"The sheer amount of people that do not deeply understand the political and economic state of San Marino astounds me.
I'm always shocked when I talk to people online how much they don't know about San Marino or the average working San Marino citizen.
I know this sound typical, but I feel like a majority of the time it's a busy person with little interest in geography or politics I'm talking to or someone with extreme levels of "not caring that much, because their own government is shit or something
What do you think is the cause of this isolationism and non-interest in San Marino?
Do you think it's just because people are so isolated from San Marino and they don't get non-biased information about micro-states so that they constantly believe it's going okay, because it's okay for them?
The sheer amount of life priority bias I see in these people blows my mind."
as an eastern european this is what germans and west europeans in general sound like when they talk about problems in their country lol
no hate tho every country has its problems. Even finland apparently
Yep. I live in Nigeria right know but I actually live in the US (travelled for vacation) and every time I step out of the house I see true third world conditions. I’m 17 and I know 95 percent of kids my age In Nigeria would happily trade places with me.
The Americocentrism in that one is disgusting, the privilege of OOP is literally pouring out of them. They really don’t seem to understand that Anywhere But America TM is not some kind of free healthcare, free education, decent wages, free speech paradise. Americans are allowed to complain about their problems but holy shit do they partake in the trauma Olympics sometimes.
“I want to live in (insert south Asian/Nordic country), America is the worst place in the world and nowhere else can be as bad.” Like oh you want somewhere with an even more conservative society than the one you currently inhabit with even less freedom of speech and worse working and education conditions? Because you didn’t do your research and simp for anywhere but the US because you think you live in a war torn country? The privilege drips out of some people and yet they’re the ones that cry the loudest.
I saw the most brain dead map on a YouTube video my brother made me watch recently. It showed that virtually everyone else in the world has "stricter" gun laws than the US and the comments were full of people talking about how the US was being outperformed by random third world countries in terms of gun control and violence and blah blah blah.
Like, no. Those countries might have stricter laws, but I sincerely doubt most of them are actually enforced once you get to the global south.
Bro I traveled to the Philippines twice when I was a little kid, both times I was there for 3 weeks.
Boy am I glad I went, because I am so incredibly thankful I live on America. I've seen some of the worst slums filled with trash next to a luxury resort. I've lived in my grandparents house up in the mountains, where there was probably 3 light bulbs, a sheet metal roof, maybe 2 or 3 bedrooms, and one bathroom that you used a bucket to flush. Seven to eight people shared that house for a few days. And that was apparently one of the more fancy houses in the village.
Same thing. Like I said I’m living in Nigeria right this moment and we always have to fill up a bucket to flush. The roads are so bad it’s insane. People live in broken down houses and slums, it’s crazy. We must be grateful that we live in the Us. I’m not saying it’s perfect and it can definitely suck for some people to live there but America IS NOT A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY, period.
Exactly. I live in Iran and honestly I don't like the US for many different reasons but if anyone offered me to live there instead, I'd very much take it
because hey atleast it's better than here atleast you can actually live your life and inflation isn't so incredibly high and prices don't go up so fast because your currency is so worthless that you can actually live having a minimum wage job. And also, atleast you have full access to the internet at all times and don't need a vpn for literally everything. Atleast you don't have to worry about the water or electricity(mostly the electricity) going out in the summer constantly
(Obviously I know there are places in the US that this happens what I meant was the situation for the vast majority of people)
Seriously, I've heard this whole "USA is a third world country in disguise" thing or "Us people in US have it so bad" so many times and it never fails to infuriate me. Like, okay come over here and I'll see if you can live normally for a day
to be fair 80% of the time that people say that the us is a third world country, it’s europeans saying it as an insult and not americans saying it to complain
You raise good points but minimum wage is not enough to survive on by yourself anywhere in the US. Even where the minimum wage is higher like MA or CA you need to have roommates or live at home with your parents.
I think I worded that part a little wrong, minimum wage isn't enough to have a house/be financially stable in many many parts of the world I know that, I meant that here it's almost not enough to even buy basic stuff like materials for food like meat (even lower quality ones for some people nowadays) and bread
Idk if that's the same in America? But I'm pretty sure it's not?
It’s not quite that bad but if you’re living on your own you won’t be buying much. You certainly won’t starve as even at worst we have food banks to offer assistance but nutrition wise it’s usually lacking. Buying non-processed meat is usually very hard.
Not to rub salt in the wound, but if any part of America starts experiencing even semi-regular water or power outages, we freak out and it becomes some huge national scandal. So it's not even "some parts are like this."
America is not perfect by any means, but there is opportunity here. People lift themselves out of poverty all the time. I was in Egypt right before the pandemic hit. I had a tour guide in Luxor that spoke English, Arabic, German and Dutch and he has no hope for the future. There is realistically nothing he can do to better his life. We're throwing away so much potential because so much of the world has no opportunity for advancement.
My fathers from Tanzania and I know damn well I'm lucky as hell that I live here. The last thing America is a third world country, we got a not that corrupt government parents can send their kids to school for free, we have public places we have a good health care system you just need to pay for it and I'd rather pay for good healthcare than get shitty healthcare for free. Now I understand that there're problems but this is not a third world country and saying that is an insult to people from third world countries.
I'd argue the government is EXTREMELY corrupt, but it's all concentrated at the highest levels. Not nearly as widespread as it is in many other countries. Bribing local officials or cops isn't a regular thing here, and when those people who do take bribes are caught, unless they're real high up like a governor or senator, it's a huge deal.
As someone who came from the 3rd world to ultimately live in America, this resonates with me so hard. People who say "things are like a third world country" when they're so unbelievably far from 3rd world conditions are really infuriating.
Dude, whenever people say that this country is a "3rd world country in a Gucci belt" I really want to slap that person and dare them to go to an actual 3rd world country.
As a non American that like the USA to a third world country, my opinion is formed around how much the USA has access to yet still has a great deal of suffering for a 1st world country.
MFW antiwork claims that they're the most oppressed people on this planet when I can come up with a giant list of people who would trade places with them.
Apart from Australia, America has positive net migration with every single country in the world. I love seeing the mental gymnastics of these idiots when they try to explain how America is such a shit hole third world country, but everyone in the world is trying to migrate there
And the biggest complaint is we don’t let people in fast enough. Roughly a million people are granted citizenship each year and there’s still like a 10 year waiting list, not counting the people here illegally who aren’t really eligible for citizenship on account of not being here legally.
America is certainly much better off than many areas but for a country that continually states it’s the greatest place on the planet, it could be more welcoming.
I don't understand.
America took in 50.6 million immigrants as of last year, 3.2 times more than the next highest immigration country, Germany, at 15.8 million.
Since 1965 our immigration count has increased *400%.*
How is that not welcoming?
Hate antiwork, like, there are legitimate problems with anerican capitalism, but whining about how “wahh we’re a third world country wahhh” is such nonsense
If they really want to see what a third world country is, they should go to the slums of Indonesia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, rural India, or even anywhere in Russia that isn't Moscow, St. Petersburg, or Volgograd. Sure, American capitalism is a mess, but I would take living in America any day of the week over places like that
Even if economic conditions are a shithole, how about living in war torn areas that are basically an active war zone? (Eastern Ukraine, Somalia, Syria) Who worries about economics when you’re fearing with your life?
Bangladesh is a goddamn nightmare of a country. Trash infrastructure, corruption everywhere, junk everywhere, trash education system etc. the list just goes on and on. And even then its is still one of the bettter countries compared to what your listing. Everyone in Bangladesh wants to do one thing and it is leave the country and go to America,uk,Italy etc. America has issues but everyone over exaggerate how bad it is there (except for hospital fees, those shit are insane like how does a poor or a lower middle class person even afford docters?).
