America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

Perceptions of US Quality of Life and Immigration

• Several non‑US residents say moving to the US would feel like a downgrade: weaker social safety net, healthcare risk, car dependence, school shooting drills, and food standards.
• Others argue many immigrants still choose the US for higher incomes and opportunities; critics reply that per‑capita immigrant intake and past vs. current policy matter, and that many come as exploitable cheap labor.
• Some note growing hostility at the border (phone searches, visa tightening) and official advice to bring “burner” phones, which feels invasive.

Healthcare Comparisons

• Many describe US healthcare as “excellent if you’re under ~50 with a good employer plan,” but precarious if you’re older, laid off, or chronically ill.
• Multiple commenters from Europe and Canada dispute claims of months‑long waits for basic care, citing same‑day or short‑wait access, especially with optional private insurance.
• Employer‑dependent insurance is widely criticized as a form of soft coercion that ties health to job and amplifies at‑will employment risks.
• Several detailed anecdotes highlight US insurance denial games, surprise bills, and high drug/device prices; others stress top US hospitals are world‑class but access is highly unequal.

Food, Regulation, and Prop 65

• Non‑Americans express distrust of US food additives and ingredients banned elsewhere.
• California’s Prop 65 is criticized as overbroad and vague: warning signs on everything dilute usefulness; some want more specific chemical disclosure instead of blanket labels.
• Complaints about low‑quality mass‑market food, heavy sugar/salt, and shrinkflation are countered by claims that US supermarkets still offer plenty of healthy options at EU‑like prices if you avoid the absolute cheapest products.

Guns, Safety, and Risk

• School shooting drills are viewed as dystopian and symptomatic of policy failure; defenders argue the actual per‑child death risk is very low compared to cars, drowning, etc.
• Debate over whether focusing on shootings is rational risk management or ideological fear‑amplification; some emphasize gun deaths still far exceed peer countries.

Wages, Minimum Wage, and Inequality

• The article’s “workers get only 27% of what wealth allows” metric is widely questioned; some call it meaningless or “commie gobbledygook.”
• Dispute over whether the US “pays well”: top earners clearly do; some data cited suggesting Germany’s median gross pay (PPP‑adjusted) rivals or exceeds the US, implying worse outcomes at the bottom in America.
• Strong disagreement on minimum wage effects:
  • One side: raising it forces layoffs and only reshuffles poverty.
  • Other side: empirical work (state comparisons) suggests limited job loss; also argue that if a business can’t pay living wages it shouldn’t exist.
• Common rebuttal to simplistic objections (“why not $1M/hour?”): almost everything has an optimal range; extremes are obviously harmful but do not invalidate moderate increases.
• Several argue that wealth inequality itself is harmful (political capture, permanent underclass, misaligned priorities), not merely “envy.” Others insist the key is raising the floor, not narrowing the gap.

GDP, “Wealth,” and Metrics Critique

• Multiple comments stress GDP is a flow (yearly value of output), not “the amount of money” or national wealth; conflating stocks and flows is called out.
• Some argue GDP is closer to “total value of transactions” and overstates real welfare because many services are low‑value or purely transactional.
• Skepticism that “what wealth allows” is even a coherent benchmark; concerns over asset bubbles, USD reserve status, and paper wealth.

Suburbs, Urban Design, and Social Fabric

• One long comment portrays US suburbs as resource‑rich but socially impoverished: car‑dependent, isolating, unhealthy, and poorly designed compared to walkable, transit‑oriented cities abroad with plazas, mixed uses, and stronger community.
• Others strongly defend suburbia as desirable: more space, privacy, less noise, and fewer “nosy” neighbors; some would choose even “bad” suburbs over dense inner cities.
• Conclusion: built‑environment preference is highly personal; quality varies widely within both suburbs and cities.

Immigration and Labor, Demography

• Some argue the US admits many immigrants to keep wages low; others say the US should accept far more to avoid demographic and economic decline.
• A cynical view portrays redistributive politics as buying votes from “unproductive” citizens with money taxed from productive ones.

Rights, Fairness, and “Exploitation”

• Debate over framing social programs and “fair pay” as rights vs. benefits:
  • One camp says calling them “rights” implies a right to others’ labor, akin to slavery.
  • Others counter that fairness and basic dignity are legitimate policy goals even if definitions are fuzzy.
• Strong disagreement over whether inequality is primarily a moral problem (unfair extraction by the wealthy) or a psychological one (envy).

General Mood

• Thread is broadly pessimistic about US distributional outcomes, healthcare structure, and political capture, with scattered defenses of US income levels, innovation, and top‑tier institutions.
• Several commenters conclude that many “developing” or European countries now feel safer and more livable than the US, especially for average earners rather than elites.