>>865671Ausfag here. Shitty welfare states like Australia/Canada/Nordics have hidden taxes. Most citizens don't feel like they are paying much, but they are paying out the arse. On top of income tax, you have $10 bottles of liquor costing about $30 or more, cars not made here have like 100% tax added on top and if you want a luxury car (pretty broadly defined) you have to pay a luxury tax. Domestic cars are so inefficiently made that you end up paying about the same as foreign cars with massive tax added. Packet of cigarettes cost about $20.
And these systems are all doomed to fail. Nordic prosperity is a myth. These countries are prosperous because of the free market (go back a few decades, we're just living off prior prosperity) and because of culture. Not because of the system.
Not to mention, this kind of welfare state goes hand in hand with an all-encompassing nanny state. I have no constitutional right to free speech. Police have overreaching powers. Can't carry a knife on my person unless I'm fishing or some shit and have a good excuse. If you choose to buy a $20 packet of cigarettes it comes in a uniform olive green packaging with 75% of the packaging displaying health warnings and graphic images of cancer (oh and supermarkets still have to put them behind steel shutters so people can't see them). Can't ride a bicycle without a helmet by law.
Police also pull over and fine any tradesmen they see working or driving to a worksite on a public holiday where I live.
It's shit. And the worst part is I have to hear American liberals who hate their country telling me how much freer countries like this are. Because, you know, you get some healthcare out of it. It's not even good healthcare.
