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Articles like this are a nice reminder of just how wonderful life is in America, and just how far civilization has to fall if shit REALLY hits the fan someday.

Articles like this are a nice reminder of just how wonderful life is in America, and just how far civilization has to fall if shit REALLY hits the fan someday. If you need a reason to be grateful in spite of mundane crap like housing costs and white collar jobs, the developing world offers some lessons in humility and gratitude.

Throw83489i7 2y ago
[flagged]
tomcam 2y ago
> if shit REALLY hits the fan someday or the fecal-oral route
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Timwi 2y ago
While you're not technically wrong, this is no reason to stop trying to improve the world for everybody.
admissionsguy 2y ago
> if shit REALLY hits the fan someday You mean when it hits the fan
- admissionsguy 2y ago
  Downvoted to hell for some reason even when I am not trying to be nasty. What I mean that the end of human civilisation is inevitable by natural law. I would argue that the number of possible ends that involve breakdown of civilisation and presence of the misery the cited post mentioned is much larger than the number of ends of a different nature (sudden end or some sort of transformation).
bilekas 2y ago
> Articles like this are a nice reminder of just how wonderful life is in America, and just how far civilization has to fall if shit REALLY hits the fan someday. While I agree its cool to see progress. If I get sick in the US and need medical attention, just fly me back to Europe. Id rather not go bankrupt.
- cheschire 2y ago
  Sure you might not have the financial burden but actually getting attention is not as straightforward as I infer from your wording. Wait times in much of Europe are kind of ridiculous. One isn’t better than the other. There are trade offs. Your preference appears to be financial.
  - Waterluvian 2y ago
    I dunno if it’s really so simplistic. I hear the wait time complaint about Canada a lot but it’s partly because we care for everyone, so sometimes you’ve got to wait if you’re not in real trouble. Especially with emergency care it’s quite fast. Back in August my son fell off the monkey bars and his elbow exploded. Ambulance in 7 mins. Hospital triage in 5 mins. Doctor 5 mins after. X-ray took 5 mins. Waited 7 mins. Diagnosis and sent to Children’s hospital one town over. More x-rays, surgery prep, surgery with two paediatric orthopaedic surgeons, four steel pins inserted, post-op, sleep, and he was home by 7am. Three more checkups with the main surgeon followed over the months. Cost us $8 in parking. Never even saw a bill. I would never, ever, trade this for the American approach. I need to know that every kid on that playground gets this exact same level of care.
    - cheschire 2y ago
      Since you have a specific anecdote as an argument, could you expand on your “American approach” concept and how it applies to your situation? I don’t mean talk in vague assertions about how you have read some other specific yet unrelated anecdotes about childbirth costing $125,000 or something. I mean how much would your son’s specific situation cost you in a comparable area of America for a family of comparable income? The reason I ask is because the general approach should not be argued against with anecdotes. You commonly hear of wait time issues in universal healthcare countries. You commonly hear about cost of care issues in America. Generally speaking there is an obvious trade off. And just like wait times and cost are preferences, your preference is equal care for children. In America that does not happen. That is part of the trade off. I am not implying that all things are equal. I am unhappy with the health insurance cartels that drive up cost in America making the lower middle class suffer. I am unhappy with the inconsistent care availability from region to region across the country. But I also resist the implication that American healthcare always bankrupts a person and that free / low cost care is a simple decision.
gosub100 2y ago
Fallacy of relative privation. Also in a way, people in poorer countries have stronger families because they actually spend time together. Compared to Western family stereotypes where mom and dad ignore their kids all day while they commute and work their fancy jobs to keep up with housing costs.
einpoklum 2y ago
> how wonderful life is in America Which parts of America? I mean, the US has lots of areas where the water is contaminated with carcinogens and other toxins and pollutants. The oil pipeline spills alone are already a handful, and then there's mining slurry, and industry dumping their waste where they really shouldn't etc. etc.
n8henrie 2y ago
I love and work in emergency medicine in the US. We still see Shigella on the Navajo Nation, where many of our patients do not have electricity or running water at their home.

Throw83489i7 2y ago

[flagged]

tomcam 2y ago

> if shit REALLY hits the fan someday or the fecal-oral route

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Timwi 2y ago

While you're not technically wrong, this is no reason to stop trying to improve the world for everybody.

admissionsguy 2y ago

> if shit REALLY hits the fan someday You mean when it hits the fan

admissionsguy 2y ago
Downvoted to hell for some reason even when I am not trying to be nasty. What I mean that the end of human civilisation is inevitable by natural law. I would argue that the number of possible ends that involve breakdown of civilisation and presence of the misery the cited post mentioned is much larger than the number of ends of a different nature (sudden end or some sort of transformation).

bilekas 2y ago

> Articles like this are a nice reminder of just how wonderful life is in America, and just how far civilization has to fall if shit REALLY hits the fan someday. While I agree its cool to see progress. If I get sick in the US and need medical attention, just fly me back to Europe. Id rather not go bankrupt.

cheschire 2y ago
Sure you might not have the financial burden but actually getting attention is not as straightforward as I infer from your wording. Wait times in much of Europe are kind of ridiculous. One isn’t better than the other. There are trade offs. Your preference appears to be financial.
- Waterluvian 2y ago
  I dunno if it’s really so simplistic. I hear the wait time complaint about Canada a lot but it’s partly because we care for everyone, so sometimes you’ve got to wait if you’re not in real trouble. Especially with emergency care it’s quite fast. Back in August my son fell off the monkey bars and his elbow exploded. Ambulance in 7 mins. Hospital triage in 5 mins. Doctor 5 mins after. X-ray took 5 mins. Waited 7 mins. Diagnosis and sent to Children’s hospital one town over. More x-rays, surgery prep, surgery with two paediatric orthopaedic surgeons, four steel pins inserted, post-op, sleep, and he was home by 7am. Three more checkups with the main surgeon followed over the months. Cost us $8 in parking. Never even saw a bill. I would never, ever, trade this for the American approach. I need to know that every kid on that playground gets this exact same level of care.
  - cheschire 2y ago
    Since you have a specific anecdote as an argument, could you expand on your “American approach” concept and how it applies to your situation? I don’t mean talk in vague assertions about how you have read some other specific yet unrelated anecdotes about childbirth costing $125,000 or something. I mean how much would your son’s specific situation cost you in a comparable area of America for a family of comparable income? The reason I ask is because the general approach should not be argued against with anecdotes. You commonly hear of wait time issues in universal healthcare countries. You commonly hear about cost of care issues in America. Generally speaking there is an obvious trade off. And just like wait times and cost are preferences, your preference is equal care for children. In America that does not happen. That is part of the trade off. I am not implying that all things are equal. I am unhappy with the health insurance cartels that drive up cost in America making the lower middle class suffer. I am unhappy with the inconsistent care availability from region to region across the country. But I also resist the implication that American healthcare always bankrupts a person and that free / low cost care is a simple decision.

gosub100 2y ago

Fallacy of relative privation. Also in a way, people in poorer countries have stronger families because they actually spend time together. Compared to Western family stereotypes where mom and dad ignore their kids all day while they commute and work their fancy jobs to keep up with housing costs.

einpoklum 2y ago

> how wonderful life is in America Which parts of America? I mean, the US has lots of areas where the water is contaminated with carcinogens and other toxins and pollutants. The oil pipeline spills alone are already a handful, and then there's mining slurry, and industry dumping their waste where they really shouldn't etc. etc.

n8henrie 2y ago

I love and work in emergency medicine in the US. We still see Shigella on the Navajo Nation, where many of our patients do not have electricity or running water at their home.