Balance: Jeremy Corbyn's tax return

Evilmags

hungrymark;1041202" said:

The US has parts that are more cultured and civilised than the UK as a whole? Yes, but the reverse is also true. Come on Mags, let's keep the comparisons, you know, comparable.

The coasts are very civilised. Any big university hub, new York. All fabulous as is Colerado and california. The rust belt is pretty crappy and the bible bashes are idiots and have too much influence. The UK is well at the top end of Europe. Continental Europe has some hideous social problems. Illiteracy, educational failure, huge criminal enterprises and very corrupt politicians that stay in power for decades.

The weather is good though.

Snap

For the last few years I have been working in many countries round the world working with healthcare systems and social/public/demographic data, alongside a load of private sector health data.

I think I am relatively well placed to comment on differences between social and health systems in various countries, not an expert, but the last few years I've had hands on experience. All of Europe (EU, no EU), Asia, middle east, US.

my thoughts:

by and large, the UK is a very good place to be.

The NHS isn't the best healthcare system, but its certainly not the worst.

The US is a great place if you have money, but not so good if you don't. They have an utterly mental view of work in that your personal value is reflected by how hard you work, and has little to do with anything else. IMHO, they have their values all wrong and this is reflected in many ways, not least their very poor social safety net.

Southern Europe is a mess, but hey, they have great weather eh?

Eastern Europe is a bit wild west, with great opportunities for the corrupt, and the average working person doesn't have a particularly high l;evel of disposable income. As with the south of Europe, some things may be cheap, but average income is quite low and taxes are quite high. Having said that, you have some countries like Italy, where the tax take is very poorly monitored and collection of tax is sub par. Meaning, the state is always skint.

In my experience, countries such as Switzerland have a lot of things right. By and large, systems work, and life is good. However, on balance I think the UK is a very good place to live. Its safe, it works, and if you work hard, usually you can achieve what you want. Most (not all) have access to opportunity - certainly when you compare it to other countries.