> The American fantasy promoted by corporations is that taxes are bad, and > taxes are so much higher in European countries with cradle to grave > popular social programs. Actually Americans pay much more in money and > time for basic necessities that others elsewhere have decided that all > their citizens--and guests--have a right to be covered by popular > government programs. These programs aren't necessarily provided by the > governments either; however things like health care are universal, with > government oversight of private nonprofits more often than > government-run programs.
Absolutely right. It's a decision made by the citizens of each country (well, each democratic country, anyway): do you want lower tax + higher out-of-pocket, or do you want higher tax and lower out-of-pocket? Higher taxes aren't necessarily bad. It's just a different way of paying for things. We pay less tax than some, but we make up for it in higher out-of-pocket expense. Within the last year I saw (can't remember where) a comparison of the total expense (taxes + things that taxes often help cover in high tax countries). When you do that, the US is no longer in the middle of the pack. We're much closer to the top, i.e., most expensive. Interestingly, if you look at any of the "national happiness" rankings, the high tax countries are very competitive with the US and often come out ahead. In one of them, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Austria, and Sweden and all ahead of the US--and every one of them has a higher tax rate. So high taxes by themselves don't ruin anyone's life, no matter how badly certain American political parties want you to believe that. "Tax & spend" isn't inherently bad. It's all about HOW the taxes are spent, and what you get in return. ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
