Cops do not get better training, they are not better qualified, and they certainly are not any better emotionally to carry guns.
That's a problem for sure.
What country do you know of that has it where the police have equal powers to the rest, no special protections, and no double standards in regards to criminal defense, etc.?
I said that there are countries where everyone is equal and cops can't commit crimes. It does not mean that everyone has equal powers. I live in Finland. The cops have a specific job to do so they have certain powers that allow them to do their job. But they don't have special protections against criminal activity. So there are no double standards in that regard. Of course, there is the possibility of abuse of power. And from that point of view, I can see your side. But there's a very high level of trust in the police over here. It's not to say that all the cops are perfect. I'm sure there are some bad ones but I'm confident they get weeded out eventually. At the very least, there are enough good ones that there is no negative image of the police among the general population. If anything, I think the police (and Finnish laws, for that matter) are too nice.
I assume the situation is similar in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. You know, these oppressively socialist hell-holes. 😉
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if the police there are better. Your country probably has much higher standards for them too. My surname is Cornelison, and my mother was at least a third Swede. If those places were not so cold, I would seriously consider moving to one of them. My family wants to go somewhere warm year round instead though.
True. The cold weather is indeed a downside. This morning it was -12C (10F) when I left for work. I also had to clear snow from the driveway before I could leave.
What is your combined and total tax rate there on your income? If you make money on investments, are you taxed? Capital gains tax as they call it here exists there?
I think income tax is between 30-50% depending on your annual income. Capital gains are taxed too. There's also a 24% Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods and services, 14% for food, 10% for medicine or entertainment. Lots of taxes for all sorts of things and although I might complain, in the end, I really don't mind because I'm happy with the benefits I get from the government.
Ouch. No thanks! What benefits exactly? Here even our roads are built by private companies. I'm a private investigator too. We don't even need government police. We certainly do not need a standing army either.
There's all sorts of things. I think health care is the most popular one.
Let's take child birth. I was talking with a work colleague in the US. He said that our company provides pretty good health insurance. When his wife gave birth, the hospital bill was 40K USD but thanks to the insurance his out of pocket was only 5K USD. WTF?!?!?! When my wife gave birth, it cost us less than 200USD. And it wasn't thanks to any special company benefits. It's the same for everyone in the country.
Women can be on maternity leave for up to 3 years and they are still guaranteed a position when they return to work. There's paternity leave too. I think it's up to 6 weeks but I could be wrong.
In general, you don't have to worry about getting sick, having an accident, etc. Medical expenses (like with childbirth) are only a fraction of the cost compared to what you might pay in the US. And we don't even need to pay for health insurance. It's already part of the taxes.
By the way, you mentioned that roads are built by private companies. I think that's the case everywhere. But who pays the private companies if there's no government? Who pays for all the interstate highways, for example?
They would be privately owned as many roads here already are.