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I don’t think it’s sufficient that conditions for the bottom 50% are just improving. In my opinion, humanity has the technology to provide for everyone to have

I don’t think it’s sufficient that conditions for the bottom 50% are just improving. In my opinion, humanity has the technology to provide for everyone to have access to clean food and water, modern medical care, and primary education. These should be provided without regard to the ability of the recipients to pay. Wealth inequality definitely gets in the way of this goal, as wealth that might help achieve these goals instead ends up in he hands of a few. In the US we effectively deny modern medical care to poor folks - you are required to go essentially bankrupt before Medicaid kicks in. Many people forego care so they don’t go bankrupt. The fact that more sane policies have not been implemented is a direct result of the influence of a wealthy political donor class which does not want to help pay for such a system. Inequality is inevitable, but we at least ought to move the safety net up a bit (and globally too).

cal5k 9y ago
I don't disagree at all. I just don't see how railing against the notion of inequality does anything to address this - the US collects enough in tax revenue to solve these problems already. What it needs is better policy. I should also mention that I live in Canada which, though flawed in many ways, seems to have struck a better balance.
- Turing_Machine 9y ago
  Canada (and most of Europe, for that matter) don't bear the costs of their own defense. That helps a lot. You may be wondering who would want to attack Canada. Well, you have an awful lot of wheat and oil, and China has an awful lot of hungry people and factories.
  - cal5k 9y ago
    China spends less than half what America spends on defense, and yet nobody is crazy enough to want to attack China. I'd also argue that a de-escalation in defence spending is entirely possible without sacrificing national security. Would China invade Canada if the world's defence budgets dropped precipitously? Probably not - it has far more to gain through trade than by attempted colonization. In fact, last time I checked nobody in Canada or Western Europe was asked to vote on the US defense budget. I'd gladly vote to cut it in half and devote more to shoring up your healthcare system, but it's a sovereign issue and it's up to Americans to solve it for themselves.
    - Turing_Machine 9y ago
      > China spends less than half what America spends on defense We're not talking about what China spends. We're talking about what Canada spends. Which wouldn't be enough to defend against Mexico in a fair fight, much less China. > Probably not - it has far more to gain through trade than by attempted colonization. Yeah, well, you might want to talk to Tibet, Vietnam, and India about that. Or, for that matter, any of the people who are being displaced by Chinese colonization in Africa as we speak. Edit: lots of food for thought here. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chinese+colonization+africa&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chinese+colonization+africa&ia=web
      - cal5k 9y ago
        This is actually a perfectly logical thing for Canada to do given our geographic proximity and economic ties. Do you know what would happen if the US suddenly dropped its defense budget and pledged not to defend its NATO allies? We'd spend more on defense. Although to be frank, the idea of Canada facing China solo in a military conflict is ridiculous. In 2017 we spent around $19B on a federal budget of about $311B. If you accounted for provincial budgets, it's probably close to $500B in annual expenditures. We could easily triple our military spending without adversely affecting the economy. The more important question: why does the US spend so damn much?
closeparen 9y ago
We lack universal healthcare in this country because the value system shared by approximately half of voters rejects it. This is not Elites vs. The People. Conservativism is a real thing that vast numbers of voters really believe in. Curtailing the power of elites sounds great, but what you are actually talking about is curtailing the power of vast swaths of the population.
- RealityVoid 9y ago
  I think a point can be made that most of those voters rejecting universal health care are persuaded to do so by the very interests of those very wealthy.

cal5k 9y ago

I don't disagree at all. I just don't see how railing against the notion of inequality does anything to address this - the US collects enough in tax revenue to solve these problems already. What it needs is better policy. I should also mention that I live in Canada which, though flawed in many ways, seems to have struck a better balance.

Turing_Machine 9y ago
Canada (and most of Europe, for that matter) don't bear the costs of their own defense. That helps a lot. You may be wondering who would want to attack Canada. Well, you have an awful lot of wheat and oil, and China has an awful lot of hungry people and factories.
- cal5k 9y ago
  China spends less than half what America spends on defense, and yet nobody is crazy enough to want to attack China. I'd also argue that a de-escalation in defence spending is entirely possible without sacrificing national security. Would China invade Canada if the world's defence budgets dropped precipitously? Probably not - it has far more to gain through trade than by attempted colonization. In fact, last time I checked nobody in Canada or Western Europe was asked to vote on the US defense budget. I'd gladly vote to cut it in half and devote more to shoring up your healthcare system, but it's a sovereign issue and it's up to Americans to solve it for themselves.
  - Turing_Machine 9y ago
    > China spends less than half what America spends on defense We're not talking about what China spends. We're talking about what Canada spends. Which wouldn't be enough to defend against Mexico in a fair fight, much less China. > Probably not - it has far more to gain through trade than by attempted colonization. Yeah, well, you might want to talk to Tibet, Vietnam, and India about that. Or, for that matter, any of the people who are being displaced by Chinese colonization in Africa as we speak. Edit: lots of food for thought here. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chinese+colonization+africa&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chinese+colonization+africa&ia=web
    - cal5k 9y ago
      This is actually a perfectly logical thing for Canada to do given our geographic proximity and economic ties. Do you know what would happen if the US suddenly dropped its defense budget and pledged not to defend its NATO allies? We'd spend more on defense. Although to be frank, the idea of Canada facing China solo in a military conflict is ridiculous. In 2017 we spent around $19B on a federal budget of about $311B. If you accounted for provincial budgets, it's probably close to $500B in annual expenditures. We could easily triple our military spending without adversely affecting the economy. The more important question: why does the US spend so damn much?

closeparen 9y ago

We lack universal healthcare in this country because the value system shared by approximately half of voters rejects it. This is not Elites vs. The People. Conservativism is a real thing that vast numbers of voters really believe in. Curtailing the power of elites sounds great, but what you are actually talking about is curtailing the power of vast swaths of the population.

RealityVoid 9y ago
I think a point can be made that most of those voters rejecting universal health care are persuaded to do so by the very interests of those very wealthy.