[loewenskind]

>given that Germans, Kiwis, English, and Australian pay much more tax than we do

They pay more taxes but get more for their taxes (free health care, education, more unemployment protection, etc.).

>who was talking about how it would take at least 2 months for him to secure a new job as a seasoned mechanical engineer, because since it's so hard to fire people there, it's super hard to get hired.

But being unemployed in Sweden for two months is a completely different world to being unemployed in the US. Further, if he's working then he'll have a 2 month notice period anyway, so he probably wont have any time off at all.

One thing is not fundamentally better than the other. They are just trade offs. Personally I find the Swedish one a hell of a lot less stressful in bad times.