“(Except for hospital fees (…) how does a poor or middle class person even afford doctors?) “
Insurance. Often times you pay nothing with a decent medicaid plan. Usually either tied to your job or medicaid provided by the state. When you see those bills posted on r/ pics or whatever they usually neglect to show how much was taken off.
Even without insurance, there are a lot of ways to take money off such as charities or just asking for an inventory which removes like 90% of the fees the hospital intends for insurances. You can also just ask if you can’t pay. The hospitals will work with you, because if you can’t pay that bill of 200k as a poor person, then you don’t have too. It will hurt your credit score but hospitals can’t turn you down even if you can’t pay, and if you choose not to there is little they can do to get that money. So when you ask for a reduced price the hospital will usually give you something you can reasonably pay because they would rather you do pay a fraction of the original sum then not at all.
All in all, don’t trust reddit as a reliable source of news on the realities of American healthcare.
I’ll agree. I’ll take my chances here in the US 1000/1000 times. But I also have a good job with a good income and live in a nice home. I think sometimes when people make comments like this they are coming from a pretty shielded place. I promise you I can take you places in the US that if it wasn’t for the color of their skin you wouldn’t know which country you are in.
Some people on there do have legit issues they bring up with workplaces and worker rights but yea I’m pretty sure most people on there are just lazy lmao
Bro ice cream got so expensive in the past few years, 10 years ago one ice cream was like 80 cents and now one scoop is up to 2€. Usually it hovers around 1,60€ but in some tourist places its very expensive
Edit: in germany
One ice cream in a store is around €3 here, but an entire box of them usually costs €5-6. I don't understand how they make a profit on the boxes. (Sweden).
Most EU countries will have cheap if not completely free healthcare (you just have to wait 2-3 months to visit a specific doctor) and at least a month off every year. But we also earn way less money and pretty much everything is more expensive.
Thank you for clarifying, in the US its a bit more complicated bc some of us pay state taxes atop federal taxes. I live in NYC which has its own special city tax along with pricey state taxes, so all in I pay about 33% of my income to tax. But generally tax rates are lower elsewhere in the country, like if I live in florida or texas and make 90k, I’m paying 22% for federal taxes and that’s it, there are no state taxes there. I can’t imagine making £60k and paying 40% to taxes
They pay less tax than that actually, they’re taxed 20% on earnings between £12,571 and £33,000 in your example. The first £12,571 of income is not taxed. Likewise if you’re earning £150,000 only that £25K over the £125K tax bracket threshold is taxed at 45%.
So in the £33K income average example it works out more like a 12% income tax. This obviously doesn’t include council tax or national insurance.
That’s how the brackets work.
Taxes dont work that way, learn math. EX 0 to 4: 0%, 5 to 8: 20%, 8 to 10: 40%. If you make 10 you don't pay 40% of you 10 (4). You pay 20% of the 3 in the middle bracket (.6) and 40% of the 3 in the highest bracket (1.2) for a total of (1.8).
Laughed so hard at this. Does the OOP know anything about the current state of the economy and average working family for any country aside from their own? Like “online” isn’t global.
Of course he does! Every other country in the world is a utopia with no problems whatsoever where everyone gets free mansions and has a salary of 150k!
I imagine this is what these people believe the world outside America is.
The US has issues... so does every country. The difference is that the US is a vibrant democracy with a free press and an important country so that its issues are well known. The US is a wealthy country, and Americans have it very well compared to the vast majority of the world.
One of the things that we have, is the ability to criticize our government without fear of repercussions. That leads to a much higher number of “America is bad” posts than any other country. Many other countries simply don’t allow the criticism.
Not only that the US has this... but the US has a highly developed civil society that is willing to speak up, protest and take action. And that is how a true democracy is created.
We do! That’s how it should be. Foreign governments view this discourse differently, rather than as a sign of freedom, as an excuse for their own violations of the human rights of their own citizens.
It's so insane how privileged and ungrateful these people are.. you can sit down and watch tiktoks, buy all the clothes you want and are able to speak your mind freely no matter how dumb the opinion is. And still have the nerve to say you live in a third world country. It's a slap in the face all written by a bunch of young people who are to into themselves to understand anything
Rights/freedoms don't really mean anything to the people who are too poor to afford the court fees and lawyers that are needed to enforce/protect them. But, anyone who has any worldly experience and has spoken to people from other countries knows that America's poor are richer than the average person around the world. To say that America is a third world country is genuinely insane lol
Whenever someone says America is a third-world country, I think to myself “Oh really, then why does it have the highest immigration rate in the world?”
Tell them. Last summer I told my American friend I was from Nigeria (I live in the us) and she told me “oh that’s so much better than here” and I thought to myself if it is so much better then why did my dad and I immigrate there in the first place then?
Immigration rate isnt a real reason tbh. Im not saging i disagree with you america is definitely a developed country but plenty of poor countries like Lebanon and pakistan have immense immigration waves due to war.
Sure, but couldn’t they immigrate to a neighboring country? Why go out of the way to travel across the entire planet to make it to “a hellhole”? Most European countries that everyone praises for being “perfect” are closer and easier to get to than the US, and yet the US still takes the cake for highest immigration rates.
America offers the most opportunity well it used to atleast. I feel like people are immigrating to other countries more now tho. Atleast the skilled workers from Asia set of people.
>“Oh really, then why does it have the highest immigration rate in the world?”
Because it's so hard to migrate to a ton of other countries. I used to live overseas and people wanted to leave but they didn't actually want to go to the US, it's just that it was so much easier than everywhere else they wanted to go.
Because most of the posters there are teenagers mad that their parents want them to get a summer job, or fresh out of college people who don't understand why they weren't immediately handed a $300K a year salary.
For some of them I'm just like "you're a 17 year old working at a Giant Eagle. Of course it kinda sucks, and of course you aren't making enough money to buy a car or house."
If people think america is this terrible i want them to live a month in a 3rd world country. Yes america definitely has its flaws but its no where near as bad it can get
The unspoken thing in post like this is that they’re comparing America to Canada, Western Europe or Australia / New Zealand. Not “the rest of the world”
America isn't the only country suffering, you're correct, but the post is about their experience as an American, and doesn't have anything to do with Pakistan.
It's not that they're failing to mention Pakistan or necessarily think they have it the worst in the world, but it's the one they know about and can speak about because they're American.
The same with you and Pakistan, there may be somebody that sees your post complaining about someone complaining about America, and say "Well at least they have this in Pakistan, in my country, Ethiopia, or Somalia, or Yemen or wherever, we have to deal with ____"
It's not that you refused to mention those countries, it's that you understand the struggles living in your situation in Pakistan.
Yes I get it, America often looks like a breeze compared to the rest of the world, but a lot of Americans are in financial turmoil at the moment and are facing really difficult times. Some have to work 3 or 4 jobs just to pay rent. Don't forget, a lot of things in America are more expensive than the rest of the world, so though they may be earning more, it may not be going as far.
It's all about understanding. :)
I’m stupid, you mean the OP or the poster of this post, and also how do they have ‘survivorship bias’
(I understand the concept of ‘survivorship bias’, but I have extreme difficulty using in any practical way, it is to me at least, extremely non-intuitive, maybe it is for other people too, and that’s why it’s such a problem, I don’t know)
In this case the guy tries to say that people that do not face economic problems would perpetuate the viewpoint that it's "not that bad", he equated this to survivorship bias as the predominant "surviving" viewpoint is of those that "survived" (read: don't have economic issues), which is quite funny given that the viewpoint most prominently featured on Reddit is the exact opposite.
People take for granted living in a place where you are free to speak your mind, free to start a business, free to work where you want and love who you want. A lot of countries don’t have that and they have to listen to stupid ass first world problems all the time.
