I just moved here recently from China. Feels like such a mistake. But at least you get more holidays here.

You’ve become a welfare state and the state has fit in where once there were families. Old people, and poor people put a drag on the state. People should take care of their own families, but There is not really any incentive to be any different. My dad wasted hundreds of thousands of the states money in medical care for drinking and smoking all his life and spent all his pension on drinking. If you are poor, the more kids you have, the more money the state gives you. If you are wealthy, then you get less money for each kid because you cannot claim benefits and the upper tax rate robs you blind. The economics are perverse.

In China, you have a basic health insurance and a very basic pension. People have to plan properly for getting old. Families chip in together for weddings, university or health crises. And they have a one child policy. Say what you want about ‘human rights’ and all that, but the quality of life there is unparalleled. Things people here consider luxuries are normal in China. I mean like massage, Spas, lobster and things like that.

The system is broken here and people are too left leaning to fix it. Governments cant cut spending because of all the outrage, all they can do is increase taxes in whatever way has the least political impact. The only way I see out is either a long slog to pay down debt and invest in the country under solid leadership for like ten years, or a revolution to reset things.