this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2025
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Today I Learned

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[–] EgoNo4@lemmy.world 199 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The US are 50 3rd world countries stacked in a trench coat, pretending to be the world's greatest country.

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 112 points 1 day ago (2 children)

And the trench coat was manufactuered in China.

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[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 48 points 1 day ago (4 children)

48, and also New York and California who are happy to pretend to be.

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[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 92 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Yeah but you guys have your own kind of mustard, and tomato sauce, and the epstein ballroom, and those ridiculous big cars. It's surely the greatest country in the world.

[–] Siegehammer85@lemmy.world 33 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The Yank Tank... I get incredibly angry when I see them in Spain, only good at pollution and murdering kids... Only a cunt would drive something like that

[–] django@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 1 day ago

We should never tire of shaming people for being like this.

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[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Don't you send me down a mustard rabbit hole at 2:30 in the morning you sonofabitch

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Mustard rabbit is delicious ! I don't know about the hole though

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

The hole is the best part, I imagine

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[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 77 points 1 day ago (14 children)

If it's any consolation, there's also no law that mandates that we get breaks either!

Like, at all. No lunch. No 15 minutes. Now, most companies DO "offer" breaks. But they don't have to. Except in a couple states (Less than 10, last I checked.)

Combine that with "at-will" employment without contracts, that means in most of the USA you could be asked to work for 36 hours straight with no breaks and be fired for looking tired.

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[–] Regrettable_incident@lemmy.world 47 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's fucked up. Here in the UK, I work a low level job and my wages aren't great, but I get 4 weeks paid leave and am encouraged to take it. I also get up to 6 months paid sick leave, though I need a note from my doctor after a week. I think after 6 months I still get paid half wage. The sick leave thing isn't government mandated, but it's not uncommon, and I'm strongly encouraged to use it if I'm not well. Makes sense, you don't want sick employees bringing germs into work and making everyone else ill.

I don't have kids, but I'm pretty sure paid maternity /paternity leave is pretty decent too.

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 28 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (2 children)

Yeah, here in the US you are basically forced to come in. The only exception for this was Covid.

In various industries, there is a refrain that "You come in sick and tired, otherwise you're fired".

If you live in a "At will employment" (read: Terminate at will) state, you are even more screwed.

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Nono, "At will employment" is terminate at will.

"Right to work" is the union busting law that prevents collective bargaining agreements

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 day ago

Decades later, and their bullshit Orwellian naming tactics are still paying off.

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[–] Regrettable_incident@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Yeah I've heard that about the US. Seems crazy to me, a bad flu bug could really screw your workforce, and sick people are going to be much less effective workers. Not to mention public-facing positions - as a customer I do not want some nasty virus free with my product! Also, people tend to work harder and have more loyalty towards an employer that they feel respects and looks after them.

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[–] DetectiveNo64@lemmy.ca 45 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The US is a trash heap that worships an orange pedo, what do you expect?

[–] jali67@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago

Worships the almighty dollar too

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 32 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Not to apologize for shitty US labor regulations, but in some places these rules aren't enforced rigorously if at all, so this data shouldn't be taken at face value. For example I doubt Saudi or Qatari slaves are getting days off.

[–] Mitchie151@lemmy.world 35 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Does this put your standard US citizen on the same level as Saudi or Qatari slave?

[–] OldQWERTYbastard@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] zebidiah@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's insane, have you seen pictures of what Dubai looks like? There is no way American labour could meet anywhere near that standard of quality

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[–] GenosseFlosse@feddit.org 6 points 1 day ago

Excuse me sir, the correct term is "contractors"!

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[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 day ago

'Wow, really? Cause you never think of those other three as having their shit together'

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 19 points 1 day ago (7 children)

The USA is the richest third world country on the planet.

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[–] myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip 19 points 1 day ago

America is just non stop winning!

[–] drhodl@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's what you get when your government and representatives are all owned by corporates, and works exclusively for the benefit of those corporates. Lobbying works only for corporates, and not the people, and should be illegal. People should stop voting for those who fail to deliver in their FIRST term. No second terms for failures!
But American people are undereducated, low information, partisan and a very high proportion vote in a racist way, where rather than vote for their own best interests, they vote for their neighbors worst interests. Thus, they get what they deserve, but unfortunately the worst of us, the divisive politicians profit.

We need to remove money from politics, make lobbying illegal and subject to capital punishment, and politicians found to be selling out our trust, liable to capital punishment also. They are worse than traitors in a war, so the punishment MUST be severe. Politicians should also be personally liable when they fail to keep their election promises, and LYING to the public needs to be punished harshly too. ALL politicians should be audited before, during and after their terms. Finally, there need to be term and age limits. Rich 80-90 year olds, are NOT representative of the people, and do NOT have the same concerns as the rest of us.

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[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Back in British Colonial rule they sent their criminals to Australia. The ones they couldn't catch escaped to the USA. /s

[–] Texas_Hangover@lemmy.radio 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think they sent a bunch of criminals here too lol. AND some prostitutes to help populate the the place.

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Don't worry, some of our governments are working really hard to be like the USA.

[–] rockettaco37@feddit.nu 15 points 1 day ago

That's because America is fucked...

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Except the US, those are tiny island countries too.

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[–] rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

But they're so free! Haven't you heard how free they are?! FREE!

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[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Not even slightly surprised to see the US on that list... America hates it's workers.

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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (5 children)

There's a bit of nuance in the article:

There is no federal or state statutory minimum paid vacation or paid public holidays. Paid leave is at the discretion of the employers to their employees.[202][203] According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 77% of private employers offer paid vacation to their employees; full-time employees earn on average 10 vacation days after one year of service.[204] Similarly, 77% of private employers give their employees paid time off during public holidays, on average 8 holidays per year.[204][205] Some employers offer no vacation at all.[206] The average number of paid vacation days offered by private employers is 10 days after 1 year of service, 14 days after 5 years, 17 days after 10 years, and 20 days after 20 years.[204][207] A number of states and non-states in the United States have instituted some form of paid leave with 10 states (California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts) along with the District of Columbia having mandatory paid family leave while 4 other states have a system but it is not yet active (Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota and Maine). Voluntary leave is in 8 states (Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, New Hampshire and Vermont).

[–] Kushan@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

None of that "nuance" changes anything though, there's still no legally mandated holiday allowance in the United States.

[–] Nollij@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 day ago

Undercutting your point, that also means that 23% - nearly a quarter - do not offer paid vacation nor holidays to their employees.

[–] damnedfurry@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Yeah, there are a lot of comparisons like these that at least partially break down when you don't consider the way the US is set up, re state governments.

Another big example is minimum wage. While the federal minimum is $7.25, it is a very small minority of places where it's even possible to find (above-board, of course; if you work under the table, all bets are off) work at that low a wage, both because of the above (state minimum is higher) and because other market forces essentially negate it as the minimum, even in most places where $7.25 is in fact the legal minimum wage.

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[–] BehindetheClouds@reddthat.com 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Greatest Country in the World! /s

The sad part is, that it could be.

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