Inflamatory
(My Internet connection is still wonky at times. I’m having a harder time with some sites than others.)
I live in a socialized country yep yep.
I pay for my health care in little bits, here and there, over my life time in my taxes.
Yes, if I smoked I’d be paying $10.75 a pack of cigarettes because they are a great way to tax people, and yes, I pay a %7 tax in all goods and services.
But if I got cancer I wouldn’t get one large, or several large bills to pay. If I need an ambulance, I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to pay for it, its already paid!
Yes it means certain liberties might be less. For example, I have to wear a bike helmet (bike or motorbike etc) because if I got a head injury, I’d be a drain on the public health care system. But having to wear a bike helmet is a fair trade for being able to afford to keep a roof over my head if I get sick. It’s worth it if I get to live in a country where even the poorest people get health care, where my glasses and basic dental needs are subsidized.
Yes, we trade some Liberties for others in the Great White North.
We have Freedom of Expression, but there are anti-hate speech laws.
I could walk down the streets of Toronto with no shirt on, boobs hanging out, covered in green jell-o, with blue hair, waving a rainbow gay pride flag, smoking a Cuban cigar, singing Wiccan chants all day and be well within my rights.
BUT if I then turned to a black person and called him a “nigger” I’d be arrested and slapped with a substantial fine.
A fine that will cover the hospital bill of some random child with leukemia.
Sounds pretty terrible doesn’t it?
I live in a socialized country yep yep.
I’m not a slave to my state.
Big government is only dangerous when you’re dumb enough to let people like George W run it.
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I lived in Texas for a short while. One day I attended a meeting of a group of wise women, shamanic healers and natural healers.
The discussion turned to socialized health care.
The majority of these healers were very much against the idea of having it in the USA…. See More
One wise woman said “I should not be responsible to pay for some ghetto trash kid’s medical bills” Many others there were in agreement.
I was shocked and saddened to hear healers sit around and all cold heartedly profess that they didn’t give a damn if a poverty stricken child died due to lack of health care.
In fact, it made me sick with disgust.
I got up and walked out the door. Sat in my car and cried.
Then I phoned my mother in Vancouver, Canada and told her I wanted to come home.
Re: ambulance, in our city, you will be charged a standardized fee of $40 (after the fact) for your ambulance ride. For some people however, that’s cheaper than a taxi from outlying regions in the Valley. There were times in my past that the $40 charge was a burden to me, but no longer. Still, I’m not complaining!
*nods* but compared to the USA where it can cost hundreds of dollars, $40 is pretty darn cheap
Sadly, the US is still very much attached to the ideals of our Puritan ancestors; much of the resistance comes in response to the idea that illness is a sign of moral weakness. As is being uninsured; obviously those people aren’t working hard enough. (Never mind that fewer employers are offering healthcare due to the cost, and it may cost more than people can afford given a cost of living that has risen out of proportion to salary. And a rising unemployment rate.)