87 Comments »

Note: The comments for this entry can be syndicated via RSS. You can trackback from your own site.

1. Rory — On 12-20-2006 at 3:18 pm
   
   

   Interesting table. It just goes to show that in America we value the dollar more than quality time with family, friends, or even alone. Sad.

2. Habib — On 12-20-2006 at 5:48 pm
   
   

   Dear Rory,

   You are an idiot.

   (of course I’m not qualified to make that judgement without ever meeting you, but you are not qualified to pass a mass judgement such as you did either)

3. rob — On 12-20-2006 at 5:49 pm
   
   

   or maybe the rest of the world is just lazy…ever think of that, Rory?

4. Obbop — On 12-20-2006 at 5:50 pm
   
   

   Read. Read some more. Attempt to understand the complexity of economic theory; at least the basic rudiments of it. Then, peek at Census Bureau data.

   Americans receive little vacation time AND work longer hours than workers in other industrialized countries.

   Generally, it appears to me that the wealth created by hard-working Americans mostly enriches the folks at the top of the socio-economic pyramid. Little goes to the worker.

   Americans have been brainwashed that as things are is correct, proper and as it should be. To think otherwise is unpatriotic.

   I am convinced that the USA IS in the throes of class warfare but few Americans have been able to shrug off the brainwashing to realize how America’s elite class is spitting upon the common folks.

5. Bubbles — On 12-20-2006 at 5:57 pm
   
   

   Obbop pretty much just pwned the comments section. Congratulations.

6. Ben! — On 12-20-2006 at 5:59 pm
   
   

   Interesting that the United States is almost alone in the fact that they do not require any vacation days or holidays off, paid or unpaid. There are compnaies that in both the US and China that say if you want to take a vacation, then quit…

7. Skippy — On 12-20-2006 at 5:59 pm
   
   

   Actually, there is a huge difference between the US and China. If a US worker is not happy with their allotment of vacation they can choose a different employer or choose to negotiate with their current employer how much vacation they want. If they are working hard and adding value to their employer they can negotiate whatever they want or leave! No such freedom exists in China or with the other countries which mandate vacations. In those cases, what if someone wants to work every week and earn overtime? They should be allowed to do so. What if they want to cash out their vacation instead of taking it for a bonus at the end of the year? They should be allowed to do so.

   It is a testament to the superiority of a free markent over government proscriptions in the relationship between employer and employee that proves freedom is better than government mandates.

8. Ben! — On 12-20-2006 at 5:59 pm
   
   

   …But, then again we generally get paid a lot better….

9. jd — On 12-20-2006 at 6:01 pm
   
   

   Why is it that any time someone says anything remotely critical of the U.S.–even people are acknowledging as they do so that the U.S. offers great, great things to its citizens (and thereby the world)–that raving nationalist freaks pop out of the woodwork.
   I work for a French company. Right bastards most of the time, sure. But even to them, Americans live to work while Europeans work to live.
   It’s not an America hating statement. Just a statement. Deal with it.

10. Matt — On 12-20-2006 at 6:05 pm
    
    

    At least Obbop gets it…

11. Vader — On 12-20-2006 at 6:06 pm
    
    

    Obbop pwned nothing. This socialist viewpoint is garbage; socialism is slavery. There is no class warfare; anyone in America can become wealthy through hard work, savings, and a plan. You can’t say that about many other countries in the world. The “elite” class are the people who took mitigated risks or otherwise earned their fat paychecks. And they employ Socialist crybabies like you to clean their coffee pots. While you are crying they are working, planning, and making something of themselves; no handouts needed.
    The worker is a person who could one day be an employer here in America.

12. Mike — On 12-20-2006 at 6:14 pm
    
    

    Vader - I agree 100%, Obbop is upset because his Degree in History doesn’t pay like he thinks it should.

13. Kelly — On 12-20-2006 at 6:16 pm
    
    

    Rory is a nerd, in the US you can choose to foresake $ for time off. But here it is choice. I think required days off are silly, that lost productivity has to hurt something… so while they may say it’s “paid” you just get a lower salary overall and your nations GDP also suffers. Let it be a choice not forced…

14. Skippy — On 12-20-2006 at 6:19 pm
    
    

    I have expatriate friends who work in Europe. They may get paid more “dollars” but their purchase power is a fraction of what it would be in the US even though I earn technically half what they earn. The difference is the government doesn’t take as big a cut here.

15. Frank — On 12-20-2006 at 6:20 pm
    
    

    Rory is a freaking moron! Nobody in the US is forcing you to put dollars ahead of family - quit your job if you think you are working too much. Freaking commies!

16. Marc — On 12-20-2006 at 6:21 pm
    
    

    In the USA we like working more and longer so that the upper crust can enjoy their well deserved free time to enjoy life! Who needs to enjoy life while you are alive, when die, I will have all the free time I need.

    /Sad Satire

17. An American 12 hour day 6 day a week worker — On 12-20-2006 at 6:22 pm
    
    

    Vader… ur the idiot. u cannot become rich if u try. quite a bit of it is luck. In order for someone to be reach there must me enough non rich poor people to support the rich. If everyone is rich then no one is rich because no one would be below them to be poor so therefore they are poor. ive gone to college im a hard worker i got my contractors license and im certified for mostly everything mechanical from shitty jap cars to heavy machinery. i also have taken many business classes. i know what im doing and i do have good money but im rich and i go tmy money cuz i work 12 hour days 6 days a week so stfu

18. Liana — On 12-20-2006 at 6:24 pm
    
    

    Australia also gets 10 public holidays nationally.

19. bex — On 12-20-2006 at 6:26 pm
    
    

    10 public holidays my arse

20. GIJoe — On 12-20-2006 at 6:27 pm
    
    

    The Japan one is not correct. National holidays are off for many, but not mandatory, nor necessarily paid. Most don’t take more than 20 a year (including nat. holidays). Employers say you get days, then deny when requested. Either take ‘em and get fired or go to work; usually there’s no compensation for untaken days.

    Also, many still work 6 days a week!

21. Josh — On 12-20-2006 at 6:28 pm
    
    

    Not everyone who thinks that things in the US are slightly unfair in favor of the extremely wealthy is a socialist. It is possible to deviate from the Limbaugh playbook from time to time in a discussion.

