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Comment by brnt | Hacker News Reader

I've never heard anyone here in the EU argue this. Including people over a certain salary. It is, after all, in the interest of the wealthy too that everyone is OK and doesn't need to live in the streets and cause crime, necessitating guns and whatnot as they do in the US.

Paying your tax and premiums is way cheaper and much more pleasant.

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Yes this.. We don't want ultracapitalism here. I make more than average but I'm totally fine with paying taxes. The safety net is there for me too. Capitalism is good but there must be a balance.

To an American it may sound communist (though technically it's more socialist) but it's our country, we can choose the system we want. And we've done an OK job IMO (In fact I wish things were a bit more socialist - this abuse of the ZZP concept has been going on for far too long).

Decades of cold war propaganda have confused the issue in the US. When you say socialism, they think you are talking about USSR-style authoritarian communism. It's asurd and exasperating, but it won't go away until the boomer generati on loses political influence. It's also highly partisan, and in today's atmosphere of cultural warfare, that makes it a non-starter. Half the country won’t wear a mask because Donald Trump wanted to deny the pandemic during his reelection campaign. What hope is there for something as radical as changing the entire foundation of society?

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