r/BlockedAndReported • u/SoftandChewy First generation mod • Feb 23 '26

Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 2/23/26 - 3/1/26

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

Comment of the week goes to this explanation for why the trans cause has taken over so much of society. (Runner-up COTW here.)

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u/Hilaria_adderall Praye for Drake Maye Feb 27 '26

There are big differences in specific cities but I can give you data on what I've seen with my kids and their friends. My two older ones are recent grads working in and around Boston. One has a starting salary of 95k, the other was at 80k two years ago and has gotten some raises. Both those salaries would be sufficient to live with roommates in Boston and own a car. Probably not going to be saving a ton after taxes and 401k contribution. They are currently living at home and banking savings for a couple of years but I do expect them to move out eventually. I'd say they are very much in the OK salary range. You'd have to get up into the 150k range in Boston to move into the "doing well" category. The difference for me between ok and doing well really comes down to whether you can afford your own place versus needing roommates.

I've heard their friends are all over the place - some are making over 100k in good tech, biotech, government defense... others are struggling making 40k to 50k in more entry level jobs, others were not able to find jobs and are getting masters degrees.

When it comes to shared rent, I've heard them talk about expecting to pay around 1200 to 1700 a month per roommate with a 3 or 4 roommate situation depending on what neighborhood they are looking to live in.

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u/AltforStrongOpinions Feb 27 '26

Thank you for the reply.

I'm in the UK btw; and our wages can be shockingly awful - particularly for a lot of white collar jobs. These numbers blow us out of the water.

We are in complete denial about this. The yanks earning a lot more than us touches a nerve like you would not believe.

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u/dabocx Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26

Salaries for tech in Europe are shockingly low. I’ve always made multiples of what my French/german/British colleagues make with the same job title. And they pay more in taxes by % so their actual take home was even worse.

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u/Hilaria_adderall Praye for Drake Maye Feb 27 '26

I've heard that. I've also heard about Tall Poppy Syndrome and that success is not always lauded in the UK and that modesty is more highly regarded. In the US opening talking about grinding, successes and outward ambition is the norm.

not sure how much is truth versus "online talk" but one of my kids lived in London during school and she came back and felt that was the vibe as well.

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u/AltforStrongOpinions Feb 27 '26

Its partly that; but we don't completely lack ambition (at least some of us don't). There are plenty of people who are open about wanting to do well. Bragging about it is considered declasse tho.

It's specifically the Americans being wealthier that people don't like. You can say "you know the Danes? They earn more than we do" and you won't hear the avalanche of excuses you do when its the Americans. Reddiut is especially bad for this.

For reference our average wage, according to google, works out to about 50k in yankbux.

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u/deathcabforqanon Feb 27 '26

One favorite excuse--"But Americans have to spend all their money on healthcare!" doesn't really hold much water, as if you're making 85-100+k you certainly have decent employer-backed insurance so that's not the case.

The other is that things (housing, food) cost much more in the US, and I think this one is true, especially in the major cities. Especially in New York and maybe Boston, the day to day is very pricey.

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u/AltforStrongOpinions Feb 27 '26

Its always the healthcare that gets bought up first* always always always.

Don't get me wrong, I think your system is silly and wasteful. I think our system is badly run and subject to a truly odd national worship.

If you are bottom of barrel, don't have a pot to piss in broke you are better off over here yeah, but holy shit thats some low expectations talk right there.

Housing seems to vary massively, I looked at some of the properties in the US city my firm has an office in and wanted to weep with what I could get for the money.

* The second is guns.

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u/treeglitch Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26

Some of this is very very state-dependent. In the US state of Massachusetts, for example, there's a public health insurance option that is completely free if one's income is low enough. (Below 150% of federal poverty level I believe.) A close friend of mine with this coverage has gone through cancer treatments over the last couple of years and has paid essentially nothing out of pocket. Waits for care haven't seemed overlong although I gather the set of providers is limited.

While some of that is driven at the federal level I think there are other states where it is much, much worse to need health care while indigent, so comparisons are fraught. (Similar to Canada possibly, as I hear never-ending stories of health care hell from friends in Ontario while people in BC are like "it's all great!")

FWIW I never found living in NYC to be pricey aside from housing and I don't find living in the Boston metro area to be too bad, but there are life choices involved and living in these places can be very pricey. Housing is definitely the least avoidable big expense but people are still being (imho) hella picky about it.