22. Josh — On 12-20-2006 at 6:31 pm
    
    

    “Vader… ur the idiot. u cannot become rich if u try.

    Winner of the Most Ironic Calling of an Idiot of the Day Award.

23. Wha??? — On 12-20-2006 at 6:34 pm
    
    

    -An American 12 hour blah blah…”

    If you went to college, it wasn’t a good one. Perhaps you would be able to work fewer hours if you learned english, and could express yourself without grunting.

    Vader’s got the right idea

24. Josh — On 12-20-2006 at 6:45 pm
    
    

    No, Vader doesn’t have the right idea. The gap between the nations richest and poorest is widening. It’s a problem that historicly ends in some form of mayhem or another if it is not addressed. I think maybe that after 25 years, we can see that perhaps supply side economics isn’t really working out for the average American.

25. Moe — On 12-20-2006 at 6:54 pm
    
    

    wha????
    i take someone from the ghetto can walk straight into harvard and demand an education? yale maybe?? rub shoulders with the Bush’s etc, join an elite club run the world…
    You notions of the American meritocracy is false! it does not exist, you DO have a ruling class and you DO have your working class. If it makes you feel better to think that 1 day you too can be president or a CEO of some multinational company then enjoy your delusions.

26. Dave — On 12-20-2006 at 7:00 pm
    
    

    China is not as bad as you guys think it is. I’m an American currently working in China and they do get several holidays. Most overtime is mandatory, but they do receive time and a half for it. There are a few laws which make things a little harder on the workers, but hey, if they live in a heavily industrialized area, they can find a better place to work each and every day. We Americans do work a lot, but over half of those over worked bring it on themselves. Trust me, I am one of them and it is a path I choose.

27. Wha??? — On 12-20-2006 at 7:00 pm
    
    

    There’s no arguing that the “old money” in the U.S. continues to grow its fortune. However, it’s also very possible to work your way up in America. Whether or not the average person chooses to put in the effort is another argument altogether. Also, I think that the big difference between the U.S., and the “mayhem” scenario is that even the poor are relatively rich here. Sure, there’re people that are extremely poor, but the VAST majority of U.S. citizens fall somewhere in the middle class. The middle class in the U.S. are wealthier than the rich in most other parts of the world. So although the super-rich are pulling away, the next tier down aren’t starving. The middle-class is inherently docile, and unlikely to cause “mayhem.” As for supply-side economics, that’s only half the equation

28. Wha??? — On 12-20-2006 at 7:08 pm
    
    

    oh…and here’s some proof:
    http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/inequal/2004/0615millionaires.htm

    I particularly enjoyed:
    “a new study finds that one of every 125 Americans is a millionaire”

    And our neighbors to the north are doing really well too:
    “the U.S. and Canada together added more new millionaires last year than Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, combined.”

    While the article DOES also talk about the ultra-rich getting richer, I don’t feel that this detracts from the point that the people at the bottom have the OPPORTUNITY (not a guarantee) to improve their status.

29. Josh — On 12-20-2006 at 7:16 pm
    
    

    I wasn’t suggesting another French Revolution or anything. But if the lower class continues to grow in quantity, and said class continues to grow poorer we will most certainly have a national economic crisis on our hands, which will hurt even the ‘fat cats.’

30. Tracy — On 12-20-2006 at 7:26 pm
    
    

    Well, I’m a Brit who works in the U.S. I get 6 weeks a year that I can take any way I want.. And I get another 10 holidays.. oh, and one ‘personal holiday’. And all the sick days I need.. Works for me…

31. pat — On 12-20-2006 at 7:30 pm
    
    

    nothing is more stupid than Europeans who think they know how it is in America. same can be said visa versa.

32. Dee — On 12-20-2006 at 7:32 pm
    
    

    “Legally required” = that’s all they have to give you. So sometimes, that’s all you get. Why don’t we compare ACTUAL days off in “civilized” countries?

33. Good ol days... — On 12-20-2006 at 7:33 pm
    
    

    Things were so much easier and americans so much richer when we had slavery.

34. Josh — On 12-20-2006 at 7:53 pm
    
    

    The 1930’s German economic stimilus package was quite effective, also. -_-

35. seachnasaigh — On 12-20-2006 at 7:53 pm
    
    

    I’m a Brit who’s worked both sides of the Pond … the US labour market is a vast grey area. All of the extreme opinions are correct to some extent here; yes, you can work hard and get ahead, but America is NOT a classless society and never has been. That’s a delusion. Further, no amount of hard work and savings is going to take you from toilet cleaner to international CEO. The days of the JP Morgans and Rockafellers are long since gone. Lack a college ed? Doomed to mediocrity, even if you make a good living as a plumber. The few exceptions generally prove the rule. On the other hand, the further up the ladder you are, the better it all smells … more vacation, better benefits (and I find it odd that ‘health care’ is a benefit here, not a right), more chances at improvement and a better negotiating position. For in no society have I ever seen that the negotiating position is the true strength of one’s freedom as it is in the US. Also true that one can work extra-hard here and get ahead, trade one’s benefits for cash, etc. … but I have seen that as at the expense of life outside of work, and have seen it be detrimental to the quality of life of one’s coworkers who, however capable or hardworking, are not willing to make that trade. I think perhaps the more extreme viewpoints miss the point: the “minimum” vacation is not for the ultra-hardworking, nor for the go-getters … it simply provides a minimum standard for the middle of the bell-curve and a legal cushion for those whose employers would otherwise be abusive.

36. Josh — On 12-20-2006 at 7:55 pm
    
    

    Actually Europeans who have worked or lived in America probably have the most competent opinions of how it is… they can compare. And vice versa.

37. Wha??? — On 12-20-2006 at 8:01 pm
    
    

    -seachnasaigh

    Agreed. My main argument is that, in the U.S., you don’t have to be an “international CEO,” or a robber-baron for that matter, to have a higher standard of living than the majority of the world. Working your way up from a toilet-cleaner to middle-management is very possible, and very profitable. I’ll also be careful to say that I’m not claiming the U.S. is the only country in which this truth exists.

