this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2024
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Everyone doesn't live in 1st world countries.
I'm in one of those places where people barely make a living even after pretty much working to death. I am still a student and I have been lucky enough to be born into a more fortunate family. I don't have firsthand experience, so I will give an example.
A good example is my teachers. They have a 6 to 5 job 6 days of the week, and their monthly salary is equivalent to 865USD.
The fact that I can use the internet and tech as much as I want is a blessing
the amount of equivalent USD is mostly meaningless in regular life. What matters is what you can buy in that place for how much they make. And also what you have to buy and what goes besides your paycheck (socialised healthcare in scandinavia vs higher wages in usa for example).
For example within Europe: yes, wages are way lower in eastern EU countries than in some western EU countries, but so is the price of coffee, the rent etc. That only becomes tangible when you travel.
It's an underdeveloped country, everything is imported so prices are much higher than what you'd expect. The government is corrupt, there is no free public healthcare or education.
You simply can not sustain a family without having one of your family members in a foreign country as the breadwinner. If you can't go abroad, it's grueling poverty for you, good luck caring for your sick parents or sending your kids to school. Even our nation's leaders send their children abroad for studies/job.
Yeah, the USD equivalent doesn't mean much if your nation actually has something to offer in exchange for your low wages, but that is definetly not the case everywhere.
That's why "Why would anyone ever work over 60 hours?" first seemed like a sarcastic comment to me.
Everywhere isn't europe or america guys