Best Place in the world to live?

[metalmike 34]

Yes, I can appreciate the stability that can afford you, though on the contrary I like my odd work hours, as it let me spend more time with my kids than I think I would have with a 9 to 5. Working 5,2,5,4 roster on SH gave me a lot of week days off, which meant that my kids had a lot more contact with at least one of their parents than most kids with two working parents would have. And if you were working early's you'd have the afternoon to spend with the kids up until their bed time, which would coincidentally be similar to my bed time. With long haul and the 2,2,2,4 roster, again, you get a lot of time off to spend with family, even if it invariably means that whenever anything happens back home like a child getting sick or the emersion heater breaking, luck would have it you were 4,000 miles away... :rolleyes: I guess all I'm saying is that there are lots of different work schedules, all of which have both their advantages and disadvantages...

 

Regards,

Ró.

 

I'm glad to see that worked out with your kids. Honestly, I pondered flying as a career, but abandoned it solely due to all the stuff I was reading about divorce rates, time away from families and all that kinda thing. I'm still young but I know having a family is something I very much look forward to and don't want to ruin. Plus playing in a band. It sucks because I love flying so much. But I have my priorities I guess.

[Cessnaflyer 56]

 

 

I'm glad to see that worked out with your kids. Honestly, I pondered flying as a career, but abandoned it solely due to all the stuff I was reading about divorce rates, time away from families and all that kinda thing. I'm still young but I know having a family is something I very much look forward to and don't want to ruin. Plus playing in a band. It sucks because I love flying so much. But I have my priorities I guess.

 

It all depends on your situation.

 

I am lucky to have a family that understands and is in or has been in the industry. You can make it work to your advantage. I usually bid days that people want off and am off on days people bid to fly. Works out prett well.

[Huascar 179]

I wouldn't want to live in Europe with all the high taxes and welfare programs. France is trying to implement a 75% tax rate for the rich. Unfortunately, America is trying to replicate European societies. If we do, we'll continiue on our path toward insolvency. Europe is a great place to visit because of its history and culture but I do not want a government regulating my life. Freedom is a wonderful thing to have.

[TurboTomato 90]

I don't most governments in Europe, not least in the UK, regulate your life any more than in the US. Where did you get that impression from? Having a welfare state isn't a bad thing as well, and taxes aren't that bad!

[Airbus Commander 563]

Yeh, Gotta agree there. I am free, my life isn't regulated or controlled by my government, I just get the services I want and need from them such as healthcare and education.

 

To run some figures here, how much would a typical health insurance policy in the US cost for a family of 5 people, 2 adults and 3 kids? In Ireland, €2,000 of my annual tax bill is spent on the the HSE, Health Service Executive, so that's €4,000 between me and my wife, for healthcare for my entire family. If I was unemployed and didn't have to pay tax, then I'd still get healthcare for my family. I really don't see the issues a lot of people in the States have about the government paying for services everyone should have...

 

Regards,

Ró.

[Glynn 405]

Europe is a great place to visit because of its history and culture but I do not want a government regulating my life. Freedom is a wonderful thing to have.

 

Hello

Imagine having the freedom to move between 27 countries and be able to settle and work in any one them with the same rights as any citizen,

That's Freedom

[Cessnaflyer 56]

I really don't see the issues a lot of people in the States have about the government paying for services everyone should have...

 

Regards,

Ró.

 

There are so many people that abuse the system and paid healthcare would further allow them to abuse it.

 

Unfortunately there is a great number of people in our country that do absolutely nothing because they have government housing, free food, and a disposable income to waste without lifting a finger. One thing that I absolutely hate to watch is when they buy food with their government cards and then walk a few steps over to the customer service counter and return all their items for cash. :angry:

[Huascar 179]

The slacker will try to get away with something for free if he could. It is what happens in a welfare state. Unemployment is Europe is one of the highest and the reason is because the government is looting the private sector with hight taxes. These companies cannot sustain the hight tax rate and therefore have to layoff their workers. Socialism does not work because it goes against human nature. Companies have a right to make profit but in Europe that seems like a bad thing. The current president of France declared, "I hate the rich." To me, this is called "resentment".And I think that's what it come down to in the end, a resentment for those who are successful. It is what we see in Cuba and the the former Soviet Union,

[TurboTomato 90]

There are so many people that abuse the system and paid healthcare would further allow them to abuse it.

 

Unfortunately there is a great number of people in our country that do absolutely nothing because they have government housing, free food, and a disposable income to waste without lifting a finger. One thing that I absolutely hate to watch is when they buy food with their government cards and then walk a few steps over to the customer service counter and return all their items for cash. :angry:

 

A free at point of use healthcare system it a lot harder to abuse than the welfare state. I don't see how people would/could do that. Unless I'm missing something.

