<p>I know that private independent colleges give out financial aid, but their initial price is insane. $50 to 60 k a year??? do they seriously expect people to pay that much a year? WHERE THE HELL DOES ALL OF THAT MONEY GOO?!?!? </p>
<p>I have nothing against private colleges seeing that i applied to only one public college but still… it’s ridiculous.</p>
<ol>
<li>How hard is it to receive specialty care? If you need a surgery, is there a waiting involved?</li>
</ol>
<p>It’s not hard to receive specialty care and there is no waiting I believe, unless you need something like an organ transplant or something like that. You don’t have to wait for surgery, and the wait at emergency rooms is almost inexistent (at least in my experience, I have been to the emergency room 3-4 times and have had one surgery). </p>
<ol>
<li>Are there currently talks about raising taxes/cutting benefits to pay for the system?</li>
</ol>
<p>There are in fact talks about significantly raising taxes of the wealthy right now. This has been in the talks for a while but I am not sure whether or not it will be approved or not.</p>
<ol>
<li>How much would you be making as a TA if you went back to Switzerland? How much of it would be left after you paid income taxes?</li>
</ol>
<p>I really have no idea. I tried to look it up on the internet and could not find anything</p>
<ol>
<li>Is $5.50 before or after VAT (I am not sure if Switzerland has VAT)?</li>
</ol>
<p>You mean after tax? Yes. Tax is included in the price, you don’t have to add it. The VAT in Switzerland is about 8%.</p>
<ol>
<li>Let’s forget about low income range for now. How are hard work and smart choices rewarded in Switzerland? If you are an engineer, how much do you make? If are a manager of the engineering group how much do you make? What about VP?</li>
</ol>
<p>They are rewarded, but to a much lesser degree than here.
Here in the US, a great emphasis is put on individuality and competition. The idea is that if you work hard, you can get to the top. People who are at the top don’t realize that if there wasn’t anyone at the bottom, they could not be at the top. I know this sounds simplistic, but it’s true. Many people at the bottom work as hard as anyone else, but they may have had less opportunities (I would not say that some are not lazy, because of course there are lazy people too). Rich people always have this feeling of entitlement, saying that they have worked so hard to be where they’re at, and they use that to justify the fact that they shouldn’t have to pay more taxes for lazy people who don’t work as hard as them. However, even though I do agree that smart choices can go a long way, our choices/opportunities/success are shaped by our environment and the way were were/are socialized.
In Switzerland and many European countries, more emphasis is put on community. Hard work is certainly rewarded (people with an education get better jobs and better salaries for example), but people at the “bottom” (less education, working in jobs such as cook, server, post office employee etc.) make very decent wages (anything between 3500-5000$/month). Rich people do contribute more (and pay for the poor) because the system is based on a sense of solidarity. Healthy people, for example, pay about as much for health care as sick people do, and they barely use their health insurance. So they help pay for sick/disabled people. People are not denied care because of sickness/injury (which by the way would be absolutely outrageous) for example. Do I mind paying over 200$/month for health care when I have not been sick in the past 10 years? No I don’t, because I know the system helps other people. It’s easy to complain, but one day that handicapped person could be me and I will be glad to have health care. Are there people who take advantage of this system? Absolutely. It’s simply impossible to prevent it. However, the income gap is much smaller and people have an overall higher quality of life, so they must be doing something right. In my opinion, competition and individuality are not very good values to run a society on, and statistics tend to agree in terms of the level of happiness in countries that emphasize a welfare system based on social solidarity.</p>
<ol>
<li>Can you buy a house in Switzerland if you are a work for living (i.e. not independently wealthy)? You would have to get a loan. However, most people in Switzerland actually rent. Things are very different there as we don’t have the whole social security/credit thing. People’s ability to get a loan/cell phone/credit card doesn’t depend on a number. Credit card have to be paid off pretty quickly but almost anyone can get one, and overall people don’t by things they can’t afford as it’s not really a “consumption-based” society.</li>
</ol>
<p>GIA, GIA, GIA… you were doing great until this line :
</p>
<p>thats the type of generalizations that lit up this thread yesterday. I know some rich people that feel extremly blessed, and give back so much to the community and those around them. There are SOME rich peopple that make a bad name for the rest. Heck, even bill gates admitted he should be paying sales tax in his state (but did not like it!).</p>
<p>Generalizations raise hackles…</p>
<p>I also want to say that of course, not everything is perfect in Switzerland. There is much less diversity and it can be boring at times, especially compared to the United States. I got to do a lot of things here that I could have never done in Switzerland. The way the system is organized in Switzerland just goes against the values that the US was founded on. However, I just cannot appreciate the US emphasis on competition and individuality because I don’t think it makes sense from a social perspective. Of course, if I had been raised here I would probably feel a totally different way.</p>
<p>Vlines:</p>
<p>You are right, I should have said “some rich people”. Of course many wealthy people are very grateful, and I did not intend to generalize. My apologies about that.</p>
<p>I know what you mean! I’m trying to pay for college all my my own and I have no money. It’s kind of freaking me out</p>
<p>Gaiou37,</p>
