World Politics

[redtreviso]

I guess rudepundit hasn't read the demands just yet.

Rudepundit, why not take them at their word?

Did I have a power failure?? my clocks wrong? Is it after 5pm pacific time?

 

[Anonymous]

Did I have a power failure?? my clocks wrong? Is it after 5pm pacific time?

Your clock's been wrong most of your life.

 

[redtreviso]

Your clock's been wrong most of your life.

oh wait... it is just after lunch time in Caleee..that splains it

 

[VeloCity]

Agreed. Full govt control. It's the only way.

For health care, yep, it is. Ever wonder why no other country in the world has ever copied our health care system? Lots have used our Constitution as the basis for their own, lots have adopted a Bill of Rights using ours as a template, but when it comes to health care, not a one.

Ima little confused If we are to get rid of fossil energy generation then we may need nuclear. So, I dunno about this one.

Conservation would go a long way to reducing demand for fossil fuels without the need for additional nuclear. But conservatives hate that.

We should be more like Europe.

In many ways, yep, we most definitely should be. For one thing, they're a lot happier than we are:

http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/14/world-happiest-countries-lifestyle-realestate-gallup-table.html

Whoo boy, good thing we're not like those countries. I mean, jeez, who wants to be that happy?

 

[powerste]

For health care, yep, it is. Ever wonder why no other country in the world has ever copied our health care system? Lots have used our Constitution as the basis for their own, lots have adopted a Bill of Rights using ours as a template, but when it comes to health care, not a one.

AFAIK no other country has imported country music from us either

We now return you to the previous serious discussion...

 

[rhubroma]

Or you could simply ask him what prize does he receive for winning? Cheers and applause!

 

[Anonymous]

For health care, yep, it is. Ever wonder why no other country in the world has ever copied our health care system? Lots have used our Constitution as the basis for their own, lots have adopted a Bill of Rights using ours as a template, but when it comes to health care, not a one.

Conservation would go a long way to reducing demand for fossil fuels without the need for additional nuclear. But conservatives hate that.

In many ways, yep, we most definitely should be. For one thing, they're a lot happier than we are:

http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/14/world-happiest-countries-lifestyle-realestate-gallup-table.html

Whoo boy, good thing we're not like those countries. I mean, jeez, who wants to be that happy?

Meh, the poll is skewed. When they interviewed Americans they talked to far too many liberals.

I have a novel idea for you. Instead of making over the USA why not pick your favorite European social utopia and buy a one-way plane ticket? Doesn't that make more sense?

 

[frenchfry]

...

We should be more like Europe.

In many ways, yep, we most definitely should be. For one thing, they're a lot happier than we are:

http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/14/world-happiest-countries-lifestyle-realestate-gallup-table.html

Whoo boy, good thing we're not like those countries. I mean, jeez, who wants to be that happy?

With all due respect to my northern neighbors, Scandinavian countries are not really Europe - and I mean that in a complimentary way.

Look at the list again, Germany is ranked 33rd, France 44th (the Prozac capital of the world), Italy 40th, Spain 43rd. Even Luxembourg with all its banks is only 28th. Compared to Europe, Americans are laughing.

 

[rhubroma]

With all due respect to my northern neighbors, Scandinavian countries are not really Europe - and I mean that in a complimentary way.

Look at the list again, Germany is ranked 33rd, France 44th (the Prozac capital of the world), Italy 40th, Spain 43rd. Even Luxembourg with all its banks is only 28th. Compared to Europe, Americans are laughing.

Sure but in a list crazed word, which comes from America. I often wonder who invents these top-10 lists? Certainly they aren't based upon any useful criteria, I've thought.

Nevermind that the Scandinavian people have the highest suicide rate on earth.

 

[frenchfry]

Demand 14, a new Colnago like the one flashing on the right of this screen for everyone. Preferably equipped Campagnolo (Chorus will do, I'm not greedy)

 

[frenchfry]

Geez, finally some solutions.
...

Demand two: Institute a universal single payer healthcare system. To do this all private insurers must be banned from the healthcare market as their only effect on the health of patients is to take money away from doctors, nurses and hospitals preventing them from doing their jobs and hand that money to wall st. investors.

