[ExI] I see pitchforks.

John Clark johnkclark at gmail.com
Thu Jul 11 22:04:25 UTC 2019


On Wed, Jul 10, 2019 at 10:48 AM <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:

>*we want the law business out of the medical business period.*
>

I agree we should kick out the lawyers and the incredibly complicated
tangle of counterproductive laws that govern the health care system of the
USA, like the one that says it's illegal for Medicare to negotiate prices
with drug companies even though it spends 174 billion a year on drugs.
That results
in the USA paying more for drugs than any other country in the world, for
example the USA spends $1162 per person per year on drugs while the UK
spends $497. And they live longer too.

*> Another reason to eschew federal government involvement in health care:
> they are broke.  Eventually all that borrowing will do to the federal
> government what it does to a family which borrows just to meet basic needs.*
>
>

Nice theory, but one ugly fact can kill even the most beautiful theory. The
fact is except for the last 3 years of Bill Clinton's administration the US
government has run a deficit in every single year since 1835, and yet the
USA still has the most powerful economy in the world. If every other
advanced country on the planet can guarantee that even the poorest of their
citizens receives basic healthcare I don't understand why the US is too
broke to do the same.

>>…Sounds to me like you agree with my thesis, there will be blood in the
>> streets.
>
>

*> I doubt it.  The battle lines would be drawn, the gardening club would
> see what they are up against, they would just say forget it, let’s think of
> a new plan.  Americans are too well-armed to attack them. *
>

So you think the upper class (which is rapidly shrinking in size) will be
able to keep the lower class (which is rapidly increasing in size) in
submission indefinitely by intimidation and threats of physical violence...
well maybe... but it sure doesn't sound like a very pleasant world. Trump
is currently trying to kill Obamacare through the courts and now that he
has 2 of his stooges on the Supreme Court there is a good chance he will be
successful, and if he is then 20 million American citizens who have health
insurance now will have none at all. And then people will die.

Spike, you said you have no animosity toward the ultra rich and I accept
that, but if you were unemployed because your skill set had just become
obsolete due to technology and your child was dying of a treatable disease
because you couldn't afford health insurance you might have a different
attitude.

 John K Clark

>
>
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