Like most disasters, this will only entrench political positions, and/or radicalize people in the direction they were already leaning.
You don’t?
ICU beds per 100,000 people
US: 20-31.7
Canada: 13.5
UK: 3.5-7.9
China: 2.8-4.6
Countries with nationalized health care have to ration. That means facilities are run near maximum capacity. Bed utilization in Canada and the UK runs 95-100% in normal times, with waiting lists. U.S. bed utilization typically runs 80% or lower, with no waiting lists. Before this pandemic, this was seen as being a feature of nationalized health care - a sign of efficiency. Now? Not so much.
MRI machines per 100,000 population
U.S. 38.1
Canada: 8.9
UK: 6.1
Canada currently has a 1-year waiting list for MRIs. If this crisis required MRI machines, we’d be screwed and you’d be much, much better off.
One of the reasons health care is more expensive in the U.S is because private hospitals means redundancies, which translates into spare capacity in a crisis. The U.S. has more slack in its medical system than almost all the other health systems in the world.
Could you please stop with this canard that China could have stopped this from spreading beyond it’s borders? (Assuming that after wards, the virus chasers actually come up with convincing evidence from whence this pandemic came. Certainly the initial hot spot was Wuhan.)
Covid 19 is contagious in the asymptomatic state. We live in a global village. It had spread globally by the time anyone recognized it was a pandemic, only there was no testing in place to identify it. Please just stop with the “China could have prevented this” or even worse “it’s a Chinese bio-weapon unleashed on the world.”
That might help tamp down on the “fighting will start” part. Thanks for playing
Maybe the Chinese government could have done better, but it seems ridiculous to suggest that the chances of containing it in such a massive and massively populated country, with so many long borders, is any more than minuscule.
The American health"care" system depends on millions of Americans not participating in it.
I didn’t mean fighting with China. I meant internal fighting over funds, taxes, debt relief, etc. There will be lawsuits, people charged for breach of contract because they didn’t deliver goods on time, companies bankrupted now looking for restitution, etc. The tax bill is going to be enormous if we actually try to pay off all the money spent during this. That sort of thing. Fingers will be pointed, partisans of all types will accuse each other of failure.
In North America that will probably just result in more shouting. In less stable areas of the world? I’m not sure.
Changing views due to this mess. I used to think that Trump was a selfish, short sighted not-very-smart buffoon. But since experiencing the masterful, visionary, and generous federal response the covid-19 outbreak…
No, the guy is still utterly incompetent, dangerous, petty, irresponsible and untruthful.
From your cite:
Your “cite” can’t even find a common definition of what an ICU bed is, meaning they are comparing apples to snakes.
Ok, yes, we need UHC. No doubt. But saying that means we need Bernies plan is like saying you need a car to get to work, and then asking for a Mercedes-Maybach.
Sanders crazy gold plated cadillac plan, which has nothing whatsoever to do with medicare, is expensive, would result in tens of thousands losing their jobs, several major companies going bankrupt, and a huge bill- for someone. It is not the simple, easy UHC we need, it’s a crazy super plush plan, going far beyond what any other nation offers. And has exactly zero chance of ever passing congress.
I now consider Trump the worst president in living memory. It used to be Bush.
I am uncomfortable with the $2 trillion stimulus package.
I no longer have the same sort of confidence I once had in institutions like the CDC, FDA and HHS. I realize that under a sufficiently bad president, they cannot actually serve their institutional purpose.
Not everyone qualifies for unemployment insurance.
I’m more committed now than ever to never vote for a Republican for any office again. The way they refuse to say that Herr Donald can never be wrong about anything is a gross dereliction of their oaths of office. He is fucking this up six ways from Sunday and the way he disparaged the IG that he fired should have drawn a unanimous rebuke from everybody.
I’m more in favor of tax hikes than ever. The entire government has eaten a generation’s worth of seed corn in a month. Why not figure out who is working and who isn’t, who needs money to stay afloat and who doesn’t, and distribute based on that? I’m working at home plus drawing a pension, why should I get a stimulus check? Those on pension + SS, exactly how are they adversely affected and why should they get a check? We’re going to pay massive interest on money borrowed that didn’t need to be.
