Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I have a 200k income, I don't really care about getting welfare, and I can probably pay healthcare myself. But I don't have that kind of income, and then healthcare, pension and social benefits really count. We may pay more tax, but I'm glad we have the backup system that keeps you going when you're sick or unemployed.
The sad reality is if your employed, you have good health insurance, and if your not, your visa isn't there either and your back to europe/canada with social services anyway :/ American also has Social Security & 401k (pensions) and health care for the old (medicare) / poor (mediCAL, medicaid), and some social services (public school, various state programs in california)
Comparing pensions does get tricky very quick. In Canada for example there is a deduction from your paycheque for Canada Pension Plan (CPP) (assuming you don't live in Québec), but many employers will also have matching-contribution RRSP (same as a 401k) plans. So when you retire you get government pension plus private sector pension (which would be a mix of what you contributed and what your employer matched). The UK is similar where you get a government pension plus many employers have a tax-deferred retirement savings plan they will contribute to.