Which of the following would you like “free” at the point of service or with modest contributions?
• Healthcare: Universal coverage for all residents, funded mainly by taxes. Includes free access to general practitioners, hospitals, specialists, and most treatments (some co-pays for dental, medicine, or certain services). Public health programs, preventive care, and high-quality outcomes with low out-of-pocket costs.
• Education: Free from primary school through university (including vocational and higher education). Compulsory schooling, plus student grants (SU) providing monthly financial support for living costs during studies.
• Family and Child Support:
• Paid parental leave (generous maternity/paternity/shared leave).
• Child benefits and allowances.
• Heavily subsidized daycare/childcare (parents often pay ~30% of costs).
• Social Security and Income Support:
• Unemployment benefits (via insurance funds, with rates based on prior earnings; social assistance as a safety net).
• Sickness and disability benefits.
• Old-age pensions (universal base pension with supplements), early retirement options in some cases.
• Housing allowances for rented housing.
• Social assistance for those unable to support themselves/family (means-tested rates with supplements for children, singles, etc.).
• Other Services: Subsidized elder care, psychological support (e.g., for youth), infrastructure, police/courts/defense, and public amenities.
Welcome to Denmark. And guess what, Denmark has a capitalist economy.
The system is largely universal (rights-based for citizens/residents) but financed progressively—higher earners pay more via income taxes, VAT (~25%), and other levies. Municipalities and regions play big roles in delivery (e.g., healthcare by regions, education/social services by municipalities).
A strong social support system is not socialism.
The Danes pay high taxes but are relieved of many of the financial burdens Americans face every day…..burdens we hear cause bankruptcy, family problems, and financial and other stress.
Yes, often they are using other people’s money, yes some people get more out of the system than others. But it is a happy society so the tradeoff seems to work.
And Denmark still has millionaires and billionaires.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Capitalist in name only.
Denmark has a progressive, comprehensive income tax system. Workers pay a flat 8% labor market contribution, followed by a municipal tax (avg. 25.049%), state bottom tax (12.01%), and state top tax (7.5% to 15%), making the maximum marginal rate up to 57.06%.
The value-added tax (VAT) in Denmark is 25% of retail consumption. Known locally as moms, this is one of the highest standard rates in the European Union.
So, if I earn the median wage in Denmark, $52,000 US, I end paying taxes of 52%, leaving me with about $25,000US, where assuming I spend it all, I end up with $18,000 of goods.
In other words, I control only about 1/3 of my earnings, the rest is taxed away.
Give me a break. Next you’re going to repeat Democratic lies:
Obama: the high cost of health care “causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds.”
Pelosi/Reid/Others: Health care costs are the #1 cause of bankruptcy for America’s families. … sixty-two (62%) of the two million personal bankruptcies filed each year are the result of medical debt.
In fact, a study of bankruptcies in California confirmed that less than 5% followed a hospitalization.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5865642/
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But you see all that is not socialism. Socialism is the government controlling the methods of production and the economy. The Danes trade high taxes for, as I said, coverage for all the programs and services Americans complain about and stress over or claim to go bankrupt because of cost.
It would be great if every person was responsible and when empowered with lower taxes and more of their own money could handle their health care, child care, college bills, retirement and didn’t need someone to pay them for time off while sick. That’s what Project 2025 envisions, that’s what Trump follows.
Do you believe that possible and if not, it’s just too bad for those individuals who fail? The theory sounds good, the reality reflects human behavior.
That all seems rather unlikely given about 50% of taxpayers pay an effective tax rate of 3.7% already and most can’t take care of all those things, especially those who don’t work for an employer who takes care of much of those needs.
As far as the bankruptcy goes, no healthcare does not CAUSE bankruptcy that often, but it is listed as a debt among all other items on a bankruptcy filing so they misuse that fact.
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Sorry. When the government owns two thirds of whatever you produce, that is socialism by another name, or even a different definition.
True, they may not tell you to manufacture widget a, but, in some respects, taking two thirds of your earnings has just as much of a depressing impact when it comes to productivity, innovation, engagement, …
Yes, “socialism is the government controlling the methods of production and the economy.” If two thirds of the economy is government driven, who is indirectly in control of production?
