As a European I enjoyed reading this, I think it is a nice illustration of some of the differences between Europe and the US without falling into the silly "US bad" or "Europe weird" rethoric.
But one thing struck me as very odd:
> One thing I found unusual was how many people regularly smoked in Europe. [...] I guess that’s one of the few downsides of universal healthcare.
The idea that people living in a country with universal healthcare would more easily indulge in risky behavior because they would not have to pay for medication or hospitalization is, frankly, nuts. It's hard to imagine Americans smoke less not because they are scared of dying painfully of lung cancer, but because they could not afford the medical expenses in case they do get cancer; but maybe this is the case?
All I know is that the idea of not having to pay for healthcare is not at all reassuring when I think about the risks associated with something I'm doing - be it smoking, driving, drinking or anything else.
Statistically it's not that massively different though. e.g. ~12% of all Americans smoke cigarettes vs ~18% of EU citizens. Over 20% of all Americans still smoked as late as 2014, so IMHO it's mostly social/cultural and Europeans are just slightly behind on the curve (and have less socially acceptable alternatives like Marijuana)
I guess this depends a lot on the region. The graph you linked shows Germany is in the 20-25% range, which is almost twice as much as the US average. Definitely noticeable.
The conclusions a lot of people draw from universal healthcare are, frankly, insane most of the time. I've seen people saying that people in Europe are happier because of free access to therapy (as in, mental health), which implies a lot of things, but is not even true. Going to therapy here in Norway is extremely expensive.
The idea that someone would indulge in risky behavior just because a doctor will "fix you" for free is also ridiculous. This person clearly didn't think too much about it considering how people eat in the US.
But one thing struck me as very odd:
> One thing I found unusual was how many people regularly smoked in Europe. [...] I guess that’s one of the few downsides of universal healthcare.
The idea that people living in a country with universal healthcare would more easily indulge in risky behavior because they would not have to pay for medication or hospitalization is, frankly, nuts. It's hard to imagine Americans smoke less not because they are scared of dying painfully of lung cancer, but because they could not afford the medical expenses in case they do get cancer; but maybe this is the case?
All I know is that the idea of not having to pay for healthcare is not at all reassuring when I think about the risks associated with something I'm doing - be it smoking, driving, drinking or anything else.