The article keeps repeating how America is the "most highly evolved liberal democracy", most advanced / modern country etc. This is simply not true. Many European countries have free / low cost education, including higher education, free healthcare where it is rationed by need as opposed to $, maternal and paternal leave, paid vacations, some have free childcare, access to mental healthcare, decriminalization of drug addiction accompanied with treatment, higher gender and social equality, and more importantly, higher social mobility (since access to education and healthcare is more equal); affordable and high quality public transportation, and walkable cities. Property tax %s are lower in most of Europe as well.

Their effective tax rate is lower too, since once you don't need to pay as much for education and healthcare, your take-home pay is higher. You have extra time to sleep, spend with your family and friends, or go out for a walk / read. Your mind doesn't constantly worry about the future of your children or healthcare access due to the social net. This means you're more productive at work and in society.

What's described above is the most evolved liberal democracy. Not the white collar rat race we got here, where we worship billionaires and tax cuts for corporations, where it is still a debate if weapons of mass carnage can be sold to children, where the police force murders its own citizens every day on the streets, where politicians are bought and sold to the highest bidder, in the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world.