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Pretty much my argument for universal healthcare. People from both sides focus too much on emotional aspects of universal heathcare, but from a practical stand

Pretty much my argument for universal healthcare. People from both sides focus too much on emotional aspects of universal heathcare, but from a practical standpoint, the healthier your population, the longer they will be alive paying taxes. Obesity was a problem in the US only when too many people were too fat to join the military.

whatthesmack 7y ago
I don’t think skepticism of governments is an emotional response. It is practical and evidenced by history & folks’ experience with it. Folks against one method of caring for the population (ie “universal healthcare”) are not necessarily against having healthcare for as many people as possible nor against helping others... they’ve just seen governments do things inefficiently and occasionally dangerously and thus have a reasonable level of skepticism for the “universal healthcare solution” to the problem. For example, in the US, the VA has a horrible track record that immediately turns folks, like myself, off of the idea that the government should have any more control over our decisions than it already has. In addition, the political party that is more likely to bring “universal healthcare” to fruition--the Democrat party--had trouble counting votes in Iowa recently. That level of competence does not currently lend itself to running an entire healthcare system where lives are at stake. All that to say... it’s much more complex than “people are emotional because they resist my solution to the problem”.
- DangitBobby 7y ago
  Doesn't the VA have a bad track record due to its disability rating classification system? If you have 100% disability but they deem you to have 50%, they won't pay enough for you to get what you really need. The problem with the VA is not that it's run by the government, it's that it is capable of fucking and bankrupting you, just like the rest of our healthcare system. > The democratic party had difficulty counting votes in Iowa recently. Seems like aggregating so much data from numerous sources by non-expert volunteers is very likely to have issues. More to your point, though, that setup is not how most government business is conducted, so it's not especially relevant.

whatthesmack 7y ago

I don’t think skepticism of governments is an emotional response. It is practical and evidenced by history & folks’ experience with it. Folks against one method of caring for the population (ie “universal healthcare”) are not necessarily against having healthcare for as many people as possible nor against helping others... they’ve just seen governments do things inefficiently and occasionally dangerously and thus have a reasonable level of skepticism for the “universal healthcare solution” to the problem. For example, in the US, the VA has a horrible track record that immediately turns folks, like myself, off of the idea that the government should have any more control over our decisions than it already has. In addition, the political party that is more likely to bring “universal healthcare” to fruition--the Democrat party--had trouble counting votes in Iowa recently. That level of competence does not currently lend itself to running an entire healthcare system where lives are at stake. All that to say... it’s much more complex than “people are emotional because they resist my solution to the problem”.

DangitBobby 7y ago
Doesn't the VA have a bad track record due to its disability rating classification system? If you have 100% disability but they deem you to have 50%, they won't pay enough for you to get what you really need. The problem with the VA is not that it's run by the government, it's that it is capable of fucking and bankrupting you, just like the rest of our healthcare system. > The democratic party had difficulty counting votes in Iowa recently. Seems like aggregating so much data from numerous sources by non-expert volunteers is very likely to have issues. More to your point, though, that setup is not how most government business is conducted, so it's not especially relevant.