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These only cost you 0.00 if you pay 0.00 taxes, fees and licensing costs for everything else in life. Otherwise you are paying for it, you just may not realize it. I always find it funny when Aussies talk about their minimum wage, when it amounts to just about $11.50 US an hour but gets taxed at 19% (here in the US that would be in the 0% tax bracket plus you may even get credits) and everything in Australia is at least 10% to 15% more expensive. Your petrol (our gas) is $1.55 per litre ($5.86 per gallon), while here it is an average of $2.00 per gallon. And don't get me started on your video games and other hobby costs. However, you have a beautiful country, and it is a great place to visit.Plus we have social programs like Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare (disability/retirement pension, medical coverage) here as well that most workers pay into. Its just that "socialism" is a bad word around here, and many Americans prefer to be self-sufficient, or at least pretend that they are, but sadly many Americans have nothing saved for a rainy day and are looking more and more at government bodies to assist them.
These only cost you 0.00 if you pay 0.00 taxes, fees and licensing costs for everything else in life. Otherwise you are paying for it, you just may not realize it. I always find it funny when Aussies talk about their minimum wage, when it amounts to just about $11.50 US an hour but gets taxed at 19% (here in the US that would be in the 0% tax bracket plus you may even get credits) and everything in Australia is at least 10% to 15% more expensive. Your petrol (our gas) is $1.55 per litre ($5.86 per gallon), while here it is an average of $2.00 per gallon. And don't get me started on your video games and other hobby costs. However, you have a beautiful country, and it is a great place to visit.
Plus we have social programs like Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare (disability/retirement pension, medical coverage) here as well that most workers pay into. Its just that "socialism" is a bad word around here, and many Americans prefer to be self-sufficient, or at least pretend that they are, but sadly many Americans have nothing saved for a rainy day and are looking more and more at government bodies to assist them.
