I'm tired of Socialized Fire Fighting!

[Starving_Artist]

@Jack_Batty

Thanks for proving Fear Itself’s point (and isn’t that a deliciously ironic statement). Just remember to Duck and Cover, Starv.

In my opinion, the atom bomb is the least of Communism’s danger. Far more people have been murdered by communist regimes than ever were killed by Russian nukes, and generations of other people had to live lives of misery, deprivation and oppression that were forced upon them by communist regimes.

In fact, totalitarianism is the only way communism can keep its grip on power and that’s why communist countries are always totalitarian.

So, doesn’t that tell you something? Like maybe socialism, which is really just communism lite, is the path that leads down a dark road?

It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of your vaunted socialistic European countries over the next one or two hundred years or however long it takes before they get to the point that California and New York have already reached (though for slightly different reasons), where their ability to provide for a populace that continues to want more and more exceeds their ability to provide it.

Communism would be my guess.

Of course I’ll be quite the geezer by then (;)) so I suppose it won’t make that much difference to me, but it’ll be interesting just the same.

[Jack_Batty]

Yeah! And they don’t like baseball or hot dogs either.

What the fuck are you going on about? Kruschev isn’t parading down Main Street.

[Blalron]

@Starving_Artist

It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of your vaunted socialistic European countries over the next one or two hundred years or however long it takes before they get to the point that California and New York have already reached (though for slightly different reasons), where their ability to provide for a populace that continues to want more and more exceeds their ability to provide it.

The UK has had Universal Healthcare for 60 years. It’s nice to see you setting your prediction of collapse to a point in the distant future when you will be long dead. It gives you an excuse to ignore the evidence. I know you’re an old fogey and stubbornly set in your ways, but have you ever considered changing your mind about anything? It’s actually quite liberating.

[elucidator]

Starv is, roughly speaking, about 61. When a man reaches that age, his cognitive faculties atrophy and petrify, making change impossible.

Unless, of course, he had the good sense to undertake preventive measures with psychoactive chemicals in the crucial years of youth. Then, of course, he could have been assured that no such dire consequence would ensue.

Had I known him early enough, I might have been able to help. Say, around, oh, 1968.

[Philster]

The proper analogy would be:

Government run health coverage dolled out to everyone is to health care as repairing/rebuilding everyone’s home after a fire is to firefighting.

*Insurance covers the damage and loss of one’s home from fire. My tax dollars don’t inject anything to make the house recover.

Insurance covers the damage and loss of one’s health.

Insurance covers the damage and loss of one’s vehicles. *

There are numerous government agencies that provide services for people, and the OP might actually be working the problem from another end without realizing it, despite the pathetic attempt.

If the bloated government was much leaner, had much less waste, and actually provided only the ESSENTIAL services, then maybe there’d be room and trust for a government-run health/insurance program.

I am a fiscal conservative. Yet, I would still love to find a way to get coverage for all. Really… I would like that, but this bloated disaster that is the U.S. government, and the less-than-stellar personnel we call the U.S. Congress, ain’t exactly making any doubters even one stitch more confident.

If we really could focus government efforts on the right and essential things, had a dynamic, progressive-minded, lean, mean and robust group of representatives (or some way to get there), I think we’d all feel a little better about the idea.

We could do it. Spending four hours in the DMV ain’t gonna make us fall in love with the idea of government-run health coverage. Now, maybe it shouldn’t be that way… but it is.

The only entity with an image worse than General Motors is the U.S. Congress.

[Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension]

@Philster

The only entity with an image worse than General Motors is the U.S. Congress.

Actually, I’d put HMOs and insurance companies far below the US Congress.

[Starving_Artist]

@Jack_Batty

What the fuck are you going on about? Kruschev isn’t parading down Main Street.

Why, I’m going on about your Duck and Cover crack. I would have thought it was obvious.

@elucidator

Starv is, roughly speaking, about 61.

Or, precisely speaking, 60.

@elucidator

When a man reaches that age, his cognitive faculties atrophy and petrify, making change impossible.

Not a bit of it. I’m much worse than I used to be.

@elucidator

Unless, of course, he had the good sense to undertake preventive measures with psychoactive chemicals in the crucial years of youth. Then, of course, he could have been assured that no such dire consequence would ensue.

Had I known him early enough, I might have been able to help. Say, around, oh, 1968.

Plenty tried. Virtually everyone I knew was on drugs. Didn’t do a lot for my social or sex life that I didn’t, I must say.

Still, I persevered, and, unlike a good many of them who died either from overdoses or lives gone utterly to shit, or who now have pretty fucked up lives and look and act 15 years older than me, I regard that as a good thing.

[Philster]

@Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension

Actually, I’d put HMOs and insurance companies far below the US Congress.

Who is your HMO/Insurance company? Just curious.

[Jack_Batty]

@Starving_Artist

Why, I’m going on about your Duck and Cover crack. I would have thought it was obvious.

Oh. You mean when I was making fun of you for thinking it was still the 50’s, so you went off on yet another screed railing against commies as if it were still the 50’s?

I guess you gave me what-fer.

[Kearsen]

@PrettyVacant

Obama gives up:

Guardian:
I guess the insurance companies paid more politicians than the pharm companies.

Which is the way the Congressmen and The President have coverage now.
The only kicker is that it’s really expensive

[SteveG1]

@Kearsen

Which is the way the Congressmen and The President have coverage now.
The only kicker is that it’s really expensive

Well, in order to remove their heads from their asses requires some pretty extensive surgery.

my bad

[Fear_Itself]

@Philster

The proper analogy would be:

Government run health coverage dolled out to everyone is to health care as repairing/rebuilding everyone’s home after a fire is to firefighting.

The reactionary notion that the primary function of healthcare is to repair damage is what is wrong with our system today. If health care focused more on preventative medicine, rather than ignoring small problems until they get worse and much more expensive to treat, we could reduce the enormous bite health care takes out of our GDP each year. But this would require paying for regular check ups and preventative medication even for those who cannot afford it, so short-sighted conservatives continue to block universal health care, even though it is in their economic interest to support it.