Have you ever been to Switzerland, even Scandinavia ain't cheap, but people are happy.
It's interesting how things seem to work in Switzerland. How do they do it, when they are so conservative - all the things that might seem bad to the Woke and Democrats.
All women didn't even have the right to vote in Switzerland until 1974, when the last canton finally gave in. They have stayed completely out of the EU, which is supposed to bring so many benefits. They are very strict on immigration as well. They have low taxes and are generous to businesses.
They have a very low level of corruption, and governance is decentralized and left to each canton. This so diminishes the president's role that people often don't even care who is president. They also don't spend money on wars and imperialism. That leaves more money for social programs, and the decentralized governance and lack of corruption means that money is better spent.
Oh, and criminal or traffic fines are based on one's ability to pay. A speeding ticket can literally cost 100s of thousands of dollars if the driver is very wealthy.
The Swiss see their government as servants of the people, not masters, as Americans do.
The US could start to emulate them by decentralizing governance, ending foreign adventurism, and rooting out corruption (which is best done by reducing and decentralizing government so that too much power is not in one place). Of course, the US should also work to improve education (which is hopelessly bad) and go back to having borders to control immigration. That would be a start.
There is also a sense of social obligation that is now almost completely lacking in dog-eat-dog US. People help each other when they share certain common values. Becoming rich and famous is not one of those values.