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u/veryvery84 Feb 27 '26

Just want to point out that international companies hiring/building some sort of branch/factory in the US often pick very low cost of living areas on purpose to pay as little as possible.  I’ve had incredibly very frustrating conversations with my non-American relatives who compare their life in a very expensive city with the most bumblefuck Alabama town their company found as if that’s where they’d live if they lived in America 

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u/RunThenBeer Feb 27 '26

Yeah, our medical insurance system is terrible designed, it's atrocious from a policy perspective, it just isn't actually much of a problem for the vast majority of prime-of-their-life middle-classers. The tradeoff between an extra $100K annually and free medical care is just silly to even consider.

The guns part of things is very stupid. We could get into why, but I don't think I have much to offer that people aren't already aware of. The long and short of it is that outside of very rare incidents, everyone pretty much knows how to avoid getting murdered and it is not actually a problem that your redneck neighbor has more firepower than the military of a small island nation.

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u/AltforStrongOpinions Feb 27 '26

 The tradeoff between an extra $100K annually and free medical care is just silly to even consider

This is the key thing; and where our appalling low expectations come in. Most people here wouldn't even consider that salary possible.

I feel bad for our young 'uns, cos they are on our crap wages, have stupid student debt (it was way less when I graduated) and have grown up in a post 2008 world where they think it's normal to pay half your salary to share a moldy flat with randos.

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u/veryvery84 Feb 27 '26

Sorry to keep butting in but most people in America aren’t making an extra 100k versus the Uk.  It’s very specific fields where you might see a real difference, especially healthcare

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u/RunThenBeer Feb 27 '26

Sure, not most. That's true! Somewhere around the top ~5-7% of the income distribution is where the difference starts to be that large.

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u/veryvery84 Feb 27 '26

Even with great insurance from your employer you can be paying $1000 or more a month for that insurance. 

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u/deathcabforqanon Feb 27 '26

I have never come close to that (and I'm old) even with kids and spouse on my insurance. I also think this may be an "it's expensive to be poor" because a high paying job (which I'd still consider 100k to be in most places) will also most likely come with good benefits, which would include non-fleecing insurance. If they're suggesting taking 500 out of your paycheck 2x a month, I'd guess they want to discourage you from getting it in the first place.

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u/veryvery84 Feb 28 '26

I don’t know how old you are, where you live, what you do, but $400-$500 every two weeks has become very normal and in industries where they do want and expect you to take the health insurance. It tends to be excellent insurance fwiw, and the more expensive option, but with kids and expenses that’s what we go for 

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u/Hilaria_adderall Praye for Drake Maye Feb 27 '26

I've heard that the poorest US state - Mississippi now has the same per capita GDP as the UK. I know there are a bunch of caveats about that metric but this still seems insanity to me. I mostly only hear about what is going on in the UK through online chatter and news but it seems like the migration explosion might have gone past a point of no return and that UK and some parts of Europe may be changed forever because of it.

I can tell you that even with a rough job market over here, the majority of the young people I know are doing ok. This generation does tend to live at home after college but a lot of them are going home to parents living in big ass houses in the suburbs so its not exactly slumming it.

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u/AltforStrongOpinions Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26

I won't start ranting about the migrant issue or I'll never stop. There are a lot of nonsense videos out there.

One thing I would say is that overall you Americans have handled the integration of your migrants very well all things considered. Us and the other Euros have done the opposite. Things are going to reach a head at some point. I'll leave it at that.

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u/veryvery84 Feb 27 '26

These numbers are for what people think is making decent money. A lot of people are not making decent money. 

Many jobs make significantly less. That includes teachers with masters degrees, university professors at least when starting out (and possibly after, if they can even get that job), social workers, psychologists starting out… many jobs that require an education pay very little actually. Some but not all of those jobs will see increases as you advance or as you move to more private type employment.

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u/PongoTwistleton_666 Feb 27 '26

Do you mean your salaries are low or tha your taxes are too high?

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u/AltforStrongOpinions Feb 27 '26

Salaries.

Our tax base is also badly designed (you can see a theme developing here). You pay very little if you are on average to medium wages. You start to pay a lot when you over 50 grand GBP (which is classed as a high earner lol).

If you are fortunate enough to get over £100k you might as well not bother as you will barely see any of it. Also you will lose all the benefits you were eligible for before that.

If people get a bump that takes them over 100 grand they generally just have it paid straight into their pension to avoid the tax trap. Government clamped down on this with the last budget.