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Quote by: barts  tenger, I'm not sure it's the American "psyche" that makes public health care so difficult to implement in the US. I'd put greater weight on the US electoral system, which requires that candidates for public office sell themselves to corporate interests to fund their election campaigns. Much of what takes place, perfectly legally, in the funding of elections in the US is illegal in most democracies. Essentially, Congress and most state legislatures are bought and paid for by the highest bidders. It's not surprising then that US health care policy is, for the most part, determined not by what best services the public, but by corporate interests and the maximization of profits at the expense of the patient. |
There is certainly something to be said for lobbyists and their impact upon this Republic, they may even be the dominant force, but what I am talking about is down at the barbershop, people are either a bit apathetic about it, and highly suspicious of Government. They basically have the idea that people who don't have insurance are somehow at fault. It sort of blends into the welfare mom idea, rather than this guy has a broken pelvis, then lost his job as a stevedor, then lost his house and his health provider cancelled him out and his new provider won't insure a pre-existing condition. Americans will take care of the old and helpless, but if you are middle aged and have a heartbeat, we are not particularly sympathetic.