 

The slacker will try to get away with something for free if he could. It is what happens in a welfare state. Unemployment is Europe is one of the highest and the reason is because the government is looting the private sector with hight taxes. These companies cannot sustain the hight tax rate and therefore have to layoff their workers. Socialism does not work because it goes against human nature. Companies have a right to make profit but in Europe that seems like a bad thing. The current president of France declared, "I hate the rich." To me, this is called "resentment".And I think that's what it come down to in the end, a resentment for those who are successful. It is what we see in Cuba and the the former Soviet Union,

 

That's a massive generalisation to think that the rest of Europe is the same as France - France is well known to be a socialist state, but we in the UK are very different and each country in the EU has a different lean towards capitalism or socialism or a bit of both. Yes to say 'I hate the rich' is wrong whichever side of the fence you are on but let's not forget that capitalism started this whole banking mess in the first place and, as far as I'm aware, France has not asked for any bailouts from the ECB. But that's a different debate I don't really want to start.

 

My point was that your sweeping statement just doesn't work to describe Europe.

[Glynn 405]

Socialism does not work because it goes against human nature.

 

Hello

Unemployment rate in the USA, May 2012 8.3%

Unemployment rate in Russia, May 2012 6.4%

[Airbus Commander 563]

There are so many people that abuse the system and paid healthcare would further allow them to abuse it.

 

Unfortunately there is a great number of people in our country that do absolutely nothing because they have government housing, free food, and a disposable income to waste without lifting a finger. One thing that I absolutely hate to watch is when they buy food with their government cards and then walk a few steps over to the customer service counter and return all their items for cash. :angry:

Well, that's wrong and they should abuse the system like that, but why does your government give out food cards? Over here we give you a small bit of cash each week and they're free to do what they like with it, be it buy food, or pay for heating. It's not much, but you can't exactly abuse it....

 

Another point though, how could you abuse a healthcare system? It's not like they can walk into the hospital and say, I'd like money please. It's about as abusable as the fire service, and you don't see people calling for that to be privatised? Come to think of it, the two services are fairly similar. It may never happen some people, but it does happen, and when your house is burning down, the last thing you want to hear is, "We'll start putting it out now, once you wire us through the money" or "Oh, the dishwasher broke so you spent your income on that this month. Well I'm really sorry but there's nothing we can do to put out your house fire, nice meeting you though" or "You earn a tiny wage, right then we're off, good luck with fighting that fire thing on your own..." When you're sick, just as when your house is burning down, you don't need delaying to get money sorted, you need someone to take care of you regardless of income level, class or what your insurance covers...

 

The slacker will try to get away with something for free if he could. It is what happens in a welfare state. Unemployment is Europe is one of the highest and the reason is because the government is looting the private sector with hight taxes. These companies cannot sustain the hight tax rate and therefore have to layoff their workers. Socialism does not work because it goes against human nature. Companies have a right to make profit but in Europe that seems like a bad thing. The current president of France declared, "I hate the rich." To me, this is called "resentment".And I think that's what it come down to in the end, a resentment for those who are successful. It is what we see in Cuba and the the former Soviet Union,

Socialism doesn't work, but neither does pure capitalism.A hybrid is the best approach.

And on the corperate tax thing, it's paid on profits, so if you don't have excess money left over then you pay nothing, and as such don't need to lay off people off due to taxes, in fact if you laid them off, you'd have more money left over to be taxed. And to say we're looting the private sector with high taxes is a bit rich seeing as how the USA's minimum level is above our maximum.

Corperation tax in the USA (federal) : 15%-35% And then an additional State Corp Tax on top.

Corperation tax in Ireland: 12.5% flat.

 

To say he hates the rich is wrong, it's the rich that provide the employment, but that doesn't mean that a service everyone uses shouldn't be provided by the central fund everyone pays into.

 

I'd hate to ask yee about our free third level education... :wacko:

 

 

Slightly on/off topic (not sure anymore), but here's a tweet from Richard Dawkins about a debate Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgens had with a Tea Party supporter on the radio. Apparently it's gone viral today, but it pretty much sums up how Ireland feels about the Heathcare plans in the US.

https://twitter.com/...603112380768256

 

[Note: This may be getting slightly political here but note, I neither support the President's party, nor was he my number one preference for the election, in case mods should think I'm trying to get him re-elected. Our president is more of a figure head, similar to the Queen in Great Britain and not really a political position. Feel free to remove the final part of the post if deemed too political.]

