to improve his reading skills. All the school did in response to the lawsuit threat was to give him passing grades on his reading scores, rather than failing ones. So my brother removed him from the school and found a school that works with kids who are behind in basic skills. The boy thrived in that environment.
I couldn't agree more about not promoting kids that are doing poorly. It doesn't help to keep pushing them into higher levels, when they can't even handle lower levels.
That said, I learned to read by reading. I'd go home and read. I honestly can't recall ever being without books. As far back as I recall, the kids that did badly in school, were the ones that didn't do their homework, didn't read at home, etc. My sister was the same way, and she has now hooked her kids on books too. Computers, texting, videogames, and TV are prohibited except for 1 or maybe 2 hours a day, but books? They're allowed to read all they want. One of her kids was at a very low reading level 3 years ago, and she went on a project of getting him hooked on books. Well, she found a very basic little series for boys he liked. At first it was hard! However, the more he read, the better he read, and the better he understood. His grades all went up. I think kids need their TVs, computers, videogames, cell phones and TVs all turned off most of the time. These things rob time, and don't teach much.
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Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
He got to 10th grade because the schools have a policy of promoting kids regardless of ability to read. My nephew was getting promoted year after year, in spite of poor reading skills. My brother told the school to hold him back a grade, but they promoted him. My brother threatened to take them to court (he's a lawyer), not because he intended to do so, but because he thought they would take his concern seriously and hold his son back to improve his reading skills. All the school did in response to the lawsuit threat was to give him passing grades on his reading scores, rather than failing ones. So my brother removed him from the school and found a school that works with kids who are behind in basic skills. The boy thrived in that environment.
That said, I learned to read by reading. I'd go home and read. I honestly can't recall ever being without books. As far back as I recall, the kids that did badly in school, were the ones that didn't do their homework, didn't read at home, etc. My sister was the same way, and she has now hooked her kids on books too. Computers, texting, videogames, and TV are prohibited except for 1 or maybe 2 hours a day, but books? They're allowed to read all they want. One of her kids was at a very low reading level 3 years ago, and she went on a project of getting him hooked on books. Well, she found a very basic little series for boys he liked. At first it was hard! However, the more he read, the better he read, and the better he understood. His grades all went up. I think kids need their TVs, computers, videogames, cell phones and TVs all turned off most of the time. These things rob time, and don't teach much.
Cool! I'm impressed that a parent not only made such a rule, but that it worked! Congrats to your sister!
Learning to read can be hard if the school doesn't teach phonics in first and second grade. Does anyone teach phonics anymore?
Maybe so. However, I learned to read in a foreign country where phonics was not taught. They taught reading through teaching the the letters of the alphabet, consonants, vowels, and then individual words in textbooks.
When I arrived in this country, it was summer, school was out, and I knew only one word in English: "Hi." I picked up language on the street with other kids, and trying to figure out what books said. I didn't know what most words meant, but I could get the gist of things and was very curious! By the way, the second word I learned was "blond/blonde" because I liked a little blond kid.
I think a whole lot depends on the parents. Do the parents read, or encourage the child to read?
I once heard of a woman who was illiterate and whose child was having trouble reading. She improved her child's reading by asking him to read to her every evening. He read to her. He took an interest. As a result of this, he improved.
School is great, but you expect your child to sit in school for 1 hour a day and figure that will be some sort of magic wand. If the child goes home and does nothing to practice what he/she has learned, that's not very good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
Cool! I'm impressed that a parent not only made such a rule, but that it worked! Congrats to your sister!
Learning to read can be hard if the school doesn't teach phonics in first and second grade. Does anyone teach phonics anymore?
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As somebody who works to travel, such a situation is unimaginable. They must either really love their jobs or be getting royally screwed.
