Someone Said Americans "Don't Know How Good They Have It," And Americans Clapped Back

“I can’t even afford teeth on 80 hours of work each week.”

"Your employer chooses which insurance company you have. If you leave your job and move to a new employer, that employer may have a completely different plan, and your current doctors may not be covered, so when you switch jobs, you have to switch all your doctors, too. This really sucks if you're chronically ill and need certain specialists. If you leave your job in the middle of the year, all your deductibles reset to zero.

Sometimes a hospital will be covered under your insurance, and the surgeon will be covered, but the anesthesiologist they use is not. So you'll think your surgery bill is covered and then get a bill for $10,000.

A lot of care isn't covered at all, and the insurance companies get to decide what kind of care you get. Also, remember that the US doesn't have guaranteed parental leave. It's classified as a 'benefit' that companies can elect to give you or not. Most companies only give 14 days of leave per year. So a lot of our mothers go back to work after only a few days off after giving birth, especially in the service industry.

Our healthcare payments and insurance are not like any other country's, and it isn't healthcare — because they don't actually care about your health — it's sick care. If you are chronically ill in this country and not a billionaire, you will be poor."

"Dental. Retirement is taken out of my paycheck. Accidents. Taxes. By the end of the month, I was usually skipping meals to afford my bills. I was only able to save less than $1,000 a year. My vacations were spent seeing family — my parents live a six-hour car ride from me, and my sister is an eight-hour car ride, or I fly if I can afford it.

Also, in the US, if you buy a house or condo in my city, you pay taxes on that at the time of purchase, and every year, the same with cars. Right now, a two-bedroom unit in my city runs $400,000 to $500,000 on the cheaper end — not luxury. For a $450,000 property, you're paying between $7,500 and $9,000 in taxes annually. And that's after the closing tax cost at the time of purchase, which would be around $3,300 for only the city tax. All closing costs and taxes are usually around 2% to 5%, or $9,000 to $22,500.

The sales tax on regular purchases in my city is 10.25%. So a shirt listed at $30 — a typical cost for a low-end, cheap shirt — actually costs you $33.08 at the register, because the tax isn't shown in the price, and that adds up."

"I pay a tax everywhere, and I get — checks notes — the privilege of being broke with no social safety net. Oh, and I guess a military? This is just the taxes. I didn't even go into other expenses. I would love to pay taxes if I saw an actual return instead of blatant misuse and corruption."

Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.