Bear with me, this is a long post. I really need to get all of this off my chest, even of nobody reads it or if it gets deleted. Idc.
This sub talks every day about corporate greed but govermental greed is barely covered here. There are comments ans posts here and there about politicians only caring about their own wallets and that's about it (or at least that is what I see).
Before I get to the point of my post, I want to make myself clear: I do not speak for other people or countries. This is solely my own perspective. Also, I do not live in the US.
I want to make sure we're on the same page here. By governmental greed I mean jacking up taxes while simultaneously worsening (or not changing anything for the better for) the lives of citizens and, of course, corruption which some may call lobbying.
First example I can think of is my own father's situation. He is a small business owner. He has 2 full time employees. His business is doing good and it's growing. Pays his employees well. His revenue is around €35.000 monthly. My mind was completely blown when he told me about the expenses. One of the mind-blowing expenses he told me about were his employees salaries. He basically pays 3 times per person. That means he pays the salary, employee insurance which costs almost as much as the employees monthly salary and employee tax. Yes, tax. Also almost as much as the salary. He pays around €20.000 per month for just 2 people and most of that money goes neither to the employees, nor to my dad. And I haven't even talked about other taxes and expenses. To make a long story short: of the €35.000 monthly revenue, only €3000 – €5000 depending on the month. And this is happening in a country that takes so much pride in caring for it's citizens and small businesses. Just, eyeroll. And now comes the fun part: is anybody there to catch my dad if he suddenly couldn't work anymore? The answer is no, unless additional monthly payments are made which also cost hundreds if not thousands.
Now keep the “caring for it's citizens” part in mind. Several years ago the govt installed a program that's supposed to help disabled people to get jobs that they can actually work long term. Sounds okay, right? I thought it sounded pretty good. I happen to have a disability. I applied for that program. I jumped through multiple hoops. After a few weeks a guy from that program calls me back. Asked me several questions about my health and such. At the end of the phone call he tells me my application is withdrawn from that moment on because I'm not disabled enough (not his actual words, but that's what it came down to). Now that I look at it with the antiwork lens my conclusion is that they put disabled people on the job market to pay them less in welfare. They also don't want people like me, who aren't “disabled enough” on that program, because that would mean paying more in welfare. Remember: we can only take from the people, not give back to them and especially not when they need it the most.
I also want to touch briefly on results of said program that came to light some time after it started. Their “help” consisted of making people do a “what type of job fits you best” test and that's about it. They also offer subsidies to companies who hire the disabled, BUT companies themselves have to jump through hoops to apply for subsidies so most of them don't even bother. Of course gvt pat themselves on the back for the amazing help they provided for their most vulnerable citizens…
And let's not forget about:
– Almost trying to force people into using public transport, meanwhile they privatise it which makes it MUCH more expensive.
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Privatising healthcare. We now pay around €110 monthly for health insurance. Insurance companies raise that price every year but of course cover less and less every year. For example, around 10 years ago dental care was covered by basic insurance, now people have to extend their insurance to have it covered. I remember some time ago govt advertised all over the TV and internet that a large percentage of people cannot afford to see a dentist. Did they do anything about the issue? No.
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Infrastructure is worsening even though we pay more taxes for our motor vehicles every year. They said that money goes to infrastructure. Maybe it used to, bit that certainly isn't the case today.
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It's great and stuff that they raise the minimum wage every year, but usually wages raise % less than inflation…
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Housing market is nothing but hopelessness. Govt has been crying for YEARS that there's a housing shortage, but a) they don't seem to be doing much about it and b) I wholehartedly believe it's not a housing shortage, it's an affordable housing shortage. Applies to both house prices and rent.
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Students are screwed over more and more every year. Tuition costs are on the rise, school supplies are more expensive, and our beloved govt, instead of helping, adapt a student loan system and screws over people who pursue higher education extra hard. For those who are wondering: before this new adaptation, students had the right to get an allowance from the state. They only had to pay back the money they got if they wanted more monthly allowance. To be clear, if govt gives €10 for free and you want €15, you only pay back that €5 after grafuating. That's how it worked back then. Now, higher education students have to pay back everything.
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And what would a country be without giving big corporations tax cuts and subsidies God knows what for…
So much for a country caring about citizens and small businesses.
There's much, much more to discuss but I've had enough for now. If you're still here, thank you for reading. I apologise if portions came off as ramblings, I am very tired and very angry atm.
I'm gonna try to sleep now. Peace.