Thank you for helping me understand what life is like living and working in Italy. A friend of my son's moved to Berlin, but had a different experience than you. She hated paying so many taxes at first, but then was grateful when she got trained as a surgical nurse for free (she hadn't graduated from college), and had free treatment when she was injured. I would very much like to move in the direction of free healthcare and education in the U.S. Also, childcare. I'd be willing to pay more taxes to achieve it. It's hard to understand social and government systems from outside them, or even within them! Thanks for giving me some idea. I hate to sound like an idiot, but would you say Italy is a social democracy? Also, the "tackling immigration" comment is insightful and darkly funny and the stats on misperceptions enlightening.