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> It is not realistic to believe that we can become a nice wholesome European country if we just raise taxes a bit. The extra money will just be squandered and
by zahlman 7mo ago
> It is not realistic to believe that we can become a nice wholesome European country if we just raise taxes a bit. The extra money will just be squandered and stolen.
Why, in your view, doesn't the same thing happen to them?
- Teever 7mo agoSimply put the people in those countries who spend the money care about the people who gave them the money. They view themselves as stewards of these resources and genuinely want to spend them optimally to ensure the best return for everyone in society including future generations. That isn't the case in America and will never be the case. America is a failed state.
- animal_spirits 7mo agoI would not put this on America being a failed state. Rather the more 'successful' European countries are far more homogenous in demographics than America ever will be. In Denmark, nearly everyone has the same cultural background and similar values, and are striving for a relatively unified vision/goal for the country. In America, there is such an overwhelming diversity in values and cultures, and added animosity between different groups of people that there is more infighting over government&private resources and less efficient use of them.
- overfeed 7mo ago> Rather the more 'successful' European countries are far more homogenous in demographics than America ever will be. In Denmark, nearly everyone has the same cultural background and similar values, and are striving for a relatively unified vision/goal for the country. Can you explain this reasoning without implying American political leaders (or perhaps broader society) are racist? As a counterpoint France, Germany, Canada and Australia are far from homogeneous, but offer far stronger social safety nets than the US. IIRC, 1 in 4 Australians were born elsewhere.
- overfeed 7mo agoDownvote all you want, but y'all still haven't explicitly named the linkage between demographic diversity and American tax policy vis-a-vis threadbare social safety. Instead of asking the reader to fill in the gaps, I challenge anyone who believes it to explain the mechanism linking the diversity prior/stimulus to the tax policy result, and why it only happens in America.
- remarkEon 7mo agoIn a place as diverse as America, democracy starts to resemble a racial headcount. Elections start to hinge on explicit appeals to particular ethnicities or sub groups. Political parties are very loud about this and they don’t try to hide it at all. I thought it was clear why this only happens in America (the aforementioned diversity).
- bdangubic 7mo agowhat does this have to do with tax policy?
- remarkEon 7mo agoIf some groups are disproportionately benefited by certain social spending while a different group is disproportionately impacted by the associated taxes to fund said spending, you get a divergence in the ability to burden share across groups (this is the case in the United States). As a result of this, spending is funded by debt.
- animal_spirits 7mo agoAmerica is broadly racist, that's exactly my point!
- overfeed 7mo agoSo the root problem isn't the amount of "diversity", but racism.
- srslyTrying2hlp 7mo ago[dead]
- idiotsecant 7mo ago[flagged]
- animal_spirits 7mo agoThat's not the only way at all; all I'm saying is it becomes harder to convince the whole of society to adopt social safety nets if they positively affect people that look/act different from someone. I'm just trying to be honest that many many many Americans are racists.
- idiotsecant 7mo agoI understand, that's a much more reasonable take than I implied, mea culpa!
- ekjhgkejhgk 7mo agoYou think that Europe is more homogeneous than the USA? First time I my life I hear that argument.
- animal_spirits 7mo agoIndividual European nations are, not Europe as a whole entity.
- srslyTrying2hlp 7mo ago[dead]