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Reasonable Salary for Entry Level Programmers?
An anonymous reader asks: "I will be graduating from college in May with a degree in computer science. I have begun the job search and gone on a few interviews. So far I have gotten two job offers which I am thankful for, but the salary seems low. I am not saying that I am too good to pay my dues and work my way up, but I could make more waiting tables. It is somewhat distressing that I have spent 4 years of college and years before that developing my programming skills. I am not trying to get rich, but I was hoping that the high level of skill required would account for something(no offense intended to waiters). Can anyone give me any insight about what a reasonable starting salary would be, for an entry level software engineer?"
Health care is so expensive primarily because of medical malpractice lawsuits. Don't believe me? Check out health care costs in Mexico. Contrary to belief of many in the U.S., it is actually pretty good. In fact I live near the border and I know a lot of people who go to Mexico for medical and dental care and also to buy meds. And because they don't have huge amounts of lawsuits and sky high malpractice insurance premiums to contend with, care is much more affordable. Most surgical procedures are roughly 1/2 the cost in the U.S. And for those who think it couldn't work that way in the U.S., look at the costs of veterinary care. You can't tell me that surgical procedures cost that much less to perform on animals than they do on people, but yet similar procedures are a fraction of the cost for animals in the U.S. than people. The difference? When was the last time you heard of a multimillion dollar judgement against a vet? And that is reflected in what they pay for malpractice insurance -- peanuts.
Also in Mexico they spend a lot less money on advertising, both for hospitals and on prescription drugs. Same thing is true for veterinary drugs. The same drugs for animals here in the U.S. are a fraction of the price of what drug companies charge for people. And hospitals and clinics in Mexico and veterinary hospitals and clinics in the U.S. are also typically smaller, more local, and a lot less ornate and elaborate. We spend a lot of money on needless show in health care in the U.S.