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> Europe's taxes are so high because Hitler preyed on the uncared-for poor to rise to power and begin his reign of terror. That's a complete misreading of the
by alephnerd 2y ago
> Europe's taxes are so high because Hitler preyed on the uncared-for poor to rise to power and begin his reign of terror.
That's a complete misreading of the history of the welfare state in Europe.
Welfarism was always popular in Europe because Bismarck and other conservative European politicians in the late 19th century wanted to co-opt the Labor movement [0]
Staatssozialismus (and it's equivalents across Western Europe) were always fairly popular.
The Catholic Church (a major player in conservative politics at the time) also supported this welfare model as well [1] as they were aligned with the Christian Democracy and Integralism [2] movement.
[0] - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Socialism_(Germany) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Socialism_(Germany)
[1] - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rerum_novarum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rerum_novarum
[2] - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integralism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integralism
- clcaev 2y agoHow does this framing explain/handle widening wealth inequality? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43191284&goto=item%3Fid%3D43190879%2343191284 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43191284&goto=item%3Fid... ^ links to FRED https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBSN40188 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBSN40188 # Share of Total Net Worth Held by the 50th to 90th Wealth Percentiles https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBST01134 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBST01134 # Share of Total Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SIPOVGINIUSA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SIPOVGINIUSA # GINI Index for the United States
- alephnerd 2y agoWhat does this have to do with my response? OP posted that the European welfare state started as a reaction to Hitler's reign. I'm pointing out how this is patently wrong, as Welfarism in Europe was already mainstream well before Hitler became Chancellor.
- MrMcCall 2y agoI didn't say it started then. I said that a French man said they had high taxes (in early 2000s) when I was there, for the reason I mentioned.