It seems that US citizens already pay more than a typical european country with free health care [1]. So they just getting billed from something they already payed for and they are indoctrinated to think that this is normal.
I actually did compare the retirement/disability payouts to one European country at one point (a Scandinavian country - Norway I think) and the US was comparable. Shocking I know. Sure the US doesn’t have the same extent of programs, but acting like US has nothing is just fake news.
And no, the education doesn’t cost $40k (that was my point) and the higher salary easily offsets the loans for a lot of careers.
And no, there are plenty of good paying jobs in the US, not just tech (I’m not in tech).
I think it pretty much evens out for the average person - not a tech high earner but not someone living on benefits either.
In Europe the average salary is 1695 Euros (2050 USD) a month, while in America it is 2136 Euros (2594 USD).
In Europe we have free healthcare and mostly free* education. So on paper it evens out on the long run.
But in Europe we have diverse countries - the top tier are having it better than the US, while the bottom tier are having it much worse.
For example, Bulgarians earn an average salary of a measly 550 Euros (667 USD).
Yeah, when your government doesn’t take money from your pocket to pay for and give you "free" stuff, you end up with more you can then decide to spend as you need. Who would’ve thought?!
I know it's hard to imagine this if you've never experienced it, but be a little tolerable to the parts of the world where this happens, including where I'm leaving in right now
I actually live in the EU, and I lived in a communist country before so I have enough experience with your "dream". Sooner or later it turns into a nightmare.
As Margaret Thatcher said, the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.
It’s indeed a hard point to get across when you’ve been indoctrinated (we all are about something) that leaving it to the government is a better option. For example, people in Europe obsess about retirement plans, but rarely consider the possibility for creating their own private future financial plan.
Yeah, I have one of those (compulsory) retirement plans. Even if it's tax-free, its yield is incredibly crappy compared to my own (very conservative) investments in broad index ETFs.
I would gladly put ALL my savings into my own retirement plan instead of the government's money hole if I was allowed. But I am robbed of that choice...
Because some people just can't. It's nice and easy when we are closed in our tech bubble, but it's not so good for everyone else.
I'll gladly pay my taxes knowing that the current retired people that didn't have the possibility to save up, can survive today. Also hoping that happens to me in case a horrible thing happens to my financial situation.
It’s not an all or nothing question, I just highlighted where the thinking tends to go towards here in Europe. Not saying eliminate retirement plans, but also take into account your financial future if you can. Have that as a goal.
After experiencing both thought systems as an outsider (I'm neither European nor American) it feels like American system wants to win life and European system wants to live life. I honestly do not want to create my own financial future plans. I find investing and dealing with my own money incredibly stressful and distracting. I do not care for investing nor do I want to care. I want a guarantee that I will have a minimum lifestyle and the time saved can be used to enjoy right now.
People like me, who take stress when it comes to such things, love European system but people who find it trivial to invest in markets and such find the American system better. I wonder how many people think like me and how many like Americans. I have met Americans who don't think like what I just categorized as the American mindset, and European which are opposite to. So I really cant just take the populations and answer my own question.
