The US is the most successful at murdering and imprisoning people in the last 20 years. Fuck yeah Seriously though, the Federal Reserve system allows the rich to take wealth from the masses. The drug war imprisons tens of thousands of poor people every year. The government stands in the way of people trying to help poor people (or even poor people trying to gain wealth through voluntary exchange) with their ridiculous regulations. Social security and medicare taxes combine to take away 7.5% of every worker's income and that's not even including all the taxes their employer has to pay. We live in a corporatist society. The rich get richer through the use of government. They effectively own the government.
That's a start, but your claim that high income taxes correlates with economic stability is still nonsense. I would begin by looking at their economic drivers, such as natural resources, or their budget surpluses prior to the collapse. Are those small scandinavian countries corrupt and plagued with rampant deficit spending? Didn't think so. Where are your examples of successful countries with 100% income tax? Oh yea, didn't think so. PWND!!!! I never claimed 0% income tax countries exist, or would be better, I just said that your assumptions about tax rates and economic stability are bogus. But have you heard of Lichtenstein?
Oh my goodness...such wisdom here. So WITHOUT the wondrous "Great Society" welfare programs, the "War on Poverty", and the Model Cities Program, Detroit and citizens of Detroit would be even worse! Government to the rescue, again. Thank God for Government. For without our wise overlords in DC we'd all be dead in a ditch somewhere or starving to death. Oh did I mention we'd all be uneducated boobs...and if we did have access to food, it most certainly would be riddled with poison.
Its funny how "Happiness" is inversely related to how Free you are. Which would you rather be, free and unhappy or happy and not free?(Since we currently can't have both happiness and freedom just yet) I'm picking freedom 10 times out of 10.
My country has very few natural resources. But you're right, no rampant deficit spending. High taxes? Yes, but combined with sound investments of that tax money.
*warning, the below is meant to be satire* NO, it's not the Federal Reserve (honestly I don't even know what that is). But since it has the word Federal in it, and it's loosely associated with Government, it must be good. The real problem is (and I'd know because I'm rich)...CEO's with pay that outweighs the workers (the real American heros) by up to 1000x. I'd know after-all, my dad and his friends were CEO's. And they said they need to pay more. The solution is clearly more taxes and more government. I'm educated so I know. Did I mention that I'm rich?
You guys have an awesome hydroelectic setup that is able to sell excess to other countries ive heard. How cheap is your electric?
I'd be happier without having 25% of every paycheck go to paying taxes. I know quite a few Americans who would agree with me. I bet if my family didn't have 35+% of our income being taken away by the government, we could feed dozens of poor people with that money. We already donate a small percentage of our income to charity, but with more disposable income, even keeping the percentage the same, the amount that would go to charity would increase. I bet Mr. BongBreaker's family could help feed hundreds if not thousands of poor with all the money they pays in taxes. The government isn't efficient, especially not in regards to its welfare/social programs.
But if high income taxes and vast social programs bankrupt a country, how come those countries were the ones to essentially avoid financial problems? How did they have budget surpluses with so many social programs? Oh yeah, they actually pay for them through income and VAT taxes. When have I ever said "100% income tax is the best"? I've only stated that countries with higher tax rates seem to be financially and socially better off. I also have stated that all people making less than $1,000,000 should see CUTS in their income taxes. I also support usage taxes, essentially taxing those who spend more by placing VATs on items that are not necesities (necesities such as: food, telecommunication, transportation, housing). I've actually been to Vaduz. Plus, unlike here, they actually have a WEALTH TAX there! Meaning that they redistribute the money of the wealthiest people! That's a basic rate of about 22.12% for the typical citizen. My last paycheck saw 20.70% of my money paid to taxes and I live in the high-tax state of California! Oops, looks like their rate is even higher than ours! Plus, it's a TINY country where everyone is highly educated, everyone is basically demographically equal and there are only 35,000 people...less than the NEIGHBORHOOD of Pacific Beach here in San Diego.
I live in a 3-person household and we pay roughly 120 euros a month for electricity, and we're somewhat conscious about not using too much. I'm not entirely sure, but that would probably be pretty expensive for American standards. The cost of living is generally higher in Europe. We sell lots of natural gas, we're sitting on some pretty big quantities of that stuff. My tiny country is the second largest producer of natural gas in Europe. We sell a third of it and consume two thirds. But our economy depends very heavily on foreign trade, we make money from distribution and transportation. The world's second largest sea port is in Rotterdam. Shitloads of cocaine come through there and they don't really make much of an effort to intercept it. I could if I went through the process of obtaining a license. I have never done that so no, I can't own a gun legally. I still consider myself to be very free. I firmly believe our strict gun laws are truly in place to protect us. And as long as we have such a low murder rate that I don't rationally need a gun to protect myself, I will continue to support them. I think America is a completely different story. I think I would buy a gun if I was an American.
I think I am. I can start up my own business if I want. Of course there are limits. Even in anarchy people are not completely free. They are not free to kill because they would then likely still be punished.
If you determine freedom by the amount of taxes you pay, freedom is hard to find in any civilization.
I've been told many times Switzerland is one of the best places to live in the world and I believe they also have one of the highest tax rates. Sounds good to me. I'd rather not need cash if the government pays for everything I need already. It means the cash is just extra and you don't have to fret about not having enough or how to spend it.
I don't think taxes is preventing people from giving to charity. How often do people give their tax cut away to charity?
Socialists have the courtesy to kill themselves when they are going to become a burden on the state...