The Danes are simply more efficient at taking what is yours to redistribute to others, they simply avoid some of the bureaucracy associated with socialism/communism.
“… It would be great if every person was responsible and when empowered with lower taxes and more of their own money could handle their health care, child care, college bills, retirement and didn’t need someone to pay them for time off while sick. …”
Of course, if we don’t require them to be responsible, they will look to you and taking your property, claiming they have a right. Yes, half of all Americans pay little or no income taxes. It is obvious that they are on the dole, and that Congress (including Republicans) have been buying votes – sending the deficit bill to generations too young to vote and generations yet unborn.
“As far as the bankruptcy goes, no healthcare does not CAUSE bankruptcy that often, but it is listed as a debt among all other items on a bankruptcy filing so they misuse that fact.”
Misuse? You have no problem calling Trump a liar. Why not Obama, Pelosi, Reid and other Democrats. These were intentional lies. These lies were a major part of the justification for PPACA 2010, where, since then, we have added almost $30 Trillion to our national debt. And, the Democrats were, just six months ago, doubling down asking that the absolutely unnecessary COVID dollop of subsidies be continued.
Again, if we don’t require people to be responsible, they will gladly accept socialism or communism … whatever allows them to claim access to the best YOUR money will buy!
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I hope you have a solution.
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Like you, I have been paying taxes for a lot of years and I have no doubt many of those dollars went to support someone else. Frankly I don’t care. I got everything I wanted and needed. The VA helped pay for college. These days we give away money to help the poor and needy. Other people are using my money every day, but I don’t want to change places with any one of them.
We rely on SS and mostly Medicare having hundreds of thousands in bills covered in the last year alone. I don’t want to think about not having that and I pay premiums many times the average retiree. That seems fair to me.
There are no doubt some lazy bums out there collecting and living off of others, but that is far from any significant percentage of the total. That will never change.
I paid $132,817 in SS taxes with employers paying the same. My wife and I on based on those earnings have collected many times those amounts in benefits. I guess I too am living on the dole because I am sure using other people’s money and paying income taxes on most of it.
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Sure, the solution is to change the expectation that taxpayers too young to vote and generations yet unborn should be required via deficit spending to bail out those who aren’t responsible for their own needs.
The solution is to raise taxes on Americans who received monies fom federal budgetary spending that exceeded the general revenue taxes they paid – where every American gets a per capita allocation of the tax burden for those items specifically enumerated in our Constitution (defence, etc.). Those added taxes are solely earmarked to be payments against our national debt.
Next, stop adding to our annual deficits – cut all spending that is not mandated by specific provisions of the US Constitution, returning our federal government to a set of enumerated powers. And, where Congress doesn’t want to cut that spending, say for Social Security and Medicare, either adopt a Constitutional Amendment or require appropriate funding from all as a precondition to qualify for benefits.
With respect to “health and welfare”, that has always been the primary responsibility of the states with respect to those who need public assistance. Long past time to return to that structure.
With respect to the taxes you paid, for Social Security and Medicare (Part A-FICA Med), as well as income taxes to fund Medicare Part B and Part D and Medicaid, I’m confident that had they been appropriately invested, not only would Congress have spent less, but the contribution you made would have more than funded the income and health care benefits you actually received as an individual.
That isn’t the case, for example, for everyone. For example, my spouse worked as a teacher in a retirement system that opted out of Social Security. She didn’t pay sufficient FICA-taxes to qualify on her own record – but she receives an annual spouse’s benefit in excess of $1,000 a month based on my earnings record. And, after Biden and Congress bought votes from government workers (overwhelmingly Democrats) with the misnamed “Social Security Fairness Act”, her benefit was significantly increased as it was no longer reduced by the GPO.
Bottom line, we shouldn’t be increasing the options for wealth redistribution – especially wealth redistribution from generations too young to vote and generations yet unborn to today’s retirees!
And, we shouldn’t be adding new opportunities to create dependency on the federal government, whether or not folks call it socialism.
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