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Denmark is #2 on the list of "least corrupt countries". It's also very high on the "great place to do business" list, it also does really well when it comes to

Denmark is #2 on the list of "least corrupt countries". It's also very high on the "great place to do business" list, it also does really well when it comes to social mobility. Basically, all the things the US used to be good at, 40 years ago. Denmark is also, to the typical US Republican, a "socialist high-taxation hellhole". So I don't quite buy your libertarian "all government is bad" viewpoint, I don't buy it at all. Look at all the countries that are leading the world when it comes to quality of life, affordable health-care, high social mobility, low income inequality, non-intrusive bureaucracy - how many of those are right-wing libertarian leaning? I don't see any.

pitaj 8y ago
> Denmark is #2 on the list of "least corrupt countries". It's also very high on the "great place to do business" list, it also does really well when it comes to social mobility. Basically, all the things the US used to be good at, 40 years ago. Denmark is also, to the typical US Republican, a "socialist high-taxation hellhole". Denmark is well above the US in rankings of economic freedom [1], which was exactly my point. While it does have high taxation, by some metrics it isn't that much worse than the US, especially including the rent-seeking parasites in our current complicated system. Supporting practical solutions in the size and scope of government includes things like tax reform, which is why I support removing all loopholes, rebates, and deductions. I'd like to see an income tax where you plug your income into a simple mathematical function, and it calculates what you must pay. > So I don't quite buy your libertarian "all government is bad" viewpoint, I don't buy it at all. My point is not that all government is bad (though there is an argument to be made), but that more government is generally worse. The more complicated, more taxes, more beurocracy, more military, more spending, etc, the worse it is for the people. > Look at all the countries that are leading the world when it comes to quality of life Standard of living is proportional to economic freedom > affordable health-care US health-care is a great example of how much damage government can do to the market. The fact that US healthcare isn't absolutely the worst is a testimony to how much punishment the market can take. > high social mobility, low income inequality, non-intrusive bureaucracy All proportional to or responsible for economic freedom > how many of those are right-wing libertarian leaning There's a good argument that while the welfare policies and whatnot are far in the other direction, these places actually have much more right-libertarian economic policy than the US. In fact, there's good evidence that the prosperity of these nations are because of previously much more libertarian policy in general. [1]: https://www.heritage.org/index/country/denmark https://www.heritage.org/index/country/denmark

pitaj 8y ago

> Denmark is #2 on the list of "least corrupt countries". It's also very high on the "great place to do business" list, it also does really well when it comes to social mobility. Basically, all the things the US used to be good at, 40 years ago. Denmark is also, to the typical US Republican, a "socialist high-taxation hellhole". Denmark is well above the US in rankings of economic freedom [1], which was exactly my point. While it does have high taxation, by some metrics it isn't that much worse than the US, especially including the rent-seeking parasites in our current complicated system. Supporting practical solutions in the size and scope of government includes things like tax reform, which is why I support removing all loopholes, rebates, and deductions. I'd like to see an income tax where you plug your income into a simple mathematical function, and it calculates what you must pay. > So I don't quite buy your libertarian "all government is bad" viewpoint, I don't buy it at all. My point is not that all government is bad (though there is an argument to be made), but that more government is generally worse. The more complicated, more taxes, more beurocracy, more military, more spending, etc, the worse it is for the people. > Look at all the countries that are leading the world when it comes to quality of life Standard of living is proportional to economic freedom > affordable health-care US health-care is a great example of how much damage government can do to the market. The fact that US healthcare isn't absolutely the worst is a testimony to how much punishment the market can take. > high social mobility, low income inequality, non-intrusive bureaucracy All proportional to or responsible for economic freedom > how many of those are right-wing libertarian leaning There's a good argument that while the welfare policies and whatnot are far in the other direction, these places actually have much more right-libertarian economic policy than the US. In fact, there's good evidence that the prosperity of these nations are because of previously much more libertarian policy in general. [1]: https://www.heritage.org/index/country/denmark https://www.heritage.org/index/country/denmark