We all have that one annoying liberal friend who likes to share stupid memes not backed up by any evidence whatsoever. Well there is one in particular they all like to use…and it just got DESTROYED. Share this with your liberal friends. You’re welcome.
There’s been a meme about Denmark and its “free education and healthcare” system that’s been making waves across the Internet, touted by liberal socialists who lack a fundamental understanding of basic economics.
Here’s the meme in question via The Federalist Papers:
Well, I hate to burst the bubble here — actually I rather enjoy it — but the facts and statistics pretty much rip this bad boy to itty-bitty pieces.
I mean, come on guys, you didn’t actually think this stuff was going to be “free” did you?
Denmark has some of the highest, if not THE highest, taxes in the world. On top of having extremely high income taxes they also have a 25% sales tax.
So all the ‘free stuff’ they are talking about in the meme, isn’t actually free. The people who actually work (it’s a huge welfare state as well) are the ones paying for everything. Imagine working most of the week to pay for government programs, getting your pay check to realize they took more than HALF of YOUR hard-earned income to redistribute elsewhere?
Here’s a little more from Business Insider:
No tuition fees and generous grants give young Danes an opportunity that would make most green with envy — a university education without a massive debt yoke.
But many, in both industry and politics, feel it’s become a free lunch that’s giving indigestion to Scandinavia’s already weakest economy.
Too many pursue “fulfilment” and too few the science and engineering degrees needed in well-paid growth sectors critical for the nation’s future, they say.
With one of the highest tax rates in the world — at 56 percent for top earners — big salaries mean mostly bigger taxes to sustain the welfare state. Many young Danes just don’t see the point of putting in years of effort into studying for a bigger salary eaten up by taxes.
You see, Mr. Socialist College Student? There’s no such thing as a “free lunch.” Someone, somewhere is paying for your education, sweating and working hard for you to get ahead.