When people don't even get that they don't get it.
So, there was an online health care argument.
Yes, I know better. No, I don't always do better.
Basically started when someone from a civilized typical country asked "WTF? Why is this even a question? Please explain to me why the BFD about a universal health care system."
And then 120 people went back and forth for 675 posts until a someone else from a typical country stepped up and said "Do you not feel that every citizen should, throughout their lifetime, have the same access to a doctor that every other citizen does? If not, I just can’t get my head around that."
At which point I felt the need to let my dog into the ring and say that's it exactly. Many Americans -- maybe even a majority -- don't feel that all citizens should have the same access to health care. Some don't feel that some people should have access to health care at all. And although a majority of Americans do think that everyone should have access to health care, many think that beyond an acceptable baseline, if you can afford to pay more, you should have access to better care.
At that point, someone very nicely reassured me that last bit would absolutely be the case if America passed a universal health care bill, and none of the proposals out there argue otherwise, so there's no need to worry.
*sigh* They don't get what I'm saying. In fact, it seems the ideal of unequal access to medical care is so deeply ingrained that the opposite can hardly be conceived of by many people.
I am not saying that completely equal access is an ideal. I'm not saying it isn't, either. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
On one hand, wouldn't it be nice to know that if you went to the hospital, you would get the same quality of treatment that would be given to the President, or to Bill Gates?
But on the other hand, we've all also known some pretty worthless, loathsome people. Think of the most awesome person you know of -- maybe a Noble Lauriate or a great researcher or philanthropist, someone who makes the world a better place -- and then think of the two worst, nastiest, most hateful and destructive people you know of. If you were forced into a completely unrealistic black-and-white either-or choice were either only the Awesome or the only Loathsomes could live, wouldn't you at least think of sacrificing the two Loathsomes in order to save the Awesome?
Of course, reality lies somewhere in between. There are excellent universal healthcare systems out there that work in just such a way, where everyone has an acceptable level of care, but you can buy insurance to be able to get faster or better treatment in privately owned medical centers. One of those systems would be a significant step up from the "pay or die" system we have now.
But still, it gets me that an egalitarian system is just so beyond some people's imagination that they haven't even realized that they haven't realized it's an option. This doesn't have to be a zero sum game.
Yes, I know better. No, I don't always do better.
Basically started when someone from a civilized typical country asked "WTF? Why is this even a question? Please explain to me why the BFD about a universal health care system."
And then 120 people went back and forth for 675 posts until a someone else from a typical country stepped up and said "Do you not feel that every citizen should, throughout their lifetime, have the same access to a doctor that every other citizen does? If not, I just can’t get my head around that."
At which point I felt the need to let my dog into the ring and say that's it exactly. Many Americans -- maybe even a majority -- don't feel that all citizens should have the same access to health care. Some don't feel that some people should have access to health care at all. And although a majority of Americans do think that everyone should have access to health care, many think that beyond an acceptable baseline, if you can afford to pay more, you should have access to better care.
At that point, someone very nicely reassured me that last bit would absolutely be the case if America passed a universal health care bill, and none of the proposals out there argue otherwise, so there's no need to worry.
*sigh* They don't get what I'm saying. In fact, it seems the ideal of unequal access to medical care is so deeply ingrained that the opposite can hardly be conceived of by many people.
I am not saying that completely equal access is an ideal. I'm not saying it isn't, either. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
On one hand, wouldn't it be nice to know that if you went to the hospital, you would get the same quality of treatment that would be given to the President, or to Bill Gates?
But on the other hand, we've all also known some pretty worthless, loathsome people. Think of the most awesome person you know of -- maybe a Noble Lauriate or a great researcher or philanthropist, someone who makes the world a better place -- and then think of the two worst, nastiest, most hateful and destructive people you know of. If you were forced into a completely unrealistic black-and-white either-or choice were either only the Awesome or the only Loathsomes could live, wouldn't you at least think of sacrificing the two Loathsomes in order to save the Awesome?
Of course, reality lies somewhere in between. There are excellent universal healthcare systems out there that work in just such a way, where everyone has an acceptable level of care, but you can buy insurance to be able to get faster or better treatment in privately owned medical centers. One of those systems would be a significant step up from the "pay or die" system we have now.
But still, it gets me that an egalitarian system is just so beyond some people's imagination that they haven't even realized that they haven't realized it's an option. This doesn't have to be a zero sum game.