Why Sweden is proud to have the world's highest taxes

Then you get nothing. Sorry.

 

Mentally imagining a computer doesn't make it real. The fact remains that ENIAC, designed and built by Americans, was the first computer to ever exist on Planet Earth, and that a for profit collab between International Business Machines, Bill Gates, and Paul Allan is the source of the computers we are both using to even have this conversation right now.

But y'all can nitpick my list all you want, the fact is that US Citizens motivated by the desire to get rich because our capitalist system lets them do so is responsible for more inventions and discoveries certainly than any other country, and quite possibly more than the rest of the world combined. Most drugs are invented (or discovered) here, most entertainment (movies, songs, etc) originate here, and the assembly line itself, which is not a saleable product but an invention that makes saleable products (like Henry Ford's cars that you could get in any color you wanted, as long as it was black) possible in the first place. Created because a capitalist in the USA wanted to make a shitload of money. And don't forget transistors, integrated circuits, and semiconductors, which are the physical hardware behind the massive beneficial improvements in just the past 4-5 decades were invented here, too.

Were it not for the profit incentive provided by the USA we would all be living more or less the same as the late 1800s. All because some greedy, evil people wanted to get rich.

So, perhaps instead of being jealous of the people who accomplished all of this, perhaps of sticking your crummy little fingers into their pockets to steal as much as you can, some thanks might be in order instead. I know I certainly appreciate how those people and companies have so radically improved my life even over that of my parents, not to even think about how my grandparents' lives were like when they were my age.

 

Nope, EVERYONE PAYS.

 

They also have 99% of the wealth. So they should be 99% of the revenue.
And the 50% pay no taxes is very misleading. Many included in that 50% are students, retirees, and kids. All who earn no or not enough taxable income.

...
https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-net-worth-percentiles/

 

Nope

 

Except you are.

 

It wasn’t the first computer… it was the first digital computer, but both the UK and Germany had computers in service during WW2. I can recommend a nice documentary: The Machine that Change the World (PBS).

 

Also, most of what you call “American” invention have been in fact either the work of international cooperation or by people foreign born. American exceptionalism proponents tends to on one hand “adopt” those foreigners invention as your own and on the other hand downplay the importance or existence of invention from other countries. You’re trying to have your cake and eat it too.

What the USA as is a favorable geographical position that isolated it from her competitor. This helped it up to the mid 20th century. But in this connected world and with your industrial base has been exported… You’re on the same downward path that the UK suffered post WW2.

 

Income tax is not paid on "wealth" That's why it's called INCOME TAX.

Nothing misleading at all. Those data come from Income tax returns filed.

...

Again this is about income, not wealth.

 

Wealth generates income.

 

the more hands a dollar touches, the more taxes collected, the better society is

this is why keeping the money moving is best

kinda like all your blood pooling in one part of your body is bad.... a stagnant economy is an unhealthy economy

 

Paying Sweden level taxes?


Nope.

 

Your still paying taxes.

 

At Sweden levels?

Nope.

 

And still paying taxes.

 

Did I ever deny I was paying taxes?

Nope!

 

Who considers that?

 

And vice versa.

 

How complicated is Sweden's tax code? Can everyone make full use of it, or is it only navigable by those wealthy enough to hire lawyers and professionals to find all the loopholes for them?

The US Federal Tax code is more than 70,000 pages, much of it loopholes that only the rich are able to make use of (because only the rich can afford to hire all the people required to find them). ...which of course means that simply raising taxes will not make them pay more...

 

So say you. I say it's not fair. The difference in your opinion and my opinion is that I do not believe Bill Gates should pay the government more than I pay the government to live here and support our government. I'm satisfied if Bill Gates and I pay the same amount, which I say is fair to both of us. To think otherwise is to smack of envy and a tinge of revenge.

 

Fair point - I should have been more specific! I was responding to the comment about free pudding in the hospital, but I think we have MANY PFers who consider nationalized healthcare as 'free'.

 

Ok, start paying 90%.

 

So, you are a big fan of the Swedes, eh?

"Deport Foreign Criminals... No Discussion" - Swedish Far-Right Party Surges Ahead Of Tomorrow's Election

“It’s time to give us a chance to make Sweden great again.”

'At the same time, the country is rocked by a wave of violent crime that is unprecedented in modern Scandinavian history.'

ELECTIONS TOMORROW

'Sweden has in just two generations gone from being one of the safest countries in the world to being one of the most dangerous countries in Europe. During the same time, mass immigration has dramatically altered Sweden's population.

'Sweden Democrats (SD) party support is surging, with around 22 percent saying they would vote for the party, giving it the second largest backing after the ruling Social Democrats on 28 percent.'

“Deport foreign criminals … and no discussion,” says one of SD’s new election posters.'

HOW IS THAT CONTROVERSIAL?

“Sweden has been a great country, a safe country, a successful country and it can be all these things again,”

WE WISH YOU THE BEST.

 

SOCIALISM DOESN'T WORK IN OPEN BORDER COUNTRIES
Try again!

 

A fan of their socialist policies, which clearly work very well.

Even these far-right characters you're citing aren't against them.