5 ms·

> relatively small, new and homogeneous Not only is two of these completely wrong, what does that have to do with anything anyways? The United States is 50 sma

by mullen 9y ago

> relatively small, new and homogeneous Not only is two of these completely wrong, what does that have to do with anything anyways? The United States is 50 small countries in one big country, there is no reason why a Singapore system could not be done here. The age of and diversity of a country have nothing to do with its healthcare system.

MadSudaca 9y ago
> there is no reason why a Singapore system could not be done here. I'm not saying it's impossible for the US to have a better healthcare system, I'm saying that looking at what Singapour has and then concluding that people in the states lack empathy is not only unfair, but also lacking in perspective. > The United States is 50 small countries in one big country Not only are each of the states bigger than Singapour, but they're different to each other and at the same time they're not completely independent of each other. > The age of and diversity of a country have nothing to do with its healthcare system. A system that has been in place for a longer period of time, tends to become larger, more complex and harder to change. Moreover, a society that is more heterogeneous will have a harder time agreeing on an issue. Also in a democratic country, the larger the population, the more people you'll have to convince in order to change the status quo.
- CryptoPunk 9y ago
  No idea why your comment has been downvoted. The individual US states do indeed have little independence in the crafting of their healthcare system, given the heavy involvement of the federal government in healthcare. And the federal government is a massively complex beast that is subject to intense special interest lobbying and is far less accountable to its constituents than Singapore's government. There's no comparison between a fractured government presiding over 300 million people and a single party government of 6 million.
  - cies 9y ago
    > intense special interest lobbying When can we stop to being so euphemistic and just call it corruption? I do not have to wear my PhD hat in economics to say that the relatively high cost care in the US pays for both the lobbyists' salaries and the now-even-higher dividends of the companies that choose to contract those lobbyists. Workers pay through the nose, rich folk get richer. Democracy subverted once again.
vacri 9y ago
> The United States is 50 small countries in one big country I see this sentiment touted a lot, but is there really that much difference between a Connecticuter and Rhode Islander, or a Mississipian and an Alabamian? A North Dakotan and a South Dakotan?
- brailsafe 9y ago
  I'd wager that the somewhat arbitrary state divisions and the length of time they've been around have little to no cultural or biologically significant differences. Differences between populations in physical geographies and regions yes, but not because of the political boundaries unless you're referring to things that depend solely on political differences.

by mullen 9y ago

MadSudaca 9y ago

> there is no reason why a Singapore system could not be done here. I'm not saying it's impossible for the US to have a better healthcare system, I'm saying that looking at what Singapour has and then concluding that people in the states lack empathy is not only unfair, but also lacking in perspective. > The United States is 50 small countries in one big country Not only are each of the states bigger than Singapour, but they're different to each other and at the same time they're not completely independent of each other. > The age of and diversity of a country have nothing to do with its healthcare system. A system that has been in place for a longer period of time, tends to become larger, more complex and harder to change. Moreover, a society that is more heterogeneous will have a harder time agreeing on an issue. Also in a democratic country, the larger the population, the more people you'll have to convince in order to change the status quo.

CryptoPunk 9y ago
No idea why your comment has been downvoted. The individual US states do indeed have little independence in the crafting of their healthcare system, given the heavy involvement of the federal government in healthcare. And the federal government is a massively complex beast that is subject to intense special interest lobbying and is far less accountable to its constituents than Singapore's government. There's no comparison between a fractured government presiding over 300 million people and a single party government of 6 million.
- cies 9y ago
  > intense special interest lobbying When can we stop to being so euphemistic and just call it corruption? I do not have to wear my PhD hat in economics to say that the relatively high cost care in the US pays for both the lobbyists' salaries and the now-even-higher dividends of the companies that choose to contract those lobbyists. Workers pay through the nose, rich folk get richer. Democracy subverted once again.

vacri 9y ago

> The United States is 50 small countries in one big country I see this sentiment touted a lot, but is there really that much difference between a Connecticuter and Rhode Islander, or a Mississipian and an Alabamian? A North Dakotan and a South Dakotan?

brailsafe 9y ago
I'd wager that the somewhat arbitrary state divisions and the length of time they've been around have little to no cultural or biologically significant differences. Differences between populations in physical geographies and regions yes, but not because of the political boundaries unless you're referring to things that depend solely on political differences.