To start, I want to say that I am a lawyer and work in employment law. I have studied employment law and tax codes in almost every industrialized nation and have a few things to say about the working conditions here.
1) We make so much money here in the United States, and if we taxed it properly, we could improve the lives of almost every person in the entire country.
2) The rich in America: CEOs, Partners, Board members – are largely paid in stock options, and stock options only are taxed when they are sold. But what you can do in the meantime, is take out cash loans on these stock options. SO the wealthy in America pay no income tax as they get their payment for life expenses in the form of untaxed loans.
(there is a super easy fix, it is not difficult law, and it benefits most people considering that 90% of all stocks are owned by the richest 10% of people)
3) Our healthcare system is a lie. We spend the most of any country, and our medical system is in shambles. Only corporations benefit because they control the law makers when republicans pushed forth a bill allowing lobbying (bribery), and also one that does not limit corporations from donating (as a tax deduction) to politicians who will keep laws the same. Easy fix, if we are all smart and band together behind progressive leadership and demand labor centric change.
Medicare for all would actually save our healthcare system money. We have all this technology from our amazing economy, but for the sake of “free market” we allow pharmaceutical and HMO style organizations bankrupt our people. Oh and by the way, when they price gouge us so we can stay alive by getting treatment, they just take the profits to do stock buy backs and artificially inflate their stock prices to keep the board happy. Maybe if we, by law, demanded that treatment be given to those in need, and limit the price gouging to match that of other countries. Maybe if we did not let emergency rooms charge 500 per visit, and 80 for a band aid… I digress
4) If you think you are truly free. Take a couple months from working. Can't? Well if we taxed the rich, and paid for services rather than a military budget, we could be like Australia. In Australia, once you have worked at a company for 10 years, you get a special ranking of employee which entitles you to 3-4 months of paid vacation. Every. Year. And your job is guaranteed when you return.
SO I AM REALLY TIRED OF BEING FED THAT WE HAVE FREEDOM BECAUSE NO WE THE FUCK DON'T. TLDR: we don't actually need to be working 50 weeks a year for 40 hours a week. That is a lie just to make CEOs more money. Other countries get MONTHS off paid, every, year. We need to demand better.