38. seachnasaigh — On 12-20-2006 at 8:15 pm
    
    

    –Wha???
    Yes, quite. Your point is valid. The table spreads a rather broad brush over the world, which is not, in fact, very equal. I’d say the crux of the real argument must be reduced to an apples-to-apples comparison: one cannot compare any facet of the relatively high standard of living in the US with that of (going out on a limb here) Malaysia or Thailand, or Nigeria. In addition to the US and Gr. Britain, I have also lived and worked in Central America and the Caribbean … there are many places in the world so desperately poor that a discussion of their mandated days off is a farce at best. The standards of the middle class in the US are regal by comparison with the vast majority of Mexicans, true. I think however that a comparison that lauds how far we’ve gotten above the standards of living of say, the Visigoths, is neither useful nor enlightening. If in the West we’re trying to set a standard for the world, then we’d best compare ourselves to others whose economies we most resemble, and let that standard be the guidon for those emerging societies to set their march by.

39. Wha??? — On 12-20-2006 at 8:22 pm
    
    

    Deal.

40. More productive — On 12-20-2006 at 8:54 pm
    
    

    I love these people who talk about the mighty American dream. To the brainiac who spoke of “commies” some of the wealthiest people in the world are indeed Chinese, so working 16-hour days, putting your heart and soul into your job in any country means you will succeed more than someone who is less inspired to work.

    Meanwhile, plenty of Americans work just as many hours as the filthy rich but for minimum wage and never get ahead. Obviously those folks go unnoticed compared to the far fewer self-made millionaires. Yes, America has more wealthy success stories than you might find in other countries but they hardly represent anywhere close to the norm. Paid time off is a luxury many of the working poor will never enjoy and to the idiots who are ignorant enough to think that it’s somehow a choice, maybe when you’re talking about someone who makes six figures deciding they don’t want the added pressure to earn eight instead, it is. For someone in a family not even making $25,000 with no health insurance switching from one low paying job to another won’t solve the problem.

    I’m sorry but the American dream has taken the place of oppressive religious regimes that told poor churchgoers to suck it up if they wanted to get to heaven. The promise of some paradise if you just spend your whole life working hard and suffering much is garbage whether we’re talking of elusive economic freedom or spiritual nirvana. Most people will never achieve these mythical goals but will die sooner and less happy while trying.

    Let me tell you, with seven weeks of paid vacation in France regardless of your job, the position you’d need to achieve in most US companies to have that kind of holiday is impossible to imagine. Most Americans that are that far up in any corporate structure would never dare risk losing their job by being replaced by someone more dedicated to work. They usually only get three or four weeks off, which they can’t imagine taking consecutively. You can get more time to relax as a French window cleaner than an American CEO, who’s really living the dream?

    As to BS about lost productivity, I’m sorry if you can’t take a vacation because production will plummet you’re not indispensable, your company is poorly run and ineffecient. Only in America is the idea of diminishing returns so readily ignored and with massive downsizing on a regular basis, apparently no American worker is irreplaceable no matter how much each is expected to absorb the jobs of others laidoff beforehand.

    Work better not harder. Few dying folks say they wish they’d had the chance to spend more time in the office, whether the hours they worked were by choice or by necessity.

41. Mcmike — On 12-20-2006 at 10:16 pm
    
    

    seachnasaigh and More Productive I think you see the big picture that most don’t. I grew up a poor minority and fought my way to a well paying position for a major U.S. corp. I did this all with out the sacred degree alluded to by others as a magic indicator of success. Yes it took the “hard-work” again as mentioned by others above, but in the long run wasn’t really worth much. My associates and I used to joke about how often the ambulance came to our corp. offices to haul off another wimp that couldn’t cut it…..until one day it came for me. When I was laying on the emergency room table with my wife by my side my thoughts were not about competition or how much overtime I wanted to put in or how much my salary was. My thoughts were on what it would do to my wife if I didn’t make it and that at 36 I wasn’t done with life yet…I wanted more time with my wife and more time to live. Ironically, while I hung on the edge of losing my life, my cell phone kept going off…it was the office calling over and over again wanting my wife to tell them if I was conciouse enough to talk to them about where I was on that last deal and was it going to come in? After my hospitalization was over, my company that I was willing to work myself to death for threw me under the bus because I wasn’t available enough over the duration of my hospitalization. I don’t work there anymore! Being poor in the U.S. taught me that those that have can’t and won’t understand the problems that those that don’t suffer. Being successful didn’t teach me the anyone can rise to the top through hard work, It taught me that those that have don’t really care about anyone or anything else but themselves and actually prefer to remain ignorant as can be seen in some of the narrow views in the others posts. The only think that can knock some common sense into them is for them to experience some sort of personal disaster in order for them to get it….and even then some still won’t get it. Some time on deaths edge taught me that I am a human being and that relationships and time with family and friends is far more important than anyone or anythings bottom line. Additionally any society, like here in the U.S., that refuses to acknowledge this and places artificial corp. persons over real people has lost it’s way, is uncivilized, and should not dare to consider itself a member of humanity. As for the butt heads that are sure to refute with the typical “you had a choice” or the if you don’t like it “just leave” etc. etc. etc. good for you, the corps. like stupid people who are willing to whore out their lives to them. Better you than me….make sure you’ve got life insurance if you have loved ones. I now work to live.

42. looohoooo serrrherrrrrrr — On 12-20-2006 at 11:28 pm
    
    

    you guys should check out the link from above by Japan:

    Karoshi. Sad but true.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoshi

43. looohoooo serrrherrrrrrr — On 12-20-2006 at 11:30 pm
    
    

    after that read the thing on.

    Seppuku: why????

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

44. looohoooo serrrherrrrrrr — On 12-20-2006 at 11:32 pm
    
    

    Ohhhh. This is why.

    Bubble economy. Working too hard ehhhh?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble

45. Uisgea — On 12-21-2006 at 3:03 am
    
    

    Generally, I’m one of those guys who reads all of the comments and just sits back and shakes my head–”What a bunch of @*!#s.”

    But this thread has inspired finally to pony up.

    For one thing, life is pretty much never black and white: all of you “love it or leave it” types are unnecessarily forcing a dichotomy onto the scenario. I don’t love absolutely everything about the US, and I’m not that I would trust anyone who does, but I am willing to stay here and work to change the parts that I find not-so-lovable.

    There is, in other words, a huge gray expanse separating “love it” and “leave it.” The word “or” shouldn’t even be in that phrase, much less in the idea. And although some of you have not uttered that exact phrase, you have expressed that exact suggestion, and it’s fallacious.