Agreed. Full govt control. It's the only way.

...

Having experienced government run health care systems in 2 countries, I would have to say that in general they are much better overall than what I know of the US system, which is apparently an overpriced disaster.

Not that I am a "cradle to grave" government does everything kind of person. In fact I firmly believe that too much government bureaucracy is a main reason why France is 44th on the depressed population list. It's just that a government run system is cheaper and gives better care to the general population.

Caveat: French health care runs at a huge deficit, so clearly some of the quality of the service is going to be paid for by our children.

 

[powerste]

Caveat: French health care runs at a huge deficit, so clearly some of the quality of the service is going to be paid for by our children.

Ours (US) will be too. It just looks better to some than the French version because it's not a single government debt line item; rather, it's a combination of gov't debt via Medicare/Medicaid and personal (aka "household") debt for those of us not on either program.

 

[rhubroma]

Having experienced government run health care systems in 2 countries, I would have to say that in general they are much better overall than what I know of the US system, which is apparently an overpriced disaster.

Not that I am a "cradle to grave" government does everything kind of person. In fact I firmly believe that too much government bureaucracy is a main reason why France is 44th on the depressed population list. It's just that a government run system is cheaper and gives better care to the general population.

Caveat: French health care runs at a huge deficit, so clearly some of the quality of the service is going to be paid for by our children.

But the deficit is compiled within the private sector, through the banks on loans, not on public health care.

The banks and financial capitalism are to blame, which also involves the government mind you, but this is due to an ideological position that is solely predicated upon a mad, precipitous rush to wealth and making the markets grow.

Otherwise we haven't learnt a damn thing about the last century. There is a part of society that is literally choking on its millions and billions of dollars/euro, while the rest starve.

This is the problem, the mismanagement of everything, not the public system (that's also mismanaged, though through no fault of its own per se).

Of course we need a society that is up to the mission, however, this will never be the case under the present regime and what it indoctrinates and preaches. But this is a problem of message, not principle. And thus a question of leadership and Kultur.

I hold no illusions about this, but a question of leadership and kultur it is.

 

[VeloCity]

I have a novel idea for you. Instead of making over the USA why not pick your favorite European social utopia and buy a one-way plane ticket? Doesn't that make more sense?

Oh hell I'd move to southern France in a second if I could.

But really - love it or leave it? That's your response? Do you really think that we here in the US-of-'merica have all of the answers and can't learn anything from the rest of the world? Again, we're the only country in the world that has our system of health care. Everyone else has rejected it in favor of some style of universal health care. Maybe we should be asking ourselves why that is.

We in the US have socialized defense, socialized education, socialized highways, socialized water supplies, socialized parks, socialized police, socialized fire departments, socialized transportation systems (air, sea, rail), and so on, which everyone short of libertarians don't seem to have much of a problem with. Hell, the entire basic infrastructure of the US is socialized. Why conservatives freak out about socialized health care is beyond me.

 

[frenchfry]

But the deficit is compiled within the private sector, through the banks on loans, not on public health care.

The banks and financial capitalism are to blame, which also involves the government mind you, but this is due to an ideological position that is solely predicated upon a mad, precipitous rush to wealth and making the markets grow.

Otherwise we haven't learnt a damn thing about the last century. There is a part of society that is literally choking on its millions and billions of dollars/euro, while the rest starve.

This is the problem, the mismanagement of everything, not the public system (that's also mismanaged, though through no fault of its own per se).

I'm not sure how the mismanagement of the health care system is the fault of the rich rushing to make the markets grow. Of course there is pressure from the pharma companies to ensure unlimited consumption of medications, but this is only one factor. The main problem as I see it is that no one involved in the system (doctors, patients, administration) feels at all concerned about ensuring costs are kept reasonable.

For example, patients living in my town who need treatment in Paris often take a taxi/ambulance that costs about €300 round trip (financed by the health care system) even if they are capable of taking the train. My wife takes the train, it costs €25. Often the taxi/ambulance costs more than the actual treatment.

After a friend had knee surgery he went to a rehab center in Brittany. He went from his hotel to the center by bike, everyone else arrived in taxis paid for by health care. The stupid thing is that they were supposed to use their knees in order to heal better but they preferred to be driven since they weren't paying.

