Mack wrote: > Laurent, you say you lived in LA for 10 years. I would not write that this > made you an authority on the American experience. Though I agree with you on > some points, the United States is still a fine place to live and one of the > fine qualities it does possess is diversity. Judging the entire American way > of life from one vantage point, California, is akin to judging the entire > continent of Europe by, say, France.
Just wanted to put in my two bits in defense of California ;-) Laurent seemed to imply that his daughter could not receive medical treatment in I assume, California. I don't know much about the provisions for health care for people who do not receive it through their employment in other states, but California has been at the forefront of providing medical care to people without insurance or other financial means for at least 30 years. I wrote a few months ago about two friends with serious medical conditions and no insurance who received top of the line health care free of charge through our state MediCal system. I also used MediCal for medical treatment over 25 years ago when I did not have health insurance. No matter where I have worked here , my employer has also supplied health insurance. For the past several years, even temporary employment agencies here provide a health insurance plan. If all else fails, there are numerous charitable foundations here who will help people out, especially for the treatment of children, if one does not have health insurance. Maybe some are put off by all the bureaucracy one might have to go through to obtain such benefits, but in my experience they are no more daunting than what I've personally experienced dealing with HMOs, a privatized form of socialized medicine where health insurance is practically free but one has to fight exhaustively for approval of any tests or treatment. My experience with MediCal has been far more expedient. > There are no more poor or rich or class divisions here than there are > in France. Or anywhere else in the world. Jealousy and greed is a part of human nature and is not confined to one country or particular group of people. >It doesn't escape one to see that people still flock to the U.S. from everywhere and there must be >good reason for it. It is self-evident. I've met many immigrants from all parts of the planet here and they are usually a lot more patriot and loyal to the U.S. than some who have been here for generations and take it all for granted. Kakki
