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 wasn't saying it was right, I was just saying it was likely. It isn't always cash either.
Example. Some years ago, I went to visit Romania -- before free market times. A close friend of the family's had been operated on for breast cancer. The family wanted me to go to a tourist-only shop to get the surgeon some imported tabbacco. They wanted to give him some extra "thanks." I did; they did.
In every system, resources are likely to be scarce. Not enough doctors; not enough great doctors, etc. It is then "natural" for people to compete for those resources. Those who have more to give, can compete more successfully.
We can do a lot to minimize illness. We can do a lot to figure out how the body can heal itself. We can do a lot to produce many more great doctors. But, the toughest nut of all, is probably the impulse to endear ourselves to those who can help us. Socialism or no socialism.
Joanna