> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Somebody Somebody" <philos_case at yahoo.com>
>
> Joanna: No. That is definitely not what universal health care is. Universal
> health care starts with clean air, clean water, real food, and sanitation.
>
> Somebody: Listen, if you think advanced medical technology is irrelevant
> for improving health outcomes, then you should be on board with the White
> House's efforts to cut Medicare spending. Their whole orientation is towards
> cutting expensive treatments in favor of cheaper, even if less effective,
> alternatives like preventive measures. If you don't mind, I'm going to
> oppose the neo-liberal austerity promoters.
>
> The most staggering thing about you, Somebody, is not only can you not read
- Joanna clearly did not say or mean what your inane reaction claims - but
you are wholly unwilling to accept that a great deal of health has more to
do with not getting sick in the first place... or that a great deal of what
makes us sick, in the areas where there is moderately wide access to
advanced medical technology is produced by advanced technologies.
And, what is advanced medical technology? When did it first appear, given
that US was around 73 in 1975? Was 1975 advanced enough for you? On what
grounds, given the lag associated with living conditions, medical technology
and life expectancy, do you claim that medical technology rather than less
pollution, the accumulated effects of the 40 hour work week, better
education, the clean air and clean water acts, greater gender equity, the
growth of minority middle classes, and the increasing regulation of food
from 1970 onwards is most important to longevity?
>
> I find it interesting that you think only public health measures have led
> to Cuba's solid health indicators. Basically you're saying their surgeons
> and hospitals either aren't very good or of minimal significance compared to
> more basic health measures. For God's sake, Michael Moore has a more
> enlightened view of their health care system than you do. There's a reason
> why Cuba has been a favorite of medical tourists, including cancer patients
> seeking treatment, for decades now. They're not going there for the
> sanitation, for crying out loud.
>
Again, here, you're just being a prick.
>
> I'm sorry, but clearly you have very very low standards for what socialism
> can do. In fact, you seem to mimic right-wing propaganda about socialism
> lowering everyone to a common minimal living standard. Your ideal apparently
> is of bare foot doctors Maoist China. That'd be great for the Democratic
> Republic of Congo and Afghanistan, but pretty much shit for any
> industrialized nation.
And, here, you're only showing increasing lack of self-control.