[QUOTE=sgman91;34806704]Can you clarify. How are you defining the word need?[/quote]
I'm not going to sit here and type out every little thing that's a need. I've provided examples that should demonstrate the types of things that are needs and the things that aren't.
[QUOTE=TestECull;34815033]I'm not going to sit here and type out every little thing that's a need. I've provided examples that should demonstrate the types of things that are needs and the things that aren't.[/QUOTE]
I ask because you obviously aren't talking about need to survive. Do you mean need to live fairly comfortable, need to provide for a family, etc.? What do you mean by need?
You can't just say these are needs because I say they are needs... it doesn't work like that.
[QUOTE=sgman91;34817617]I ask because you obviously aren't talking about need to survive. Do you mean need to live fairly comfortable, need to provide for a family, etc.? What do you mean by need?
You can't just say these are needs because I say they are needs... it doesn't work like that.[/QUOTE]
You really seem to be struggling with the concept of healthcare actually being a necessary thing for humans don't you? Of course it's a need, without some form of healthcare a simple illness could kill you or seriously harm you. Things that are essential to making sure you can live both safely and comfortably should be public sector at a minimum. Otherwise you start excluding people who cannot pay the companies who essentially get to say if you live or die.
I'll drop my two cents here because why not.
The economy needs to be regulated to prevent monopolies and protect the consumer. That's about it.
The answer would be a mixed market economy like the US had in previous days, but gave it up for a nanny state wasting tons of funds on law suits and consumer awareness things
[B]HEALTHCARE[/B] is such a hot button topic. Yes the insurance companies with the "pre-existing conditions" non-sense needs to stop. Of course by doing this would increase the price of insurance ALL THOUGH socialized medicine isn't the best thing either, being easy to exploit. Will make the government loose tons of money on unneeded drugs and equipment probably going to be abused. Which already happens with medicare/aid nonsense. Of course we all want to help people, but we need to face the reality that it cannot always happen. There always can't a be a positive outlook on everything however screwed up that sounds.
I have family members who have fell victim to the dangers of socialized medicine.
My uncle who was in hospice because he had open sores after surgery provided by medicare/aid. The hospice workers pretty much LOOTED the place right under his nose. Sickened me to no end, I had to clean up his house for it to be sold. After he had died they had rifled through his belongings.
So there are dangers of BOTH ends. So I'm still on the fence so I'll just say mixed until the governments finds a better way to check and allocate their use of funds.
Education. It needs reform, that is about it. No Child left behind was a disgrace. Placing bounties on passing students. That devalues the education.
[QUOTE=hexpunK;34817653]You really seem to be struggling with the concept of healthcare actually being a necessary thing for humans don't you? Of course it's a need, without some form of healthcare a simple illness could kill you or seriously harm you. Things that are essential to making sure you can live both safely and comfortably should be public sector at a minimum. Otherwise you start excluding people who cannot pay the companies who essentially get to say if you live or die.[/QUOTE]
I agree, healthcare is a definite need for humans.
A good example of how healthcare is useful is if you get hit by a car and break your leg.
Company: You can't afford to have the blood stemmed and your leg put into a splint? Tough.
Its scenarios similar to that which confirm that public healthcare is a need not a privilege.
[editline]22nd February 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Back_Slash;34817966]
ALL THOUGH socialized medicine isn't the best thing either, being easy to exploit. Will make the government loose tons of money on unneeded drugs and equipment probably going to be abused. Which already happens with medicare/aid nonsense. Of course we all want to help people, but we need to face the reality that it cannot always happen.[/QUOTE]
Just to counter that bit of your argument: the UK spends much less on healthcare as a percentage of GDP than the USA does. Also in the UK there is a big private sector which enables those with money to buy better, more 'luxurious' care.
This isn't meant to criticise your point of view but to show you that public healthcare can work.
[QUOTE=hexpunK;34817653]You really seem to be struggling with the concept of healthcare actually being a necessary thing for humans don't you? Of course it's a need, without some form of healthcare a simple illness could kill you or seriously harm you. Things that are essential to making sure you can live both safely and comfortably should be public sector at a minimum. Otherwise you start excluding people who cannot pay the companies who essentially get to say if you live or die.[/QUOTE]
OK, so things that are essential to living both safely and comfortable are considered needs. Got it. One last question, are we talking about comfort relative to the average level of comfort in the US? I ask because our poor are still rich relative to the entire world.
Please keep the ad hominems out of it. I want to know the extent of your belief before I try and argue against it.
[QUOTE=sgman91;34818300]OK, so things that are essential to living both safely and comfortable are considered needs. Got it. One last question, are we talking about comfort relative to the average level of comfort in the US? I ask because our poor are still rich relative to the entire world.
Please keep the ad hominems out of it. I want to know the extent of your belief before I try and argue against it.[/QUOTE]
It is relative to where you live. Needs are what you need to live safely and in reasonable comfort in [U]your[/U] country. The needs of American citizens are likely to be more expensive than those of a third world country.
[QUOTE=sgman91;34818300]OK, so things that are essential to living both safely and comfortable are considered needs. Got it. One last question, are we talking about comfort relative to the average level of comfort in the US? I ask because our poor are still rich relative to the entire world.
Please keep the ad hominems out of it. I want to know the extent of your belief before I try and argue against it.[/QUOTE]
Well you have a point with the comfort thing. It's going to be a relative scale to your country. Someone in a LEDC is going to have a much harder life than someone in a MEDC by definition. But it isn't fair to bring someone in a developed nation down to the levels of someone in a less developed one. We, and the country in question, should be trying to make that lesser developed country develop faster, but that's a different debate entirely.
