93 Year Old WWII Vet Freezes to Death at Home...

[TheMercenary]

For example the population of Sweden is aproximately 9,045,389, the UK 60,943,912, Australia' 21,007,310. There is no way in hell you can compare those countries healthcare systems, based on various tax schemes, politics, social issues, demographics, etc based on a country like the US with a population of aproximately 303,824,640. No way.

[Aliantha]

Plenty of others seem to manage to compare various health care systems world wide.

For example, you could say that compared to the US, the current health care system in Somalia is very bad.

Anyone can make a comparison of any two (or more) things. Just because you don't agree, doesn't mean the comparison is invalid.

[TheMercenary]

No, Somalia's health care plan has never been floated in this country as something to behold and to be emulated. The others have and they would not work in the same way with the same set of rules that those countries have as the basis for their plans.

[Aliantha]

I think the reason Australian and UK health care systems are compared to that of the US so often is simply because as nations we do share similar (multi) cultures and the basic structures are also very similar.

I'm sure there are some great things about the US health care system, but from what I have learned, I definitely prefer the one we have here because medical assistance seems so much more accessible and affordable for everyone. In saying that though, I have to acknowledge that it is a biased view. If I lived in a rural area I doubt I'd feel the same or if I were an indigenous person living in a remote community.

Each has good and bad points, and I think the point of making the comparison between different countries is to inform ourselves on what we're failing in and what we're succeeding in.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

We as Americans do share a general culture, but that doesn't mean their aren't variations or subcultures between them. "Rural culture", "suburban culture", and even "urban culture", while different, share the same basic values as opposed to Arab culture, where the value system is much different.

What about the ethnic subcultures. They have very diverse value systems and care for their ill, elderly or infirm in many different ways.

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Plenty of others seem to manage to compare various health care systems world wide.

Most of them would be politicians. Just like statistics, they make their point and then use a comparison, good or bad - valid or not, to justify it.

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by classicman

Most of them would be politicians. Just like statistics, they make their point and then use a comparison, good or bad - valid or not, to justify it.

Well I was implying that everyday people don't seem to have a difficulty in making comparisons. It happens on this board all the time.

We very rarely have reports of our health care system being compared to that of other countries in the media here. Mainly it's reports about what's wrong and what should be fixed and how much it will cost according to what person.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I think the reason Australian and UK health care systems are compared to that of the US so often is simply because as nations we do share similar (multi) cultures and the basic structures are also very similar.

I'm sure there are some great things about the US health care system, but from what I have learned, I definitely prefer the one we have here because medical assistance seems so much more accessible and affordable for everyone. In saying that though, I have to acknowledge that it is a biased view. If I lived in a rural area I doubt I'd feel the same or if I were an indigenous person living in a remote community.

Each has good and bad points, and I think the point of making the comparison between different countries is to inform ourselves on what we're failing in and what we're succeeding in.

It reminds me of the time on active duty and while on exchange with UK forces. They marveled at how big our forces resources were while I marveled at the simplicity of their structure. Great observations and there is much we can learn from each other, but to think that we can simply solve each others problems by adapting the others process and structure is pure fantasy. Same goes for our health care systems.

[Aliantha]

I agree. We have a totally different economic structure here and the UK is different again. I see Australia as being somewhere in the middle of the US and the UK as far as health care goes.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

No comparison. Really, I hear this all the time. It does not matter if it is economics, military issues, politics, etc. There is no way you can compare our society to many of the European and Middle Eastern societies because of many things, and I know that you know all of this. If you are going to compare our society to any other you could use China and Russia based on diversity and demographics alone, but even those cannot compare. I find it funny how people want to compare our healthcare system to those that are about 1/50th the size of ours as one example. The list is endless of poor comparisons. If anyone doubts this hit me up with your best example.

Reread my post and the point of my post. I never compared economics, military issues, politics, or health benefits. In fact, you will find out that we are making the same exact point.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by classicman

What about the ethnic subcultures. They have very diverse value systems and care for their ill, elderly or infirm in many different ways.

Explain what you mean.

Ethnic Somalis living in the United States usually practice Somali culture with obvious American, more African-American in this case, traits. If you are using their value systems I wouldn't call it American.

I don't know if we are on the same page or not.

[classicman]

No PH, I wasn't talking about Somalis at all.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

Explain what you mean.

Ethnic Somalis living in the United States usually practice Somali culture with obvious American, more African-American in this case, traits. If you are using their value systems I wouldn't call it American.

I don't know if we are on the same page or not.

Dude, you are drifting out to sea.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by classicman

No PH, I wasn't talking about Somalis at all.

I was using them as an example. Why didn't you define ethnic subcultures as I asked?

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

Explain what you mean.

Do you mean Chinese-American versus European American, do you mean rural America versus suburban America, or do you mean something completely different?

Either way, since the Oakland County police officers dealt with the problem, we can conclude that he lived in the bay area. That either means he lived in a urban or suburban environment. In either of those environments, there sometimes is no safety net for people who are alone and this is the result. The government doesn't have a responsibility, the utility company doesn't have a responsibility, his family doesn't have a responsibility.

In both suburban and rural areas, people live a very independent lifestyle so it is no surprise that something like this will happen every once in a while. Precautions should be taken, but they cannot be guaranteed 100% effective.

[classicman]

Sorry PH - my drift was far beyond yours. If you were in the ocean as merc said, then I was nearing Jupiter.

I was going in the direction of the Chinese-American, Asian-American and so on. The many varied cultures in America deal with this type of issue and many similar to it, in very different ways. That is all I was thinking about.

[HungLikeJesus]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

...
Either way, since the Oakland County police officers dealt with the problem, we can conclude that he lived in the bay area. That either means he lived in a urban or suburban environment...

Just a point of clarification - he lived in the small city of Bay City, Michigan, which is in Bay County, and which is located right on the web (that area where the thumb meets the rest of the hand). Incidentally, this is the town which the Bay City Rollers named themselves after.