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Originally Posted by Buster
Their political system is definitely NOT as corrupt as ours.
Canada's Lautentian Elite (OKA, the Ottawa Valley Elite), are far more corrupt/cloistered than anything the US has to offer. At least down there, it's just a dollars/money game in politics. Up here it's far worse. Plus, we have a State Broadcaster which clearly plays a corrupted role in our politics. We have nothing to brag about in this regard.
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Agree to disagree. There is obviously corruption in Canada, but I believe there are more checks and balances to keep it, well, in check. Elections can be called at any time if confidence is lost and there are more than two parties for instance. I much prefer our system to their electoral college as well, I feel it gives the people more of a voice, though it's obviously not perfect. The senate is a prime example of something that doesn't work and isn't needed, but it's there just the same. I never said we were perfect.
That you refer to their system as "just a dollars/money game in politics" speaks volumes, is true and hurts the point you are trying to make. Get a big enough lobby and you can do whatever you want in the ol' US of A. Corporations buy influence and can do whatever they please, I'm not sure you can say the same for Canada. Look through this thread for instance, there is a lot of resistance to what big oil wants to do, from a lot of different places. If it were all about money, I suspect things would be very different than they are are now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Buster
As for Universal Health Care: Canada may be a case study in how this doesn't work, as much as a case study in how it does. Between bloated costs, poor quality, and public service unions decimating budgets, our health care system is hardly something to brag about. You have to be a relatively fringe player in the US to get worse quality of care than we have here. Wealthy Americans get the best health care service in the world. Cut my taxes in half, get me some insurance, and allow me to pay - and your service quality goes WAY up. They have some significant issues to address down there - but if you are employed and insured down there, your quality of healthcare is going to be heads and shoulders above Canada.
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FYP. I'll take our slightly less effective healthcare that hasn't failed me yet, or anyone I know, over something that destroys the lives of the disadvantaged on a regular basis. Getting sick in the US can annihilate people's finances if they are uninsured, or under-insured. The ACA has helped a bit, but it's hardly perfect either. I won't argue with the quality difference, I'm sure it exists, but not to the degree you are suggesting. Being put on a list for months for non-essential surgery is hardly the end of the world. I'm sure there are instances where our 'inefficiencies' have hurt people but it's better than than not having the ability to afford healthcare at all, a situation many Americans find themselves in.
Many people in the US are basically living in poverty but working full time, and they still can't afford the basic necessities, even with their lower taxes. You make it sound so ideal, but it really only works for you if you are at least middle class, and even then you're dealing with private insurance companies that will find any reason they can not to cover you. They have come a long way but there are still more uninsured people in the US than there are people in all of Canada. There are plenty of people mad at this progress as well, so who knows if it's here to stay. A lot could change in the coming decades.
I disagree with this statement as well:
"but if you are employed and insured down there, your quality of healthcare is going to be heads and shoulders above Canada". Here, everybody is treated the same. There, it depends on how much insurance you can afford. Just because you are employed (a changing metric) doesn't mean you can afford good enough insurance when the time comes, certainly not definitively better than what we get. There's a million different policies and countless companies provided them on a for profit basis, there is no way to compare that directly to public heathcare. It's different for everyone, depending on where you work, the lifestyle you live, and how much you can afford on top of that. I have no doubt the 1% in the US has access to the greatest healthcare in the history of mankind. The other 90-99%... it varies depending on many variables, and can't be directly be compared our system that you loathe so much.