Surely over recent years you've noticed how incompetent government is. I'm not even going to argue that the model of government is a business that intends to make a profit and because of this corruption is an inevitable result, which I could very well ague, just going to point out that government can not give you all you'll ever want.
People have to take responsibility for themselves because governments are not much better at doing it than you are yourself. Think of Sarah Palin's Yahoo email getting hacked or the British MP that sent huge amounts of private (child welfare) data unencrypted on a CD in the post, which was then lost.
Think about America in the Cold War. They made some of the worst mistakes a government could ever make- they spread so much mis-information about Russia that they lost track of who and what information was being spread and started to believe their own mis-information to the point that the were shaking in their boots about the fear-mongering they'd spread to scare others.
Then you have the mistakes those in power- Presidents, Prime Ministers, even Kings- make. Dumb grammatical errors (Bush, Palin, Dan Quayle), collapsing into tears or frustration during discussion (Gordon Brown- he also picks his nose during session) and passing important bills without most represenatives even reading the bill (This one happens all the time, including the recent health bill, the original bill to create the federal reserve, lots of dodgy bills like this under Nixon too)..
Not only are they only Human, they're generally much more incompetent than the average person. (Understandably- the stress of working for government, having everyone rely on you)
I suppose this is true, the government does **** up, It's filled with people who do want to work for the country, you have those that want to fill their pockets.
It's a shame really, however unavoidable. Can't say a lot about this besides that even though the government isn't perfect, you do have to trust in them..
You make a good point here and it's actually helped me see why most people want health care, but for what it's worth I think most people that are opposed to it are so because they don't want to be forced to pay for other people's operations- Is the principle of taxation really compatible with the principle of charity? Is it even kind to give if you're just being forced to give?
Surely it would be far less of a bureaucratic mess and entirely more ethical to have a health insurance system based on charity to others. Those that genuinely don't care can opt out of paying, and you can opt out of paying to someone in particular if you have political or personal reasons to do so. I think you'll find that most people who don't support health but have money (There are those, often living in caravans in Texas somewhere, that oppose socialism because taxes are making them poor) will happily donate to the cause when it's their choice.
I find the comment of not wanting to pay for your fellow human being awkward when coming from Americans, considering the states is mostly a Christian country.
The thing is, people are individuals, mostly everyone realizes that. However, people should also realize that as a collective they are the country. They are what makes a country tick, through voting, working and paying taxes. Even though you are not using healthcare, paying for it will reduce your own cost, as will it reduce everyone else's cost. This works pretty much like taxes. I can understand how it doesn't feel fair. Because frankly it isn't, some people use more care then others, but getting hospitalized for about three days in my country. Just for bed and standard services provided, you are charged a lot. Reaching the amount of money involved through monthly payments takes about two to three years.
If you don't like paying for others, think about how you're just making your life financially safer for yourself. Not only does this decrease what you are currently paying for health care, it will also make sure you won't lose your home if you lose a finger.
You'll also lose some of the best Doctors in your country (Likely to emigrate to mine, England, actually) because they want to be paid fair wages. The Health Care bill pays all Doctors equally whether they're Surgeons, Professors, veterans that have had many cases or newcomers that just completed internship.
Now I don't know if this is true, seems rather communistic to me. Still seeing as nearly every civilized country in the world uses a similar system, going abroad, I think, wouldn't make a huge difference in pay.
Also, the best doctors in the world tend to get were they are for the profession hey chose and love, not money. however this is purely speculation from my part.
Those uninsured people are so because they can't afford to insure themselves. If genuinely wish to spend your own money in order to help them, good on you. But I hope you won't turn around in anger when the government taxes the **** out of your paycheck. I hope it makes you happy to see what good you're doing. (Except that the majority of your taxes go to national defense- you can be angry about that)
People don't like paying taxes, no one does. However it's not optional[/quote]
I'm actually from the Netherlands, I get taxed pretty bad compared to mostly every other country in the world. Does this piss me off? **** yes.. However statically seeing, suicides are low, crime is low, our infrastructure is amazing and overall, we always score pretty high on international researches for countries like to life in. (Forgot what this is called again and I honestly can't be arsed to look into it right now!
)
It's a bit mind boggling, because people are greedy in nature. Survival of the fittest counts for us humans too, you can see this when a national disaster happens. (Haiti etc. everyone for themself.)
However being greedy, for the country as a whole, doesn't work that well. Sure it does well for you, but for everyone else not that much. Humans should really evolve towards a different state of mind, it would help the world out a lot.
Pretty idealist stuff, I know.. >.>
