Oct 25, 2026, 5:17 PMThe most intellectually dishonest argument against universal / socialized healthcare is "wait times".
Dude, I pay $2k/mo for healthcare and am lucky if I can get a video appointment in the same week, much less an actual, physical appointment.
Our ERs and urgent care centers are chock full because folks can't get easy, inexpensive appointments, so they let things go until they become an emergency.
There's no way universal healthcare makes that worse.
Oct 25, 2026, 5:22 PMThe other intellectually dishonest argument has to do with taxes.
"Europeans pay as much as 50% of their income to taxes," I hear both from Americans and Europeans who complain about their system.
If those taxes are paying for "free" healthcare, education, worker protections, housing, infrastructure, etc., that's an ***AMAZING*** bargain.
Yeah, it's harder to acquire wealth there.
Another way of saying it: It's more difficult to become a money hoarder.
Money hoarders are perverts.
Oct 25, 2026, 5:24 PMAll of this is in response to this article:
"Why We Never Hear About the Countries Where Socialism Works"
https://amieboakye.substack.com/p/why-we-never-hear-about-the-countries
I think Nordic "socialism" should go further - replace hierarchical companies with worker owned cooperatives; free housing for all.
But it's still a model worth building off of.
I'm extraordinarily fortunate and have a six figure USD income.
My federal, state, and local taxes (including FICA taxes and property taxes) take 32% of my income. My annual family health insurance premiums and copays hit 18% of my income last year.
I didn't fudge the numbers. If you consider that in most other countries my healthcare costs would be taxes, I am *already* paying 50%.
And my kids are borrowing unholy fortunes to pay for college.
And even with my income, I am not saving enough to be able to retire.