>You are 10 feet underwater. You need either to get to the surface _or_
>find a breathing tube 10 ft long which will allow you to breathe at 10
>ft under. But all the breathing tubes are not only on land, they are a
>quarter of a mile away from the shore. Hence the power to get a
>breathing tube is _also_ the power to get out of the water into the air.
Not necessarily. Someone might come to your assistance and bring you a breathing tube.
>Single payer is like that breathing tube. It is as far out of our reach
>as is a national health service.
You aren't thinking it through. Your nemesis might have reason to want to keep you trapped 10 feet under the water, but not want you to actually drown. So he might be more likely to grant a request to fetch you a breathing tube, so that you will be completely helpless and at his mercy, but not actually dead.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas