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Democrats did not exactly try to prevent people from buying homes they couldn't afford--or to prevent the government from spending money they didn't have. "Cor

Democrats did not exactly try to prevent people from buying homes they couldn't afford--or to prevent the government from spending money they didn't have. "Corporations" have done pretty okay, insasmuch as they are still capable of spending less than they take in. Private health insurance is still very exciting to, e.g., Canadian politicians. A health care system in which costs are not paid by a) the physician, or b) the patient, is necessarily going to have high prices, shortages, or both. But regarding "Too Big to Fail," in Influence, Robert Cialdini writes about a cult that predicted apocalypse on a particular date. Before the apocalypse, they were insular; after they missed their deadline, many members became aggressive recruiters--they had to invest more in the cult, so they wouldn't admit to themselves that it was a sham.

pw0ncakes 17y ago
Democrats did not exactly try to prevent people from buying homes they couldn't afford--or to prevent the government from spending money they didn't have. Fair point. Both parties had a hand in the subprime mess. For the record, I'm not a fan of the Democratic party at all. On the other hand, it's Republicans (and some spineless Democrats who followed them) who led the way in passing tax cuts for the rich while getting us into an extremely expensive, unnecessary, immoral and arguably illegal war. Private health insurance is still very exciting to, e.g., Canadian politicians. A health care system in which costs are not paid by a) the physician, or b) the patient, is necessarily going to have high prices, shortages, or both. That's why Canada pays the largest percentage of GDP on healthcare expenses, has 6- to 12-hour ER waits as a matter of course, 3-month waits to see specialists in most of the country, so much bureaucracy that most medical practices have to hire someone full time to deal with it, and has life expectancy, infant mortality, and preventable death rates that are terrible by OECD standards. Oh wait... sorry, I got that wrong; that's us.

pw0ncakes 17y ago

Democrats did not exactly try to prevent people from buying homes they couldn't afford--or to prevent the government from spending money they didn't have. Fair point. Both parties had a hand in the subprime mess. For the record, I'm not a fan of the Democratic party at all. On the other hand, it's Republicans (and some spineless Democrats who followed them) who led the way in passing tax cuts for the rich while getting us into an extremely expensive, unnecessary, immoral and arguably illegal war. Private health insurance is still very exciting to, e.g., Canadian politicians. A health care system in which costs are not paid by a) the physician, or b) the patient, is necessarily going to have high prices, shortages, or both. That's why Canada pays the largest percentage of GDP on healthcare expenses, has 6- to 12-hour ER waits as a matter of course, 3-month waits to see specialists in most of the country, so much bureaucracy that most medical practices have to hire someone full time to deal with it, and has life expectancy, infant mortality, and preventable death rates that are terrible by OECD standards. Oh wait... sorry, I got that wrong; that's us.