I have to gree. That statement is so pathetic it actually made me depressed. Capitalism has NOTHING to do with it. Maybe if you realized that then we'd be able to have a good conversaton about this. Until then you are just a blind fanatic, no better than the religious fanatics.

No.  The site that did that particular study.

The methodology section is posted above.

Taxation is 1 of 10 factors.

Neither is directly better because there are various forms of capitalism and various forms of socialism. There are also various levels of application between each.

Well, to be honest, after I've learned, that to call Denmark socialist, isn't just strange because of my german mothertongue, but as gamingchartzftw pointed out, because of misleading and non academic widespread error in the USA, I stick to the definition that Denmark is a capitalist country (but with one of the highest social standards).

As for the taxation totals, it would be interesting if pensions and healthcare are counted as taxes in this statistic.

Health care is!!! Source: http://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v14y2005is1ps41-s57.html

The pensions are as well tax-based, if you want a source contact me as I just found some German sources

Still it would be interesting how much this would make up and if in the long run this isn't even cheaper for people than a private health care plan and private pension funds combined with taxes in the US.

Oh, I see.

I think a lot of methods put third world countries at an obvious disadvantage (and rightfully so), corruption and effectiveness of the legal system are examples, so less fortunate countries will have a problem with this. 

Also, they include things that many modern socialists (like myself) wouldnt disagree with.  The speed and low cost of getting business liscences, ability to fire bad employees, free trade, and so forth are, in my opinion, important to all modern economies.

Couldn't agree more. Money made is by no means an accurate measure of hard work and dedication, although I'm sure there is at least a weak positive correlation.

The professional athlete would work harder than almost all others in our society if this were true. So would musicians... but only the popular ones, of course.

Well look at the odds proffesional atheletes face... you have to pretty much dedicate your entire life to a sport to make it to the pros with very few exceptions... and those exceptions usually revolve around dedicating yourself to another sport.

Also look at their average life expectancies.

The average Life Expectancy for a Player in the NFL is 55.  That's like 22 years of your life gone thanks to your work.  I mean can we really say NFL players are overpaid when they give up 22 years of their life?  This is counting people that aren't hardly ever in the games!  So the numbers for the people on the field all the time.  Lets say they're probably gruesome.

As for musicians.  Look how many people try to be musicians.  Look how many suceed.  It's a very hard thing to write a song the whole world listens to.

It's not a matter of "Working hardest" so much as doing things other people can't do.

Teachers don't make more because teaching is inherently rewarding in most cases.  Some of the worst teaching jobs pay the best... and there are tons of people who want to be teachers... meaning there are often replacements.

The same could be said for short order cooks... and a number of other jobs.

If your a scientist and you aren't making a lot of money, your likely dedicated to a study that doesn't have much practical use.  Why?  Because it's inherently rewarding.

The above is great example of what capitalism is (Denmark). An independent central bank, stock exchanges, a free market etc. etc. Amateurishly trying to categorise nations into different camps by looking at the tax rate % is a slippery slope.

Do remember that the United States is in the extreme end of the capitalism scale. You are not 'the normal' capitalist state. The United States is the odd one out here. We Europeans invented capitalism and spearheaded it throughout the Mercantilistic Era, the Commercialistic Era, the Industrialistic Era, the Monopolistic Era towards Keynesianism and neoliberalism. The whole west is now joined together in international free trade, opening up Asia and integrating them to our systems.

Do not feel 'left out'. Instead be proud of that you (finally, in the end) helped us getting rid of national-socialism and helped us protect capitalist Europe from the Soviet Union. America had a long period of global protectionism and isolationism (it even was a colonial power in Asia and the Carabbean!) full free trade within it's own borders though. The former gradually ended during the first half of the 20th century. Welcome to the club. Wake up call! We have all been capitalist since the 15th Century. A long period when Europe consisted of hundreds of different states using the same currencies: The Florin and Ducats.

The United States is in the extreme end of the capitalist scale.

So to those of you who are indoctrinated (through your de facto patriotic pledge of allegiance, flag wielding school system) into believing that the united states is the cradle of capitalism and to those of you who think that the united states is the definition of a capitalist society.. John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith and Keynes would like to have a word with you.

The fact remains. Denmark (the oldest Monarchy in the World) has gone through all the capitalist eras. It has never been a socialist country. It is a Capitalist (Social-Democratic) Northern Euopean Nation. Before Denmark was capitalist, it had a feudalistic/'resource extraction' economic system. That's more than 500 years ago.

Denmark Scandinavia discussion.

/

Haha, this feels oddly familiar... Didn't we have this debate just recently?

Am I the only one that finds it odd that the only examples of properly run countries with massive social programs are infinitely smaller than America?

Denmark is about 1.8% the size of America (by population). You don't think that has *something* good to do with how their state is run?

I cannot wait to see what socialism does in the European Union - French workers being taxed to pay for healthcare in Turkey and Lithuania. Once that happens, then I think we can make an apt comparison on US capitalism and European socialism. Otherwise, we're trying to argue much smaller countries vs. much, much larger ones.

One could point to Singapore being a fantastic model of socialism in many various forms...But do you think that'd work on a much larger scale?

And I also find it strange that people are so willing to have their freedoms (choices in education, healthcare, and other provisions) taken away, yet decry the same governments for the notion of changing abortion, gay marriage, and other laws. Why is it that we're so touchy on the government being powerful in some areas, but willing to let them have major says in other areas?