American Socialism

[Don Corleone]

Here, here, Mr. Lemur. Well said.

I think Poor Bloody Infantry hit the point with the difference between taxes to build roads and taxes to build hospitals. We've never had 100% capitalism in this country, and we likely never will. Much like 100% communism, it only exists in text books and on limited scales, like gold rush squatter camps.

DA, you asked for more on my "NO". Well, simply put, i don't think the government does many things well. The FBI & CIA somebody mentioned are the same ones that allowed 20 hijackers to take over 4 airplanes simultaneously and fly them into buildings, killing thousands of people in the process. Did I mention they had intelligence that supplied all the dots all along, they just couldn't connect them? Mainly because they're so damned territorial and won't talk to each other.

The single best metaphor I can think of for how I view turning certain endeavors over to the government, or 'public', is public restrooms. Would you really prefer to use the loo in the train station to the one at your house?

One of the biggest problems I have with socialized medicine is that it fails to tackle the fundamental problem of health care... Limited resources. Like Mr. Lemur pointed out, for some people, when their lives are on the line, 10 million of the government's money seems like a reasonable amount to spend. At the end of the day, there will always be more 'experimental procedures' and new drugs to try out. Not that they'll likely help, but they will make the doctor richer. People don't recognize that, and they don't understand caps on health care spending. Right now, they hate insurance companies because the insurance companies deny new, untested and costly treatments. Switch to socialized medicine, and they'll hate the government.

I'm not for a complete free market w/ regards to health care however. As with most elements of human behavior, the wise answer to black or white is what is the correct shade of gray. I suspect the right shade varies from nation to nation. I think we could use some tax benefit/penalty incentive programs that encourage insurance companies to provide care for a broader swath of folks.

So while I appreciate Beirut's self-anointed role as grand-thinker for the American public, for better or worse, we've made our decisions down here and we're living with them. Nothing keeps the masses of oppressed we supposedly abuse and jto whom we deny basic human rights from migrating northwards. They stay because after weighing everything out, they still have a better deal here.

I'm sympathetic to low income families and the decisions they have to make around health care. Hell, with the way most companies have cut back on insurance coverage, we're all facing tough decisions. But that's the point, I still have the decision to make. If I want to bankrupt myself making certain Jillian and Allison receive the care they need, I can. I don't want rationing that tells me 'sorry, you're not allowed to pay for the coverage, and the wait is 2 years'.