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Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

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Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also have to pay a lot more out of pocket for basic services like healthcare,, transportation, childcare, etc.

The wonderful part of this is that you get the choice. Choose where you live, who you have for healthcare, who you use for childcare/schooling. We have the opportunity to make that choice instead of having a bureaucracy making those choices for us.

Visas, different languages, and family mean that people often don't really have a choice. Likewise, most employers only provide insurance from a single provider.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#272

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That is, in my opinion, by far the strongest argument for lower taxes. The money we (the US) do spend in education/healthcare/infrastructure is already poorly utilized, why would we want to spend more and end up like that? To simplify it dramatically with an example, I'd rather pay $3 on the toll road and $50k for a surgery myself than pay $10 in taxes towards the road and $100k in taxes towards the healthcare system…

You would never had the chance in the first place to earn this kind of money if it wouldn't be for the society. Roads, education, healthcare etc. Also other people work as hard as you do. And you know of course it's better for you obviously but only as long as you are part of that group. There is a reason why people do gofundmes after they can't work anymore. And the riots etc? Guess what social injustice increases e…

I just presented an argument for a specific case. I think you read a little too much into it.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#273
post #251

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US cities were based around cars in 1990. But today, the thinnest state (Colorado) is heavier on average than the fattest state in 1990 (Mississippi, also today's national leader) Walking is obviously better than not walking, but something other than cars is to blame for the ballooning of the American public. 75% of America is either overweight or obese right now. That alone puts you at risk for about a million healt…

> 75% of America is either overweight or obese right now. Do you have a citation for that? I'm seeing numbers closer to 30% (which is still bad).

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm

"Percent of adults aged 20 and over with overweight, including obesity: 73.6%"

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#274

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This is the big thing. The bigger salary more than covers the difference. And it's not just tech. Nurses in the UK make 25,000 pounds per year, nurses in the US make $85k or more. I would rather have the higher salary with student loans, my own health insurance, and no subsidized childcare than make 25K GBP (at a higher tax rate!)

Fine as long as you're able to keep earning said salary. It's the state you end up in when you're not for whatever reason that's arguably the big difference. My own partner's a nurse and has gone through extensive periods where her income has been low or non-existent and while it wasn't really an issue given the presence of my salary to fall back on it's not hard to see how difficult things might become esp. if there…

Yes in general I agree. The biggest problem is for those who experience chronic un/underemployment.

I'm not against a social safety net, but I don't think the benefits one gets in Europe equals out to the higher income + lower tax rate in the states

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#275
post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 75% of America is either overweight or obese right now. Do you have a citation for that? I'm seeing numbers closer to 30% (which is still bad).

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm "Percent of adults aged 20 and over with overweight, including obesity: 73.6%"

Woah, I stand corrected. That's insane.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#276
post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm "Percent of adults aged 20 and over with overweight, including obesity: 73.6%"

Woah, I stand corrected. That's insane.

The BMI tables are fairly unexpected. 5'8" normal range is 125-158 and at 125 you look like you run the 2 mile in track.

Of course that also shows how many Americans are overweight since the scrawny track kid is considered super skinny.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#277

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> In France, apparently you can go on unemployment for 2, up to 3 years to start a startup. With up to 80% pay. Then why does France have such a low rate of new business formation (5.3/1000 people) - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.BUS.NDNS.ZS?most_rec... Or as another indicator, number of tech startups per Million is 234 for the US, while only 24 for France - https://www.startupranking.com/countries

3 things: - the culture is not the same as the US. French people tend to be very financially risk-averse - the VC eco-system in France exists but it is trash - people who have the skills to create startups in France tend to do it outside of France because they will have access to better capital/labor markets (for example, DataDog and Docker both have french founders)

> - people who have the skills to create startups in France tend to do it outside of France because they will have access to better capital/labor markets

There are a lot of French people here in the bay area.

From what they told me, it's actually easier to come to the bay area, navigate through the US immigration system and get funded than get funded at home. Not only that, some startups got funding from VC funds with LPs... from France!

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#278

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Thank you for posting this. This is both staggering, and also highly informative. It's clear this is crushing the US middle and lower classes. I've seen a recent trend in churches, where they use their excess funds to buy people's medical debt out of collections and forgive it. It's the best thing I've heard in a long time. I also have been recently battling with Blue Shield of California (but they're all bad). They…

> I propose we create a movement that demands that insurance companies use their excess profit, etc. to buy people's medical debt and free them of it. How do we get this movement going? Blue Shield of California alone has hundreds of millions a year in surplus, that would buy out billions of dollars in medical debt for people and completely change many people's lives for the better. Blue Shield of California had a ne…

No, they should do a bunch of internal audits and clean house and go bankrupt if that's what's in the cards. Mismanagement has consequences.

As you pointed out, they are being run very poorly, while the top executives still take home million dollar salaries (1) and have been spending money on things like the Blue Shield Field Club at Oracle park.

If they do the work, I'm sure they can do right by the general public and their customers, they are currently not. They have a 1.1 star review with 800 reviews on Yelp, it's lower than the San Francisco DMV which has 1.8.

(1) - https://www.payersandproviders.com/node/1509#:~:text=Accordi....

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also have to pay a lot more out of pocket for basic services like healthcare,, transportation, childcare, etc.

The wonderful part of this is that you get the choice. Choose where you live, who you have for healthcare, who you use for childcare/schooling. We have the opportunity to make that choice instead of having a bureaucracy making those choices for us.

Let me fix it for you:

(If you are rich by most definitions) ...you get the choice

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#280
post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can believe that for a good family plan. But that's probably more than you'd pay without a subsidy for a pretty good individual plan.

Correct - I should have mentioned that is for 4 people(total) covered

Well, that changes the math entirely.

A marketplace equivalent plan that's not subsidized would probably cost ~$1500+/month or more for a family of 4, with a decent level of coverage.

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