[lbo-talk] Poll: 67% Favor Single Payer

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Sat Sep 18 09:01:17 PDT 2004


Todd Archer wrote:
>
> Joanna said:
>
> >The rich can still pay for private care if they feel like it. No one is
> >stopping them.
>
> Doesn't that kind of "opting out" then hopping back into the socialized
> system at whim strike you as a bit unfair and counter-productive to having a
> single-payer system? That's the kind of nonsense going on up here now; the
> right-wingers love to see this shit happen: it reinforces their argument for
> a US-style private system where "choice" is paramount.

I've never worked in any health-care organizing, and thus am not sure as to how this plays out. But in general it is a fatal mistake in mass campaigns to write compromises or 'practicalities' into one's demands. And allowing private alternatives to a public system is certainly a major compromise. "Single Payer" (in contrast to nationalized health care) is itself a major compromise of course, but in the u.s. context does not have the 'feel' of a compromise, and hence is probably a reasonable demand.

Carrol



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