3 ms·
Defining a public good is a method of classification based on opinion, often having little to do with a natural state. Few things in this world are truly public
by run4yourlives 17y ago
Defining a public good is a method of classification based on opinion, often having little to do with a natural state. Few things in this world are truly public goods. Hell, even air can be excluded with a little thought.
I'm interpreting the OP to be suggesting that choosing to define health care as a public good has obvious benefits that outweigh the notion that it should be left to the free market.
You are coming from an opposite view that clearly sees little benefit in drawing any lines past the natural norm.
Given that there is basically no country on the planet that operates in this method - spare maybe Somalia - I am assuming that the true definition of a Public Good is not the intent.
- cwan 17y agoThere is a middle ground here. It is possible to provide universal healthcare without dismantling private markets under the guise of calling it a public good. The Swiss do it (and at a cost lower with better quality than the Canadian or American systems) - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/health/policy/01swiss.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=Swiss%20Model%20for%20Health%20Care%20Thrives%20Without%20Public%20Option%20&st=cse http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/health/policy/01swiss.html.... What is increasingly clear however, is that there are a number of models like the Canadian one which are increasingly unsustainable and unwieldy.
- run4yourlives 17y agoI don't disagree with any of that. Being Canadian myself, I know it's far from the idea model.