Look I've done it too. In the 90s it seemed obvous that Europe was a liberal paradise that American liberals could only dream of. Yet this is no longer true and probably hasn't been true for a lot longer than we Americans realized.
Yes, they do still have better unemployment benefits and mostly more universal healthcare-though we're headed in the right direction, and I've pointed out many times Obamacare can and will become more universal-it already has in Vermont and it's a lot more universal than Social Security was when FDR passed it in the 1930s-which covered just 5% of Americans initially.
But everything is going in the wrong direction in Europe. The short reason for this is one simple word: the euro.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-failure-of-european-left-to-oppose.html
Right now in the US we've had lots of recent victories-Obamacare, gay marriage, Obama's executive actions on colleges and gainful employment-a very important law that holds colleges accountable-the Iran treaty, a Cuban embassy-and wages.
Wages are getting a real push on many levels-like when Obama more than doubled the threshold for overtime pay from $24,000 per year to over $50,000.
Then there's the $15 minimum wage movement:
"On Wednesday, the wage board New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) convened unanimously passed a proposal for a $15 an hour minimum wage for the state’s fast food industry. The labor commissioner is expected to approve the recommendation and issue a wage order raising these workers’ pay to at least that amount. The minimum wage for fast food workers will reach $15 an hour in New York City by 2018 and in the rest of the state by 2021."
"Outside of the final wage board hearing in lower Manhattan where its decision was announced, Rebecca Cornick, who has worked at Wendy’s for nine years and makes $9 an hour, said that a $15 minimum wage will have a huge impact on her life. “I’d stay out of rent court, I’d be able to put food on my table, I won’t have to pay exorbitant late fees for my rent,” she said. “It’s going to be amazing, it’s going to be a relief.”
"She noted that it’s “impossible” to live on her current pay. “I have to do other things in order to make the money to compensate for my rent and for my food,” she said. It was her daughter who got her involved with the Fight for 15 campaign that has been pushing for higher wages in fast food, and she said she did that “because she was tired of seeing me suffer and live in poverty.” So Cornick got involved. “My back was against the wall. I didn’t know what else to do but to step forward.”
"Jorel Ware has worked at McDonald’s for almost three years and makes $8.75 an hour. “Words can’t explain,” he said of how he felt about the wage board’s vote. “It’s a dream come true.”
"The eventual hike to $15 an hour will mean a lot for him. “I don’t make nothing and I work full time,” he said. “Finally I’ll be able to move out of poverty eventually.” He noted that rent and other aspects of the cost of living are so expensive, he feels he needs a higher wage “in order to survive.”
"While some may have had their doubts that such a wage would actually happen, Ware never doubted. “Everybody else didn’t think it would happen. ‘Oh you flip burgers, you’ll never get 15, you don’t deserve 15,'” he said. “Here we are, proving everybody wrong.”
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/07/22/3683378/new-york-fast-food-15-wage/
Even if they passed a law like this in Europe, Merkel and the European Commission would probably respond by unpassing it.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/07/will-merkel-let-ireland-spend-its.html?showComment=1437613692031#c4791036529911388956
Yes, they do still have better unemployment benefits and mostly more universal healthcare-though we're headed in the right direction, and I've pointed out many times Obamacare can and will become more universal-it already has in Vermont and it's a lot more universal than Social Security was when FDR passed it in the 1930s-which covered just 5% of Americans initially.
But everything is going in the wrong direction in Europe. The short reason for this is one simple word: the euro.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-failure-of-european-left-to-oppose.html
Right now in the US we've had lots of recent victories-Obamacare, gay marriage, Obama's executive actions on colleges and gainful employment-a very important law that holds colleges accountable-the Iran treaty, a Cuban embassy-and wages.
Wages are getting a real push on many levels-like when Obama more than doubled the threshold for overtime pay from $24,000 per year to over $50,000.
Then there's the $15 minimum wage movement:
"On Wednesday, the wage board New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) convened unanimously passed a proposal for a $15 an hour minimum wage for the state’s fast food industry. The labor commissioner is expected to approve the recommendation and issue a wage order raising these workers’ pay to at least that amount. The minimum wage for fast food workers will reach $15 an hour in New York City by 2018 and in the rest of the state by 2021."
"Outside of the final wage board hearing in lower Manhattan where its decision was announced, Rebecca Cornick, who has worked at Wendy’s for nine years and makes $9 an hour, said that a $15 minimum wage will have a huge impact on her life. “I’d stay out of rent court, I’d be able to put food on my table, I won’t have to pay exorbitant late fees for my rent,” she said. “It’s going to be amazing, it’s going to be a relief.”
"She noted that it’s “impossible” to live on her current pay. “I have to do other things in order to make the money to compensate for my rent and for my food,” she said. It was her daughter who got her involved with the Fight for 15 campaign that has been pushing for higher wages in fast food, and she said she did that “because she was tired of seeing me suffer and live in poverty.” So Cornick got involved. “My back was against the wall. I didn’t know what else to do but to step forward.”
"Jorel Ware has worked at McDonald’s for almost three years and makes $8.75 an hour. “Words can’t explain,” he said of how he felt about the wage board’s vote. “It’s a dream come true.”
"The eventual hike to $15 an hour will mean a lot for him. “I don’t make nothing and I work full time,” he said. “Finally I’ll be able to move out of poverty eventually.” He noted that rent and other aspects of the cost of living are so expensive, he feels he needs a higher wage “in order to survive.”
"While some may have had their doubts that such a wage would actually happen, Ware never doubted. “Everybody else didn’t think it would happen. ‘Oh you flip burgers, you’ll never get 15, you don’t deserve 15,'” he said. “Here we are, proving everybody wrong.”
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/07/22/3683378/new-york-fast-food-15-wage/
Even if they passed a law like this in Europe, Merkel and the European Commission would probably respond by unpassing it.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/07/will-merkel-let-ireland-spend-its.html?showComment=1437613692031#c4791036529911388956
Europe is a big place. Seems you focus on Germany. What I like about Greece, having lived there for years, is the black market. You see the government is broke but the Greek people are not, by and large (unless they are civil servants) since many work in the black market. Germany I'm sure is more "rules-bound" and like the USA. I also live now in the Philippines where there's effectively no income tax, except for civil servants, and only a sales tax supports a weak government.
ReplyDeleteAs for living in Europe vs the USA, insofar as Greece goes it's like a poor man's California (where I've also lived) and they have stone monuments and a sense of community lacking in the USA. But the USA is where there's money so I maintain a footprint there. Really, like Socrates said, you must be a citizen of the world and travel freely, like I do, chasing the sun and keeping an open mind. It also helps I have parents in the 1%. Peace.
Thanks for the comments Ray. Despite all the crap Sumner and his choir throw you at Money illusion you strike me as refreshingly openminded in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI've never visited Greece though my brother's wife is Greek and he's visited it.
Glad you mentioned Socrates-that was another new name for this blog I considered: 'They killed Socrates too.'
Too many people on the Left or the Right strike me as narrowminded and provincial in their outlook. As you say the thing is to be a Citizen of the World
I'm not sure I totally get what you mean about the Fed having no effect on monetary policy but overall, you seem like a good dude.
Another thing we have in common-Fortune finally smiled on me and I've started coming into some money the last few years-haven't even gotten the big money yet.
Before that I had been in bad shape. So for once luck seemed to work for me rather than against.