Social Healthcare - Social Wellfare!

Finally! It's so wonderful to hear a US citizen in her position say something like this.

I have friends who are citizens and residents of the US who can't afford healthcare at all on their own - and yet others who are working their butts of to pay for the basic necessities, paying to keep their healthcare, and yet have to choose between paying the rent and buying groceries that month - and luckily, the fortunate ones who are able to cover it all, PLUS having children and dogs (yes, both in plural).

This is why I am so happy that I live in a country like Denmark - and why I worry what it will be looking like if we go on with a right-wing government; they have already been here for three electoral periods, and it only seems to get worse.

We pay high taxes here in Denmark, but we also have a motherload of benifits. We have free public schools, our universities (college/grad school) are for free - you can basically get the education to become almost(!) anything you want for free (except for the books at university and study trips in general).

We even have educational grants for everybody the age of 18 and up so you don't have to have more than a student or part time job to put yourself through school (although this is one of the things the right wing government has wrecked - you can only get the grant for the minimum/normal time of one education).

We also have free healthcare; visits at the doctor and the hospitals are for free.

We have social security; when being out of a job for some reason and have a social security number, you're most likely to be approved for social security and activation - such as classes and an internship with the possibility of being hired in the end.

Imagine having all of this as a US citizen. The security it is to have. Yes, we pay a shitload in taxes (approximately 35 - 60 %, all depending on your income) - but we don't have to worry about spending money on healthcare and tuition fees. And if you wonder about how little things cost in Denmark if we can afford living with such taxes: Our minimum wage is just above 100 kr. (€13/£10/$20) per hour - as far as I remember, the US minimum wage is around $7-8.

Either way, someone is going to pay for the hospital visit. Pay the doc. Pay the school. Support the unemployed, students, sick, and elderly (if they are being supported, that is - because they may not be!). So why not do it through taxes and get it overwith already?

You may not have a kid to put through school, but don't you think another kid could benefit from that?
You may drink a lot of milk and have strong bones (well done!), but don't you think that someone with osteoporosis could benifit from that?
You may be physically strong/healthy, but don't you think someone with cancer or a weak heart could benifit from that?
You may be an unfertil man, but don't you think a pregnant woman could benifit from that?
Your parents may have saved for their retirement while they could (or passed on to a better place), but don't you think someone who has been forced to retire early or had too little money or otherwise have been unable to save could benifit from that?

I'm not saying that it should be put directly into work in the US - it took us two World Wars to decide to get the point, and we have a significally longer history than the US as a nation - but it would be nice to see some baby steps towards something similar in the US.

Obama promised change, and I do hope some of these baby steps are included when the financial crisis is over and done with.