capitalism

Out of context: Reply #222

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  • yuekit0

    This is an interesting rundown of the Scandinavian tax system and how it differs from the U.S. People talk about the benefits, but they always ignore the revenue side.

    https://taxfoundation.org/how-sc…

    The key distinction is not necessarily that tax rates are so much higher but they are a lot more evenly distributed. Meaning that not just the rich are taxed at significant levels, but so is everyone.

    And of course in exchange for that you get a lot of benefits -- so it's arguably a win win overall.

    My question is could you ever really get Americans to agree to this.

    yuekit 0Permalink
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    • I'd guess not enough. Maybe if you could flick a switch and have instant Scandinavian-level public services and infrastructure.Fax_Benson
    • we are also comparing a population of 330M to 21M.HijoDMaite
    • too many americans don't want that kind of coverage, and prefer to slowly kill themselves and pray to jeebus that their afflictions will go awaymonospaced
    • People in the US are suckers and used to falling for "free upgrades", so yeah, they would never comprehend "value".formed
    • Plus, half the country believes "socialism" is the devil, but a dictatorship is "ok".formed
    • A nation of Selfish Suckersformed
    • Hijo makes a good point. The USA is too big to get a consensus on anything. It's like getting the entire EU to agree on a universal system.monospaced
    • The last presidential election made this painfully obvious. Near big cities, people are rational and in favor of social reform. Elsewhere, not so much.monospaced
    • And regardless of political affiliation, Americans are rightly skeptical about how the government spends money. It's got a terrible track record.monospaced
    • American ideals at face value have always been anti-socialism. The words “liberty” and “freedom”, as corny as they may sound, are synonymous with America.HijoDMaite
    • Except in USA everyone is happy to suck from the system without contributing.hotroddy
    • don't compare apples to oranges. USA belongs in the same barrel of apples as Venezuela.hotroddy
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