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Statutory Annual leave in 100s of other Nations but not in the United States


Well even in the United states Capitalism doesn't really exist in a pure form. Just in 2008 we saw many eamples of that point when our government bailed out big investment companies and banks. Corporations want to privatize their profits but Socialize their losses. Also according to the Kato institute in 2006 the government gave out 92 billion in corporate subsedies. A subsedy is a government hand out for nothing to corporations.
 

Well Lord sir, I won't speak about China but I can tell you that the United States doesn't have Statutory Leave for employees. Yes many companies doing business in the U.S. offer annual leave but those companies are not required to do so by law as in Statutory> I counted over 150 other countries that do offer statutory leave and I stopped counting about 3/4 way down the list of countries. China I believe was on the list that offer Statutory leave but as of this writing I can not say with absolute knowledge.
 

It is stated that way in the constitution and our Decalration of Independence talks about the government of the people. But when we look at how legislation that in some way benefits the people actually gets eneacted we see it actually follows some tragic event. For instance OSHA was a result of a tragic fire in lower Manhatten where women and girls worked in a textile factory where fire exit doors were deliberately blocked by their employer who felt the women were steeling fabric from him. Since the building was an eight story building women and girls jumped to their deaths in front of horified witnesses of which one partitioned the FDR administration for work place safety rules which resulted in OSHA.
But if all the resources all belong to the people as you say and as one might assume given the language in our constitution and our Declaration of Independence, then why are we not consulted or even considered when huge pipe lines carrying tar sands crude across our sovereign boarders and across state lines in direct opposition to what we the people want. We the People do not want that across sacred lands and under rivers and into acquifers but we got it.
 
Why should we pay for other people's disregard for the costs?

because we already are, only in a much more inefficient and expensive way. i could find a way to disqualify most people, including distance runners. we're mortal, and we're all going to get sick / injured. it will be partially our own fault in many cases.


tort laws could be addressed, and probably should be. however, that isn't going to solve the problem. as for removing regulations, i'd have to see specific examples.

Have to sacrifice some things for universal care, else pay so much more than we do now.

sacrifice, sure. we already pay more than other first world countries, though, so i disagree with that part.
 

capitalism eats itself in pure form, which is why i prefer regulated capitalism. as for subsidies, some are ok. for example, the subsidy that resulted in the construction of a lot of wind farms is a good idea, in my opinion.

in 2008 / 2009, we prevented rickety skyscrapers from taking out vast areas as they fell. i would support regulations that act like zoning laws which prevent rickety skyscrapers from being built in the first place; a "too big to fail is too big to exist" sort of concept. unfortunately, we didn't do that part, so it's likely that this could happen again.
 
as for subsidies, some are ok. for example, the subsidy that resulted in the construction of a lot of wind farms is a good idea, in my opinion.

I thjink you'll change your mind on that in 20-30 years, when there are no more than ugly boneyards.
 
I thjink you'll change your mind on that in 20-30 years, when there are no more than ugly boneyards.

they can be maintained. that creates jobs in the communities like my own hometown.
 
they can be maintained. that creates jobs in the communities like my own hometown.

They will be too expensive to maintain vs. solar and other power generation methods.

After only 10 years, several will require extensive and expensive overhauls. As time progresses, maintenance will get more and more expensive.

Job... yes... but at too high of cost. PV solar or something better will take over, especially once we have viable methods of storing such power.

I've been working maintenance since 1975. I will really be surprised if I am wrong on this.
 

i'm ok with it taking a while for the renewable energy grid to become profitable. i think that it will eventually. energy is a national security issue, and we'll be better off depending less on fossil fuels for multiple reasons. i also support more nuclear power; preferably thorium, if that's doable.
 

As for the grid, that is the only thing I thing for green power I think should be subsidized. Building a national HVDC network, so power generated in New Mexico can be used in Maine. Effectively any power generated anywhere can be used anywhere.
 

First of all, your message is right on. You the risk-taker create jobs, albeit with the help of labor, which makes wealth. And western society rewards you handsomely. Those of us who would rather not take risks or don’t have the stake that allows it, who work for others and demand certain benefits, mostly to work in a safe environment withacertain income, since we get fewer rewards. It works out.
 

I didnt say resources all belong to 'the people'. I said "individuals". Those individuals who own the land that the huge pipe lines cross were consulted. To the extent that such activity endangers other people, their representatives were consulted.

As for workplace safety, protecting peoples lives is in the constitution. Wages are not.
 

You should try reading more conservative publications - such as the National Review

Guess what, the FERC did grant Dominion and Duke the right to seize private property for their pipeline
I do luvs this statement from the FERC, which admits that there will be "adverse effects"

Why would the energy companies spend any money to reduce the impact of construction and any future leaks? The present administration is already erasing regulations governing pollution.
 
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You're asking how other countries can do things differently than us but still survive. The answer is multifold.

First of all... different cultures with different priorities. The USA is obsessed with capitalism and money. There are so few human interventions in our economy, except of course when it comes to the rich. When I lived in Africa and in Asia, at first I scorned the corruption that allowed people to buy off officials, police, etc. But then I look at America and see that the same kind of stuff happens here, except only the wealthy are allowed to get away with it. It's the ultimate hypocrisy. My experience is that cultures which allow some level of corruption are more open to human connection and there is actually more freedom, not less. The way that American authority wields money as a weapon against the general public is completely different than how money is used in many other countries. In other places, money is just a tool but your life doesn't revolve around it. Everyone has their work and then they get together to live the rest of their lives. There's no obsession about career.

The other thing is that the USA is responsible for military defense, by treaty, of many different countries that don't have to fend for themselves. This removes a major opportunity cost from their budgets. So while countries like France, Canada, and other EU nations still pitch in with military operations, the scale is nothing compared to what the U.S. can muster. At the same time, the U.S. has used this to implement a sort of manifest destiny neo-imperialism... so it's not like the deal only goes one way. The U.S. is hugely benefiting by continuing to try and reshape global economy in its image.

After studying this issue for years, I feel that the bedrock root of the problem is that the U.S. is overly obsessed with money. It comes before anything else: health, family, personal passions and career goals, etc. This financial priority has infiltrated the entire system, rendering it one-track. My time in France showed me what it means to balance work life with health, family and partnerships. It's not just a matter of the government telling people to do it; they do it because it's part of their culture, they are entitled to it, and they can't imagine or accept a life where it's not happening. The idea of working all year and only getting 2-3 weeks off would be preposterous to them.
 

Like I said, individuals representatives were consulted. I dont support eminent domain for such commercial purposes, but the pipeline followed the law. They did environmental studies and got govt permits.
 

When did the value of employment become the amount of time you're paid not to work?
 

Howard, your statement pre supposes a certain assumption, (That I've spent my life sitting around and demanding things from others.) I've worked very hard all my life and worked long hours too, as much as you claim. This post isn't as much about what people should get for nothing. It's about what they should be rewarded for in exchange for their labor and dedication to their employers. You may find it interesting to note that, employers in all these other countries who have mandatory statutory leave don't have problems doing a business there. What it comes down to in America is that our top earners would rather spend millions of dollars bribing public officials to do their bidding as aposed to rewarding their work force for jobs well done. Many of our corporate CEO's have no issues with endangering human life or even making a profit from the demise of human life as witnessed by the deliberate munipulations of nicotene levels in cigarettes. This is a fact that those corpoate CEO's own internal documents bare witness to. That is just one of many examples I can give you. That is not to say that all corporate CEO's are in that category. The ones who are not most likely wouldn't oppose Statutory leave. The one's who do fit that description would like also to not even pay their work force if they could get away with it.
 
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