Re 'socialized care'- I think it was Robert Riech was making the point that many people key on the 'socialized' part as BAD while conveniently forgetting that the USA already has -lots- of 'socialized' services (i.e. run by a government) that seem to work well enough. Things like most of the transportation infrastructure (roads, water ports, airports, etc, pretty much everything expect rail). Some municipalities have local power systems (Alameda and Palo Alto come to mind), and the residents of those cities generally are very happy with the service. (Hmm, the rates are 25% lower than PG&E and they answer the phone.)
(FWIW, there are a few privately-run toll roads, but they're a vanishingly small part of the network, you can get to the same places without using them, and they' have a fair degree of oversight by... a public entity.)
I think one of the major obstacles will be convincing the public that some form of tort reform is acceptable, if not actually good. With most public systems, it's harder to receive things like pain & suffering and punitive damage awards. Since, in general, the American public sees any slight to their person as an invitation to demand millions of dollars in unwarranted compensation, getting them to admit that this money isn't related to whatever happened to them, so it's not really due to them, and comes out of their own pocket anyway will be difficult.
(FWIW, there are a few privately-run toll roads, but they're a vanishingly small part of the network, you can get to the same places without using them, and they' have a fair degree of oversight by... a public entity.)
I think one of the major obstacles will be convincing the public that some form of tort reform is acceptable, if not actually good. With most public systems, it's harder to receive things like pain & suffering and punitive damage awards. Since, in general, the American public sees any slight to their person as an invitation to demand millions of dollars in unwarranted compensation, getting them to admit that this money isn't related to whatever happened to them, so it's not really due to them, and comes out of their own pocket anyway will be difficult.
Reply
Leave a comment