> I find it absurd that the government can take your home AT ALL after you have spent your whole life paying for it.

They can, but IIRC the Supreme Court just ruled that they have to give you the proceeds from the sale minus whatever lien value they had on the property.

Not that I necessarily disagree with your sentiment, but the situation isn't quite as dire as the statement makes it appear to be.

For what it's worth: I'm from the Netherlands, generally considered a very high tax country. I've only recently learned about US property taxes and I'm shocked.

We too have such a thing, in a much more complicated way, but it's a mere fraction of what you pay.

On average, a dutch household that owns a home pays 851€ per year in municipality taxes, which includes property tax, waste/garbage services and sewage rights. Pure property tax may be as low as 50€ per month.

The idea behind it is very simple: you can't eat a home. A home you occupy does not generate any immediate income. Further, a home owner has little influence on the value of its property. When it rises in value that might be great, but your income, whichever it is, does not rise along with it. Finally, one can effectively never retire in their own bloody home with such a scheme.

Property tax is deeply unethical and cruel. Astonishing how the ultimate capitalist country allows for it.