alt Hacker News> Some are optimizing for better lives
Of course. I just hope these people know that for example healthcare in Europe is by no means free.
Replies
Nobody in Europe thinks that healthcare just exists for free, but that it should be available to who need it for free and are happy to pay for that via tax.
My health insurance for a family of four in Spain is $2k/year. In the US, it was exceeding $25k/year with premiums, copays, deductibles, etc. While not free, it is accessible.
There was a time in my life we had to decide in the middle of the night if we could afford to take one of our children to the ER in the US when they were a newborn. I will never have that feeling in Europe, and that is priceless. Tax me more, I will happily contribute to a functioning governance system. I like taxes, with them I contribute to civilization. As an American, I am all in on Europe. It's not perfect, but the bar is in hell.
We Asked 300 People About Health Care Costs. The Numbers Are Shocking. - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/opinion/health-insurance-... | https://archive.today/MnYz9 - January 22nd, 2026
It's not free, but it's much cheaper. (And yes, that includes taxation.)
https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/health-spending.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OECD_health_expendit...
As a bonus, all that spend doesn't make us better in outcomes.
https://ourworldindata.org/us-life-expectancy-low#life-expec...