Gonna try to make this a series. I'm going to comment on a few policies around the world. And you guys choose to comment on it. Please try be civilized to each other.
So, the first one is going to be Education & Healthcare.
The nation I'm basing this of is a nation which thrived during trying times. Where its neighbouring countries were engulfed in constant war and dictatorships. It's a real nation BTW.
The nation decided to stop investing in war, and re-used the money on education and healthcare.
As a result from that, population growth and life expectancy sky-rocketed. But more importantly, the economy also sky rocketed as well.
Healthcare & Education is kept through a system of Taxes. The former has it's own tax divided in two separate bills: one for immediate medical attention; and the later for saving for future and long-term medical treatment. The education is fed using a stable % of the country's PIB.
Contrary to the claims of the usual suspects, the fixed amounts ain't “blooddrying” on either citizens or the private sector. The PIB for Education is fixed at a 9%. The Healthcare tax is fixed at 9% of the worker's total salary. Plus an aditional 6% by the employer.
In this case, in order to not die from a cold or a common infection, workers are pressed to remain employed. Because the amounts are a percentual, it does adapt to the worker's income. And to be honest, if a 9% of your salary is enough to make you starve or homeless, maybe you should consider working extra hours. Or to get to one of the many Trade Schools paid for by the 9% PIB.
And if your business is going to shut down because of the 13% tax on a minimum wage salary, I believe somebody's business and managerial skills are bad as rank shit. Or maybe their “wonder idea” wasn't so profitable as their egos let them think. Situational awareness and reality checks are, indeed, a necessity for business owners and CEOs.
Also, you would be encouraged to have kids. Because in order to keep the system running, more taxpayers must be available to continue supporting it after the previous generation lived past their productive time.
Now, here's something funny!
The same nation started reducing expenditure on these programs. Because, as always, the usual subjects were a tad-bit too worried about “expenditure”. Or to be precise, they needed to overpay the now growing bills of the private sector contractors.
Who needs schools and hospitals when you can build a Third World road with the budget of a First World country, amirite?
The results, decades after the governments started this game of blaming the 9% taxes for every conceivable problem under the sun to justify budget cuts are showing. Violence and criminality are now sky-rocketing. Birth rates are falling rapidly. And investment and enterpreneurships are also growing low. Apparently, if you can't go to school because there's no schools or capacity for more students, less people will get jobs with enough expendable income to save and invest or enterpreneur in the future.
But hey, at least they ain't Cuba or Venezuela, amirite?
Remember there are no perfect systems. All programs and rules apply different from place to place. But the main objective is to achieve stability. And if that stability ain't achieve, those systems and rules ain't definitely working. Despite how much numbers grow in a chart.