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America back in the 1950s had even higher rates than those countries do now without all of the "free stuff" they enjoy today.
In fact the top marginal tax rate in 1960 was 91%.
You want to control someone, control their money, which is exactly why Europeans don't have the freedoms that we do. We make our own decisions with regard to pension, health care, where to work, whether to join a union, which means we have economic mobility unheard of in Western/Northern Europe.
Oooopsy!
You've got it exactly 180 degrees reversed. The majority of you don't get to make those decisions. AND you're the most controlled bunch on the planet. Homeland Security, NSA, TSA, FBI, CIA, DEA, with your country pioneering the concept of the flying public needing to have their "Y" fronts explored by high school drop outs before getting on a dang plane.
Patriot Act and it's later stepchild but oxymoronic named Freedom Act? Nobody in the first world nations has more data collected about it's citizens by it's government than yours.
Before you go on about the "subjectivity" of those scores and follow up with the default "fake news" nonsense; it's not just one independent org or agency performing those measures, but virtually ALL of them.
You want to control someone, control their money, which is exactly why Europeans don't have the freedoms that we do. We make our own decisions with regard to pension, health care, where to work, whether to join a union, which means we have economic mobility unheard of in Western/Northern Europe.
Unless you live in a state that all but bans unions. Or you had an existing condition that allowed insurers to refuse to extend a policy pre-Obamacare. Or you do not have access to a pension....
But no I do not want to be like the Scandinavian countries because we could not. We are more diverse, have much different problems, do not have as uniform of education, do not embrace the same work practices, etc. I'd prefer we simply became a better version of ourselves.
I’m a bit lost. There’s been talk about having a flat tax here in the U.S., but other countries do it then it’s wrong??
None of the Scandinavian countries have flat taxes, the claim that they do is incorrect.
The thread starter doesn't seem to have a good grasp of how the systems work in those countries, he has rather picked some numbers he has seen somewhere and not understood them.
Yes, in some respects I would like us to be like them.
I'd be good with paying 50% of my income in taxes if I got real service in return - good public infrastructure, a reliable safety net, good education system, good comprehensive healthcare.
...as opposed to paying a good 40%+ of my income in taxes here to fund a massive military industrial complex while our infrastructure is **** and healthcare as well as education is ridiculously expensive.
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