<p>Once again, I am not picking on you, but it might be indeed a good idea for you to leave US. You clearly do not appreciate the ideals on which this country was founded. While many things in American society are broken, one of the reasons why I love this country (after growing up behind iron curtain) is the emphasis on individuality. The idea is that if you work hard, make smart choices, perhaps take calculated risks, then the sky is a limit appeals to me. </p>
<p>Don’t you think that the reason why your country is talking about raising taxes is because your country’s entire social system is unsustainable at current tax rate? Do I think that there is a place for social net programs in the society? Yes, however not to a degree that is available in Europe (and quite frankly in US).</p>
<p>After growing up in the country where collectivism was celebrated, I appreciate that I am the one responsible for my own fate now.</p>
<p>P.S. I’ve heard one paramedics say that based on his experience in emergency situations the most demanding and entitled people are super rich (because they always can get what they want) and the poor (because the government always provides them with food stamps, section 8 vouchers, emergency assistance, etc). So, I guess it goes both ways.</p>
<p>Gaiou: I find it odd that someone as educated as you and studying sociology can’t appreciate the US society for what it is. You don’t have to agree with it, but whether you like it or not, America has done pretty darn well for itself. Is it perfect? No, nothing is. But this is what our country is all about. I would think you could be a bit more 'openminded" and accept the differences. America is a country based on capitalism. Competition and individuality are the basis and foundation of this country. You seem so surprised by that, yet it shouldn’t be surprising at all. What did you think you would encounter when you came here? When I travelled abroard I went to each country thinking that I would learn something about them that perhaps I hadn’t read in books. I never compared them to the USA. I wasn’t in the US. I appreciated them for exactly who they were.- Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britian, Albania. They weren’t suppose look or feel like the USA. They were suppose to be their our individual entities/societies. Did that mean I agreed with every thing they did? No. But all these differences are what the world go round. How boring if we were all the same.</p>
<p>I personally am a very collectivistic person and I know that free will is limited by social environment, which is why I believe people who have more should contribute more. I don’t necessarily believe that people have more because they work harder, I think they have just had a different life and many factors have led them to be in a more “comfortable” position in society (factors include family situation, upbringing, social connections, interests, socialization etc.). Also, hard work is rewarded very differently across the spectrum right? Do golf players work harder than construction workers? Probably not, but somehow they make a lot more money. Anyway this is just how I feel and because of that I cannot be happy here, it just doesn’t fit my values. I am looking forward to discovering a new country and I wish the best to people who continue on here.</p>
<p>I certainly have had a lot of fun on this forum :)</p>
<p>@redscarlett11, SOME schools charge that much. It’s up to the student to apply to them or not. Take an Economics course in college for more info on pricing.</p>
<p>Well for the person who’s not making a lot of money thats a great way of thinking. Lets face it, that works well for them. On the other hand, I can’t say I blame the rich for not loving that idealogy.</p>
<p>Dungareedoll:</p>
<p>“I find it odd that someone as educated as you and studying sociology can’t appreciate the US society for what it is”</p>
<p>It’s hard to appreciate it when there is that much negative, I’m sorry. One sociology class after the other shows how the US ranks compare to other industrialized nations in terms of quality of life and social welfare (the US is almost always at the bottom, and I’m serious - on the other hand, Sweden is practically always at the top). I know it sounds offensive, but these are facts and they really are hard to ignore. So it is BECAUSE I am educated that I don’t appreciate the US for what it is. Before I studied sociology, I had no clue about what was going on, except for a few things like health care issues etc. Also, my focuses in sociology are international studies and social inequality, which truly did not help in my opinion of this country. However, as I said, it’s not all bad; it just doesn’t go with my values. I only hope I raised a few relevant points that will make people reflect. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me.</p>
<p>Obviously, I don’t care about money, otherwise I would not be studying sociology haha. Even when I got an inheritance, I gave a lot of it away to charities because I just like to share. I have no sense of competition and all I want is to make a decent amount of money that I can live on. I’m just weird I guess. But you can see why my values would lead me to be pretty unhappy here.</p>
<p>^^Actually I don’t see why your values would lead you to be unhappy here. When I lived in Spain, there were many people who felt just like you. I was very young and surprised by their lack of desire to better themselves. I thought everyone thought like I did. I thought everyone wanted to do better, work long crazy hours, in order to have more, but that wasn’t the case at all. The overall mentally of the Spaniards I met went against everything I was taught to believe in, but I loved Spain. I loved Spain for exactly that. They were different. I embraced their laid back way of life and enjoyed it. I tried it out and had fun. I didn’t hate it. Nor did I feel like I should give up my capitalistic ways for the Spanish way. Its all good. So when you say things like I have studied sociology and hence thats the reason I’m so jaded, I’m surprised. Being educated isn’t about being guided by the opinions of the professor or the textbook, its about looking at things holistically and formulating our own opinions. I realize this negative opinion of the US is your opinion but I think you may have been too idealistic coming here, it wasn’t what you expected and now you only hone in on the negatives. Again thats