Housing, food, health care and education are basic human rights and thus should be free.

@FreddieUK And why that?

@Luke73 Having read through the thread, you have been given enough reasons by other people as to why not everyone agrees with your socialist outlook. I agree with you that these basics should be available and affordable. However, as you have seen, many do not want to pay taxes high enough to enable everyone to have sufficient and they are quite content for there to be the obscenely rich and the poverty stricken in the same society - let's leave world poverty aside for this discussion. I have always believed in a more egalitarian society, but at my age and with experience, I realise that this is a naive view of human kind, certainly in the West.

For those of us who have the freedom to do so, we work to persuade people to vote for those who are in line with our beliefs. Your opening statement is actually part of that and this thread shows the thinking of those you (and I) need to persuade.

@FreddieUK And I think that is the problem. There should be change, people should try. Money is brought up very often but for most people a system like that would mean that they would have more money in the end. The average person wouldn't have it worse, the opposite actually, because they wouldn't need to rely on themselves.

@Luke73 But don't forget the greed factor. Always just a bit more, please. And for some riches are status.

@FreddieUK The greed for most people only comes from the capitalism, the fear of not having security but if you knew that all of your basic needs are cared for, then you wouldn't need that.

@Luke73 I'd like to agree, but I'm afraid it's a basic human trait and you'd be hard pushed to find me a system where there is not a rich elite either at the top, or hiding in the background manipulating some puppets. I believe it is possible to modify greedy instincts and the Nordic countries were quite good at that until recently. Compared to the US, much of Europe is ahead in its regulation of the worst excesses, but there is always the pressure from right wing forces to deregulate.

@FreddieUK I agree, that is a problem still. But that's something, like you said, that need to be controlled. That's one of the basic pillars of democracy, that people in power should be checked and held accountable.