Quote (bogie160 @ 26 May 2019 20:15)
Why are you comparing Germany, a subset of Europe, to the United States, which might as well be its own continent?
Of course you're going to have poorer and wealthier regions in the US, you've got 325+ million people spanning 2500+ miles.
Match region to region, and the United States compares favourably to just about every country in Europe. HDI is the best indicator of that, but if you want I can do the same with life expectancy, crime, and other indicators.
I laughed at "income equality", though, nice way of acknowledging how poor you guys are by comparison.
i already explained it: because healthcare policy is made on a national level, not a continental one. i know this information might surprise someone who went through the us education system, but germany also has its richer and poorer regions. we have a population of more than 80 million people and 16 different states - it's not like we're some tiny country that could survive or excel by just relying on just one or two specific industries that finance our whole system - in which case your insistence on not comparing country to country would be legitimate - no, germany is one of the world's biggest economies, and a comparison is absolutely valid.
so by all means, compare our life expectancy, hdi, crime, health, freedom, happiness, education... and then tell me again how america 'compares favourably'. we beat you in every single one of those categories, so tell me again how americans live better lives. the top 1%? sure, but the overwhelming majority of the population? laughable, pure fiction...
also, you might want to look up what income inequality means, because your conclusion suggests the exact opposite of what is true in reality. here's something that might help you put that into context: compare poverty rates.