    Moving on:

    I am appalled by the ignorance of the suggestion that those of us who would like to spend more time with out families simply up and quit our jobs. Whatever time I gained by quitting my job would be spent filling out forms and waiting in line to get benefits from Uncle Sam. How would that make things any better, or make you any happier?

    Even Sigmund Freud pointed out that a person needs two things to be truly happy: work and love.

    Are you seriously recommending that I wholly abandon one in order to have the most of the other?

    I work in restaurant kitchens, and I have for a long time. That’s the life that I have chosen, and my family understands that. They understand that I make $8 an hour, and work my ass off over the holidays in order to sell food to people who are unwilling to be, or incapable of, cooking for themselves.

    Their well-lined pockets, combined with their desire to meet the benefits of their daily labor with their love for their families, is what makes it possible for my family and me to survive the rest of the year. Without them and their expendable income, my family and I would be struggling–and I mean struggling very hard–to make ends meet through the slow season, which is the majority of the calendar.

    Eight bucks an hour, no vacation time (much less paid vacation–never had one of those in my life), and no benefits of any kind for me or anyone else in my family.

    Mind you, I’m not complaining. As I said, this is the life that I’ve chosen. I just think that quite a few of you need a bit of a wake-up call. Everyday life for a lot (far more than you realize) of people in the US is infinitely more difficult than you are capable of imagining, but we make do, and we make do because we are too busy working and enjoying our families to waste time entertaining your ignorance.

    That’s a good reason for the “silent majority” to be silent.

46. a different josh — On 12-21-2006 at 3:08 am
    
    

    this chart does not explain the great detail behind these statistics. for example, in japan, although the law mandates 18 days, almost none of the workers i know have ever used all of their vacation days and typically save them for when they are sick (yes, they are often forced to use their vacation days rather than sick days). further, they work long hours and almost every day work undocumented overtime hours, certainly far more than the american standard of 40 hours a week.

    point bearing: these numbers aren’t an entirely accurate portrayal of labor conditions without a background knowledge of labor practices in each respective country.

47. Uisgea — On 12-21-2006 at 4:16 am
    
    

    I don’t have the luxury of worrying about God or productivity or diminishing returns or the GNP or the distance between the work and the product or Asian demographics or background knowledge of labor practices.

    I do, however, like innumerable brethren, have the luxury of getting up tomorrow, after precious little sleep (which, I admit, is my own fault, for babbling on the computer too long), stumbling through a two-minute shower, dragging a comb across my head, kissing my beloveds good-bye for the day, and spending ten or twelve hours at work, pretending to enjoy it so that I don’t get yelled at any more than I already do.

    That ain’t the American dream, but it is an American reality.

    And I’m really not bitching about it–I’ve been stuck in the kitchen biz way too long to switch easily, and I’ve stuck with it by choice, because cooking makes me happy, and happiness is contagious. I’d much rather make $8 an hour doing something I mostly love than $11 at a job I hate.

    I guess what it comes down to is that I just can’t understand people who seem always to have had enough money available to them that they can remain blissfully ignorant of the crushing little realities that so many of us face every day–things that they can fix by writing a check or flashing a credit card, and not even having to worry about how or whether they can cover it before The Man comes knocking.

    The fact that I’m a US citizen has nothing to do with it, other than that I think it’s pretty sad that what’s supposed to be the greatest society our planet has ever seen has so, so many disenfranchised and unvoiced citizens barely eking out a meager living, sweating the stretches between paychecks–and no one, really, cares. No one at all.

48. Spiff — On 12-21-2006 at 4:33 am
    
    

    Incorrect. I am in Portugal (European Union) and we get 22 days, not 4 weeks.

49. Sean — On 12-21-2006 at 4:48 am
    
    

    I am one of those socialist bastards from Canada. You know the over taxed ones! Except I never worry about getting sick and losing my house or whether I can make my co-pay! Sure I get taxed and taxed hard but atleast my taxes go to badages and not bullets. It goes to hospitals not the military industrial complex. Before you start no I am not some low level wage slave, I have risen as far as I can in the small company I work for in the small market area where I live. I could move to a larger city or to a larger corporation and make more money but again where I am suits me. I work lots of hours more than 60 a week but i also know when to stop and take a vacation, a paid vacation

50. Moe Bandee — On 12-21-2006 at 4:56 am
    
    

    I am in the US Marines. We get 30 days paid vacation a year, I’m happy with that. On the same token when your in the military, your not at home with family and friends either. I have worked in the private sector as well, and most of the bigger companies I worked for offered 1 week pd vacation after 1 year service and whatall. Anyhoo, I’m glad I live in a world that I have the choice to do what I want when I want, with the exception of being in Uniform, it’s a free country to an extent. Semper Fi Mac!

51. Matt — On 12-21-2006 at 4:57 am
    
    

    Being communist has nothing to do with communism. As usual the dipshit Americans are blabbering on about things they have no idea about, once again embarrassing those Americans that remain whom actually have the slightest clue.

    Holiday time in a full time job is good for mental health, mental health stops you from oh say… voting for megalomaniacs that attack foreign countries illegally.

52. Matt — On 12-21-2006 at 4:57 am
    
    

    sorry, being communist has nothing to do with HOLIDAY TIME.

53. Lynn — On 12-21-2006 at 6:06 am
    
    

    I wonder why it is that so many Americans believe they are living in the “greatest society our planet has ever seen” when it seems that so many of them are living a life where they are no more than slaves to their jobs. Surely a society where you have to fight tooth and nail for a few vacation days and where, as someone said earlier, healthcare is merely a “benefit” cannot in this day and age be considered acceptable? It seems that someone has managed to pull a fast one on the American people, and I suppose it works : if they believe their country is the greatest then they won’t complain about it. Also what astounds me is that not only do Americans believe this glorious statement but also presume that the rest of the world feels the same and somehow all wish they were Americans. I can’t speak for the entire world of course but certainly the European view couldn’t be further from this belief. There aren’t many people here who would consider giving up their lifestyles to live in the cut-throat American environment. At the end of the day, surely the standard of living should be more about how much an individual enjoys his/her life and not be based only on GDP and the likes. I doubt anyone could claim that having merely 1week off per year will allow you to become anything but bitter and cynical, and I cannot see how any decent quality of living can be maintained in conjunction with 50+ hour weeks. Life is about living surely, what’s the point otherwise?

