Precisely. We DO have crony capitalism, and it IS the problem. Gains are privatized, losses socialized. And this is the fault of big government. Giving government more control isn't going to solve the issue.
You need to understand correlation and causality. They're not the happiest people because they have the highest taxes.
I'm all for increasing parts of the welfare system and paying for it via a reduction of the defense budget. But you won't find republicans OR democrats agreeing to that.
This adds to costs, it doesn't provide services to the people. It increases inflation, because the companies pass the costs to the consumer. So in the end it actually hurts the consumer and the people. Now, that isn't to say some regulation isn't needed - it certainly is. But the vast preponderance of government regulation (Federal, State and Local) is corrupt and waste.
The money is so good. Look at Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham shovel aid to Ukraine like money is unlimited. So far, $100 billion tax dollars wasted on the Ukraine war which Ukraine has already lost. And still, no end in sight. NWO globalist war mongers laughing all the way to the bank.
If other countries can do it,it can be done.Considering our elected officials can be legally bribed I understand it will be hard to do in The US.