One of my theories is that not only is it about how these taxes get used (as in the OP), but also in the US you have these constant reminders, it’s not added to your restaurant bills or supermarket prices until the end, you have to calculate it yourself all the time and that keeps it front of mind. I never used to even think about tax until I started my own business (since now I don’t have to pay it for business expenses). When something costs 100€ it costs 100€, you don’t think about the fact 20 of them are tax because you, as a consumer, pay 100 and that’s that. Same with salary, it gets taken at the source and once a year you just need to verify, and usually you get some money back making it a positive experience.
Notice that taxes don’t have the same vile vitrol against them outside of America? They get something for their money.
One of my theories is that not only is it about how these taxes get used (as in the OP), but also in the US you have these constant reminders, it’s not added to your restaurant bills or supermarket prices until the end, you have to calculate it yourself all the time and that keeps it front of mind. I never used to even think about tax until I started my own business (since now I don’t have to pay it for business expenses). When something costs 100€ it costs 100€, you don’t think about the fact 20 of them are tax because you, as a consumer, pay 100 and that’s that. Same with salary, it gets taken at the source and once a year you just need to verify, and usually you get some money back making it a positive experience.