The History Of Labor Day from The U.S. Department of Labor
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
How far we’ve come. We’ve come so far BACKWARD since 2000 that I can no longer see much less dream of where we were.
U.S. versus Them: (a nowhere nearly complete comparison) Source
In the U.S. less than 15% of the workforce belong to unions.
- Until recently The legal minimum wage was a scandalous $5.15 per hour
- 21.5% of all children live in poverty
- The U.S. has the highest per capita health care costs of any country but is far from the top in longevity
- Over 40 million people have no health insurance what-so-ever
- The typical worker gets only 12 days vacation
- 11 holidays
- 7 sick days
- wages have been stagnant since 2000
In Denmark and Sweden 96% of the workers belong to unions
- Everyone is provided fairly easy access to high-quality healthcare.
- There are virtually no visible poor.
- In Sweden only 2.7% of all children live in poverty.
In France 28% of the workforce belong to unions.
- Only 6.5% of their children live in poverty
- Everyone has healthcare
- The French typically get 25 vacation days.
- 10 holidays
- 19 sick days
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves the much higher compensation.”
~Abraham Lincoln
A Nationwide Holiday according to the U. S. Department of Labor
The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.
How far we’ve come.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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100% of Sweden’s workers pay at LEAST 60% income tax and some pay as much as 72% income tax. In the U.S. the percentage of tax paid by individual ranges between 0% and as much as 36% with the poorest Americans paying 0% and the wealthiest paying 36%.
Here are a few FACTS about how Sweden stacks up to the U.S.
individual median income 2004:
Sweden:
203,400.00 SEK = 29,790.66 USD
United States:
$36,884
Incidentally, the incomes are PRE tax deductions.
Average price of a home 2004:
Sweden:
1,700,000 SEK = $247,327.90 USD
United States:
$264,540
This site is an EXCELLENT illustration as to why Sweden does NOT better provide for its citizens than does the United States. The chart best illustrates the point that even with Sweden’s punitive taxes and socialist society just as many people are in the lowest 10% of earners in Sweden as are in the U.S. Unlike the United States, Sweden clearly prevents millions of citizens from reaching the 10 percentile of income.
Perhaps your concern is not that there are so many poor in the United States but that there are so many people in the United States who are in the top 10% income bracket.
I have lived in Sweden and there are DEFINITELY poor people. However, there are not the beggers and homeless that you see in the U.S. because there is a sense of personal PRIDE that does not allow Sweds to let themselves become homeless beggers. There are also asylums where the mentally ill are housed. Keep in mind in the 70’s liberals fought long and hard to have it declared a violation of a person’s civil rights to keep them institutionalized just because they were feather plucking NUTZ. Incidentally, Sweden considers alcoholism and other drug addictions to be the result of “mental illness” thus those addicts are “institutionalized” until they are no longer addicts.
As for the high percentage of children living in poverty in the U.S.
One of the BEST ways for there to be lower percentage of children living in poverty is that impoverished people should STOP having children THEY cannot afford.
I do not know how many children you elected to have but I only have one because I felt we could only provide the BEST and MOST opportunities to ONLY one child.
Having children is a PRIVELEDGE not a RIGHT. It is the RESPONSIBILITY of the PARENTS to provide for ALL of their children. If women were MORE selective about whom they allowed to father their children then perhaps there would NOT be sooooo many impoverished children.