Americans are shortchanged not because of outsourcing, offshoring, high taxes, regulations, and bad health care. They are disadvantaged because of an ideologically driven willful gullibility where we consent to politicians screwing us. Americans need to stop patting themselves on the back as countries like Canada pass us by on the things that matter the most.
This morning I came across this must read article titled “Canadians may pay more taxes than Americans, but here’s what they get for their money” that should make most poor and middle class American reexamine their tolerance for electing politicians who not only lie to them but who materially hurt their survival literally and figuratively.
The article starts as follows.
Even with all kinds of taxes considered, including income, local and sales taxes, among others — and contrary to what President Donald Trump has repeatedly said — Americans do not pay the highest taxes in the world. Not even close. Actually, the U.S. is a little below average compared to our 34 peer countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
But what about Canada? Given all the social services that Canadian citizens enjoy relative to their neighbors to the south, including health care, many Americans assume that Canadians bear a significantly heavier tax burden.
The reality is that Canadians do not pay much more taxes than Americans. They just get a lot more for their dollar.
Canadians may not pay that much more than Americans — and, on occasion, as a nation, they have even paid less — but they do get a lot more from their government in terms of social services.
As Vice Money puts it, “American marginal tax brackets aren’t too different from Canadians’, yet [Canadians] get universal health care and [Americans] don’t.” Currently, Americans pay $3.4 trillion a year for medical care and, unfortunately, don’t get impressive results: “The U.S. life expectancy of 78.8 years ranks 27th. It has the fourth highest infant mortality rate in the OECD, the sixth highest maternal mortality rate and the ninth highest likelihood of dying at a younger age from a host of ailments, including cardiovascular disease and cancer,” reports Bloomberg.
Per capita health care spending in the U.S. is over $9,000.
By contrast, per capita health care spending in Canada is half that, or $4,500. Yet life expectancy in Canada is 81.7, and the country ranks 13th, significantly ahead of the U.S.
But it gets even better.
Overall, though, Canadians enjoy the kind of perks Americans only get if they work for the most generous, prestigious corporations. Those include free health care without deductibles as well as up to 18 months of subsidized parental leave when they have children.
They also enjoy access to high-quality education for children across the income spectrum. Even top-notch colleges and universities are cheaper than comparable institutions in the U.S.
Vice cites a 2009 Canadian study by the Centre for Policy Alternatives that found that “the vast majority of Canada’s population” gets a great deal: “Middle-income Canadian families enjoy public services worth about $41,000 — or 63 percent of their income. Even households earning $80,000–$90,000 a year enjoy public services benefits equivalent to about half of their income.”
In short, the study concludes, “the majority of Canadian households enjoy a higher quality of life because of the public services their taxes fund.”
So why do Americans pay so much in taxes? Much of our taxes are used for the military. We do not support education nor health care, and other services to make life better (e.g. family leave, etc.) as do other industrialized countries.
Our tax system is nothing more than a wealth transfer transport from the masses to the wealthy few. One must realize that spending heavily for defense means subsidizing many private corporations within the military industrial complexes that amass massive profits that you, the American citizens pay for. Again, a massive transfer of wealth.
The same applies to our health care system. The American taxpayer pays for drug research. When it is time to develop it into a product, corporations monetize it, inflate costs, and make huge profits for selling us the drugs we developed at exorbitant prices.
Issue after issue, we have allowed the few to screw us all. They take legally what they should not be entitled to have. The article ends with a prescient statement.
Perhaps that’s why so many Americans, as well as the President, feel that Americans pay more than anyone else in taxes: Because while many U.S. residents pay nearly as much, or in some cases more, than our neighbors to the north, Canadians in general can get so much more in exchange.
True, but it is deeper. Americans need to support a complete restructuring of our economy.
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