[Baltar]

Originally Posted by InterfaceLeader

We also have minimum wage, and a generally higher standard of living.

I've lived in both places.

I'm quite happy paying a reasonable level of taxes.

The US has a minimum wage. I believe that each state can increase the minimum wage from the federal amount as it sees fit. The minimum wage is probably lower than in Europe, but it's there. High minimum wage is bad for the economy. As far as taxes go, I too have no problem paying a reasonable amount. However, a 55-59% cap is not exactly a reasonable amount in my book (55% in Sweden and 59% in Denmark). How much incentive would a person have to make a lot of money if the government took almost 60% of it? Some other European countries with the cap in the 50's include Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and Finland [1].

The problem with expensive healthcare is that it doesn't encourage preventative care. If I feel sick, I go to the doctor. I get a smear test done every year. If something goes wrong, it is much more likely to be picked up.

I'm not at all suggesting that the healthcare system in the US is currently very good. It definitely needs reform. However, I also don't see the European model as being a lot better. The only real difference is that the burden of payment is distributed more evenly across the population. Yet as you said yourself, it's still not enough to provide quality healthcare to everyone. The US system favors those people who have more money, so it's more capitalism oriented. Modern healthcare is expensive, and I think that until it becomes a commodity somehow (probably via advancements in technology, especially nanotechnology) it'll never be possible to provide quality healthcare for everyone.

Another part of the problem is that once you have a problem that prevents you from working, you lose insurance and income. There doesn't seem to be an easy method in the US for dealing with that - whilst I assume there is a welfare system, most people I knew refused to go on it, even if crippled with agonising health issues, because they saw it as leeching, or something.

The US has welfare/unemployment payments, disability payments for those who can't work, and social security payments for people over 65. There's also medicaid and medicare available (both of these are used in different cases to help people pay for medical expenses). These programs probably don't provide as much support as their equivalents in Europe, but they do exist and they're far from nothing. If people choose not to use them when they're entitled to... It's their choice I suppose.