Why can't the US adopt European-Style Social Systems?

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Why were people immigrating en masse to a country without good healthcare?

We can go back and forth on this forever and never change each others mind. I see government (at least as it exists in the world today) as evil, a necessary evil but evil none the less. You don’t. Bickering over the details is futile.
 
In the early 1900’s healthcare was pretty much the same everywhere: nearly non-existent.
The US remained at that level for long… Europe invested in it. Now, we have this substantial difference.
 
Yeah, but I don’t think the US’ love for military spending will subside anytime soon
 
Should the government pay for abortions? How about some other action we find deplorable? Or perhaps government should fund Catholic parishes, at the expense of the rest of the country, such as offering free transportation to Reconciliation - that’s health related.

The more the government spends, the less people will agree on what is being done on with that money. From a practical standpoint, the federal government should do the bare minimum (military and border defense, courts and contract enforcement, and maybe some assistance for interstate highways, etc.), so the vast majority would be able to agree on how the taxes are spent. If there’s a societal gap from that, the various state’s/localities can handle it. If there still exists a gap after that, the local charitable communities (e.g. churches) will help. But it all starts at family and friends and goes up. It doesn’t start at the feds and go down.
 
But what about people with nowhere to go? The socially isolated with no ties, connections or kinship to an entity and thus have no recourse and no hope? Ok I know I am being a bit hyperbolic here but are there not those who have no family or community to rely on?
 
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It may sound harsh, but some people fall between the cracks. It’s sad, but it’s reality. Utopia will not exist on this earth. Paradise is only in Heaven. See the Beatitudes.
 
So, hypothetical.

I’m disabled with no friends or family and no job. I can’t find a job due to my disability.

I would need to take responsibility and go/talk to various churches and support groups in the area for help. If I can’t find help, I’d ask my county or city for help. Lastly, I’d ask the state for help.

I’d all those levels haven’t helped you yet, that’s the problem we need to fix, not creating a federal level to help me.
If there’s a gap, we need to fill it, not the federal government. It’s my duty, and the rest of my fellow Christians and Catholics, to charitably help those around who need it.
 
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For example and I know I’m wildy extrapolating from the original topic (which I’d still like responses on for new readers), it appears the US Public School System is assailed by a multitude of broken, uninvolved and poor (in quality, not necessarily economically) homes, what is to be done for those students stuck in a broken home and community?
 
I think I can agree with that, the counties (with the states as conduits for small counties) could be empowered. And we could reinvigorate our social fabric and communities which ideally shrinking government could encourage (yet the transition would be painful).

Yet, it just seems like so many large scale issues like mass incarceration, mental illness and etc could be addressed if only our political culture changed priorities. Granted, the shift would need to be enormous.
 
RCIAGraduate said:
mass incarceration, mental illness and etc
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In the US, most federal issues we debate about already have local/state programs to help reduce it.

For example, local/state prisons make up the majority of incarceration. Federal prisons make up a smaller portion, and needs to be addressed as such. Since the problem is mainly on the state level, each state/locality needs to do better at reintegrating prisoners into society. The main reason, in my state, is because people get reincarcerated. The state is putting in a program to reduce this by relying on community/church support that already exists and attempting to enhance and individualized the support for each prisoner. I’ve gone to the local prison a few times to offer communion service, and always encourage my friends to come with, but I don’t get many takers. Sadly my schedule doesn’t allow me to go consistently or even recently.
 
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The population of Switzerland is about equal to that of New York City. The US just can’t be compared to a very small country somewhere else.
 
We have fought the war on poverty with Trillions for decades, but it hasn’t stopped the problem.

Switzerland is a very small and homogenous group, which greatly helps. They only take immigrant workers they need, then send them home. They are surrounded by the EU but not of it.

We’ll wait and see if the EU model survives the demands being placed on it with the influx of immigrants. I don’t think so myself.
 
Because the United States isn’t Europe. What works there, doesn’t necessarily work here, and quite frankly, that seems like a kind of colonial attitude from an American standpoint.
 
Just for the record the UK has a ‘free at the point of delivery’ health service and pays a much smaller % of GDP on healthcare than Americans do. Actually not enough ! Most European counties with similar but better funded system pay somewhere between the two. There are advantages of a system not driven by profit and economies of scale - just saying !!

Oh and by the way the UK, France and Germany (for example) are quite large counties ! It is a question of politics not economics.
 
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RCIAGraduate said:
why can’t the US adopt policies and systems that can alleviate the burdens, struggles and miseries so many experience?
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it can, you;d just have to massively raise taxes, Look at the tax to GDP ratio of the countries you discuss. Uncle Sam runs on 25% tax to GDP, UK is 35% hence we have more public services (which are awful) and Sweden has over 50% so they have more than us. Then ask yourselves how other countries with less than 25% have still solved all the issues you mentioned, most are in Asia by the way. America isn’t perfect but i’d rather live there than Sweden.
 
False. The UK and Germany can also depend upon the US for most of their millitary protection.
 
i don’t have anything to add here because the answers from “my fellow Americans” are so complete and good.
I tip my hat to all you who answered
 
True at times although I suspect rather the opposite at the moment !
 
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