I am from the beautiful city Belgium , according to Trump. (stadsmanneke means little city fellow).
We have a great social security , social healthcare etc. for many years.
Everything is in hyperinflation here , especially taxes.
All those social "things" have always been here.
Government is always looking for money , 3 - 4 billions a year now for closing the gap in budgeting.
They blame unemployed and sick people for this , because this is what the displeased working man likes to hear. ( 100 millions to max a few billion € , right!)
But in 2008 , there was a devastating financial crisis.
We had a bank called Dexia , which had to be bailed-out.
Total price tag , over 1000 billion , don't have to pay all , I know.
But silenty, this is a leak , still now , from over several billions a year.
Imo this is the main reason for those exorbitant amounts of taxes.
Remarkable but collective memory only lasts for 10 years.
And it's all coming back as a boomerang , gaining momentum.
But must say , I agree with most of what you say. :-))
The whole world is a ponzi-scheme !
And I didn't even mention the other banks.