If you want to argue about distances then let’s talk about Europe as a wider entity rather than just one country. And Europe still comes out on top for quality of infrastructure.
The problem with the NHS is due to the amount of budget cuts from the Tory government.
The problem with the American health system is the exact opposite, it costs too much because private entities are greedy. Government intervention would be more legislative than financial.
Everything costs more in the US except for imported stuff. It's not because of corporate greed. It's because labor costs so much here, primarily.
>The problem with the NHS is due to the amount of budget cuts from the Tory government.
I don't know all about UK politics but I know that the current social programs and government spending are unaffordable. The US and other Western countries can't afford it either. The problem is not that spending is not enough, the problem is that our countries are not competitive or productive enough on the world stage for this exorbitant spending.
You can consider Europe all together but it is still a smaller and denser area than the US as a whole. You need to look at places with similar population densities (and perhaps geography) to have an accurate comparison.
> Everything costs more in the US except for imported stuff. It's not because of corporate greed. It's because labor costs so much here, primarily.
Your first sentence isn’t true and your conclusion isn’t true either. Then there’s the issue that American healthcare is massively disproportionally more expensive than the rest of the world. So even if your first two points were correct, they still don’t account for your cost of healthcare.
> I don't know all about UK politics but I know that the current social programs and government spending are unaffordable. The US and other Western countries can't afford it either.
The problem isn’t that they’re unaffordable. The problem is that people don’t want to pay for it. Or more specifically, people in the higher tax bands don’t want to because they view public services as an expense (which for them it is, because they’ll often be using private services instead). But this is another example of the self sabotage I was talking about in my earlier comment.
> You can consider Europe all together but it is still a smaller and denser area than the US as a whole. You need to look at places with similar population densities (and perhaps geography) to have an accurate comparison.
To be honest it doesn’t matter how accurate the comparison, you’re just going to argue that the free market fixes everything. Because that’s exactly what you’ve been brainwashed to believe. Capitalism is Americas #1 religion after all.
To be fair, I don’t think public services are the answer to everything either. There does need to be a balance between government oversight and spend; and of leaning into the private sector. The UK hasn’t found that right balance either. ButAmerica is waaaay of the mark and it’s destroying your country from the inside.
>Your first sentence isn’t true and your conclusion isn’t true either. Then there’s the issue that American healthcare is massively disproportionally more expensive than the rest of the world. So even if your first two points were correct, they still don’t account for your cost of healthcare.
My first two points are correct but if you don't agree we can stop talking because I am not gonna sit here and prove the obvious to you. I can't say we pay more for everything on average than literally anywhere else, but we do pay more on average for everything than most other places. As for why our healthcare is expensive, yes some of it is due to regulations and lack of competition. But the simple fact that it costs so much to live well in the US means that people must be willing to pay way more than elsewhere. That translates into higher pay for doctors. If you can pay $8 for a coffee then paying a couple hundred for a doctor's visit is not out of the question. If you can pay $50k for a basic boring car then paying $50k for a life-saving surgery is not unreasonable.
>The problem isn’t that they’re unaffordable. The problem is that people don’t want to pay for it. Or more specifically, people in the higher tax bands don’t want to because they view public services as an expense (which for them it is, because they’ll often be using private services instead). But this is another example of the self sabotage I was talking about in my earlier comment.
No it's not the fault of the rich that we can't afford it. Privately held wealth in the US is only about $130 trillion. Meanwhile there was $210 trillion of unfunded liabilities in the current system: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2017/10/10/your-pen... as of 2017! So even seizing everything from everybody would not solve our problems. It would also destroy our quality of life, make the best and brightest (and richest) people run away, etc. You need to do some rudimentary research before trying to tell people stupid shit like they can enslave the rich to get free stuff.
>To be honest it doesn’t matter how accurate the comparison, you’re just going to argue that the free market fixes everything. Because that’s exactly what you’ve been brainwashed to believe. Capitalism is Americas #1 religion after all.
You're assuming an awful lot here. I haven't been "brainwashed" any more than you have. I just know that lots of things the government does are scams. Free markets do require some regulation to prevent certain breakdown cases involving unfair competition. But letting the government do things instead with no competition won't be an improvement. America is #1 in many things but budgeting and protecting our own interests aren't among those things.
The UK ran the NHS as a high quality first tier health service for 50 years or more, during times when the UK was still making debt repayments to the US to cover costs from WWII.
Once Thatcherite neoliberalism (specifically: market-oriented reform policies such as "eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers" and reducing, especially through privatization and austerity, state influence in the economy.) took hold and wealth transfer from the many to the few became increasingly common the Conservative contributions to the NHS steadily decreased and eroded the service.
"Free trade" globalism aka outsourcing everything is indeed self-destructive. Liberals are just as much to blame as conservatives when it comes to not protecting our national interests. They can say whatever works, but if they get out of line with the globalist establishment then they are systematically pushed out by big money interests.
At this point, cutting spending is the right move in general. But that isn't going to happen because it's too unpopular. And whether we do cut spending or not, hard times are ahead.
The problem with the NHS is due to the amount of budget cuts from the Tory government.
The problem with the American health system is the exact opposite, it costs too much because private entities are greedy. Government intervention would be more legislative than financial.