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Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

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Re: Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.bls.gov/charts/employee-benefits/paid-leave-sick... Could be better for sure, but a graph showing the US as having 0 days of paid days off because the federal government doesn't mandate anything is misleading at best. Average US worker after 1 year of employment earns 7 sick days and 11 vacation days. And likely has some state and federal holidays off as well, and could very well qualify for state require…

> earns 7 sick days Including sick days makes the calculation worse, not better. Sick days typically don't exist in Europe. If you're sick, you obviously just don't go to work. What's the point of infecting the whole office? On average, workers in Europe take about 2 to 3 weeks off each year due to sickness in addition to their vacation. In fact, if you're sick during vacation, that doesn't count as vacation time, at…

I included them to show that, on average, PTO does not need to be used for sick time and to show that the vacation time is vacation time.

> "workers in Europe take about 2 to 3 weeks off each year due to sickness in addition to their vacation"

It looks like in Germany it's 20 days a year - https://www.dw.com/en/germany-sick-days-absentees-mental-hea...

Are you all really that sick? Shouldn't the availability of lots of sick time and your "superior" healthcare system decrease your illness levels? Doesn't seem to make any sense to me.

Re: Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

#32
post #5

The country that does not, invented more or less every modern technology (transistors, ICs, wifi, microwaves, cellular). Mayhaps there is something to it.

You didn't invent microwaves. Well, your lot invented the klystron. Know what a klystron is? No? Well there you are.

But I bet you know what the cavity magnetron - invented in Scotland - is. You probably used one today already.

Cellular phones were invented in the UK and Finland. The US didn't even have them until the first couple of generations were obsolete here.

Transistors were invented in Germany, although they were made practical in the US, I'll them that.

Re: Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

#33
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of those things were invented by a company granted a government monopoly on communications and not allowed to directly profit off of any of those advances. AT&T threw money at smart people and said, "Do stuff. Then we'll see if we can use it" No one does that anymore.

The big one on the list that wasn't AT&T was microwaves and that was a contractor to Nasa [0] in the heat of the moon race and a similar "Do stuff. Then we'll see if we can use it" mandate. [0] Defense contractor Raytheon most specifically.

I think that's one thing people truly forget when they ask "Why can't we do things like this anymore?"

AT&T paid people to fuck around. Claude Shannon, father of Information Theory, founder of Artificial Intelligence, and namesake to Anthropic's flagship product, was also busy building flame-throwing trumpets and rocket frisbees while creating entire new fields.

Re: Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

#35
post #10

I guess thinking from first principles probably the ideal is neither government mandating days off nor their behind terribly hard to come by. Better imo would be - if I personally accomplished something meaningful and valuable and 'earned' time, then I am strongly incentivized to take time. Also it taking time will help my health and wellness meaningfully then I should also be incentivized to do so. But that seems im…

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Re: Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

#36

The US has generally higher wages than Europe and lower taxation rates. Those paid days off are not free.

The areas with the highest wages are disproportionately more expensive, and the personal risks forced on both workers and the unemployed are far dangerous. (Esp lack of healthcare.)

What do you mean by "lack of healthcare" exactly? Are you under the impression that it's hard to get healthcare in the US? Or that the average healthcare experience is extraordinarily expensive?

Re: Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you're serious, as a European, I applaud your willingness to hurt yourself so we can have transistors and also have 40 days off each year.

US inventiveness peaked in the 50s and 60s, when corporate taxes were much higher, education, housing and healthcare were far cheaper, wealth was more evenly distributed, and government investment in infrastructure and R&D was more about delivery than corporate/academic grift. Perhaps there's a reason it has declined since.

> healthcare were far cheaper

In the 60s people would often die from ailments that are now solved with routine outpatient procedures.

Cars were cheaper too but it turns out all that emissions and safety equipment costs money.

Re: Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

#38
post #3

What is going on in the US is nothing short of shameful.

[flagged]

Countries invent nothing, people do. And I bet those who invented transistors and the internet had plenty of days off.

BTW if work would be a privilege, you would have to pay to do it

Re: Most countries provide between 20 and 40 paid days off

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The areas with the highest wages are disproportionately more expensive, and the personal risks forced on both workers and the unemployed are far dangerous. (Esp lack of healthcare.)

What do you mean by "lack of healthcare" exactly? Are you under the impression that it's hard to get healthcare in the US? Or that the average healthcare experience is extraordinarily expensive?

It's easy if you're employed by a reasonable company.

Healthcare being so tied to your employer is so anti-labor it's unbelievable.

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