According to your profile you are from Brazil. You have the highest government mandated paid vacation days of any nation at 41 days and you have to take at least 20 consecutive days to qualify with the law. You also (by law) have a maximum number of working hours per week at 44 not to exceed 8 hours per day. That work week is laughable to most people in the US. Your attitude is expected knowing what country you live in.
I am Brazilian too, so it's important to respond to your uninformed diatribe...Brazil already has the highest C-level earnings of the whole world, as well as extensive mandatory employee benefits which US workers have never dreamed of having. We also have one of the most expensive employee-related costs of any country (apart from Scandinavia), which in the end is the reason why you don't many products "Made in Brazil" out there.
You may call this excessive, but at least it provides a bit of stability to those being employed instead of just allowing companies to throw people in the gutters when they are no longer wanter.
The US, on the other hand, boasts of having a "liberal" (as is non-regulated) market with close to ZERO basic benefits such as health care and mandatory severance. In other words, even if you don't want to you must work as slaves to make a living - the only difference with China is that living costs are much higher; therefore your earnings must also be higher just to cover rent and food in the US.
As for your criticism of vacations days, this is just wrong: Brazilians have 30 calendar days of statutory holidays, just like France, Finland and in line with most European standards (between 25 and 30 days). However, it's almost impossible for Brazilians to really take those 30 days/year in the private sector - most either defer them or get some cash back upon leaving. We also do NOT have the same flexibility as countries like Switzerland and others to work 80% or 60% (most Brazilian employees are either full-time or nothing).
As for a 44-hour week, what the hell would you expect when the whole Europe STILL has averages between 40 and 48 hours, with an average COLLECTIVELY-AGREED week of less than 40 hours?
Once more, the only difference between US and Chinese employees is that your earn more - legally speaking, you are even more slaves than them nonetheless.
p.s.: To draw a parallel between Brazil and Greece is an absolute joke that merits no further consideration. Brazilians are widely known for their high levels of entrepreneurship, not to mention creativity and hard work despite all difficulties.
This is even more evident in the private sector (banking, legal, retail), where people work their arses off to support the growing corporate giants of today - the "lazy" Brazilians that you talk about today own(ed) or manage(d) Burger King, Embraer, BankBoston, Nissan/Peugeot, ABB, Inbev, Vale and Petrobrás; they develop world-famous apps such as Instagram; they excel at management techniques which miraculously merge US, European and even Eastern values.
Brazil is today the world's 6th biggest economy, having sharply reduced inequality over the last 15 years and with record levels of employment. Greece's only luck with its pea-sized economy is to be located in Europe - otherwise, they would be as developed as Tchad.
