> As we have much better welfare and higher taxes, income inequality is much lower here in Europe. And in particular violent crime is much much lower as a resul

> As we have much better welfare and higher taxes, income inequality is much lower here in Europe. And in particular violent crime is much much lower as a result. I don't think this is an obvious inference. There are many factors that cause crime, and violent crime. E.g. I don't know if this is valid, but as an example to consider: America has countries to its south that are markedly different in prosperity. As people move from those countries into America, wealth disparity goes up without anyone doing anything to make others poorer. If Western Europe doesn't have this same situation, then the disparity won't be constantly increased, and it's easier to optimise over time with taxes. Or how about this: the US taxpayer pays for the majority of global defence. If you live in a Western European country, you have benefitted from this. You may have only recently joined NATO having suddenly realised it's time to buy some insurance one second before the car crash, and luckily for you the US is willing to be that insurer that accepts you. This means you could spend money on vote-winning policies instead of on national defence for a long time. As I say, there are many factors. Just saying that raising taxes and increasing welfare are the keys to lowering violent crime is not sufficient, I think.