Re: Canadians and others who think the US is evil

From: Herman Rubin (hrubin_at_odds.stat.purdue.edu)
Date: 08/01/04 

Date: 1 Aug 2004 14:54:47 -0500

In article <0lkhg0hmluk8qf2cshfs4fe8pirjo3cdfl@4ax.com>,
GMCarter <noway@nowherenospam.com> wrote:
>On 28 Jul 2004 14:29:39 -0500, hrubin@odds.stat.purdue.edu (Herman
>Rubin) wrote:

>snip
>>>First, the United States is based on the premise of assuring the
>>>rights of all. Including 15% of the population not having access to
>>>healthcare. Yes, to me, healthcare is a RIGHT in a civilized society.

>>It is NOT. If you make it a right, then the amount you get
>>is limited by what the government bureaucrats decide is
>>available, and it goes downhill from there.

>Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Sounds to me that in the
>United States, health being a central feature of life, libery and
>happiness is a right. So healthcare IS a right. Not a privilege.

There are only negative rights; the right for protection
against those who would interfere with one's right to life
and liberty is the government's obligation. There is no
obligation to provide the boons needed for life, as this
would put obligations on people to do what would diminish
their survival.

>See also:
>http://www.nysna.org/departments/communications/publications/report/2004/mar/healthcare_rights.htm

>Now, if a government does not offer it (which it does), then who does?
>Private insurance? Oh...and it all goes uphill from there, right?
>Nonsense.

I am not now, and never have been, an advocate of what you
seem to call insurance, but really is prepaid care, and has
no semblance of insurance. One does not get insurance for
"normal" occurrences, and large companies only get major
insurance with huge deductibles for their fleets of cars.

>What makes a program work is the willingness of the people to demand
>it be well-designed, kept up and sustained. National healthcare
>programs can and do work well. Indeed, if we spent just a fraction
>less on the military, we could have EXCELLENT healthcare. And it does
>NOT necessarily preclude access to additional private insurance.

Utter nonsense. We do not have anywhere near the number
of good doctors and nurses, nor do we know the basics of
biochemistry and medicine needed. We will not find these
as long as the government dominates research, and it is
by no means clear that there are adequate resources no
matter how we try.

>>There is a similar situation; education. Education is
>>considered a right, but the public education is not really
>>appropriate for anyone with the ability to learn, or even
>>severely lacking in that ability, and actually reduces or
>>even destroys thinking capacity. But its ubiquity, and
>>other legislated requirements, make it difficult even for
>>the rich to provide a good education for their children.

>Nonsense. (That's right; change the subject.). Private education fares
>even worse in many cases. The voucher system is a dismal failure.
>Again, public education is as good as the money, people and effort put
>into it.

This is utter nonsense. The educational system is run by
those who believe that all children of a given age should
be in the same classes taking the same subjects. This
alone should be enough for total condemnation. Also, the
teachers are taught "how to teach", but not to understand
or teach concepts. The total number of high school graduates
with an understanding of mathematics suitable for college
now is fewer than it was 50 years ago; most high schools
do not have anyone on their staffs who could pass that.

        Transparency, fiscal responsibility, etc. can help assure
>monies are well-spent, well-utlized (which I grant you they too often
>are NOT and some systems are bloated with cash, like NYC, and still
>fail many students because of corruption and cronyism.)

If we have a good academic program, those who should go to
college will learn more in "grammar school" than they now
can get in high school, and a large proportion will never
be able to manage any kind of good program. Abilities
vary that much. Now where is there an academic program,
which attempts to teach the individual? The same is needed
for a health program; people are NOT the same. 

-- 
This address is for information only.  I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hrubin@stat.purdue.edu         Phone: (765)494-6054   FAX: (765)494-0558

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