Offworld, quick question, i'm not very full of knowledge on the subject of socialized medicine vs. capitalist/insurance form of medical care. So it's hard for me to have a real opinion here. I only have one observation, and it is based on my own limited experience of my family and employment for the last 17 years. (you being from Europe where there is socialized medicine may be more knowledgeable).
After I turned 18 I had no form of health care. Nor did my mother, father, sister, or aunt. What I find funny is that although we didn't have medical insurance, my sister had a convertible mazda miata, I always had an average of 1k to 2k in the bank at all times, everyone else had cable TV, and relatively nice cars and decent homes as well. I also remember members of my family spending quite large amounts of money on home improvements, cigarrettes, alcohol, and many other things. In addition, I remember most co-workers that I worked with over the years having the same issue. No health or dental insurance, but they always had money to spend on a dimebag, or quarterbag of weed every weekend. They always had a case of beer in the fridge, new rims on their cars, and badass stereos in their cars. These days, people I run into from my old high school or I hear about other friends and family who don't have medical insurance. But what they do have is an IPOD, cable TV, a rather nice car, home entertainment system, etc.... the list goes on. I recently looked up the average cost of health insurance per year for an adult. It's $1800 per year, roughly. Obviously if you're a crack whore living on a freeway in a war zone during a soccer riot, you may have to add a little to that premium. So here's my theory: Even if i'm totally maxed out and broke at the end of any given month, what would I have to do to get health coverage (assuming 1800/yr average)? Basically, I need another $150 a month. But what if my M-F 40hr week job doesn't cover that? Ok, if I get a part time job on a weekend, one night a week making 7.25/hr for 8 hours would that cover it? 7.25X8 is about $60, 60 X 4 weeks is 240 a month, and that's well over what I would need for health coverage. But I think the reality is that after doing all that work, a typical American will not spend their money on health coverage. They will buy a dime bag, a case of beer, pay their cable bill, buy an IPOD, or like me go to the pistol/rifle range on the weekend or jiu-jitsu practice with that money. My theory is that 'most' Americans who don't have health insurance don't have it because their priorities are fucked up. Or better put, their thirst for entertainment outweighs their own long term well being. And therefore, there is no political agenda that will fix this situation. As Ron White put it "You Can't Fix Stupid". As I always say at the end, I know there are some rare exceptions, but I have seen very few(like blind or deaf people who can't work, or retarded people, permenantly crippled, etc...). Now keep in mind, I've been surrounded by less educated people than what most here are on FFL, to include you Offworld. Also, even though i've traveled through over 40 countries, I never lived there. So I don't really know what's best or not. But I still tend to lean towards the philosophy that 'most' Americans who have fucked up lives are that way due to poor decision making and lack of personal growth and wisdom, as opposed to the idea that we have a purely evil government. Just wonder what your input is, along with anyone else. seekliberation > Britain has the best healthcare system in the world, because it treats > the biggest percentage of the population for the price of a tiny element > on income tax. If you are trying to treat a larger swathe of the > population, then it is harder. Therefore, there it is not perfect. > > But other so called socialized health systems, such as France for > example, do not get to call themselves a "socialized system" until they > are treating ALL the people - including foreign tourists, for free. They > have an easier job of it because they are not committed to health for > all as Britain is. > > The US is probably the WORST in the civilized world since almost 50 > million people are without health insurance - that's about 1/6 of > America's WHOLE population without insurance, about the number of the > WHOLE population of Spain. > > Anyone can look good if you are dramatically limiting who has access to > health care, so America's claim to be so great is complete smoke and > mirrors. > > Britain does not discriminate, and therefore it is harder to run the > system - but it is still better than the US. Britain is the best overall > health care system in the world because it tries to treat EVERYONE. > > OffWorld >