54. Mark — On 12-21-2006 at 8:03 am
    
    

    I have always found it odd that the U.S. government has a mandated 40 hour work week (at standard pay) but not a mandated minimum time off.

    And I’m guessing that the increased number of millionaires is due to escalting home values and does not represent having a “liquid” million dollars.

55. restless — On 12-21-2006 at 8:04 am
    
    

    Vader: all due respect to your individual success, you would be wrong to think that the US has the most opportunity. In the past year or so, studies have come out which reveal that the U.S. is in the middle (maybe) on this issue. Just one fo them is last year’s article by Florencia Torche of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) at Columbia University, which reads in part:

    “Recent empirical research has, however, questioned the generalized perception of the U.S. as the land of opportunity and has shown that intergenerational mobility is not particularly high when compared with other industrialized nations. If we rank countries in a continuum from complete immobility, in which accidents of birth fully determine individual fate, to perfect mobility, in which individual outcomes are completely independent of social origins, the U.S. would be placed somewhere in the middle, closer to England and further away from perfect mobility than Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Finland.”

    As many have said in the comments above, while it is possible to advance in the U.S., it is rarer and harder than in some other countries and those who would rather work to live are at a distinct disadvantage than most of the countries of the world.

    As for the comments coming from Japan, I have had several friends who’ve done their time in that country and am well aware that the workers there do what they are told rather that what the company’s employee handbook says they can do or the laws of the state mandates. I believe Japan is the exception (i.e., the other countries in the table really do give their citizens the days listed). And I don’t know anyone who would want to go to the Japanese “model” of work.

56. Jon — On 12-21-2006 at 10:01 am
    
    

    Simply put the ration of corporate profits to employee earnings is the highest EVER in the history of the united states (including the times of the robber barons). More and more middle class americans are unable to afford the products and services that they produce. Add to the the spiking amount of money being invested in foreign countries, and the rapidly falling dollar, and we got serious problems people. And what laws are there in America to protect the worker? Very few Im afraid. For instance there is no federal law mandating a break, paid or unpaid. I personally am fed up with the top 2 % of the nation making 35%+ of the money. Sadly there will always be the people who talk about how perfect our capitalist system is, then go to work 12 hours a day 6 days a week to put food on our table, while the CEO of their company makes untold millions. And they see nothing wrong with this, it must be ‘American’ and anything else must be ‘commie’. Seriously folks dust off the old brain and start thinking.

57. SKP — On 12-21-2006 at 10:12 am
    
    

    Obpop said it best. Leave it as that. perfect.

58. SKP — On 12-21-2006 at 10:17 am
    
    

    Jon, you too… yes, the American dream, it is possible, but pretty much impossible. In fact, it is getting harder and harder to achieve, and the last six years have certainly strengthen the gap. Wake up and stop flying old talking points, and new ones thrown at your wrapped in the flag. WAKE UP!

59. Scholar — On 12-21-2006 at 10:22 am
    
    

    I would like to state in simple terms: America is run by groups of billionares, mega corporations, and voteing in america is the largest waste of time I can imagine ( remember florida anyone? electoral college my arse) . There are only 2 ways to “get ahead” in the US. By cutting corners and doing illegal activites, or having someone who is already rich give you an oportunity. that is. hard work means nothing in the us. neither does smart work. its a matter of who you know or how much you can do / get off the books.

60. Vegas Vic — On 12-21-2006 at 10:53 am
    
    

    This list is interesting but I wonder how it compares to the reality in each country. In the US, many companies scale your paid vacation time by how many years you have worked for the company.

    For example, where I work, it ranges from 1 week to 4 weeks paid vacation plus a few bonus days for good attendance, good evaluations and paid leave for a death in the family. Sick time is unpaid and works on a 12 point system where 1-4 days in a row count as 1 point but at peak biz times counts as 4 points. So you could in theory take 48 sick days a year without a doctor’s note but everyone would know you were scamming and be mad about having to pick up your slack. There’s also special medical leave if say, you or your mom has cancer, etc. We also have unpaid leave of absences (up to 6 months per year) which alot of people use to take out of country vacations (1 out of 4 people that live in Vegas were born outside the US).

    A couple of my friends own small companies that they started themselves (1 finished collage, the other didn’t, both from working class families) and they basically allow an unlimited ammount of unpaid time off because with paid sick time is then you have people faking sick calls. This all seems reasonable to me. People should be able to budget their own time and money.

    When I was first starting out, I worked at jobs where everybody complained all day, every day but nobody ever did anything about it. They just kept waiting for hand outs. That’s loser think. If the job sucks that much, look for a new one (what I did) or start your own biz (like my friends did). There are many countries that are better than the US if you already have money or if you want to mooch off the government but there’s a reason so many people who want to get ahead come to the US. Is the US perfect? No. Could we improve? Of course. But one of our big problems is people trying to sneak in. Whereas in many countries they worry about everybody trying to sneak out. That should say something right there.

61. Healthcare worker — On 12-21-2006 at 11:03 am
    
    

    Health care is NOT a right in America. No where in the consitution does it allow for healthcare. You have to PAY for it. I know, what a concept. You pay for services rendered.

62. WAH — On 12-21-2006 at 11:06 am
    
    

    I’m pleased to see (after reading the above posts) that there are a number of people that are starting to get to the real truth about what the good ol’ USA is becoming. 2% of the population making 35% of the money is just not right. 10 years ago the ration of pay between the top and the median income workers was 7 times; today that has jumped to 35 times. Executives are steeling from their employees, their customers and especially their shareholders. I read yesterday that the chairman of a brokerage firm was getting a $40,000,000 bonus this year. A few year ago major home improvement company (which I own stock in) gave their new CEO a $6,000,000 loan as a signing bonus and said they would forgive the loan if he stayed X number of years. This was on top of a multi-million pay package. And I do think it will that a real revolution to change things. For the first time in the history of this country the next generation (as a whole) will be WORSE off than the previous. This distention between the few very rich and the many very poor has not played out in our world history very well.

