[geeks] Socialized medicine [was Re: nVidia 8800GT for Apple Mac Pro]

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Mike Meredith <very at zonky.org>
>Date: 2008/05/24 Sat AM 06:15:07 EDT
>To: geeks at sunhelp.org
>Subject: Re: [geeks] Socialized medicine [was Re: nVidia 8800GT for Apple Mac 
Pro]

>On Fri, 23 May 2008 17:45:53 -0400, Patrick Giagnocavo wrote:
>> Is it your claim that socialism and communism are not related?
>
>Eh? No I'm saying you can't say a democratic state with socialist
>policies will fail because some communists states have failed. And it
>should have been obvious what I was saying.
>
>> By many standards they are already failures, the EU with its 
>> spread-the-pain approach is allowing the smell of decay to be covered
>> up for a few more years.
>
>By what standards ? I can't think of anywhere in Europe that could be
>considered a failure. There certainly no food riots, thousands being
>thrown out of their houses, extreme levels of unemployment, etc.

How about the flow of people? I've never heard of any great number of people 
that were fleeing the US to go to Europe (France, Germany, Former Soviet 
Union, etc.) - sure, a few folks will emigrate to European nations, but for 
over 400 years europeans have been fleeing Europe to settle in America - they 
can be found in every state, and most are doing quite well by modern 
standards. (i.e. many of our "poor" have color TVs, eat regularly, get free 
health care when they go to the hospital, and get to vote in elections that 
have tremendous impact around the globe...)

Do you need a food riot to be a failure? I think not. I've not seen any food 
riots here in the US (angst over rising prices on commodity items is not the 
same as a food riot).

The "thousands being thrown out of their homes" is a false argument - the 
homes are not theirs, they are owned by the banks, and the people you refer to 
as the owners are the occupants that agreed to make payments they can't/don't 
want to continue to make.

Unemployment rates are at 4.5-5% here right now, using the only measure 
available. IF we have such an unemployment problem, why do thousands pour 
across the border into America to work? The problem is that the people that 
need the work, aren't where the jobs are, and for some reason (money, etc.) 
they don't relocate to get employment. I'm confused about how an illegal 
worker can cross the border, make it across multiple states and arrive in, 
say, Nebraska, and find work in a meat processing plant, but another fellow in 
say, Ohio, will sit on his sofa and complain there are no jobs.

CLearly someone is wrong - can they both be right?

Lionel