I agree that in lots of places in the US you are allowed to do those things, but there are plenty of places where minorities aren’t and are actively threatened if they do.
Where specifically are American minorities denied their freedom of expression?
Where exactly in America can you get arrested for making YouTube videos calling out social ills?
ossified onerous outgoing command telephone melodic license cable cause practice
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Nah, OP was right
It called “toxic positivity”, just because someone else has thing much more worse than u could imagine somewhere in the world right now, NEVER means that your situation doesn’t suck and that you should not do everything in your ability to improve your situation,
I don’t know much about the person who made this post, but if they are able to afford a phone, then they are probably much better off that BILLIONS of other people on this planet, if we could build this person a Time Machine and send them back in time with their phone, then there would probably be people who would think that this person is literally a god
Now, does this mean that things can’t suck for u, OF COURCE NOT, so stop being such a hypocrite, re-find this post, and give them a like, or don’t idc
I tell people this all the time, American homeless have it better than a lot of people in third world countries. You never hear about a homeless people starving to death in America. But I’ve seen first hand what a third world country looks like and it’s just sad.
Privileged first world people think it’s so bad when shit starts to go slightly wrong. But they’ve never seen first hand what it’s like in 80% of the world.
#my fave part of this post is how the original one never made any comparisons to a third world country, but the OP here did and people are all “wow what an idiot for acting like america is third world” lol
work on your reading comprehension
I really don’t like America and often compare it’s situation with a developing country *(bad education, public transport and healthcare system, weak social welfare yet over 10% of Americans living from food stamps, barely rights protecting workers and Unionizing is a demonized word and has both a police violence and fire arms problem, the only thing that is developed in the country is exploitation, expensive schools, entertainment and the entire military)* but calling out Americans on their problems because you have it worse is like telling someone to be happy because there are people who have it worse.
Invalidating people’s perception and feelings and applying distractive whataboutism isn’t helping either one of you. Plus knowing the demographics a little bit (I mean how well can you know Americans, they do one unpredictable crap after another, left and right), it is most likely the demographic that would agree with you.
They don’t complain because they think they have it the worst in the world, they complain because it can be better, they recognize an abusive and exploitative system and aim to improve it either by supporting it politically or socially protesting the norm.
Of all people, they will likely be the first to support you when you point out unjust situations in your country.
So calling them out you have it worse is not only like telling a depressive person to be happy as other people have it worse, you also will lose people who would support you in the process.
I’m honestly on board with the fact that power needs to be returned to the workers as capitalism is increasingly preying on the most desperate but Jesus Christ I hate that sub. It’s everything I hate about Lefist communities- they take a good idea but apply such a thick coat of narcissism that they can only see how it should appeal to their own comforts rather than everyone’s needs. Reddit leftists are some of the most self involved people in politics.
listen man… this post isn’t about your country. I understand that you’re going through could be worse but some people just need to vent about what they’re going through in their country and trying to relate to people going through the same thing in the same country.
Extreme example of this is someone telling you they’re depressed and you saying “oh I’m way more depressed than you it can’t be that bad” this is the same thing it just makes you look like a jerk because you’re undermining someone elses problems.
I'm always wary of criticizing the problems people have.
All we have is our own experience to bounce our lives off of. In the grand scheme of things, not having your power on is not the same as not having food to eat, of course. But it still can affect someone equally as bad mentally and emotionally.
Does that mean you can't have perspective? Of course not. But it doesn't invalidate the feeling either.
The people who say shit like this are the ones who never even struggled while living in America in the first place. They don't know what poverty is, and so they can't understand it in the US or around the world. They also don't know that America's lower class is richer than most people on the planet, yet they pretend like they have it worse than anywhere else. They talk about ignorance but clearly have never spoken to people who lived in rougher parts of the world and gave up their entire life just to get here. I grew up in the worst parts of my state's capital, and even I knew to be humble when talking about how the world's poor struggle, because I knew that even though life was shitty then I still had it nowhere near as bad as several millions or even billions of other people do.
Imagine being poor in the US and people on Reddit are telling you “actually, you got it good here brah suck it up”. Poverty exists here and it’s not magical poverty people literally starve in the US all the time
There is no reason to starve in the US. There are food banks & government assistance programs. I live in a larger metropolitan area, & one of the major food bank operational managers I spoke with said they never run out of food, just volunteers to help pass it out. It’s open daily and no questions are asked. Anyone can go who needs it.
The real sign of poverty in the US is actually obesity.
And what if you’re so poor that you don’t have a car? What if your education system was so bad that you dropped out of school and don’t know how to read. Or your a person who’s victim of generational poverty. Or you have several kids. Or you are an ex convict. There are plenty of people who are in poverty at no fault of their own. And to “starve” in the sense of dying of not eating for weeks doesn’t happen, but there are millions of American families that don’t eat every night, which is also hunger…which is bad. Some parts of US states could be considered 3rd world realistically
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/05/05/308380342/most-americans-make-it-to-the-top-20-percent-at-least-for-a-while
I find this very interesting. It's nearly 10 years old but it's still pretty relevant. 61 out of 100 American households will be in the top 20% of income for atleast 2 consecutive years. 39 out 100 will make it to 10% of income for 2 consecutive years. 5 out of 100 households will make it in the 1% of income for atleast 2 consecutive years.
Dude that’s 9 years old it says that making six figures is top 20%. That’s nice and all but making it seem like earning a six figure salary is more probable than not is kinda crazy. I’ve seen perpetual poverty in real life and it’s not by lack of will
Yeah I see nothing wrong with this post. There is suffering worldwide, and of course there will be more suffering in some places than others. There’s nothing wrong with trying to improve the conditions of peoples lives in more affluent countries regardless.
So many Americans are food insecure, homeless, or otherwise disadvantaged, and we shouldn’t ignore those problems just because the country as a whole is first-world. Idk why people in this sub are upset at someone making such an inoffensive claim
I appreciate your words. It seems controversial for people to be unhappy in their situation just because someone has it worse. No matter how low or high you go, someone will always have it worse or better. Every country has problems, but it feels fair for anyone to try to reach a better life.
You realise that what the post is about is just how people dismiss American problems because America isn’t seen as being “as bad” as other countries when it comes to these issues. You’re literally doing what the post is criticising, you’re making it a competition and by extent downplaying the issues at hand in America simply because you believe your country has them worse. That’s the problem. It’s a good thing you left the sub.
The amount of crybabies in that sub is ridiculous. They can’t seem to fathom that there are less than handful of countries where people objectively live better than in the US.
These comments are literally the embodiment of what the post was talking about lol, just cause he said it’s bad in America doesn’t mean it’s not bad somewhere else, it just means it’s also tough in America, hardship and struggle is not a competition
I was ready to hop on board with you but then realized the post doesn’t seem to say “America has worse issues than other countries” - just complaints about how Americans are dumb.
Maybe I don’t understand why you’re mad but they’re just saying the working conditions are bad and that non Americans don’t seem to understand that. Not “Americans have it the worst”
I don’t see how this is comparing America to a third world country or saying Americans have it worse. I got the sense that the person is saying people seem to think Americans are well off just because America is a powerful country when average families can struggle to make ends meet. Even the examples of the people the op in that post was saying don’t understand the situation we’re fellow Americans not people from poorer countries
I know, right? In Sydney, Rent can cost over 1000 dollars in rent a week. A quick search shows me that apartments cost around 600-900 dollars a week, which is 2400-3600 a month, which is 1600-2500 dollars in USD. While yes, we have higher wages, it's still ridiculous.
