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@davidaugust
There are many other benefit to Norwegian taxes.
Lots of people have really good govt jobs here. Good conditions with good pay. This places pressure on corporations to offer good conditions as well. Everyone benefits even if they don't work for the govt.
They also have a wealth tax, which has the net effect of keeping housing affordable. Instead of investors buying lots of houses to rent out and driving up the cost of home ownership, people have a real shot at buying a home to live in.
The third benefit I should mention is everyone in Norway gets to bitch and moan about how much tax they pay, because they have so much time off work to gather and talk to one another!
There are many other benefit to Norwegian taxes.
Lots of people have really good govt jobs here. Good conditions with good pay. This places pressure on corporations to offer good conditions as well. Everyone benefits even if they don't work for the govt.
They also have a wealth tax, which has the net effect of keeping housing affordable. Instead of investors buying lots of houses to rent out and driving up the cost of home ownership, people have a real shot at buying a home to live in.
The third benefit I should mention is everyone in Norway gets to bitch and moan about how much tax they pay, because they have so much time off work to gather and talk to one another!
Worth adding also that European state-funded healthcare produces better health outcomes for less money than the US privatised system.
Plus - not all Norwegians pay more than Americans anyway. What tax you pay in Europe generally depends on what you can afford.
@GeofCox @davidaugust Another benefit of state run healthcare is that you have (some) democratic control over how they are administered.
A privatized system answers to shareholders and their thirst for profits. Also true for education, transportation water and other utilities... Common goods cannot be privately run.
It's important to know that it's not even state-funded in most of Europe. There are tax-finaced single payer systems like in Britain or Denmark, and there are fully private systems like in Switzerland or the Netherlands. And there are mixed-systems like in Germany, where there is private insurance and public (NOT tax-financed) insurance. All of them have in common that health insurance is mandatory and that the health sector is heavily regulated. Patients are patients, not customers to be ripped off like in the states.
I think you have to be careful not to mislead on this Harry. While it's true that there is an insurance element in many of the European health systems, this is generally not that significant. Here in France, for example, a lot of people do have 'top-up' insurance - but it's provided by mutuals, not the private sector, and works in partnership with the state system - and it's only to cover the small part of most treatment not covered directly by the state, and for extras like designer glasses or cosmetic dentistry. Moreover, all serious or chronic illness care is paid 100% by the state, as is all treatment for anybody on a low income.
There are differences between systems, but the French system is typical of most - including the Netherlands, where long-term care needs are state-funded too. Nobody gets into debt or goes bankrupt through health care costs in Europe, as far as I know.
@davidaugust all true for less than 6,000,000 people
@noplasticshower @davidaugust I assume for the majority of us 450,000,000 EU Europeans it is pretty similar. Certainly all of western Europe.
@Mastokarl @noplasticshower @davidaugust I know plenty of old people that would be goners in Greece if it was not for the public health system, with all its issues and delays it has kept them alive.
These are poor people living with pensions 200-300 euro per month.
@davidaugust All told we're probably paying about as much. Especially with the mad king randomly taxing stuff now.
We just get nothing for it. Absolutely nothing. Every penny goes into corporate pockets now.
@nazokiyoubinbou yeah. Same expense but no benefits.
@davidaugust @nazokiyoubinbou Not same expense - there's plenty of evidence that you pay much more for less benefits. Which is not surprising, since that system is primarily a grift for private corporations to squeeze the population ever harder.