[QUOTE=Back_Slash;34817966]The answer would be a mixed market economy like the US had in previous days, but gave it up for a nanny state wasting tons of funds on law suits and consumer awareness things
Of course by doing this would increase the price of insurance ALL THOUGH socialized medicine isn't the best thing either, being easy to exploit. Will make the government loose tons of money on unneeded drugs and equipment probably going to be abused. Which already happens with medicare/aid nonsense.[/QUOTE]
Provide evidence for these statements. Statistics that show "the government is losing tons of money due to unneeded drugs and equipment abuse because of medicare and medicaid", and that show "we're wasting tons of money on lawsuits and consumer awareness things".
[QUOTE=Mr. Sun;34808225]Teachers are generally more liberal. It comes with their job. They encourage people to think of things differently and that there is more than 1 solution to a problem. Thats why there typically aren't as many conservative teachers (Unless they are math and science teachers where there IS a right way and a wrong way)[/QUOTE]
Actually teachers are more liberal because their unions tell them to be, because then they get ridiculous benefits like tenure and other crap that makes them basically impossible to fire
[QUOTE=SomeRandomGuy16;34824072]Actually teachers are more liberal because their unions tell them to be, because then they get ridiculous benefits like tenure and other crap that makes them basically impossible to fire[/QUOTE]
Evidence?
[QUOTE=hexpunK;34819831]Well you have a point with the comfort thing. It's going to be a relative scale to your country. Someone in a LEDC is going to have a much harder life than someone in a MEDC by definition. But it isn't fair to bring someone in a developed nation down to the levels of someone in a less developed one. We, and the country in question, should be trying to make that lesser developed country develop faster, but that's a different debate entirely.[/QUOTE]
The obvious and relevant question is where do you draw the line with comfort? For example, it's very difficult to live a 'comfortable' life in the modern US without a working car.
[QUOTE=sgman91;34828678]The obvious and relevant question is where do you draw the line with comfort? For example, it's very difficult to live a 'comfortable' life in the modern US without a working car.[/QUOTE]
That's why you invest in public transportation. Especially with as big a country as we've got, it would be very helpful.
[QUOTE=Megafan;34828807]That's why you invest in public transportation. Especially with as big a country as we've got, it would be very helpful.[/QUOTE]
Our country is much to large and spread out for public transportation to cover everyone. What about the people who live in rural communities?
[QUOTE=sgman91;34829202]Our country is much to large and spread out for public transportation to cover everyone. What about the people who live in rural communities?[/QUOTE]
They need rail or better access to automobiles.
[QUOTE=gamefreek76;34736129]Privatized schools.
Our public schools are a terrible mess.[/QUOTE]
I thought public schools were a mess because they're forced to take anyone whereas a private school can reject anyone they want. Because of that I can't really say that private is better as for all we know they could just take only students that already have a high GPA to make the overall GPA higher.
[QUOTE=sgman91;34829202]Our country is much to large and spread out for public transportation to cover everyone. What about the people who live in rural communities?[/QUOTE]
We're gonna have a pickup truck anyway just because that's what you have out here. For example, paying someone else to deliver new appliances and lawn equipment costs more than the fuel used by a pickup to cart it home yourself. Also, nobody ever plows or salts the roads out here unless someone attaches one to their private pickup, so 4WD is almost a given if you live in a rural area that gets a lot of snow.
Besides, there aren't enough people out in the sticks for it to be cost effective to extend public transit this far. My nearest neighbors are a quarter mile away and I'm still close enough to get high-speed internet.
It's suburbia that needs better access to public transit. Suburbia has the same public transit problems we do out in the countryside, but they're far too densely packed for it to be an issue of cost-effectiveness. Public transit systems could make a killing serving those areas. But they don't.
[QUOTE=Megafan;34829468]They need rail or better access to automobiles.[/QUOTE]
Considering the $500 Ford pickup I bought seven years ago still runs like a champ to this day and would give most Hondas a run for their money on a reliability standpoint, I'd say we're pretty good on that.
Funnily enough, the nearest town to me, Lebanon, TN, actually installed a commuter rail service. If I wanted to go to Mt Juliet but didn't want to drive the whole way, I could just make the 15 mile trip to town, board the train, and head on in. I think it even runs all the way into downtown Nashville these days. It lists several stops that are considered Nashville, but I'm not exactly certain if they're downtown proper.
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_City_Star]Music City Star[/url]. It's not as advanced as many cities have, but it's better than nothing, and a ticket on that would save a fortune on gasoline costs if I had to commute to an area within a quarter mile of a stop.
[QUOTE=sp00ks;34783659]If there was no government or less regulations, the workers would have it even worse.[/QUOTE]
You're ignoring when corporations use the government to their advantage.
It's a widely regarded political idea that monopolies derive from government interference.
[QUOTE=Zally13;34859940]You're ignoring when corporations use the government to their advantage.
It's a widely regarded political idea that monopolies derive from government interference.[/QUOTE]
Widely regarded by who? Austrian economists?
[QUOTE=Megafan;34860020]Widely regarded by who? Austrian economists?[/QUOTE]
Yes, I suppose.
I regard Austrian economy theory with high respect.
[QUOTE=Zally13;34865050]Yes, I suppose.
I regard Austrian economy theory with high respect.[/QUOTE]
Not all of us do. You can't just post things like, "____ is widely regarded." when what you actually mean is, "____ is widely regarded by me and people who agree with me." Particularly when those people do not constitute a majority. That's not what 'widely regarded' means.
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