In June I interviewed for a job at a hospital. They had no idea how much they had spent in 2010, and didn't have a budget for 2011.

Being fiscally responsible doesn't necessarily mean caving in to the markets, it can be a matter of common sense.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh hell I'd move to southern France in a second if I could.

But really - love it or leave it? That's your response? Do you really think that we here in the US-of-'merica have all of the answers and can't learn anything from the rest of the world? Again, we're the only country in the world that has our system of health care. Everyone else has rejected it in favor of some style of universal health care. Maybe we should be asking ourselves why that is.

We in the US have socialized defense, socialized education, socialized highways, socialized water supplies, socialized parks, socialized police, socialized fire departments, socialized transportation systems (air, sea, rail), and so on, which everyone short of libertarians don't seem to have much of a problem with. Hell, the entire basic infrastructure of the US is socialized. Why conservatives freak out about socialized health care is beyond me.

I'm not suggesting you love or leave anything. What you want is already in place... seems like it might appeal to you on nearly every level.

Why stop at socialized medicine? I think we should have socialized housing, energy production, industry, telecommunications.... Venezuela only with more control.

We will all be really happy then.

 

[redtreviso]

I'm not suggesting you love or leave anything. What you want is already in place... seems like it might appeal to you on nearly every level.

Why stop at socialized medicine? I think we should have socialized housing, energy production, industry, telecommunications.... Venezuela only with more control.

We will all be really happy then.

Your natural selectionist fantasies are leaking out. Did you sniff glue when you were a child?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure how the mismanagement of the health care system is the fault of the rich rushing to make the markets grow. Of course there is pressure from the pharma companies to ensure unlimited consumption of medications, but this is only one factor. The main problem as I see it is that no one involved in the system (doctors, patients, administration) feels at all concerned about ensuring costs are kept reasonable.

For example, patients living in my town who need treatment in Paris often take a taxi/ambulance that costs about €300 round trip (financed by the health care system) even if they are capable of taking the train. My wife takes the train, it costs €25. Often the taxi/ambulance costs more than the actual treatment.

After a friend had knee surgery he went to a rehab center in Brittany. He went from his hotel to the center by bike, everyone else arrived in taxis paid for by health care. The stupid thing is that they were supposed to use their knees in order to heal better but they preferred to be driven since they weren't paying.

In June I interviewed for a job at a hospital. They had no idea how much they had spent in 2010, and didn't have a budget for 2011.

Being fiscally responsible doesn't necessarily mean caving in to the markets, it can be a matter of common sense.

You cannot say this in the USA. If you do you are by definition a racist, sexist, bigoted, selfish homophobe worthy of all vitriol that can be conjured up.

That is how we debate in the US of A.

 

[rhubroma]

I'm not sure how the mismanagement of the health care system is the fault of the rich rushing to make the markets grow. Of course there is pressure from the pharma companies to ensure unlimited consumption of medications, but this is only one factor. The main problem as I see it is that no one involved in the system (doctors, patients, administration) feels at all concerned about ensuring costs are kept reasonable.

For example, patients living in my town who need treatment in Paris often take a taxi/ambulance that costs about €300 round trip (financed by the health care system) even if they are capable of taking the train. My wife takes the train, it costs €25. Often the taxi/ambulance costs more than the actual treatment.

After a friend had knee surgery he went to a rehab center in Brittany. He went from his hotel to the center by bike, everyone else arrived in taxis paid for by health care. The stupid thing is that they were supposed to use their knees in order to heal better but they preferred to be driven since they weren't paying.

In June I interviewed for a job at a hospital. They had no idea how much they had spent in 2010, and didn't have a budget for 2011.

Being fiscally responsible doesn't necessarily mean caving in to the markets, it can be a matter of common sense.

Ok, but we return to the two decisive factors: the market and kultur.

I'm not saying that all people behave decently, quite from it, however, between a decency in principle and barbarism there is an abyss.

So long as the decency in principle exists, then we can always work on custom.