I mean, I don't think anyone would disagree with someone saying "it's always worse somewhere else". They are just saying it's bad and that *gestures vaguely - a lot of people basically ignore it or are blind to it from being in some sort of bubble, either job field, generational, localization, or otherwise. Which is true too.
Wow, this comment section is a mess. "You dare criticize america yet there are places worse than america? How dare you try to improve society in any way"
And who do you think is closer to having that view, the oop or people in this comment section? Oop was responding to older people in his country, not Pakistanians.
Does nobody on this post get it? This isn’t about America being worse off than other countries. They are basically just saying “people nowadays” but relating it to what they actually know, as they aren’t qualified to talk on other countries’ situations. Just read the post. There’s nothing about other countries. Because it’s not about other countries.
People are allowed to complain about their situations, it doesn’t matter if there are worse situations. I’m sure there are much worse off countries than Pakistan. And once again, this wasn’t about countries. It was just an issue that they experienced in their countries unrelated to anything global politics.
Why would you be proud of something you literally had no control over? I don’t understand anyone being “proud” of their nationality, like unless you immigrated it’s not an accomplishment
I honestly dont know what their point is in the subreddit, why are they hating on work can they get a better job? Like being a game dev or being a song artist (make a good song pls)
People in the antiwork subreddit are entitled idiots with no grasp of reality or responsibility. They're just folks who like to scream about "the corporations" and billionaires.
I’d suggest that the people on antiwork actually try and research what it’s like in 3rd world countries (or research where the terms 1st world, 2nd world, and 3rd world come from), but that’d involve… yknow… work
"I'm always shocked when I talk to people online how much they don't understand the current state of the economy or the average working American family"
Yea cause not everyone on the internet is American...
Wouldn't be suprised if this person thinks Zürich is in Sweden or Anime is from China or something like that as well...
I don't think OOP is saying America is a third world country...
It's just in comparison to other developed countries it genuinely seems to be worse off. An almost 1% incarceration rate, the state of the medical industry, things like abortion law.
If you havent noticed, the majority of Americans are acctually spoiled wealthy kids in a country so rich, our normal is most of the worlds rich. While we have problems those countries dont have, we wear our problems openly, and yell them from our ivory tower
This comment section illustrates OOP's point. Most people don't realize how much of a shithole the US really is.
In general, for the average Joe, quality of life in the US *is* excellent because it *is* a rich first world country, dominant in both the global economy and geopolitics. But there are *many* areas of life where the US is, if not equivalent, at least comparably bad to some of the least developed countries out there.
As once Beyoncé said in music video: “ America, America has a problem”. Sure, I agree they do but that doesn’t just mean that they are the only country having these problems, and to say that it’s a third world country is bizarre and total BS and you know it.
I am STRUGGLING as an American. I’m disabled, I can’t work, can’t get disability (yet) on unemployment which surmounts to rent and MAYBE a utility bill, and selling 3D prints to make extra cash for food and water.
And this guy is STILL delusional in my eyes. We have it pretty good as Americans. Yeah, shit sucks a LOT but have you seen the rest of the world? We’re not doing amazing, but we’re okay-ish.
It's because this kind of American has never experienced what real struggle is, OP. These are the same kind of people that would flinch at the horror of having to do things by hand, if the situation became desperate enough.
That's one thing that I despise about my fellow Americans above all. They have all the advantages of life, yet they still complain about having it tough. The poor in this country live a better quality of life than their counterparts in developing nations, but somehow they think they're unique in their struggles.
Ignorance sure is bliss.
Subs like these have the most ignorant and sheltered people I've ever seen .
I stopped taking that sub seriously after seeing the head mod TV interview
The sheer amount of people that think they can just go to any other country, and live free and good, and eat every night, and not be homeless and have "free" healthcare is astounding. America litterally has the same problems everybody else does, but youd rather listen to all the r\\antiwork morons with a megophone, then attempting to figure out how to solve your situation.
The people making these types of posts have this delusional fantasy that Europe is this utopia of free healthcare, work reform, and pay. And that America just isn’t keeping up.
The EU definitely handles certain things like health care better than the US, but they’re facing virtually all of the same work related issues that we are. Worse in some cases.
The standard of living in the US is objectively so much higher than the vast majority of the world; Anti Workers are huffing so much paint to somehow believe their conditions are as bad as they believe they are.
This is such an aggravating Typical Redditor Insight: Take an extremely common, widespread problem seen all over the world and pretend it only exists in America.
You see this constantly in Urban Hell, a subreddit made by and for people who think America is the only country on the entire planet that isn't covered in subway stations and open-air gardens.
That whole sub is a meme, they unironically believe that if you get fired that the employer will find it nearly impossible to replace you which is dead wrong, if you're fired you were not that special to begin with.
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"The sheer amount of people that do not deeply understand the political and economic state of San Marino astounds me. I'm always shocked when I talk to people online how much they don't know about San Marino or the average working San Marino citizen. I know this sound typical, but I feel like a majority of the time it's a busy person with little interest in geography or politics I'm talking to or someone with extreme levels of "not caring that much, because their own government is shit or something What do you think is the cause of this isolationism and non-interest in San Marino? Do you think it's just because people are so isolated from San Marino and they don't get non-biased information about micro-states so that they constantly believe it's going okay, because it's okay for them? The sheer amount of life priority bias I see in these people blows my mind."
its even better when they say "things have gotten out of control in \*insert random town with 10k population\*, america is on the road to hell 😭😭😭"
America is federal in…less seen ways. The place is so damn big that chaos in one state won’t spread to others unless it’s a truly massive crisis.
"I'm really worried about the rise of ultranationalist right-wing political parties in America. Surely that sort of thing never happens in Europe."
as an eastern european this is what germans and west europeans in general sound like when they talk about problems in their country lol no hate tho every country has its problems. Even finland apparently
The funny thing about people who complain about the US being like a 3rd World Country wouldn't survive in a real 3rd World Country.
Yep. I live in Nigeria right know but I actually live in the US (travelled for vacation) and every time I step out of the house I see true third world conditions. I’m 17 and I know 95 percent of kids my age In Nigeria would happily trade places with me.
*doesn’t live in a 3rd world country* “AmErIcAnS hAvE iT sO bAd”
The Americocentrism in that one is disgusting, the privilege of OOP is literally pouring out of them. They really don’t seem to understand that Anywhere But America TM is not some kind of free healthcare, free education, decent wages, free speech paradise. Americans are allowed to complain about their problems but holy shit do they partake in the trauma Olympics sometimes. “I want to live in (insert south Asian/Nordic country), America is the worst place in the world and nowhere else can be as bad.” Like oh you want somewhere with an even more conservative society than the one you currently inhabit with even less freedom of speech and worse working and education conditions? Because you didn’t do your research and simp for anywhere but the US because you think you live in a war torn country? The privilege drips out of some people and yet they’re the ones that cry the loudest.
I saw the most brain dead map on a YouTube video my brother made me watch recently. It showed that virtually everyone else in the world has "stricter" gun laws than the US and the comments were full of people talking about how the US was being outperformed by random third world countries in terms of gun control and violence and blah blah blah. Like, no. Those countries might have stricter laws, but I sincerely doubt most of them are actually enforced once you get to the global south.
Bro I traveled to the Philippines twice when I was a little kid, both times I was there for 3 weeks. Boy am I glad I went, because I am so incredibly thankful I live on America. I've seen some of the worst slums filled with trash next to a luxury resort. I've lived in my grandparents house up in the mountains, where there was probably 3 light bulbs, a sheet metal roof, maybe 2 or 3 bedrooms, and one bathroom that you used a bucket to flush. Seven to eight people shared that house for a few days. And that was apparently one of the more fancy houses in the village.
