October 23, 2009
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Healthcare again
Read an interesting study that shows most Americans don't want to pay for other people to have healthcare, but they are willing to pay extra to help people out who have chronic conditions. So basically we are willing to help people out who are in trouble, but for the rest of us, GET A JOB! I think that's what the American public is saying.
Comments (13)
That the way it should be...
We were talking a little about this sorta American mentality during my Australia class, where Americans prefer to struggle for themselves and be self sustaining and are somewhat selfish and disdainful of the economically lower end; whereas in Australia they are slightly more socialistic and find the working class situation to be somewhat ennobling, in that they have to struggle to get by, and will hopefully be able to overcome those odds (Aussie battler? something like that). And here a lot of people become somewhat pretentious if they reach a semi-successful/successful stage but there they have a "tall poppy syndrome"...but then again some people here are just lazy. but then again times are also hard, so it's unfair to assume a jobless person is lazy...sigh!
Pretty much.
@RestlessButterfly -
lol can I assume you are a non-muslim Malaysian?
@phantomFive - Yep! Yes, I am.
@phosphor_stars -
I think it's partly the whole "all men/women are created equal" American ideology, that when someone does something impressive, they don't tend to think it is so amazing, because anyone else could have done it if they had followed the same steps.
One funny example of this, I read an interview with a chess player the other day who was one of the top 10 chess players in the world, and can play chess blindfolded and see 20 moves ahead, and he basically said, "I'm not a genius, anyone can do what I do." And then he pointed to a couple chess players who were better than him and said that they were the true geniuses.
When I talk to homeless people, I find that the reason they are homeless tends to be they are lacking basic skills, like getting to work on time, or not skipping work just because they are tired, stuff like that. So the big problem is how to help these people gain those skills that they need.
@RestlessButterfly -
I knew it!
@phosphor_stars -
Interesting comment, by the way
@phantomFive - Most of my brothers & sisters are Christian (Anglican, HOPE & SIB, my sister converted to Muslim when she's married a Muslim guy. As for me, I am quite a free thinker. I am not a very religious person. In order to be a fine-nice-kind person one need no religion. For my religion is just the way of life - the chosen way. If or without religion if you're a good person that you're still a good person. And I noticed that some bad people used religion as their shield/protection to do a nasty things though.
@phantomFive -
Yeah, that's the other thing that came to mind; and one hand I agree, because my parents came here endowed with almost nothing, but built their way up. They had to spend years being super thrifty and using second second hand stuff, and EVERYTHING. To them, back then getting a donut from Dunkin Donuts seemed like a treat...& then all those Rag to Riches stories of the old days...
But it's not completely fair to assume fate is fair to everyone, right?
Yeah, I think I feel the same way as that chess player about school in general (minus orgo); peopel seem to think I'm smart, but I think it is just 1) hard work 2) I'm interested (which makes the hard work not as hard!)
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@phosphor_stars -
You are a genius! Good job!
Yeah, it's true fate is not the same to everyone, but in this country there are so many opportunities the main problem is people not knowing how to take advantage of them.
Yeah, healthcare is not working at all the way it should be...the healthy should subsidize the sick, but then premiums are becoming so high that many healthy people just drop out of their plans and the sick people just end up subsidizing themselves...
@a_drunken_cellist -
Yeah, that is how insurance works, but there is a lot more to it than that; for example, people who don't take care of themselves often get the same insurance rate as those who do, yet they are significantly more expensive than those who do. Smokers cost $1,400 extra a year to the healthcare system than non-smokers, and many times the non-smokers end up subsidizing them. Here's a good article if you are interested in finding out more. Here's another good article although it's not directly related to what I just said.