Stupid, naive, sure, but what else can we aspire too? And don't tell me that a certain type of cynicism is a noble philosophy, when we have a military apparatus that spends somthing like 20 dollars on a nut. They eat the money. Where is the principle in that?

 

[blutto]

Sure but in a list crazed word, which comes from America. I often wonder who invents these top-10 lists? Certainly they aren't based upon any useful criteria, I've thought.

Nevermind that the Scandinavian people have the highest suicide rate on earth.

...just checked the stats on that suicide nonsense you threw up, and guess what, you are dead wrong...the most interesting stat is that Canada and the USA are within spitting distance of each other ( and as we all know one is a socialist utopia with a universal healthcare system, and the other, capitalist heaven with healthcare system disaster...go figure eh! )

...but hey, look at the bright side...at least you've kept your streak of being dead wrong about everything you talk about alive...

Cheers

blutto

 

[Anonymous]

Your natural selectionist fantasies are leaking out. Did you sniff glue when you were a child?

Using multi-syllabic words appears to be a source of cofusion for you.

 

[rhubroma]

...just checked the stats on that suicide nonsense you threw up, and guess what, you are dead wrong...the most interesting stat is that Canada and the USA are within spitting distance of each other ( and as we all know one is a socialist utopia with a universal healthcare system, and the other, capitalist heaven with healthcare system disaster...go figure eh! )

...but hey, look at the bright side...at least you've kept your streak of being dead wrong about everything you talk about alive...

Cheers

blutto

Check the "stats" for Europe. Well, I did once read that Finland has the highest sucide rate.

So, you know how it is, we can only report what's in the press. In fact it is 14th according to the statistics. If we aren't to be approximative. Forgive me alive or dead. But if comparing Canada and the US has any bearing on the matter, then we should all move to the Caribbean.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate

 

[VeloCity]

I'm not suggesting you love or leave anything. What you want is already in place...

But not in my country. I'd like to see that changed. Unlike conservative Americans, I'm not so arrogant as to believe that we're right about everything and that we can't learn from other countries, or feel the need to swagger on about self-righteous nonsense like "American exceptionalism".

Why stop at socialized medicine? I think we should have socialized housing, energy production, industry, telecommunications.... Venezuela only with more control.

Hmm, last time I checked, Medicare didn't turn us into Venezuela. Nor did having the single largest socialized system in the world, the US military. Hell, what we spend on the military already probably makes us one of the most socialistic countries in the world. Odd how conservatives don't have a problem with that.

Just out of curiosity, would you prefer that the military be privatized and controlled by private contractors like Blackwater and SAIC et al? Or do you prefer the socialistic system we currently have in place?

Some good points here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102743.html

We will all be really happy then.

Well no, conservatives would be miserable, but I'm ok with that.

 

[Anonymous]

But not in my country. I'd like to see that changed. Unlike conservative Americans, I'm not so arrogant as to believe that we're right about everything and that we can't learn from other countries, or feel the need to swagger on about self-righteous nonsense like "American exceptionalism".

Hmm, last time I checked, Medicare didn't turn us into Venezuela. Nor did having the single largest socialized system in the world, the US military. Hell, what we spend on the military already probably makes us one of the most socialistic countries in the world. Odd how conservatives don't have a problem with that.

Just out of curiosity, would you prefer that the military be privatized and controlled by private contractors like Blackwater and SAIC et al? Or do you prefer the socialistic system we currently have in place?

Some good points here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102743.html

Well no, conservatives would be miserable, but I'm ok with that.

Um, no. I'm ok with the constitutional mandate for national defense.

So what about socialized housing? A bridge too far for you?

You seem pretty comfortable having a plethora of bureaucrats making decisions for you... what else should be socialized, in your opinion?

 

[rhubroma]

Um, no. I'm ok with the constitutional mandate for national defense.

So what about socialized housing? A bridge too far for you?

You seem pretty comfortable having a plethora of bureaucrats making decisions for you... what else should be socialized, in your opinion?

And you seem pretty comfortable with having a bunch of generals and business plutocrats making decisions for you...which is why you don't have "free" health care. Imagine! While the US bridges are woefully deficiant since those taxes can't cover the maintenence any more.

Where do we go without the public contribution? Or do the corporations tend to society's needs?