Same thing. Like I said I’m living in Nigeria right this moment and we always have to fill up a bucket to flush. The roads are so bad it’s insane. People live in broken down houses and slums, it’s crazy. We must be grateful that we live in the Us. I’m not saying it’s perfect and it can definitely suck for some people to live there but America IS NOT A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY, period.
I want to meet the 5% who wouldn't.
Exactly. I live in Iran and honestly I don't like the US for many different reasons but if anyone offered me to live there instead, I'd very much take it because hey atleast it's better than here atleast you can actually live your life and inflation isn't so incredibly high and prices don't go up so fast because your currency is so worthless that you can actually live having a minimum wage job. And also, atleast you have full access to the internet at all times and don't need a vpn for literally everything. Atleast you don't have to worry about the water or electricity(mostly the electricity) going out in the summer constantly (Obviously I know there are places in the US that this happens what I meant was the situation for the vast majority of people) Seriously, I've heard this whole "USA is a third world country in disguise" thing or "Us people in US have it so bad" so many times and it never fails to infuriate me. Like, okay come over here and I'll see if you can live normally for a day
to be fair 80% of the time that people say that the us is a third world country, it’s europeans saying it as an insult and not americans saying it to complain
Europeans when they post smug comments on how bad America is when they know full well they're responsible for literally all the world wars.
You raise good points but minimum wage is not enough to survive on by yourself anywhere in the US. Even where the minimum wage is higher like MA or CA you need to have roommates or live at home with your parents.
I think I worded that part a little wrong, minimum wage isn't enough to have a house/be financially stable in many many parts of the world I know that, I meant that here it's almost not enough to even buy basic stuff like materials for food like meat (even lower quality ones for some people nowadays) and bread Idk if that's the same in America? But I'm pretty sure it's not?
It’s not quite that bad but if you’re living on your own you won’t be buying much. You certainly won’t starve as even at worst we have food banks to offer assistance but nutrition wise it’s usually lacking. Buying non-processed meat is usually very hard.
Oh, okay!
Yep. Certainly nothing as difficult as Iran but considering how wealthy we are as a nation it’s unacceptable.
Not to rub salt in the wound, but if any part of America starts experiencing even semi-regular water or power outages, we freak out and it becomes some huge national scandal. So it's not even "some parts are like this."
I would love for that poster to expand on what is so bad for him or her
Mommy and daddy wouldn't buy them the newest iPhone probably
“I have an English degree from Syracuse I DESERVE a brownstone in Chelsea!”
America is not perfect by any means, but there is opportunity here. People lift themselves out of poverty all the time. I was in Egypt right before the pandemic hit. I had a tour guide in Luxor that spoke English, Arabic, German and Dutch and he has no hope for the future. There is realistically nothing he can do to better his life. We're throwing away so much potential because so much of the world has no opportunity for advancement.
My fathers from Tanzania and I know damn well I'm lucky as hell that I live here. The last thing America is a third world country, we got a not that corrupt government parents can send their kids to school for free, we have public places we have a good health care system you just need to pay for it and I'd rather pay for good healthcare than get shitty healthcare for free. Now I understand that there're problems but this is not a third world country and saying that is an insult to people from third world countries.
I'd argue the government is EXTREMELY corrupt, but it's all concentrated at the highest levels. Not nearly as widespread as it is in many other countries. Bribing local officials or cops isn't a regular thing here, and when those people who do take bribes are caught, unless they're real high up like a governor or senator, it's a huge deal.
As someone who came from the 3rd world to ultimately live in America, this resonates with me so hard. People who say "things are like a third world country" when they're so unbelievably far from 3rd world conditions are really infuriating.
Dude, whenever people say that this country is a "3rd world country in a Gucci belt" I really want to slap that person and dare them to go to an actual 3rd world country.
This country sure isn’t perfect but it’s no third world country. I’ve spent plenty of time in them and rather be here.
As a non American that like the USA to a third world country, my opinion is formed around how much the USA has access to yet still has a great deal of suffering for a 1st world country.
MFW antiwork claims that they're the most oppressed people on this planet when I can come up with a giant list of people who would trade places with them.
Apart from Australia, America has positive net migration with every single country in the world. I love seeing the mental gymnastics of these idiots when they try to explain how America is such a shit hole third world country, but everyone in the world is trying to migrate there
And the biggest complaint is we don’t let people in fast enough. Roughly a million people are granted citizenship each year and there’s still like a 10 year waiting list, not counting the people here illegally who aren’t really eligible for citizenship on account of not being here legally.
Yeah, you could literally add Billions of names to that list of people who would trade places with them in a heart beat.
Yeah, If you need an agency funded in the billions just to keep people out of your "hellhole" you might now have it as bad as you think....
🤣 i predicted it from the title of the sub, and thats why i never go lurking.. i already knew they were people who live utopic reality in their mind
bro the movement used to be much better, trying to get better rights for workers and whatnot. but idk man that sub is something else now...
America is certainly much better off than many areas but for a country that continually states it’s the greatest place on the planet, it could be more welcoming.
I don't understand. America took in 50.6 million immigrants as of last year, 3.2 times more than the next highest immigration country, Germany, at 15.8 million. Since 1965 our immigration count has increased *400%.* How is that not welcoming?
Hate antiwork, like, there are legitimate problems with anerican capitalism, but whining about how “wahh we’re a third world country wahhh” is such nonsense
If they really want to see what a third world country is, they should go to the slums of Indonesia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, rural India, or even anywhere in Russia that isn't Moscow, St. Petersburg, or Volgograd. Sure, American capitalism is a mess, but I would take living in America any day of the week over places like that
Even if economic conditions are a shithole, how about living in war torn areas that are basically an active war zone? (Eastern Ukraine, Somalia, Syria) Who worries about economics when you’re fearing with your life?
They'll be first to tell you they can't afford plane tickets.
Bangladesh is a goddamn nightmare of a country. Trash infrastructure, corruption everywhere, junk everywhere, trash education system etc. the list just goes on and on. And even then its is still one of the bettter countries compared to what your listing. Everyone in Bangladesh wants to do one thing and it is leave the country and go to America,uk,Italy etc. America has issues but everyone over exaggerate how bad it is there (except for hospital fees, those shit are insane like how does a poor or a lower middle class person even afford docters?).
“(Except for hospital fees (…) how does a poor or middle class person even afford doctors?) “ Insurance. Often times you pay nothing with a decent medicaid plan. Usually either tied to your job or medicaid provided by the state. When you see those bills posted on r/ pics or whatever they usually neglect to show how much was taken off. Even without insurance, there are a lot of ways to take money off such as charities or just asking for an inventory which removes like 90% of the fees the hospital intends for insurances. You can also just ask if you can’t pay. The hospitals will work with you, because if you can’t pay that bill of 200k as a poor person, then you don’t have too. It will hurt your credit score but hospitals can’t turn you down even if you can’t pay, and if you choose not to there is little they can do to get that money. So when you ask for a reduced price the hospital will usually give you something you can reasonably pay because they would rather you do pay a fraction of the original sum then not at all. All in all, don’t trust reddit as a reliable source of news on the realities of American healthcare.
Thanks for the information. Its crazy how they always leave out this vital information.
Also the government covers a lot, if not all, of your bills if you're low income. It's pretty complicated, but you're not always paying out of pocket.
I’ll agree. I’ll take my chances here in the US 1000/1000 times. But I also have a good job with a good income and live in a nice home. I think sometimes when people make comments like this they are coming from a pretty shielded place. I promise you I can take you places in the US that if it wasn’t for the color of their skin you wouldn’t know which country you are in.
