Well firstly, I'll call you out on medical bills, and I'm comfortable doing this based on what little I know on the issue. You can end up with substantial co-pays, yes? Big bills despite having insurance. You can end up bankrupt even with insurance, or at the very lesst, on the brink. This is madness. The Americans have been brainwashed in my opinion into accepting it. Lobbying and advertising has been used to normalise huge medical costs which are much higher than other developed countries
I am a centre left voter and thinker. I do not and never would support a purely socialist government. Again. Im calling you out on this. I dont appreciate disingenuous arguments and your angle on Scandinavia is exactly that. They have economies which are underpinned by socialist values. Their whole approach to life is underpinned by top class services and rights, and crucially a very high minimum wage. The latter makes visiting Oslo as a tourist a nightmare but thats beside the point
Sorry, you dont get to only give socialism credit for basket cases like Cuba.
Trickle down economy and supply and demand..... no, they are fundamentally different. Just because John needs to wipe his arse and Mike sells toilet paper, doesn't mean Sue is going to get that operation she needs unless the government has its spending priorities right and its tax regime right.
Currently if Sue went and bought a coffee in Starbucks the only way that would help her operation is if she kept the cup to piss in from her bed..... cos its not all about income tax, big corporations are getting away with paying f**k all and that is indefensible
On opportunity not being restricted...... just words pal, just words. Bright kids dont get the breaks they need often enough, and the obstacles are too great. Often schools are just not good enough, and it is extremely hard to make it to a good university from there.
Lastly, if you think having a charity food bank to feed someone in a rich country makes that situation acceptable, then seriously, have a word with yourself.
So you wish to ignore the fact that vast majority of American voters want medical insurance to be left alone. That is exactly my point about socialism., you guys always think you know best for other people and then work to make sure they comply. It is the essence of socialism in both ideology and practice.
My pointing out that Scandinavian social policies are underpinned by the most capitalist of economies is hardly disingenuous. It is factual. Please explain how you come to conflate economic systems with social programs. It is a common thread in your arguments. Comprehensive social programs only can be supported by a thriving economy which socialist economies never can fund over time. Not once in history. I mentioned not only Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and could have added Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, the whole eastern block of Europe, many African nations and many central a south American countries beyond those mentioned.
So you claim Cuba is a basket case for other reasons than being socialist...what reasons exactly? Could you point out why all of these economies failed...don't bother I will tell you. Because socialism kills the human spirit and takes away the opportunity to make one's life better through individual choices and drive. The whole concept of socialism is antithetical to human nature, it is square peg being pounded into a round hole and when it does not work the elites don't change course or admit their ideas don't work so they get a bigger hammer in a desperate brutal effort to maintain power and their own ill gotten wealth.
In terms of "trickle down" you don't quite get the concept. Your world view seems to be to punish the job creators and the poor will thrive. That is simply not a defendable stance unless as you do, resort to conflating the two as above and using emotionalism rather than logic or facts. In order to tax someone they have to have produced something, the more they produce the more they pay in. Except that when you impose punitive taxation growth slows and thus taxable production slows. And not just that company, all of its suppliers, workers and supporting businesses also suffer and therefore social programs suffer. Funding the NHS is example number one. Delve back into 1960s Britain and US and learn what 90% tax rates did to our economy. Even the Rolling Stones left FFS. JFK understood this and greatly reduced US tax rates and the the economy boomed. Yes there is a balance, and in a democracy the citizen voters decide what that balance should be. In Bolivia they made quite the statement last week eh?
Taking advantage of opportunity is always down to the individual in the end. Life certainly is a lottery and yet everyone has obstacles to overcome. Always has been the case and always will be. Sure we need to make schools better, but throwing money at them is hardly the way to do so. Curriculum... basic maths, reading, sciences, parental involvement all are far more important than spending. In Britain spending on education has more than doubled in twenty years, yet by all measures results have not kept up. The same for the US. These are facts.
You can wag your finger all you like, but in every society there are the less fortunate for whatever reason. Don't go on some morality trip with me please, especially as you don't comprehend my comments.
He/His/Non-Menstruater/Postmenopausal/non-vaginal male. Yup all man!