RE: Friends, brothers, Steemian! Lend me your ears!
I’m actually a believer In taxes. I know, I know, I made you cry, but hear me out. Countries with the highest taxes ( north European countries, Scandinavian and where I live, the Netherlands) have the happiest people!
I do believe that taxes work if they are spend correctly and make sure that people have a safety net before falling into poverty. This doesn’t mean I believe it’s enough, and that I should t give. The system isn’t perfect, and also there are many others in the world that need help.
I’m happy to pay my heavy taxes, as long as there aren’t people that can’t get medical care. I’m happy to pay my taxes, as long as all children can eat and also get subsidized to do sports if their parents can’t afford it. I’m happy to pay high taxes if all children can get an education and have a chance to go to university. If dads can take leave on the codt of the state after their child is born, just like mums. As long as people don’t have to work two jobs. Etc. it’s not the taxes that are a problem, as long as we take care of each other. And I believe in the Netherlands the system works, not perfectly, but there is no perfect.
Lol you didn't make me cry, I promise. I read everything here with my mind as open as I can have it, with the goal of being able to open it even more.
I understand where you're coming from, as taxation was created to do good things, but the market has shown time and time again that the private sector is vastly more efficient at charity work than government. At least in the US. Not sure your situation in the Netherlands.
So imagine if people had MORE money to put into a more efficient system! If you had the choice to donate your money to a system that is more efficient and effective, wouldn't you choose that system?
I do understand where you are comming from as well. I think that it is a matter of scale and heritage. Europe after the war needed a social system to build up the countries again. Even the most right-wing parties will not let go of this social system, as people see it as a basic right to have medical care, education , etc. but the scale of our country is tiny. The USA is so great ( not trump great :-) that it is much more difficult to run efficiently. Privatization in our country only have made certain elements less efficient and more profit focused ( public transport for instance), therefore privatization has a bad connotation here.
I think that as long as a government is not corrupt, and a country is quite small, centralized power in a government with democracy ,I think,is still the least bad form of politics
All of that is hard for me to comprehend. An efficient government is beyond my understanding. You and I probably agree greatly about the president here.
So when you say that even the most right wing people accept the social programs in your country, do y'all not have anarchists over there? There seems to be a larger number here every day that are drawn to fundamentalist liberty.
How are the property rights over there? That's a big point for anarchists/libertarians, and I understand it has historically been of paramount importance to the Dutch. Is that still the case?
Indeed, I would not have voted for Trump if I was an USA citizen, but I did vote quite right wing in the last election. It wa a strategic vote to make sure extreme right wouldn’t get the main portion and would rule. We have a lot more flavors to choose from.
I think our healthcare was very similar to what Bernie Sanders proposed, but it is certainly not perfect, and is starting to cost the poorest still too much money ( as there is an own risk of 400 euro, but this is not on visits to hospital or doctors, but is on medicine, which means that if you are chronically ill, your costs are yearly)
Our system is similar to US that we pay insurance, the whole of Netherlands pays it, but the government decides how much insurance we pay, and the poorest get money back on their tax. Children are free, adults cost about 1200 euro a year. The government also decided which essentials are covered in the insurance ( the basic rights to see a doctor and get treated) and the cost of own risk. The government even goes and negotiated with pharmaceutical companies about the cost of new medicine and the coverage with insurance companies. So not anarchistic at all, quite controlled by the government actually. I would prefer a system like England actually, where healthcare is completely controlled by the government, and is free for everybody (NHS). So nobody pays directly.
It has its flaws as well, but at least everybody gets treated, always. The costs are rising, and people are complaining, as well, so there is no perfect. But I would want this over the fact that people need to start raising money to get treated for deseases.
I’m intrigued what you mean with property rights. I’m not familiar with what you are revering to.
I own a house, but bought it via the bank, and have a mortgage. I think that is similar to everywhere else.