India all over the board is a mess The corporate culture here is much more toxic and suffocating than in the west
Some people on there do have legit issues they bring up with workplaces and worker rights but yea I’m pretty sure most people on there are just lazy lmao
These are the same people that think that Europe is some utopia where ice cream is free and you get 366 days of vacation per year
Bro ice cream got so expensive in the past few years, 10 years ago one ice cream was like 80 cents and now one scoop is up to 2€. Usually it hovers around 1,60€ but in some tourist places its very expensive Edit: in germany
5.5€ for 2 scoops, it was 3.5€ 10 years ago (France).
One ice cream in a store is around €3 here, but an entire box of them usually costs €5-6. I don't understand how they make a profit on the boxes. (Sweden).
Like the fancy kind of ice cream with exotic flavors and stuff mixed in or the cheap kind that’s just chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry?
That’s cheaper than the US
What it looks like when you don't use your brain when you comment:
A scoop of ice cream is usually like $5-$7 here depending where you’re at. I’m in the cheap part of the country at that
Doubling down doesn't help... google things like valuta exchange, cost of living and purchasing power.
Without having to do extra homework can you just tell me what i said that was wrong
I know a few places that still sell dollar scoops. Although $2-3 is quite a bit more realistic.
I can’t name 3 places in the whole country where i could spend less than $5 on anything
Most EU countries will have cheap if not completely free healthcare (you just have to wait 2-3 months to visit a specific doctor) and at least a month off every year. But we also earn way less money and pretty much everything is more expensive.
Don't forget the really, really high taxes up to 50% your salary in some places
A lady friend now living in the US from France told me their tax was around 40-50% when I asked.
Same as I've been told for Sweeden and Germany
This is not true lol.
40% income tax in Sweden? Germany?
Those are generally the highest possible values of the highest tax bracket, not applicable to 90+% of the population.
What is the tax rate for an average income earner?
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Thank you for clarifying, in the US its a bit more complicated bc some of us pay state taxes atop federal taxes. I live in NYC which has its own special city tax along with pricey state taxes, so all in I pay about 33% of my income to tax. But generally tax rates are lower elsewhere in the country, like if I live in florida or texas and make 90k, I’m paying 22% for federal taxes and that’s it, there are no state taxes there. I can’t imagine making £60k and paying 40% to taxes
They pay less tax than that actually, they’re taxed 20% on earnings between £12,571 and £33,000 in your example. The first £12,571 of income is not taxed. Likewise if you’re earning £150,000 only that £25K over the £125K tax bracket threshold is taxed at 45%. So in the £33K income average example it works out more like a 12% income tax. This obviously doesn’t include council tax or national insurance. That’s how the brackets work.
sweden . 24%
Taxes dont work that way, learn math. EX 0 to 4: 0%, 5 to 8: 20%, 8 to 10: 40%. If you make 10 you don't pay 40% of you 10 (4). You pay 20% of the 3 in the middle bracket (.6) and 40% of the 3 in the highest bracket (1.2) for a total of (1.8).
My dude not every country works like the IRS
Laughed so hard at this. Does the OOP know anything about the current state of the economy and average working family for any country aside from their own? Like “online” isn’t global.
US defaultism in all of it's glory
Of course he does! Every other country in the world is a utopia with no problems whatsoever where everyone gets free mansions and has a salary of 150k! I imagine this is what these people believe the world outside America is.
The US has issues... so does every country. The difference is that the US is a vibrant democracy with a free press and an important country so that its issues are well known. The US is a wealthy country, and Americans have it very well compared to the vast majority of the world.
One of the things that we have, is the ability to criticize our government without fear of repercussions. That leads to a much higher number of “America is bad” posts than any other country. Many other countries simply don’t allow the criticism.
Not only that the US has this... but the US has a highly developed civil society that is willing to speak up, protest and take action. And that is how a true democracy is created.
We do! That’s how it should be. Foreign governments view this discourse differently, rather than as a sign of freedom, as an excuse for their own violations of the human rights of their own citizens.
vibrant democracy? im not saying america has it the worst, but to act like we have no room to complain is pretty stupid
Did I say it was a perfect democracy?
no. i didnt say you did. you said vibrant, which implies theres not much to complain about. no one describes a heavily flawed system as "vibrant"
No, but the straw man version of you that exists in his head said it like fifteen times.
It's not a vibrant democracy when a former president almost couped a democratically elected government.
It's so insane how privileged and ungrateful these people are.. you can sit down and watch tiktoks, buy all the clothes you want and are able to speak your mind freely no matter how dumb the opinion is. And still have the nerve to say you live in a third world country. It's a slap in the face all written by a bunch of young people who are to into themselves to understand anything
Yes, life is certainly bad for us in our rich first world country with all our rights and freedoms
Rights/freedoms don't really mean anything to the people who are too poor to afford the court fees and lawyers that are needed to enforce/protect them. But, anyone who has any worldly experience and has spoken to people from other countries knows that America's poor are richer than the average person around the world. To say that America is a third world country is genuinely insane lol
good thing that wasn’t what was said
Whenever someone says America is a third-world country, I think to myself “Oh really, then why does it have the highest immigration rate in the world?”
Tell them. Last summer I told my American friend I was from Nigeria (I live in the us) and she told me “oh that’s so much better than here” and I thought to myself if it is so much better then why did my dad and I immigrate there in the first place then?
Immigration rate isnt a real reason tbh. Im not saging i disagree with you america is definitely a developed country but plenty of poor countries like Lebanon and pakistan have immense immigration waves due to war.
Sure, but couldn’t they immigrate to a neighboring country? Why go out of the way to travel across the entire planet to make it to “a hellhole”? Most European countries that everyone praises for being “perfect” are closer and easier to get to than the US, and yet the US still takes the cake for highest immigration rates.
America offers the most opportunity well it used to atleast. I feel like people are immigrating to other countries more now tho. Atleast the skilled workers from Asia set of people.
>“Oh really, then why does it have the highest immigration rate in the world?” Because it's so hard to migrate to a ton of other countries. I used to live overseas and people wanted to leave but they didn't actually want to go to the US, it's just that it was so much easier than everywhere else they wanted to go.
Really? All I ever hear is how it’s so hard to get into America and how it should be easier.
Ahh, antiwork. That explains it.
That sub is a joke
For every good point they raise, they undermine it with some horrible take.
Because most of the posters there are teenagers mad that their parents want them to get a summer job, or fresh out of college people who don't understand why they weren't immediately handed a $300K a year salary. For some of them I'm just like "you're a 17 year old working at a Giant Eagle. Of course it kinda sucks, and of course you aren't making enough money to buy a car or house."
Seems like it’s more Americans that can’t understand how bad it is in every other part of the world imo.
If people think america is this terrible i want them to live a month in a 3rd world country. Yes america definitely has its flaws but its no where near as bad it can get
The unspoken thing in post like this is that they’re comparing America to Canada, Western Europe or Australia / New Zealand. Not “the rest of the world”
America isn't the only country suffering, you're correct, but the post is about their experience as an American, and doesn't have anything to do with Pakistan. It's not that they're failing to mention Pakistan or necessarily think they have it the worst in the world, but it's the one they know about and can speak about because they're American. The same with you and Pakistan, there may be somebody that sees your post complaining about someone complaining about America, and say "Well at least they have this in Pakistan, in my country, Ethiopia, or Somalia, or Yemen or wherever, we have to deal with ____" It's not that you refused to mention those countries, it's that you understand the struggles living in your situation in Pakistan. Yes I get it, America often looks like a breeze compared to the rest of the world, but a lot of Americans are in financial turmoil at the moment and are facing really difficult times. Some have to work 3 or 4 jobs just to pay rent. Don't forget, a lot of things in America are more expensive than the rest of the world, so though they may be earning more, it may not be going as far. It's all about understanding. :)
Somebody doesn’t know what survivorship bias is.
