Liberals can point to plenty of countries where progressive economic and social policies have resulted in a good outcome. I'd like to know which nations conservatives regard as shining examples of their ideology.
If you ask a liberal / progressive to name some countries that provide an attractive model for social democracy, we would list places like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, The Netherlands, Iceland, England, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, etc. These are all nations that have progressive taxation systems, some form of centralized medical care, excellent public schools, and a generally high level of government involvement in the economic life of the citizens. All of these countries rank higher than the United States on the quality of life index-- clean environment, highly educated populace, generous worker benefits, healthy citizens, and so forth.
What I would like to know is this-- Which nations provide a successful model for the kind of economic and social policies advocated by American conservatives? The Right in this country believes that social programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are bad policy that undermine our society. The Right believes that rules and regulations pertaining to worker safety and the environment are a burden on our economy. The Right believes that the wealthiest individuals and most powerful corporations should pay minimal taxes and enjoy more than their share of influence on our democracy through lavish campaign spending. The Right believes in denying our public schools the resources they need to do a proper job of educating the citizenry. The Right believes that an ever-increasing % of our GDP should be devoted to military spending. The Right takes the position that we ought to have restrictive voting rules that make it more challenging for the average citizen to cast a ballot.
So I'd like someone on the Right to show me a country somewhere on Earth where these policies have been put into practice successfully. Where are the nations that have taken right wing ideology and used it to build a stable and prosperous society that provides an attractive model? Surely there must some countries where conservative economic and social policies have proven to be winners. I just can't think of any.