Yeah, it was great when Trump complained in the campaign that we should require other countries that benefit by the US Military to pay us - and not take advantage of our so-called “kindness.”
I’ve often thought that same thing when the Germans come over here and piously state how “Ya, and the German socialized healthcare is so much better than the American system.”
Well yeah, since the Germans haven’t really had to pay big money out of their national budget for a national defense force (the Americans have done it), the Americans have essentially subsidized their “wonderful” health care system. These arrogant Germans should actually be thanking us.
Also have heard them arrogantly say that “und ve get 4 weeks vacation every year, unlike the Americans...” Yet again, if the Krauts were paying their own way for their own national defense, they would be working more and vacationing less.
They also free ride off of our healthcare system in the form of us doing the R&D for new drugs and medical devices. 2/3rds of all the pharmaceutical research in the world goes on in the US. Part of the reason they’re so expensive in the US is that the socialized medical schemes in other countries don’t pay full price for those new drugs so the companies having to recover their R&D costs somehow, jack up the price in the US market. Ever wonder why those Canadian drugs are so much cheaper?
They do get 4 weeks vacation....of course they don’t get to choose when. Its in July-August for everybody in Europe so things shut down and it gets incredibly inconvenient. Also all the tourist destinations get disgustingly overcrowded.
Americans have more living space - ie bigger homes, more square footage, more home appliances, and more wealth in general than even Germans do. Yes its quite obvious to anybody who has lived in both countries as I have.
and that’s despite us forking out an extra 2-2.5% of GDP every year for Defense.