not being openminded. I love this country and love the values here, not because I’ve reaped such great rewards but because in this country everyone has the chance to. Not to be cliche but its truly the land of opportunity and when my grandparents came to this country, with little more than a shirt on their backs, they were willing to work hard, save their money to give their families a better life. Their races, religions, and values were all accepted. My grandmother came here from Puerto Rico. She was orphaned at 4 but had 9 siblings. She spent her life in PR working in the tabacco fields. She married and when her house burned down, she came to NY with two children. She was uneducated, didn’t speak english, penniless and a woman. (My grandfather was 20 years older and very sickly, so he stayed behind with two of the kids) It wad 1945 and NYC didn’t look anything like the tropical farmlands of PR. Until the day she died, she loved this country. This extremely illiterate woman, worked 6 days a week. She saved enough money to bring her husband and two other children here. She put the kids through catholic school and instilled in them the idea that each generation needs to do better than the one better. My grandfather never worked and died about 12 years later. Before my grandmother died at the age of 90ish, we never truly knew her date of birth, she had owned 2 homes,went to night school to learn to read and write and was always independent. She never relied on her kids for financial help. She also never learned to speak english. However, she always loved the USA. She wasn’t bitter that she had to work 6 days a week but instead grateful. She never took a handout, or received welfare. She had too much pride for that. She paid all her bills, and never complained about paying taxes. She left a little money for each of her kids when she died and felt very content with her life. She thanked God everyday for the opportunities this great country gave. Were there others who did better than she? Yes. Were the others who were greedy? Yes. Were there others more generous? Yes. And the list could go on but this very uneducated woman understand that life is what you make of it. Nothing is perfect. But as a whole this country was a hell of a lot better than most. She was proud to be an American. She never expected anyone to give her anything she didn’t earn. Collectivism was out of the question. She took pride in doing things on her own and then instilling those same ideas in her children. My grandfather from my dad’s side of the family had a similiar story. Although he came from Malta, was educated through the 8th grade, a man and arrived here on Ellis Island. He too worked hard and did well for himself, or perhaps I should say he did better than if he had stayed in Malta. He became an American citizen and was very appreciative of the American way of life. We aren’t collectivists. That just goes against everything this country is based on. So why come here if you weren’t willing to embrace, not necessarily accept, our way of life? You must have known that we “Americans” would, as a whole, not come across as collectivists, being that you’re so well read.</p>
<p>I really enjoyed reading your post and I understand what you’re saying. I was probably too idealistic when I came here, and I really did not expect it to be that centered on individualistic values. I knew about it, but I hadn’t experienced it. Also, when you say “I love this country and love the values here, not because I’ve reaped such great rewards but because in this country everyone has the chance to.”, I can’t help but cringe. Actually, this used to be true, but it’s not the case anymore. Also, I like to better myself, but to me bettering myself has nothing to do with money or professional success. I know money is important, we obviously need it to survive, but that’s not what truly make someone successful or happy. I am not completely unhappy here, but I am critical and I would rather be somewhere that places more emphasis on values that I can agree with and less importance on money and competition.</p>
<p>I guess we will agree to disagree. I still believe that this country gives people a chance to do or be whatever they want. For some like yourself, it gives you the freedom to express your dissatisfaction, it gives you the ability to come and go as you wish, and you can decided to live as a collectivist or capitalist or whatever you want. </p>
<p>Good luck in the future.</p>
<p>Haha I was going to say the same thing. We just see things differently and that’s ok. I appreciate having these types of debates because even though it won’t change me, it’s still good to read other people’s opinions and reflect on what people have to say.</p>
<p>Good luck to you as well!</p>
<p>*I really enjoyed reading your post and I understand what you’re saying. *</p>
<p>This tempted me, but I’m just too old to tackle a massive block of text without paragraphs. :(</p>
<p>Quote:
Rich people always have this feeling of entitlement, saying that they have worked so hard to be where they’re at, and they use that to justify the fact that they shouldn’t have to pay more taxes for lazy people who don’t work as hard as them.</p>
<p>==========</p>
<p>lololol…There’s nothing wrong with having a “feeling of entitlement” about something you’ve earned. The PROBLEM is when a person feels entitled to things that they haven’t earned. </p>
<p>For instance, the young teen that thinks he “deserves” to be the primary driver of his mom’s newly purchased car is wrong to feel so entitled. That teen should feel grateful when mom gives him the keys to her old-but-good car. However, the mom who paid for her new car is entitled to feel that she should be able be the primary driver.</p>
<p>I personally am a very collectivistic person and I know that free will is limited by social environment, which is why I believe people who have more should contribute more.</p>
<hr>
<p>Gaiou,</p>
<p>I give up.</p>
<p>“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” (Karl Marx).</p>
<p>I think you will not fit well in Canada either. Perhaps in former Soviet Union? </p>
<p>Except you will probably not like standard of living very much there.</p>
<p>P.S. Free will is limited by responsibility to take the consequences of one’s actions.</p>