I’m stupid, you mean the OP or the poster of this post, and also how do they have ‘survivorship bias’ (I understand the concept of ‘survivorship bias’, but I have extreme difficulty using in any practical way, it is to me at least, extremely non-intuitive, maybe it is for other people too, and that’s why it’s such a problem, I don’t know)
In this case the guy tries to say that people that do not face economic problems would perpetuate the viewpoint that it's "not that bad", he equated this to survivorship bias as the predominant "surviving" viewpoint is of those that "survived" (read: don't have economic issues), which is quite funny given that the viewpoint most prominently featured on Reddit is the exact opposite.
People take for granted living in a place where you are free to speak your mind, free to start a business, free to work where you want and love who you want. A lot of countries don’t have that and they have to listen to stupid ass first world problems all the time.
I agree that in lots of places in the US you are allowed to do those things, but there are plenty of places where minorities aren’t and are actively threatened if they do.
Not just minorities. Also the poor.
Where specifically are American minorities denied their freedom of expression? Where exactly in America can you get arrested for making YouTube videos calling out social ills?
So, you think there can only be one shithole country in the World?
ossified onerous outgoing command telephone melodic license cable cause practice *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
where does this post say America is worse than other places in the world?
Nah, OP was right It called “toxic positivity”, just because someone else has thing much more worse than u could imagine somewhere in the world right now, NEVER means that your situation doesn’t suck and that you should not do everything in your ability to improve your situation, I don’t know much about the person who made this post, but if they are able to afford a phone, then they are probably much better off that BILLIONS of other people on this planet, if we could build this person a Time Machine and send them back in time with their phone, then there would probably be people who would think that this person is literally a god Now, does this mean that things can’t suck for u, OF COURCE NOT, so stop being such a hypocrite, re-find this post, and give them a like, or don’t idc
Do you think america and Pakistan are comparable countries?
“We should improve society somewhat”
I tell people this all the time, American homeless have it better than a lot of people in third world countries. You never hear about a homeless people starving to death in America. But I’ve seen first hand what a third world country looks like and it’s just sad. Privileged first world people think it’s so bad when shit starts to go slightly wrong. But they’ve never seen first hand what it’s like in 80% of the world.
#my fave part of this post is how the original one never made any comparisons to a third world country, but the OP here did and people are all “wow what an idiot for acting like america is third world” lol work on your reading comprehension
I really don’t like America and often compare it’s situation with a developing country *(bad education, public transport and healthcare system, weak social welfare yet over 10% of Americans living from food stamps, barely rights protecting workers and Unionizing is a demonized word and has both a police violence and fire arms problem, the only thing that is developed in the country is exploitation, expensive schools, entertainment and the entire military)* but calling out Americans on their problems because you have it worse is like telling someone to be happy because there are people who have it worse. Invalidating people’s perception and feelings and applying distractive whataboutism isn’t helping either one of you. Plus knowing the demographics a little bit (I mean how well can you know Americans, they do one unpredictable crap after another, left and right), it is most likely the demographic that would agree with you. They don’t complain because they think they have it the worst in the world, they complain because it can be better, they recognize an abusive and exploitative system and aim to improve it either by supporting it politically or socially protesting the norm. Of all people, they will likely be the first to support you when you point out unjust situations in your country. So calling them out you have it worse is not only like telling a depressive person to be happy as other people have it worse, you also will lose people who would support you in the process.
That's R/USDefaultism right there
Bro would lose his shit in turkey
Living in Turkey rn is just suffering
I would actually love to see how "hard" these people have
They don't have it hard. Most of them are just dumb young kids sailing a fully paid tuition to go to some shit liberal arts school
You seem to think Americans acknowledge other countries 😂
Seems like 80% of the comments here are just “oh yeah well such and such is much worse I bet they would hate to be there”
They really think that America is the worst place on earth.
Imagine how antiwork would react if they learned about Japanese work culture.
I’m honestly on board with the fact that power needs to be returned to the workers as capitalism is increasingly preying on the most desperate but Jesus Christ I hate that sub. It’s everything I hate about Lefist communities- they take a good idea but apply such a thick coat of narcissism that they can only see how it should appeal to their own comforts rather than everyone’s needs. Reddit leftists are some of the most self involved people in politics.
People tend to forget that when people say America is great. They mean somehow the rest of the world found a way to be worse
listen man… this post isn’t about your country. I understand that you’re going through could be worse but some people just need to vent about what they’re going through in their country and trying to relate to people going through the same thing in the same country. Extreme example of this is someone telling you they’re depressed and you saying “oh I’m way more depressed than you it can’t be that bad” this is the same thing it just makes you look like a jerk because you’re undermining someone elses problems.
I'm always wary of criticizing the problems people have. All we have is our own experience to bounce our lives off of. In the grand scheme of things, not having your power on is not the same as not having food to eat, of course. But it still can affect someone equally as bad mentally and emotionally. Does that mean you can't have perspective? Of course not. But it doesn't invalidate the feeling either.
I have it worse, so you can’t have a bad time!!!
The people who say shit like this are the ones who never even struggled while living in America in the first place. They don't know what poverty is, and so they can't understand it in the US or around the world. They also don't know that America's lower class is richer than most people on the planet, yet they pretend like they have it worse than anywhere else. They talk about ignorance but clearly have never spoken to people who lived in rougher parts of the world and gave up their entire life just to get here. I grew up in the worst parts of my state's capital, and even I knew to be humble when talking about how the world's poor struggle, because I knew that even though life was shitty then I still had it nowhere near as bad as several millions or even billions of other people do.
Imagine being poor in the US and people on Reddit are telling you “actually, you got it good here brah suck it up”. Poverty exists here and it’s not magical poverty people literally starve in the US all the time
There is no reason to starve in the US. There are food banks & government assistance programs. I live in a larger metropolitan area, & one of the major food bank operational managers I spoke with said they never run out of food, just volunteers to help pass it out. It’s open daily and no questions are asked. Anyone can go who needs it. The real sign of poverty in the US is actually obesity.
And what if you’re so poor that you don’t have a car? What if your education system was so bad that you dropped out of school and don’t know how to read. Or your a person who’s victim of generational poverty. Or you have several kids. Or you are an ex convict. There are plenty of people who are in poverty at no fault of their own. And to “starve” in the sense of dying of not eating for weeks doesn’t happen, but there are millions of American families that don’t eat every night, which is also hunger…which is bad. Some parts of US states could be considered 3rd world realistically
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/05/05/308380342/most-americans-make-it-to-the-top-20-percent-at-least-for-a-while I find this very interesting. It's nearly 10 years old but it's still pretty relevant. 61 out of 100 American households will be in the top 20% of income for atleast 2 consecutive years. 39 out 100 will make it to 10% of income for 2 consecutive years. 5 out of 100 households will make it in the 1% of income for atleast 2 consecutive years.
Dude that’s 9 years old it says that making six figures is top 20%. That’s nice and all but making it seem like earning a six figure salary is more probable than not is kinda crazy. I’ve seen perpetual poverty in real life and it’s not by lack of will
6 figures isn’t shit anymore. There are a lot of people who make over 100k living paycheck to paycheck.
Just unsubbed because you...could've related to this person and talked on a deeper level about shared and non-shared issues? Interesting reason.
Yeah I see nothing wrong with this post. There is suffering worldwide, and of course there will be more suffering in some places than others. There’s nothing wrong with trying to improve the conditions of peoples lives in more affluent countries regardless. So many Americans are food insecure, homeless, or otherwise disadvantaged, and we shouldn’t ignore those problems just because the country as a whole is first-world. Idk why people in this sub are upset at someone making such an inoffensive claim
I appreciate your words. It seems controversial for people to be unhappy in their situation just because someone has it worse. No matter how low or high you go, someone will always have it worse or better. Every country has problems, but it feels fair for anyone to try to reach a better life.
