331–340 of 462 posts
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> Everything else is the direct result of this. Pray tell the details.
Pretty obvious no? Switzerland is a smallish country that acts as a moral-free world bank. It's easy for them to become rich in that situation.
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In America you can choose your job based on how you want to live. You can pursue your life and goals based on what you want out of it. Is that not true in Switzerland? I think you've bought into little more than propaganda. Americans take off weekends. And how do you judge 330 million people when it comes to burn-out, given the vast differences among them all?
BS. I have seen far fewer Americans in a position where they can take the Friday afternoons off like a lot of Europeans can. Or extended paternity leaves. Or sabbaticals. I have yet to see a software company in the US with the amount of time off as European companies despite the fact that most of the people I know in the US would trade salary for time off. It's simply a race to the bottom; with no incentive for emplo…
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Since 2001 I've lived and worked in Finland, Denmark & Sweden. Achieving a healthy & meaningful work-life balance is emphasized in the Nordic countries (I do not know about Luxembourg) The authors experience in Switzerland strikes a familiar chord with me. I have close friends in the Valley who envy me because I get 6 weeks a year off. I don't think this article is necessarily about high salaries and the luxuries you…
I almost can't even believe that commercial is real. I would love to see how it affected Cadillac's sales.
"Now that I’m back, I’m angry that my own country isn’t providing more for its people." If you want Switzerland in the U.S. there is only one option: break the U.S. up into distinct, smaller countries that are able to foster a common culture that can be relied upon to solve the prisoners dilemma inherent in all social welfare schemes. A side benefit for our friends abroad: maybe we'll stop bombing the shit out of the…
The US was like this some years earlier. Those were the prosperous years where everyone was capable of achieving the American dream. Then the tax cuts for industries came into effect and the middle class bore the blunt of it and dwindled. The wealthy are able to avoid this since they can afford to pay an army of lawyers to channel their wealth through loopholes. A social safety net is essential for progress. There ar…
Leaving aside the preposterous rewriting of U.S. history in your comment (the US was never like modern Switzerland, even when it was significantly more homogenous), your goal is not possible with the current size and cultural diversity of the US.
If you want social safety nets, you need a homogeneous culture that stresses (irrationally) not taking advantage of them, thereby making them sustainable.
I know this is not a happy thought for you. It was not for me, as well, for quite some time.
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Also looking at PPP per capita (59K vs 53K), it's not that much higher. Norway, I'm not sure should count given their large oil reserves which one cannot really replicate.
Sweden seems to be replicating it pretty well, without any oil.
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Well at least having 20+ days of paid vacation and (compard to the US) cheap health care is a thing in many european countries
20 days paid vacation is the legal EU baseline, FWIW. Most of europe is at or above 5 weeks when you include legal holidays.
"Driving Bentleys ruined me for BMWs and their poor make quality" Switzerland is one of... three maybe (Luxemburg, Norway) countries with higher standard of living than the US. Not even Switzerland's neighbours (Italy, France, Germany) with people coming from the same populations can reproduce it. All these great states are tiny (8M people) outliers. There are more people enjoying work-life balance in America than al…
This doesn't sound hugely informed. I spent the evening discussing this yesterday with Americans in a beer garden in Munich. Actually, more than the working conditions, the Americans didn't want to go back because of the guns.
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> And they all are known as tax havens except for Norway which has half a million dollars of oil reserves per citizen :). > But I do think the article is right in pointing out a lack of options in the U.S. if you want to live a lifestyle that doesn't center around work. This is the "option" of being both a very small and very rich state, which is simply not feasible. To put this into perspective, Norway is just over…
The oil doesnt' really make that much difference in Norway. They tend to keep most of the money in a state reserve to not create too much inflation. Subsitute Norway for non-oil Sweden, a country with huge immigration. Sure it's a small and "rich" country, but the cultural things like good work/life balance applies anyway. Edit: as was pointed out to me in another comment: this is using a loose definition of "life" w…
That is when we exert our five+ weeks of vacation and travel to a warmer place...
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Maternity leave in America is basically unpaid vacation. In most countries you get paid maternity leave. Vacation time is also the lowest (2 weeks) compared to Europe which on average has 4 weeks of vacation time. Where did you get your information about healthcare from? Very affordable healthcare in America? Seriously, what are you smoking?
> Vacation time is also the lowest (2 weeks) compared to Europe which on average has 4 weeks of vacation time. The EU mandates a minimum of 4 weeks, so 4 weeks could hardly be the average.