Week 9 Reflection

I chose to do my reflection blog entry this week on the article, "As Good As It Gets". I really enjoyed this article because it focused more on the people who have lived through the type of retirement system in the Netherlands instead of the numbers or statistics. There were numbers and statistics as well, but they were easy to follow and seemed very relatable. I think it is very significant to the times we are living in right now in the US with the Affordable Healthcare Act and Healthcare Reform. There are some similarities, but a vast amount of differences as well. I, for one, don't think that a forced retirement age of 65 is so bad if you know, for sure, that you were getting the pension promised to you from the government and if they don't tell you how you can spend your retirement. They also seem to have a better since of community than we do in the US. The Dutch believe in the family unit and taking care of each other. They are very traditional and tend to be conservative, hard working and try to enjoy life to the fullest. The way their government or state is set-up makes it easier for them to enjoy life. The Netherlands is very small compared to the US. I think it is reasonable to start making the laws and rules at the state level instead of the federal level because each state is so different in it's culture and environment. I don't know if we will know for quite some time if the current changes are going to make or break the country. I, myself, am not looking forward to the higher taxes and less income.