Quote Originally Posted by rvg View Post
The income taxes vary by state. Some states have 3% income tax, some have 5%, some don't have any income tax whatsoever. Same with sales taxes: People's Republic of California charges a staggering 11% sales tax, while the neighboring Oregon doesn't have a sales tax at all. Most states have a sales tax between 4% and 7%. So, once it's all tallied up we definitely have lower tax rates when it comes to individuals.
I don't deny that taxes are lower in the US, but the treasury is also emptier.

My point was that the source you linked was obscuring the figures. A better comparison would be to add Federal and State income taxes together, and then compare to the 20% base rate here, adjusting for the fact that noboday pays tax on the first £8000.

Isn't that the point of harassment? To make life so uncomfortable for the adversary that they pack up an leave. Vikings were badasses, but not even a Viking would cherish the idea of plowing the fields in full battle gear.

Actually, that fact is telling me that they were looking for a place to settle, but didn't find one.
Your thesis has variously been that:

A) the Norse were massacred.

B) the Norse were repeatedly raided.

Neither of those are born up by the evidence. I'll freely admit that the Norse don't seem to have felt it worthwhile to stay, but if you contrast that with the stiff opposition the Saxons put up to Cnut's successful Norse invasion a few decades later you have to conclude it was a lack of motivation more than anything. For one thing, you had to cross the Atlantic.

Oh, and re: bringin animals, that's a necessity if you plan on wintering in somewhere, you need milk and cheese to sustain you if you weren't able to plant any crops the previous spring.