    I’m rich and I am old. I’m rich because I have always saved, paid off all of my debt never lived above my means and up until 2001 I had good jobs. I like so many other people in the field of IT (and so many other industries) have to settle for bad jobs that don’t pay well. The OUTSOURCING of America is a crime. We were lead to believe that we would become a “service based” economy. That didn’t happen! Call almost any one for software support, cable provider, or numerous others and you are connected to someone in another country that speaks poor English and has a play book that they have no knowledge on how to deviate from and therefore it takes hours to solve the problem. My surgeon has even outsourced his secretarial positions “I’ve tried to get a letter to your primary care physician but my Dictaphone tapes were lost on their way to India”.

    As for manufacturing (that will never return) we were suppose to save money by outsourcing jobs to countries with cheaper labor costs. You now pay 3 times the amount of money for sheets and blackest and if you want real quality you pay 10 times the amount. This may not be true in every case but I know the textile industry very well.

    Time will tell if I am right or wrong but today everything is pointing south.

63. John — On 12-21-2006 at 11:10 am
    
    

    How about a reality check? If every country in the world opened it’s borders to unlimited immigration, which one would end up with the most people? It is easy and popular to bash the USA, but the fact is it is still the best place to live on the face of the earth.

64. Marko — On 12-21-2006 at 11:10 am
    
    

    Did anyone stop to consider that the U.S. Government doesn’t require employers to give vacation time because it can’t. Thats by design. The government can’t tell me, a business owner, how to run my business.

    That’s not to say I don’t offer my employees paid vacation. But I have the choice unlike business owners in other countries who pay too many taxes only to have the government regulate them into poverty.

65. Gwwiz — On 12-21-2006 at 12:44 pm
    
    

    What a bunch of CRA!! The US economy is a POWERHOUSE!! Relative to ours, other economies are in the TOILET. Many of them have double digit unemployment numbers, and that’s without counting all of the categories we do in the US. Upward mobility is the US dwarfs the opportunities of others countries. This whole chart is nothing but smoke and mirror set up by a bunch of loopy, socialist, latte sipping, tree hugging, America hating HIPPIES!! Yet honest, red-blooded American men and women would still fight to the death defending your right to do it again tomorrow.

66. Gwwiz — On 12-21-2006 at 12:45 pm
    
    

    What a bunch of CRAP!! The US economy is a POWERHOUSE!! Relative to ours, other economies are in the TOILET. Many of them have double digit unemployment numbers, and that’s without counting all of the categories we do in the US. Upward mobility is the US dwarfs the opportunities of others countries. This whole chart is nothing but smoke and mirrors set up by a bunch of loopy, socialist, latte sipping, tree hugging, America hating HIPPIES!! Yet honest, red-blooded American men and women would still fight to the death defending your right to do it again tomorrow.

67. Redneck Jones — On 12-21-2006 at 12:55 pm
    
    

    I am an American. The idiots who say all of their free market bs is what makes America great are full of it. The US had the #1 standard of living until the 1980’s. Now we rank somewhere over 9th. So to tell us that we are so great because of our “freedom” and the government staying out of business is complete rubbish. I know several Europeans that get sweet amounts of vacation time and they are paid just as well as any American. The only difference is that they can actually take nice vacations unlike the slaves workers in the economy that is the United States. I like living the the US, but there is much that can be improved. To all of you crackers that listen to boot up your ass cracker music, let the bashing of me begin.

    P.S. FU

68. Aaron — On 12-21-2006 at 1:18 pm
    
    

    “If every country in the world opened it’s borders to unlimited immigration, which one would end up with the most people?”

    …..New Zealand…..Canada…..Sweden,…..er…..Italy, France?

69. Ryan — On 12-21-2006 at 1:19 pm
    
    

    I believe that there are some very good points here. While I agree that one can (through hard work) work and make a lot of money a lot of us assume that means CEO’s or Presidents. That is not necessarily true, although I’m sure that there are rare cases where this works. What needs to be understood is that the CEO’s and Presidents CAME from money, and that these positions tend to pass on to those with money (as well as a business degree from an Ivy League school). Insulting each other has no purpose in the matter. I believe that vacation time is something that is ill represented in this table. Companies have their own policies and these numbers are a generalization. We have no idea of knowing whether this is data from corporations that offer vacations or your local McDonald’s.

70. Porter Venn — On 12-21-2006 at 2:05 pm
    
    

    Care to vote on this?

    I’m curious to see how much vacation time people are getting.

     

     

71. Don — On 12-21-2006 at 2:23 pm
    
    

    I love America … which is why I want to keep it strong and change what needs changing. You do this by fixing problems, not ignoring them (that goes out to all of the “love it or leave it” jingoists).

    First of all, many countries have problems keeping people out, so that is a very ignorant argument. Try to move to Canada or New Zealand if you don’t believe me. Not everyone leaves where they are to go to America, and if you think so, you obviously have never gone to another country.

    Secondly, while I agree that vacation should be a choice here, and not mandated, I do think we Americans tend to overvalue money over quality of life. We tend to eqaute these two things when they are not the same (but they are related, obviously). It is sad and true that people who wish to work less than their neighbors are seen as lazy, when the fact may be that they don’t need much fluff to be happy.

    Also, the American Dream is practically a myth. While it does exist to some extent, and while I do think hard work and smart work is a great way to improve your lot, you have to wake up to the fact that the people selling you this myth do so to keep you working for them. The rich elite are not necessarily there because of hard work. Some are, but look no further than our President to see the real truth. he has failed at every business venture he has undertaken (and some say political venture, but I won’t go there), and were it not for cronyism and a rich father with good connections, he would be selling boots in the mall at best. You might fool yourself and tonight’s girlfriend and tell yourself you’re rich, but you’re still a slave to the truly rich, and they did not necessarily get there solely through hard work at all. They had help in the form of government handouts, connections, and luck.

    Wake up people. Life is not black and white, and America is both great and needs constant vigilance and hard work to keep it great. I find it ironic that the same people who scream “HARD WORK” are the first to get lazy when it comes to keeping the country what it should and could be. We need to realize that (a) we do not need to be THE BEST! at everything, and that (b) if you keep being lazy and greedy, we will continue to be taken advantage of.

