Aswad
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Joined: 4/4/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri
Oh, I do want the most out of my tax money. And, that's where I find issue with increasing the amount of money our Federal Government controls/uses. It was something that our Founding Fathers wrote into the Constitution (or at least they attempted to do just that; changing interpretations has all but destroyed that).
Believe it or not, but it makes a huge difference that the economic system is different (no longer on the gold standard, for instance), and socioeconomics and such fields have advanced quite a bit (computers make advanced statistics and modelling possible, for instance). It's senseless to base current decisions in objectively measurable fields on outdated ideas. Subjective fields, sure. That's about values, and I don't see a problem with conserving values. But objective fields are about reality, so there are right and wrong answers there, and those answers we get closer to with advances in sciences that were- at best- in their infancy at the time when the Constitution was written.
Holding on to the principles is compatible with embracing updated knowledge.
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The people on Welfare, I believe, are eligible for MedicAid, which can still be seen as "national healthcare." If they aren't doing it now, what incentive is there for those people to change?
In all fairness, you don't have anything resemling decent welfare and healthcare at the moment.
As for incentive, if there is a real prospect of a good life, people usually go for it.
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I think I may have not articulated my response as well as intended, either. I don't think the majority of Americans would ever consider crime as a way of life, though some will.
Yet you still have the highest incarcerated population of any country, on par with Stalin, and an abysmal recidivism rate. That's not very cost effective, and it's not necessary, as demonstrated here; we've tried other approaches, and the statistics are pretty clear on cause and effect: you would benefit from a slow transition to our model.
Imagine being able to leave your car unlocked in a bad neighbourhood with a perfectly reasonable expectation that nobody is going to do anything about it while you're away a few hours. That's a reality for us, and it can be for you, too. Which will cost you less than what you currently pay. To me, that sounds like a win-win situation.
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Damn. I find that hard to believe considering my view of Americans. That's not saying I think you're lying.
Americans are certainly consumerists, but so are we. Bear in mind that the USA has exported all those elements of its culture to Norway quite effectively, and that since the 90's or so, we've become the apprentice that exceeded the master in every regard (per capita, there are few areas in which we don't do more and better; except suffering, which we don't do nearly as much of).
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As usual, you have impressed me with your responding style. Thanks for the thought that went into it.
You're welcome, of course. It's well worth considering these things.
Let me be clear that I'm the last person to want to push socialist thinking. To my mind, these are fiscally conservative measures that just happen to have the side benefit of making more people live productive lives. I'm not very happy about Norway, because we lack some of the things that the USA actually does have (for instance the second amendment, to mention just one tiny thing). The USA can take a page out of our book as regards cost efficient policies, without all the socialism, and become a far better nation for it.
Unless the liberal party (ironically closer to American thinking than every other party here, except for the conservative party) happens to get a landslide result, there is no way Norway could become a better place to live than the USA could be if it implemented this attitude to cost effective politics and policies. But without implementing those things, the USA will fall behind on all parameters in the course of some ten to twenty years, I expect.
As I've said in the past, I'm kind of fond of the USA, actually, except for its foreign affairs.
And next to multistate secession, this is IMO the best thing you can do right now.
IWYW,
— Aswad.
_____________________________
"If God saw what any of us did that night, he didn't seem to mind.
From then on I knew: God doesn't make the world this way.
We do." -- Rorschack, Watchmen.
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RE: Doing Away With Employer Healthcare - 
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