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Comment by vba616 | Hacker News Reader

> it is (socially, in terms of security) a desert hellscape

>Of course, such numbers mostly make sense in the US because it is (socially, in terms of security) a desert hellscape. The lower top salary in the EU comes with the benefit of knowing that if you go blind you won't have to die shitting yourself in some crackhouse.

Can you elaborate?

I assume the canonical source for information about the US is American TV, but I really can't imagine what you watch that makes you think there is no safety net, even for people making $100K.

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I have american colleagues who are undergoing various treatments and they know they can't lose their job because their health insurance would end and they cannot afford to pay for it without a job. Yes some kind of medicaid or other would eventually kick in, but it would still mean potentially months of going without cancer treatment because you lost your job.

In (most) European states it's just not a concern that anyone ever has - if you are getting treatment under national health service then it has nothing to do with your employment status and any treatment would just continue. If you need time off due to ilness it has to be paid for as well(employer only pays for a while, then the state takes over).

Have your American colleagues ever mentioned any US programs, laws, or benefits instituted after 1965?

Maybe, how would I know?

You might not, but I would.

Is there a safety net? (Honest question from a European)

There’s a patchwork of federal, state, and local safety nets with a lot of holes to fall through. Generally speaking, you have to be just fortunate enough (esp. with regard to mental health, social support, and having a mailing address) to have the wherewithal to secure the benefits, but not so fortunate that you don’t qualify. People with everything stacked against them tend to become homeless, and there are few people going out into the field to rescue them.

So there is obviously no bottom-most robust safety net, as plainly evidenced by the homeless situation. But there are a bunch of safety nets that do sustain millions of people. Welfare, subsidized housing, social security (retirement, and disability), medicare, Medicaid, to name the big ones.

> there are few people going out into the field to rescue them

>So there is obviously no bottom-most robust safety net, as plainly evidenced by the homeless situation

What is your perspective on schizophrenia?

In severe cases, they fall into the unable to secure benefits / care for themselves category. In the absence of consistent policy, they're at the mercy of individual psychiatrists who have sole discretion to place them in long term care, or turn them out on the street. In America, life is like a box of chocolates.

> I really can't imagine what you watch that makes you think there is no safety net

Every single US citizen I've ever spoken to has made this clear (sometimes only after a while) without fail.

Can you list off the top of your head five laws, programs, or benefits that your American buddies making six figures told you don't count as part of a safety net?

Apart from anything mentioned in this thread.

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