72. mrnobody — On 12-21-2006 at 3:19 pm
    
    

    How many of you like it as it is? How many think change is necessary? I’d like a poll on this but my personal opinion is the latter would outnumber the prior by an enormous margin. The problem here is that none of you are actually making a difference sitting on the internet bickering about crap like this. The majority of the US not to mention the world will not see this board, and it will be long forgotten shortly after this thread dies. On top of that, the ones who are bantering against the ‘work slave’ argument are so bull-headed you have no chance of altering their opinion. If you are truly concerned about our current degenerative state, who are you fooling? Get out there. Everyone could use a little help with something.

    I think (and this is only my opinion) that our society has crumbled in on itself. Our decline began when people became more able to survive independently. WE NEED EACH OTHER. We’ve retreated indoors to the tube, whether internet, television, or videogame (count of players of WoW worldwide? investing how many hours each?). Instead of leveling your character, ‘level up’ your house or neighborhood. We do not stand united, no, we are individuals in front of an all-consuming piece of electronic wizardry. Americans are increasingly living lonelier lives, which makes us as a nation more susceptible to subjugation. (and liking it)

    Let the fools and naysayers have their words, leave them to their delusion… for who are you to ruin another’s happiness? After all, who is worse- the one who cannot see truth, or those who can and relegate the duty of betterment upon another… who in truth is likely doing the same thing?

73. Voltaire — On 12-21-2006 at 4:07 pm
    
    

    The key to becoming wealthy in the modern United States of America:

    Choose your parents carefully.

    America is a corporate aristocracy ruled by a few wealthy families. Anyone who believes otherwise is delusional, but they shouldn’t feel bad. Your educaitonal system, corporate media and economic system have been deliberately designed to make sure you are deluded in precisely this manner. And for as long as that remains the case, the ever-diminishing masochists who comprise the American middle class will continue to lap it up and worship at the feet of their feudal overlords. Enjoy.

74. cap'n Capri — On 12-21-2006 at 4:48 pm
    
    

    While it is true much of the world seeks the American dream, they mostly come from economically depressed countries. I don’t see a steady stream of Western Europeans heading to the US. Canadians aren’t hopping fences in the dead of night. The “American Dream” is not exclusive to America. It is attainable in many other countries. And many of those countries treat workers better than in the US. Why is taking time off seen as a weakness in your country? You’d be even more productive if you weren’t tired and stressed all the time. And when was the last time the President of the United States of America was not a millionaire? Does your boss deserve 35 times the income that you earn? Anyone can work hard and attain great heights. Yeah, you cling to that. Stupid F’n Republicans.

75. seachnasaigh — On 12-21-2006 at 4:51 pm
    
    

    Voltaire — nice, but no cigar. The same can be said of nearly every society from Han China to Rome to Bourbon France to Georgian England. History has shown us that nearly every society will have its elites, and largely will be run by them. The point really is not to concentrate on that … it’s rather like complaining about gravity … but to focus on what can be done for the quality of life of those of us not so blessed as to have been to the manor born. We have an unprecedented opportunity in this century to raise the standard for the bulk of us in the middle classes, and to angle for a quality of life that is both human and humane. The “rising tide lifts all boats” philosophy is not entirely bankrupt, though it has been somewhat prostituted in the rhetoric of some politicians. With global communication, easy access to the democratic process, and largely free and open societies, we can effect some reasonable changes that will set a better standard for most of humankind. We’d be criminally negligent to ignore that opportunity and focus instead on the fact that some folks always have it easier.
    mrnobody — I do agree, somewhat. We should all be better off if we’d focus a little more on life and a little less on entertainment. A wise man (a comedian, I believe) once said that television is an entertainment medium, and by definition, everything on it is judged by its value as entertainment. One only has to watch the evening news to see the truth of this. It would be sad if we let the internet, which is largely an information medium, degenerate the same way and become only a source of entertainment. It’s headed that way, but I think there’s still time to turn it into something useful. Time will tell.

76. Fiend — On 12-21-2006 at 7:29 pm
    
    

    Funny how we think Japan is the hardest working nation in the world, their economy owns ours even with more vacation time. Also people in this country are worried about health pandemics like smoking, sugars, trans fats, and pass laws to limit and regulate these “freedoms” yet the poor bastard that dies of a heart attack from on the job stress is overlooked because his work is necessary for corporations to thrive and pay more taxes for the same pay while risking the health hes paying to protect, hypocrisy at it’s best. Garbage in garabage out. Even best buys corporate offices have learned a thing or two about flexibilty by allowing execs to work the shifts and hours they want as long as their work gets done, and have seen amazing results. Happy, healthy, workers equate to more profits, less down time, and overall success, the alternatives are high turnover, lost profit from sick leave, or perhaps we could use china as a model for success theres a goal to strive for. And before anyone starts flinging around socialist this and communist that, I’m a hardcore conservative.

77. patrick — On 12-21-2006 at 9:16 pm
    
    

    bs you can’t work your way up in the U.S. My family is dirt poor and I worked my way through college by insulating on commercial and industrial jobs…the janitorial job of the construction industry. Go to class, insulate all day, come home and study, repeat. Just received my master’s in occupational safety and health and i’m going to work for 6 digits starting. I didn’t get there by taking 7 weeks of vacation a year.

78. Uisgea — On 12-22-2006 at 12:39 am
    
    

    I have a master’s degree, too. Does that make me an automatic candidate for a six-figure gig? Not bloody likely. Once upon a time, having a degree–not to mention an advanced degree–actually meant something. Now, any mulyak within spitting distance of one of the innumerable dumbed-down community colleges in this country can come away with sheepskin. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I’ve always had the idea that a diploma was a hard-earned reward for years of rigorous academics and demonstration of smarts, and not a ticket to the caviar lifestyle. When did education become just a way to make more money? I’m not quarreling with patrick at all–he didn’t say anything that got my goat. But what he said did remind me of what I think is a profound US crisis: the worthlessness of the education system–which is a very broad statement, I know, and I don’t mean to overtake patrick’s admirable accomplishments with it. It’s just that he brought up education, and that subject invariably gets me steamed. The US education system sucks, maybe irretrievably, I’m sorry to say. And the only solution that I can see for my kids is to emigrate, but guess what–emigrating to countries worth emigrating to is practically impossible, unless you’re wealthy (as other people here have already pointed out). It all revives in me my childhood fantasy of starting my own country somewhere.

