I am a resident of Belgium, a country with one of the highest tax rates in the world. I love our social security system, our healthcare system, our education system and so on. All of this is only possible because of our high taxes. I can go to university for as little as 600 EUR a year (that's about 820 USD) at one of the finest universities of Europe, I can lose my job and go on unemployment benefits until I find a new job (unless I don't do any effort, at which point my "welfare" will be cut off), I can get sick without going into debt for years to come. All of this makes living in Belgium a blessing.
Now, i hear you are opposed against taxation, or at least against '"high taxes", but I can't help but wonder why. In the United States, people that get health issues are screwed, simply put. Health care is not mandatory and is completely in the hands of private corporations, making the prices very high and the exploitation by those same companies a daily business. University in the USA is almost unaffordable unless you choose a mediocre (at best) community college.
I can not understand why one would oppose taxes when you can do wonderful things when everybody pitches in. It's called socialism in the USA but apparently that's a dirty word, while it's completely accepted in Western Europe.
Can you explain to me why Belgium or any other country, like maybe the USA, should lower its taxes instead of raising them?
Thank you for your time, I have been wanting to ask this very same question to an economical libertarian for quite some time now and I am genuinely interested in your point of view.
brezmans1951 karma
Governor Johnson,
I am a resident of Belgium, a country with one of the highest tax rates in the world. I love our social security system, our healthcare system, our education system and so on. All of this is only possible because of our high taxes. I can go to university for as little as 600 EUR a year (that's about 820 USD) at one of the finest universities of Europe, I can lose my job and go on unemployment benefits until I find a new job (unless I don't do any effort, at which point my "welfare" will be cut off), I can get sick without going into debt for years to come. All of this makes living in Belgium a blessing.
Now, i hear you are opposed against taxation, or at least against '"high taxes", but I can't help but wonder why. In the United States, people that get health issues are screwed, simply put. Health care is not mandatory and is completely in the hands of private corporations, making the prices very high and the exploitation by those same companies a daily business. University in the USA is almost unaffordable unless you choose a mediocre (at best) community college.
I can not understand why one would oppose taxes when you can do wonderful things when everybody pitches in. It's called socialism in the USA but apparently that's a dirty word, while it's completely accepted in Western Europe.
Can you explain to me why Belgium or any other country, like maybe the USA, should lower its taxes instead of raising them?
Thank you for your time, I have been wanting to ask this very same question to an economical libertarian for quite some time now and I am genuinely interested in your point of view.
View HistoryShare Link