4 ms·

I'm assuming you and the son of the other commenter are US citizens? Quite frankly the way the US operated on most things absolutely baffles me. In the UK were

I'm assuming you and the son of the other commenter are US citizens? Quite frankly the way the US operated on most things absolutely baffles me. In the UK were the same thing to happen to you the police would be paying the bill, but obviously we have the NHS so it actually pays. The NHS might be broken but I am thankful every time I hear an American health story!

DFHippie 2y ago
I sometimes think the US exists as a cautionary tale. We suck so you don't have to!
- cscurmudgeon 2y ago
  But somehow you can use us as the world’s ATM! https://www.statista.com/statistics/275597/largers-donor-countries-of-aid-worldwide/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/275597/largers-donor-cou... Imagine a fraction of that going back to citizens!
  - eru 2y ago
    > Imagine a fraction of that going back to citizens! You know that US citizens mostly donate to charities that help other US citizens?
  - ssalazar 2y ago
    You dont have to imagine! Thats less than a sixth of a percent of the entire US federal budget :)
  - mpweiher 2y ago
    Hmm...there are other countries on that list...who spend more relative to their GDP. So not exactly "the world's ATM". And of course the rest of the world finances the US economy and US debt by virtue of the US dollar being both the currency of international trade and reserve currency. And it is reserve currency by virtue of being the currency of international trade. That is a far, far greater monetary value than the aid given out. Which you can also tell by what happens to you if you start to use another currency for trade. "Would you like some regime change to go with that?" Or how the US fights the Euro tooth and nail, including sabotage.
    - mywacaday 2y ago
      US are 19th according to this list: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/foreign-aid-given-per-capita?country=USA~DEU~EU+institutions+%28OECD%29~Multilaterals+%28OECD%29~FRA~GBR~SWE~NOR~IRL~LIE~LUX~MCO~CHE~DNK~NLD~ISL~FIN~CAN~BEL~SAU~QAT https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/foreign-aid-given-per-cap...
eru 2y ago
Well, the NHS might be better than what the US has, but that doesn't mean it's good. So Britain as a whole spends roughly half (in terms of percentage of GDP) on healthcare as the US. That includes both public and private expenditure. At similar health outcomes. Now Singapore spends roughly half of what Britain spends (in terms of percentage of GDP), and our population is no worse off for it.
- cma 2y ago
  You can also get cheap dental and haircuts in Mexico: what's Singapore's purchasing power parity compared to the UK? Maybe not an extreme difference since Singapore has has such a high GDP or even worse, but if it is more that can explain a lot even for advanced services.
  - eru 2y ago
    Purchasing power parity depends a lot on what basket you compare. Eg owning a car or cigarettes are very expensive here. But eating out starts much cheaper than in the UK. (There's no upper limit in either place, of course.)
- supermatt 2y ago
  The GDP per capita in Singapore is roughly double that of the UK, so health spending per capita is similar. I cant find latest figures, but it seems it is somewhere around 20% higher spend in UK. On the other hand, there are EU countries such as lithuania and estonia, that spend less than half per capita of Singapore, and are ranked with a higher healthcare index.
  - eru 2y ago
    Depends on how you measure. Lots of health spending is labour costs, and our labour costs are higher. So percentage of GDP relatively closely tracks percentage of total working time. Also perhaps our more enlightened policies are helping us achieve that higher per capita GDP?
    - 2y ago

DFHippie 2y ago

I sometimes think the US exists as a cautionary tale. We suck so you don't have to!

cscurmudgeon 2y ago
But somehow you can use us as the world’s ATM! https://www.statista.com/statistics/275597/largers-donor-countries-of-aid-worldwide/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/275597/largers-donor-cou... Imagine a fraction of that going back to citizens!
- eru 2y ago
  > Imagine a fraction of that going back to citizens! You know that US citizens mostly donate to charities that help other US citizens?
- ssalazar 2y ago
  You dont have to imagine! Thats less than a sixth of a percent of the entire US federal budget :)
- mpweiher 2y ago
  Hmm...there are other countries on that list...who spend more relative to their GDP. So not exactly "the world's ATM". And of course the rest of the world finances the US economy and US debt by virtue of the US dollar being both the currency of international trade and reserve currency. And it is reserve currency by virtue of being the currency of international trade. That is a far, far greater monetary value than the aid given out. Which you can also tell by what happens to you if you start to use another currency for trade. "Would you like some regime change to go with that?" Or how the US fights the Euro tooth and nail, including sabotage.
  - mywacaday 2y ago
    US are 19th according to this list: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/foreign-aid-given-per-capita?country=USA~DEU~EU+institutions+%28OECD%29~Multilaterals+%28OECD%29~FRA~GBR~SWE~NOR~IRL~LIE~LUX~MCO~CHE~DNK~NLD~ISL~FIN~CAN~BEL~SAU~QAT https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/foreign-aid-given-per-cap...

eru 2y ago

Well, the NHS might be better than what the US has, but that doesn't mean it's good. So Britain as a whole spends roughly half (in terms of percentage of GDP) on healthcare as the US. That includes both public and private expenditure. At similar health outcomes. Now Singapore spends roughly half of what Britain spends (in terms of percentage of GDP), and our population is no worse off for it.

cma 2y ago
You can also get cheap dental and haircuts in Mexico: what's Singapore's purchasing power parity compared to the UK? Maybe not an extreme difference since Singapore has has such a high GDP or even worse, but if it is more that can explain a lot even for advanced services.
- eru 2y ago
  Purchasing power parity depends a lot on what basket you compare. Eg owning a car or cigarettes are very expensive here. But eating out starts much cheaper than in the UK. (There's no upper limit in either place, of course.)
supermatt 2y ago
The GDP per capita in Singapore is roughly double that of the UK, so health spending per capita is similar. I cant find latest figures, but it seems it is somewhere around 20% higher spend in UK. On the other hand, there are EU countries such as lithuania and estonia, that spend less than half per capita of Singapore, and are ranked with a higher healthcare index.
- eru 2y ago
  Depends on how you measure. Lots of health spending is labour costs, and our labour costs are higher. So percentage of GDP relatively closely tracks percentage of total working time. Also perhaps our more enlightened policies are helping us achieve that higher per capita GDP?
  - 2y ago