 

Regards,

Ró.

[Dave Morgan 68]

Hi.

 

Talk about thread drift, form standard of living to babies and kids lol...

 

That's what I like most about Avsim- the (globally increasingly unusual) light touch shown by admin. We can have a conversation here.

 

The slacker will try to get away with something for free if he could. It is what happens in a welfare state. Unemployment is Europe is one of the highest and the reason is because the government is looting the private sector with hight taxes. These companies cannot sustain the hight tax rate and therefore have to layoff their workers. Socialism does not work because it goes against human nature. Companies have a right to make profit but in Europe that seems like a bad thing. The current president of France declared, "I hate the rich." To me, this is called "resentment".And I think that's what it come down to in the end, a resentment for those who are successful. It is what we see in Cuba and the the former Soviet Union,

 

Unemployment rates for selected countries from http://www.tradingec...list-by-country:

 

France 10%

US 8.3%

UK 8.0%

Canada 7.3%

Germany 6.8%

 

The slacker will always try to get something for free. It's human nature, and as you point out, it's why outright socialism can't ever work, except on paper. In Europe the welfare state is what gives us universal health care and a guaranteed pension, though the pension thing is currently a bit of a joke in the UK. I won't say free healthcare as I have to pay for it... a few percent of my income. Personally, I'd like to see that deduction spent directly on health care; I suspect a proportion of it lines politicians' pockets... it's human nature and undoubtedly occurs right around the world.

 

However, that's just what private insurance companies do isn't it? My government rips me off through National Insurance. Your healthcare insurance broker rips you off. I'm sure you'll correct me but I thought I heard recently that the US government intends to make regular payment of healthcare insurance premiums a legal obligation. That would make it nothing more than a privatised National Insurance scheme, but without the state pension.

 

Which particular European government is looting the private sector? François Hollande's proposed 75% would be a French income tax, not a European business tax. Personally I think it's outrageous, but given that he claims to be a president for the youth I suspect it's just popularist nonsense, playing on the resentment of the uneducated.

 

I pay about 19% income tax. How much do you pay?

 

My employer is currently recruiting, quite heavily, though internal applicants are preferred. Youth unemployment, and by inference unemployability, is considerably higher than desirable at about 22% though that probably reflects the state of our education system rather than our economy.

 

At present, European governments are generally encouraging the private sector to make a profit. Most of those governments would like to see those companies spending the profit too, keeping money circulating and putting it to work. That's a socialist approach- spend your way out of a recession. While in Europe we hear frequent reports of US public spending and increasing government debt, I suspect that (even if the reports are true) your country will recover much more quickly than Europe, which is being held back by a couple of countries insisting on financial conservatism. See what 'austerity measures' almost did to Greece and Spain.

 

The best place in the world to live is your castle, regardless of where in the world that is....

 

The best post I've seen in this thread. :rolleyes:

 

Cheers,

D

[xplanery 250]

Socialism doesn't work, but neither does pure capitalism.A hybrid is the best approach.

This exactly. Although there are certain things I don't like about my home country Finland I am still glad that we still have at least some kind of welfare state, of course our government is cutting from that but still I think we have much better equality than people have in US.

 

Problem with full socialism is simple, people usually have no motivation to work hard if they can't get any personal wealth from it. And full capitalism on the other hand just leads to class society where rich just keep becoming richer and poor becomes poorer.

 

In welfare state like Finland people can gain personal wealth from their work which naturally motivates them, and with good quality education & healthcare paid by the government it doesn't matter if you are from poor or rich family, in both cases you will go to public school and have same chances to educate yourself and eventually same chances to get into any workplace, and also thanks to progressive taxes also gap between the poorest and the richest people stays small enough.

[Phillip Gallagher 101]

I digress from aviation for a brief rant...As with everything that is given to one it is paid for by another...somebody will pay for all these "perks" we enjoy here in the USA...and it will be our children who face the $80,000,000,000,000 projected US government current obligations through 2050. I hope the Chinese keep buying our treasuries. After all, the US debt never has to be paid. I know, right?

[metalmike 34]

I hate getting political but there's a lot of governmental factors and programs that contribute to healthcare costs in the US. I for one am actually for more privatization, but I think here, too many opponents of a European-style system act like the difference between that and the current US system is night and day, and that's just not true. Just admit the US system still sucks; we all want the same ends obviously, but we disagree on the means. I get really agitated when people compare Europe and the US act like the States is the land of pure lasseiz-faire capitalism, and it's absolutely not, and in many instances even farther from it than some European countries. Many people still talk positively of those principles, but more often than not, those ideas are neglected.