BRATTLEBORO — I appreciated Paul Millman's article. It is refreshing to hear a businessperson call for paid sick time for workers and to support legislative mandates. He is absolutely correct that unless we take some of these measures, we will not be able to attract the educated workforce we need in our state and, indeed, in our nation.
I would like to push his argument even further.
Our peer nations, especially those in the European Union - representing nearly 30 countries and a half-billion people - have had legislatively mandated benefits for decades.
Contrary to some of our American myths, Europeans do not have a society that will somehow lead to Soviet-style Communism. Rather, they creatively combine capitalism with generous social-safety nets that help everyone, not just the poor.
Also contrary to our misunderstandings, Europeans are not overburdened by taxes.
As Steven Hill points out in his 2010 book, Europe's Promise, when we factor in our additional fines, fees, premiums, and other expenditures along with our taxes just to receive basic “benefits,” our rates are nearly as high as Europe's - for much less in return.
Over the past 60 years, our peer European nations have surpassed us in nearly every quality-of-life measure: paid time off, wages, savings, health care, life expectancy, shorter work week, lower homicide and incarceration rates, smaller wage gap, and reduced energy consumption/carbon footprint.
The European economy is robust and its people are routinely ranked as the happiest in the world. We can learn a lot from our European peers - and we must, for the sake of future generations.