I’ve always wanted universal healthcare but I’ve also accepted the reality that we live in a political system that was designed to change incrementally. Opportunities for real revolution come along once every 50 to 100 years, and perhaps occur even more infrequently than that.
If we miss the opportunity to create a more socialized version of capitalism now, we will collapse in another 10-20 years, along with much of the rest of the “civilized” world. The real monster hiding in the closet is global climate change, and unlike pandemics, once the climate becomes inhospitable to basic living and labor, there is no production, there is no capital, there is no labor or wealth. Not to mention countries will probably start going to war long before the very worst impacts of climate change appear.
This ought to be our wake-up call, and it ought to be a repudiation of nationalism and force us to embrace global cooperation once again. I’m dubious, though, as to whether or not this will be the take-away.
The current situation is exposing flaws that I suspected, but now I see them.
Things like privatization of the medical system can not respond to stuff like this. The medical system should not be in the hands of capitalists.
Basic income would be a good thing. For a while I was on food stamps (SNAP), I learned to eat better and take better care of myself on that then when I could afford all the foods I wanted and I learned that I was worth a dam in this society, I was valued. I do believe it would work if we expanded it to basic income and set to a level above full time min wage.
Our capitalist system has been long broken, due to bailouts, but this shows just how fragile it is.
As someone said, if capitalism is such a great idea why does socialism need to bail them out so much.
Trump is Satan manifested. He is evil and stands for everything evil. He is a authoritarian dictator who doesn’t like democracy. What he is doing, getting the governor’s to worship and bow down to get needed medical supplies to help prevent more deaths is akin to Satan tempting Jesus in the desert. Unfortunately being evil is not a impeachable offense.
The environment has improved noticeably without so many cars. I climbed a local mountain, maintaining social distancing, the air seemed so clean and crisp and clear. We need to take a look at this and try to maintain our environment, making cleaner cars and less traffic.
I’m not going to address the whole post but I will pass on some info regarding supply chain. Your claim that food supply chain is “up and running” implies a business as normal condition. You could not be further from the truth. You may see items on your shelves right now but at a tremendous and unsustainable cost. The largest food supply companies are in a DEFCON 1 state of emergency right now.
Hundreds of millions in orders and actual food are basically destroyed. What bright spots there are whether they be new partnerships with retailers or donations to the needy make nice headlines but do not fix the underlying issues. The people I know in this industry are doing heroic work but every day that passes strains an already cracked system.
Capitalism is still superior to socialism, but any system needs regulation. Trump’s capitalism is gangster capitalism; using scammy debt, lack of transparency, and political power as leverage against banks, consumers, and other interests. It’s not Adam Smith’s capitalism.
Whiskey/Bourbon is actually pretty good. It’s definitely a developed taste.
Oher than that, I really haven’t change opinions on anything.
I thought my state’s governor (Jay Inslee, Washington) was bad-to-meh. He has seemed to not do a lot as governor and it was especially problematic when he disappeared during his Quixotic presidential campaign. My only warm feelings toward him were selfish, in the sense that I’m a public employee and he has always been pretty supportive of us.
Now, though, he had really stepped up in words and actions during this crisis. Washington was hit hard and hit first in this country and I think if he hadn’t acted as quickly as he did we would be in far worse shape. So the big change in my views is that I have a lot more respect for the governor.
The argument that many have put forth is that this lengthy means-testing process would be an unhelpful delay to Americans who need money urgently. It would be easier to just disburse the checks now and then raise taxes on the wealthy later.
I’ve always felt that way, but today I read a discussion on reddit that surprised me. Apparently many hospitals and ER’s have seen their overall caseloads go down significantly (except for Covid cases) because people are quarantining at home as they should. Which means their “sales” are also down and they’re cutting the pay of the doctors and nursing staff. It’s just so perverse that in the middle of a pandemic, the people we most desperately depend on are having their pay cut! Just further evidence that for the good of our society, health care must NOT be for profit!