79. Porter Venn — On 12-22-2006 at 10:21 am
    
    

    “It all revives in me my childhood fantasy of starting my own country somewhere. “

     

    How about you’re own island with other like minded souls?

     

    http://www.floatingman.org/

80. Uisgea — On 12-22-2006 at 10:43 pm
    
    

    I wish very much that I could get paid to sit here with my laptop and expound all day and night, but that ain’t happening, and it probably ain’t ever going to happen.

    Simple fact is: I have to get up in three hours and bake, so that people who (unlike me) can afford to go out to eat will have their yummy buttermilk biscuits, and take them with ham and gravy, and take them for granted.

    I am a firm believer in the idea of the MITLAMP Problem–a confederacy of dunces with a snappy acronym, representing the military, industrial, technological, legal, academic, medical, and political segments of the US. They drive the economy, and that isn’t good.

    A hundred years ago, the average US family put 80% of its income toward food, and about 12% toward rent/mortgage. Now it’s completely flip-flopped. No one cares about having food in the cupboard any more; it’s more important to have a house you can’t afford and a Jet-Ski in the driveway, for all the neighbors to see.

    One could actually blame the phenomenon of birth control–but that’s not a phenomenon I’m willing to tackle right now.

    It is, of course, true that there are a lot of very rich people in China. There are also a lot of obscenely wealthy Mexicans. The knowledge that some of their neighbors may be wealthy, however, does not prevent innumerable Mexicans from trying to cross the border into the US every day (and, sadly, sometimes dying in the attempt) any more than it prevents many Chinese from resenting the socioeconomic “imperatives” imposed on them.

    Being poor, I am no great fan of capitalism. At the same time, I am certainly no fan at all of socialism. The ideal, I think, lies somewhere in between–well within that nebulous gray area we keep speaking of.

    Rattling on about political and social theory is fun, but, at some point, one must confront political and social reality, and that’s not so much fun.

    I am afraid that things have to get much, much worse before they even begin to get better–and getting better will take a long, long time.

81. Patrick — On 12-24-2006 at 8:38 am
    
    

    I agree with Uisgea…the education system is in the crapper in the U.S. I experienced the dilemma of forcing myself to truly learn the material presented in class. Most students in my class earned the same or better grades than I did, but they could not recite one bit of relevant information a year later. I remember being one of the few “white kids” in the library on xmas break with all the Asian students. The reason for my hiring was actually based on my experience working in a hazardous environment and my certifications…very little had to do with my degree other than a informational base from which to draw. Long story short, we’re handing education to our kids without making them work for it.

82. Uisgea — On 12-27-2006 at 12:26 am
    
    

    It’s a fact, Jack, that the ordinary student’s reading and writing skills deteriorate precipitously after exiting Freshman Comp. Why? Because no one beyond Freshman Comp makes the ordinary student read or write, or has any real and ongoing expectation of their being able to do them well.

    Can anyone explain to me how there can be so many college graduates–in high positions, no less–who can’t even knock together a proper sentence?

    Wait! I just remembered–look at our role models.

    Parents should stop worrying about living beyond their means, and start worrying about the role models their children have.

    It’s better to be poor while trying to be good than to be rich and having nothing.

83. Uisgea — On 12-27-2006 at 12:35 am
    
    

    Here’s a wee tidbit I just remembered:

    When I lived in Vermont, the State Secretary of Education made a PSA in which she said–and I quote–”Did you know that one out every ten Vermonters are illiterate?”

    And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

84. Lynn — On 1-2-2007 at 7:40 am
    
    

    Just a interesting note on how education can be done right: In Ireland, education is completely free. And yes, I mean completely. Primary schools (ages 5 - 12) and secondary schools (ages 13 - 18) are all considered of equally high standard (private schools are rare as a result) and all are free. On top of that, all university and third-level colleges are free (funded by the government) so that any child, from any socio-economic background can achieve the highest possible levels of education. And the Irish education system is considered to be among the best in the world.
    And not only do the Irish become better educated as a result of this system but it means that when they finish their education they do so with a clean slate and not a huge student loan hanging over them. Thus giving them the freedom not to have to rush into the workforce, to maybe take a year off travelling the world (someting that is not uncommon) or maybe follow with some post-graduate course. Obviously this makes for a lot more well-rounded individuals!

85. restless — On 1-2-2007 at 8:46 am
    
    

    Noting the recent thread of responses centering on education and health care, I’ll post 2 articles in the next week on both. However, just so you know, California education in the 60s was quite a bit like you say Ireland is now — until Ronald Reagan was elected Governor. One of the big things he did then was to raise tuition to the University of California campuses. I entered UC Berkeley before his election and was paying less than $1,000 for a year. That quickly changed under his watch. After that, it got more and more costly year by year until now we have college students as the more rapidly growing class of debtors in the US.

86. Uisgea — On 1-20-2007 at 3:44 am
    
    

    I read a CNN.com article today about a young woman who stole another young woman’s identity and used to it to apply–successfully–to Columbia and to some other Ivy League school (I forget which).

    The thieving young woman applied as a high school dropout with so-so GED performance and marginal SAT scores, but was accepted by both Ivy League schools.

    I suppose that this can only mean that she managed to steal the identity of someone with a good credit rating.

87. Obbop — On 3-23-2007 at 9:18 pm
    
    

    H1-B visa

    Do a Web search.

    Note collusion between Congress and corporations.

    Years of study (3 college degrees, whatever that’s worth and applicability to topic unknown) indicates to me the USA is in the throes of class warfare.

    In the later 1970s and early 1980s worked the fields with migrant laborers, doing the work Bush and others babble Americans will not do. Well, saw planty of Anglo-Americans out there in the broiling sun. Kids eight years old to old folks in their 70s.

    Yah’ know. Part of my hopes those working poor folks barely scraping by just sit down and quit working.

    Let those grocery store shelves empty. Only around a 2-week food supply in the warehouses and supply line.

    The lowest of the low could bring this country to its knees, disrupt society….. the cities would eventual erupt in rioting and carnage.

    The underclass is growing along with the anger.

    Too few of you understand.

    The elite’s brainwashing has been far too effective.

    I hope reality strikes some day.

Leave a comment

Name

Email (Optional / will not be published)

Website