This is anathema to all the very important people who write very important opinion pieces and talk very importantly on television. But that bane of banes and evil of evils actually does good things, when applied with wisdom and judiciousness. And when applied with wisdom and judiciousness, people like it. I'm talking about taxes. Gasp!
According to MarketWatch:
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says people in Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are the most content with their lives. The three ranked first, second and third, respectively, in the OECD's rankings of "life satisfaction," or happiness.
There are myriad reasons, of course, for happiness: health, welfare, prosperity, leisure time, strong family, social connections and so on. But there is another common denominator among this group of happy people: taxes.
Of course, these nations don't spend the bulk of their tax revenues on corporate welfare for the military/industrial and disaster capitalism complexes. They spend them on programs that help people.
The Encyclopedia of the Nations notes that Denmark was one of the first countries in the world to establish efficient social services with the introduction of relief for the sick, unemployed and aged.
It says social welfare programs include health insurance, health and hospital services, insurance for occupational injuries, unemployment insurance and employment exchange services. There's also old age and disability pensions, rehabilitation and nursing homes, family welfare subsidies, general public welfare and payments for military accidents. Moreover, maternity benefits are payable up to 52 weeks.
The article notes that the attitude towards taxes is different in such countries, because people see and experience the benefits in their own lives. When government works for the people, the people appreciate the work of their government.