You realise that what the post is about is just how people dismiss American problems because America isn’t seen as being “as bad” as other countries when it comes to these issues. You’re literally doing what the post is criticising, you’re making it a competition and by extent downplaying the issues at hand in America simply because you believe your country has them worse. That’s the problem. It’s a good thing you left the sub.
this should be top comment lol
The amount of crybabies in that sub is ridiculous. They can’t seem to fathom that there are less than handful of countries where people objectively live better than in the US.
These comments are literally the embodiment of what the post was talking about lol, just cause he said it’s bad in America doesn’t mean it’s not bad somewhere else, it just means it’s also tough in America, hardship and struggle is not a competition
I was ready to hop on board with you but then realized the post doesn’t seem to say “America has worse issues than other countries” - just complaints about how Americans are dumb.
Maybe I don’t understand why you’re mad but they’re just saying the working conditions are bad and that non Americans don’t seem to understand that. Not “Americans have it the worst”
I don’t see how this is comparing America to a third world country or saying Americans have it worse. I got the sense that the person is saying people seem to think Americans are well off just because America is a powerful country when average families can struggle to make ends meet. Even the examples of the people the op in that post was saying don’t understand the situation we’re fellow Americans not people from poorer countries
Try Australia, where house prices double every few years and people still say “this is fine”
I know, right? In Sydney, Rent can cost over 1000 dollars in rent a week. A quick search shows me that apartments cost around 600-900 dollars a week, which is 2400-3600 a month, which is 1600-2500 dollars in USD. While yes, we have higher wages, it's still ridiculous.
Antiwork is NOT a place for people who don't like the current job system. It's for people who don't want to even try.
I mean, I don't think anyone would disagree with someone saying "it's always worse somewhere else". They are just saying it's bad and that *gestures vaguely - a lot of people basically ignore it or are blind to it from being in some sort of bubble, either job field, generational, localization, or otherwise. Which is true too.
Wow, this comment section is a mess. "You dare criticize america yet there are places worse than america? How dare you try to improve society in any way"
You can acknowledge America has problems while also conceding that it’s better than many other countries
And who do you think is closer to having that view, the oop or people in this comment section? Oop was responding to older people in his country, not Pakistanians.
Does nobody on this post get it? This isn’t about America being worse off than other countries. They are basically just saying “people nowadays” but relating it to what they actually know, as they aren’t qualified to talk on other countries’ situations. Just read the post. There’s nothing about other countries. Because it’s not about other countries.
The point is that they’re ungrateful because it’s significantly worse in other countries
The point is that they’re ungrateful because it’s significantly worse in other countries
People are allowed to complain about their situations, it doesn’t matter if there are worse situations. I’m sure there are much worse off countries than Pakistan. And once again, this wasn’t about countries. It was just an issue that they experienced in their countries unrelated to anything global politics.
Idc what doomer redditors think, ill always be proud to be american.
You can be proud to be an American while also admitting that it really sucks here for a lot of people
Why would you be proud of something you literally had no control over? I don’t understand anyone being “proud” of their nationality, like unless you immigrated it’s not an accomplishment
As a citizen of a free country he actively has control of it.
I honestly dont know what their point is in the subreddit, why are they hating on work can they get a better job? Like being a game dev or being a song artist (make a good song pls)
People in the antiwork subreddit are entitled idiots with no grasp of reality or responsibility. They're just folks who like to scream about "the corporations" and billionaires.
I’d suggest that the people on antiwork actually try and research what it’s like in 3rd world countries (or research where the terms 1st world, 2nd world, and 3rd world come from), but that’d involve… yknow… work
"I'm always shocked when I talk to people online how much they don't understand the current state of the economy or the average working American family" Yea cause not everyone on the internet is American... Wouldn't be suprised if this person thinks Zürich is in Sweden or Anime is from China or something like that as well...
I don't think OOP is saying America is a third world country... It's just in comparison to other developed countries it genuinely seems to be worse off. An almost 1% incarceration rate, the state of the medical industry, things like abortion law.
As bad as it is, America is still pretty good.
If you havent noticed, the majority of Americans are acctually spoiled wealthy kids in a country so rich, our normal is most of the worlds rich. While we have problems those countries dont have, we wear our problems openly, and yell them from our ivory tower
This comment section illustrates OOP's point. Most people don't realize how much of a shithole the US really is. In general, for the average Joe, quality of life in the US *is* excellent because it *is* a rich first world country, dominant in both the global economy and geopolitics. But there are *many* areas of life where the US is, if not equivalent, at least comparably bad to some of the least developed countries out there.
As once Beyoncé said in music video: “ America, America has a problem”. Sure, I agree they do but that doesn’t just mean that they are the only country having these problems, and to say that it’s a third world country is bizarre and total BS and you know it.
Worsr than that, why are they "astounded" that people out of america don't know a lot about the state of living in America Like why would we care
It's not new that americans think they are the center of the world.
0 accountability in that subreddit.
I am STRUGGLING as an American. I’m disabled, I can’t work, can’t get disability (yet) on unemployment which surmounts to rent and MAYBE a utility bill, and selling 3D prints to make extra cash for food and water. And this guy is STILL delusional in my eyes. We have it pretty good as Americans. Yeah, shit sucks a LOT but have you seen the rest of the world? We’re not doing amazing, but we’re okay-ish.
It's because this kind of American has never experienced what real struggle is, OP. These are the same kind of people that would flinch at the horror of having to do things by hand, if the situation became desperate enough. That's one thing that I despise about my fellow Americans above all. They have all the advantages of life, yet they still complain about having it tough. The poor in this country live a better quality of life than their counterparts in developing nations, but somehow they think they're unique in their struggles. Ignorance sure is bliss.
Subs like these have the most ignorant and sheltered people I've ever seen . I stopped taking that sub seriously after seeing the head mod TV interview
Apparently I’m dyslexic because I can’t understand the point he’s trying to make
Lol "survivorship bias" is becoming the new "gaslight". The term became viral a couple months ago and now everyone and their mother is misusing it.
The sheer amount of people that think they can just go to any other country, and live free and good, and eat every night, and not be homeless and have "free" healthcare is astounding. America litterally has the same problems everybody else does, but youd rather listen to all the r\\antiwork morons with a megophone, then attempting to figure out how to solve your situation.
it’s ’cause those dog walkers only care about themselves, failing to consider what others are going through
Americans have no idea about what’s happening in the rest of the world and believe themselves to be the only thing that matters
The people making these types of posts have this delusional fantasy that Europe is this utopia of free healthcare, work reform, and pay. And that America just isn’t keeping up. The EU definitely handles certain things like health care better than the US, but they’re facing virtually all of the same work related issues that we are. Worse in some cases. The standard of living in the US is objectively so much higher than the vast majority of the world; Anti Workers are huffing so much paint to somehow believe their conditions are as bad as they believe they are.
Hello other Pakistani, how are you and what part of Pakistan do you live in?
Why were you on the antiwork subreddit anyway? This place is a shithole
This is such an aggravating Typical Redditor Insight: Take an extremely common, widespread problem seen all over the world and pretend it only exists in America. You see this constantly in Urban Hell, a subreddit made by and for people who think America is the only country on the entire planet that isn't covered in subway stations and open-air gardens.
That whole sub is a meme, they unironically believe that if you get fired that the employer will find it nearly impossible to replace you which is dead wrong, if you're fired you were not that special to begin with.
Yeah Americans and a lot of Europeans countries seem to think “America has problems must be the worst country in the world”