Socialised Medicine, Europe News Roundup
Many people have asked me why I vociferously oppose socialised medicine. They ask "how can you oppose something which gives free health care to everyone?" and the like. Aside from the fact that I honestly don't care for others because I'm an evil WASP (buzz buzz!), there are a number of political and practical objections to this scheme. A few points briefly follow.
First, there's the political point regarding government regulation. Any socialised medicine scheme involves government intervention in how medicine is delivered. Of course, to many this is a wonderful thing because the government has lots of money to give out to take care of our poor widdle ones.
But there's always a second side. People love federal money for education, but hate the "No Child Left Behind" act. What they don't understand is that one follows from the other. Once the federal government pays money, it demands accountability. This means the federal government will become the ultimate HMO. Imagine the coercive power of the state applied to a programme of enforced healthy living- mandatory calisthenics, dietary restrictions, &c. Sound outrageous? Many groups are proposing exactly these sorts of ideas because they view obesity as an "epidemic" which is somehow a sweeping health crisis. Socialised medicine gives these maniacs exactly the sort of platform to regulate public health. All that's needed is a public health scare. The same thing is happening in Britain at the moment.
Practically, the quality of health care delivered by a nationalised system is far lower than our eeeeeevil capitalist system. Socialised medicine is marked by long lines, waiting lists running into months for critical surgeries, and sub-standard care. In addition, there's currently an MRSA plague in Britain which is killing people in hospitals. This plague stems from improper sterilisation procedures. It's become a major election issue, with the Tories promising to clean up the hospitals.
Another concern is cost. I don't like taxes, and most people join me in this sentiment. However, when health-care spending is the providence of the state, everyone has to pay for it. I've heard that health care spending represents 15% of the GNP. This necessitates an increase in taxes that would dwarf any previous ones. This leads to a decrease in disposable income, especially for younger people who don't have as great a need for medical services. It's another way of sapping the productive forces of society to prop up the unproductive ones. It also discourages individual responsibility, as it's yet another thing the government does for you and another section of life you don't have to plan for.
Continuing on the eternal theme of my dislike of statism, to-day it seems that the tide of Statism is being stemmed as France is looking to vote "non" on the upcoming EU Constitution. Though the reasons for the rejection mostly stem from the proposed constitution not being socialist enough, I'll take victories where I can get them.
On the side of defeats, it seems my prediction about the increasing insanity of so-called "artists" in the modern era is coming true. An artist in London has keyed 47 cars randomly and declared it to be "art". Of the victims, he said that they should be "glad to be part of my creative process." No compensation is forthcoming.
When is somebody going to point out that the emperor of "fine art" is wearing no clothes? These people really are something else.
First, there's the political point regarding government regulation. Any socialised medicine scheme involves government intervention in how medicine is delivered. Of course, to many this is a wonderful thing because the government has lots of money to give out to take care of our poor widdle ones.
But there's always a second side. People love federal money for education, but hate the "No Child Left Behind" act. What they don't understand is that one follows from the other. Once the federal government pays money, it demands accountability. This means the federal government will become the ultimate HMO. Imagine the coercive power of the state applied to a programme of enforced healthy living- mandatory calisthenics, dietary restrictions, &c. Sound outrageous? Many groups are proposing exactly these sorts of ideas because they view obesity as an "epidemic" which is somehow a sweeping health crisis. Socialised medicine gives these maniacs exactly the sort of platform to regulate public health. All that's needed is a public health scare. The same thing is happening in Britain at the moment.
Practically, the quality of health care delivered by a nationalised system is far lower than our eeeeeevil capitalist system. Socialised medicine is marked by long lines, waiting lists running into months for critical surgeries, and sub-standard care. In addition, there's currently an MRSA plague in Britain which is killing people in hospitals. This plague stems from improper sterilisation procedures. It's become a major election issue, with the Tories promising to clean up the hospitals.
Another concern is cost. I don't like taxes, and most people join me in this sentiment. However, when health-care spending is the providence of the state, everyone has to pay for it. I've heard that health care spending represents 15% of the GNP. This necessitates an increase in taxes that would dwarf any previous ones. This leads to a decrease in disposable income, especially for younger people who don't have as great a need for medical services. It's another way of sapping the productive forces of society to prop up the unproductive ones. It also discourages individual responsibility, as it's yet another thing the government does for you and another section of life you don't have to plan for.
Continuing on the eternal theme of my dislike of statism, to-day it seems that the tide of Statism is being stemmed as France is looking to vote "non" on the upcoming EU Constitution. Though the reasons for the rejection mostly stem from the proposed constitution not being socialist enough, I'll take victories where I can get them.
On the side of defeats, it seems my prediction about the increasing insanity of so-called "artists" in the modern era is coming true. An artist in London has keyed 47 cars randomly and declared it to be "art". Of the victims, he said that they should be "glad to be part of my creative process." No compensation is forthcoming.
When is somebody going to point out that the emperor of "fine art" is wearing no clothes? These people really are something else.
posted by The Admiral at 4:55 PM
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