from personal experience as a middle-class working adult having lived in France, England, Australia and Canada in addition to the US - my taxes in each of these countries have never been over 5% higher than what I would have paid in the US, and the marginal tax increase was offset by not having to pay thousands of dollars a year in deductibles, health insurance premiums, and out-of-pocket expenses. It's true that if you're in the fortunate position of earning a quarter-million per year you'll pay higher taxes in most developed countries than you would in the US, but there is a lot of misinformation and exaggeration about how much working-class and middle-class individuals (i.e. all of us) in other countries pay in income tax.