Craig24 Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/200...14/british_nhs/ Have you seen this article? Naturally, the British didn’t cotton to having their healthcare system conscripted to serve as a bogeyman. You see, not only are the British not currently being stomped on by the heel of a socialist-fascist-whatever Orwellian dictatorship, they actually quite like the way things over there work. In the U.K., the National Health Service (NHS) plays approximately the political role that Social Security does here. and.. The GOP really ought to have been more careful about this. If you’re going to use another country’s policy as a foil, you first might want to check to make sure that policy is not, in fact, overwhelmingly popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapitalistPhil Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Popular only by default. Anyone who speaks out against the NHS is smeared. It's shame because the NHS is god awful, it really is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 One can see something similar in the U.S., where politicians will not criticize Medicare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axiomatic Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 The British DO NOT like the NHS. Most however have their own pragmatic, cute, evil little ideas about how to 'make it better'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceplayer Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 The British DO NOT like the NHS. Most however have their own pragmatic, cute, evil little ideas about how to 'make it better'. I think Rand nailed it in "Don't Let It Go": "It does not occur to the British worker that he is free to assume responsibility for anything beyond the limits of his particular job. Initiative is an 'instinctive' (i.e., automatized) American characteristic; in an American consciousness, it occupies the place which, in a European one, is occupied by obedience." If this is true, why would the British question National Health? And if this is true, let's stop comparing ourselves to the British and what they do or don't like. Be Americans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thales Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 I read some of those comments following the article, and many of them come across as nasty and dishonest. This is what I don't like about leftists today. It's very uncomfortable dealing with people who are dishonest, because you know the facts don't matter and they just make things up as they go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axiomatic Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 I think Rand nailed it in "Don't Let It Go": "It does not occur to the British worker that he is free to assume responsibility for anything beyond the limits of his particular job. Initiative is an 'instinctive' (i.e., automatized) American characteristic; in an American consciousness, it occupies the place which, in a European one, is occupied by obedience." If this is true, why would the British question National Health? And if this is true, let's stop comparing ourselves to the British and what they do or don't like. Be Americans. Rand did nail it. But I am British with an American sense of life. What am I to do!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceplayer Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Rand did nail it. But I am British with an American sense of life. What am I to do!? Well, the essay before "Don't Let It Go" is titled "What Can One Do?". So, short answer: Don't Let it Go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Grathwohl Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Let's read up on one of my favorite electronic composers' miserable treatment thanks to the British health care system (with a special guest condemnation from the Icelanders). Andrew McKenzie, the sonic genius behind THE HAFLER TRIO, is currently suffering from hepatitis B and auto-immune hepatitis. In addition, he was recently blind-sided by a residency situation in Iceland, his home of many years, that prevents his seeking social benefits that should be his, as a taxpayer into the Icelandic social welfare system. This situation also prevents employers in Iceland from offering him any sort of job. Being out of his country of origin, the U.K., for many years, to seek treatment there would mean waiting years in order to be readmitted into their system. It would also mean abandoning the ongoing pursuit of his social rights in Iceland, where he still has a chance to regain his standing. Finally, and most hurtful, he has been the victim of unscrupulous behavior by his former employer in Denmark, as well as by Touch, the label he helped found which released many of his recordings in the last two decades. So, his situation since September of 2002 is this: he is unemployed, cannot get a job in Iceland, and no offers from elsewhere are forthcoming. He has no health insurance and cannot afford medical treatment for his illnesses (over $600/month). He is currently prevented from receiving subsidized medical care. So basically, subsidized medicine has done nothing but make this man's desire to live dreadfully difficult. I bet he really wished there was no government-subsidized care now so that his treatment wouldn't cost such an outrageous price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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