From my Danish(scandinavia) view i'm sometimes trying hard to see the bigger picture. In my limited lifespan of 33 years i've often recognized the "mecanism" in which you can compare or reflect the small story in the bigger one. For example when a father neglects his son during childhood, that son later on becomes a drunk and then later agaín becomes a politician who mistreats his people - because his is still a neglected child and is hurting inside. What brings me to the topic - I've got this feeling that one of the reasons why so many of you North Americans praise your "free" country with its low taxes, is in fact(now I get a little noisy) because you(like the forementioned father) want to be free of responsibility. Think about it - in my country we all(pretty anonymous) pay as much as around 50 percent in direct taxes - We don't have any human beings dying in the streets because they can't pay the rent. I have come to feel that you(very generally speaking) insist in having somebody noticing you when you donate charity in the streets or help iraq rebuild(by Companies of North America) the resent destructions/by enforcing loans in their future oil reserves. It's like you always knows how to get some money out of a given situation. Well your political construction in North america tells you - like the neglected child mentioned earlier - to do just that.

P.S. Most of us Danish were against the recent war - unfortunately our newly selected primeminister wasn't.

I think its a quick fix to a serious flaw.

Welfare is a hot issue at times here. I suppose if we were a much smaller country with less diversity that it would be easier to be nicer to each other, but that isn't the case.
I feel that welfare is abused by the recipients such that much of the money goes to those who do not deserve it, so those who are in real need get less help. It is also a political tool at times.
A bigger issue might be our working poor. The dearth of decent paying jobs goes against the idea of getting off welfare, as those who do join the ranks of the working poor have full time jobs, yet are living on the edge of poverty. Any extra expense puts them into deep financial trouble.
I believe your country has a higher "floor" of basic government support that makes it easier to have a decent standard of living. That is a part of Socialism that is feared and cursed here by a lot of us, but some of us are not so against it. I don't see it happening in my lifetime, tho.

Closed.

Welcome.

There is no clear question to debate.

Also, it helps to base your debates on something more than anectdotal evidence.