There’s Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and some others. From what I can tell, they are doing well, especially health wise. They rank higher in health care and mortality being older than the U.S. They also have a better educational system. The Netherlands also do better with those who suffer from substance abuse too. Basically, they rank higher than the U.S. on health care, education, etc. So, given their rankings, I’d say they are doing better than the U.S.
Those are countries with small populations around 5 to 10 million people of mostly white people. You cannot practice socialism if you want open borders and cultural diversity in a nation of 350 million people.
And why not? I think, if we tried, we could do it world wide. We, allegedly, have a global economy, I don’t see why can’t have global socialized medicine and alike. I realize there are doubters about that, but you know what, I really don’t think a global government, in which we have socialized medicine, free education, etc etc, is a bad idea either, but that’s another topic and take far longer to achieve than individual countries doing these things on their own. If we start with individual countries adopting socialized medicine and all, you’d be surprised what could happen, but it takes the majority willing to move to such a system and therein lies the problem with the U.S.- to many people out for themselves and no one else. Such an attitude, where everyone is out for themselves, can make one lose confidence in the human race ever progressing and bettering humanity. And then there’s Bernie Sanders… He’s a breath of fresh air in the midst of the dotard’s destruction of the U.S.
Eventually, we have to globalize because it is the only sane thing to do. Why don’t we start small? Like I said, return power to the states and each state adopt socialism like Sweden. Unschackle the heartland from the greed infested states on the east and west coasts.
As I said before, the states didn’t have exclusive power. They had state laws and federal laws. Since the founding fathers started this country, there’s always been the legislative, the judicial and the executive branches of government. While states had the same thing individually, they still had to go by federal laws too. It’s always been that way every since the Constitution was written.
Switzerland is also a country made up of state-like cantons with power to influence decisions at the national level. The US could follow the Swiss model. We can still keep the Constitution but limit federal control. We should only pay state taxes. This way, no American money can be squandered by federal government in Washington DC.
In response to Sree,
Yes Sree, I do pay taxes both currently and for every year of my adult working life. Your assumption is not warranted. Can you please explain how the government federal, state or local is forcing you to live in ways you find objectionable. I’ll wager you can’t name a single credible instance where government, any government is curtailing your freedom to live the way you want. I’d be very interested to hear your reply and if you can’t cite any example of this happening in your life perhaps you should rethink that belief. Other than obeying civil and criminal statutes that protect all of us the government only requires citizens to pay taxes and this is done primarily through the honor system of trusting people to voluntarily comply. As far as allowing individual states complete freedom and political autonomy in how they organize themselves it would mean the eventual dismantling of all federal protections ensuring voting rights, work place safety, minimum wage guarantees, environmental protections and other federally mandated rules enacted to make life better for Americans. Do you really think states like South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi would be better protectors of individual freedom and liberty than our national government? We’ve already seen this movie and it was called The Civil War.
Scree obviously has not studied U.S. government. S/he was either homeschooled or didn’t pay attention in high school and/or college. Just tried to keep a passing grade of probably a D. It sounds like you have a better grasp of U.S. government, Genus Homo.
I don’t feel safe and secure currently, but yet I want socialized medicine etc etcI say this cautiously, don't read too much into it. I feel some threat lately too, but it is worry about the future or random violence. I have the time to reflect on my situation. A lot of people are spending most of their energy just getting by. They vote in larger numbers and are affected by these broader social issues.
First of all, a couple more to the list that I can’t believe I forgot.
The government is filled almost entirely with presidential loyalist.
And filling the government with loyalists allows the government to open purely politically motivated investigations into the president’s political allies. Graham just announced today that the DOJ made some brand new rules to get dirt on Biden from Rudy. Not that the Republicans didn’t always do this. The Benghazi investigation, which they claimed was not politically motivated, wrapped up in December of 2016, right after the election it totally did not exist to smear her in.
And now on to a couple of responses.
Forcing all 350 million people to march to the same cultural beat is not my idea of freedom and the pursuit of happiness.Whenever you have 2 or more people the rights of one will have to be limited by the rights of the other. There's an old saying; you can't make all the people happy all the time. In as perfect a society we could possibly get our rights would be limited only when it came to infringing on the rights of others, and America is actually getting closer to that all the time. The rights for gays to marry, for instance, should always have been. The right for two people to decide to participate in a cultural practice should not be restricted for no good reason, such as based on gender, alone.
By forcing, I mean exercising power over how our tax dollars are spent. Perhaps, you don’t pay taxes. I do. The US Government, by spending my share of the taxes in ways that I don’t want to, is forcing me to live in ways I don’t want to.First, it's a little "bitchy" to insinuate that other people don't pay the same taxes you do, and that's me being polite. It's a dick move to insinuate that another citizen is probably "less" than you. It's a way for you to curtail their rights in your head. They are not as deserving of rights as you and their opinion should be valued less. It's a snooty way to say, "I don't know if you are important, but I certainly am!" We all pay taxes. Some more than you, some less than you, but all of us pay something to someone. And your opinions and citizenship are not assigned a numeric value based on how much you pay. The single mother who gets more back from the federal government than she pays in is every bit as much a citizen as you and every bit as entitled to hold an opinion.
And there is no “your share” of the taxes. It is not “your” tax dollars. Government needs money to run. Citizens provide that money in a capitalist society. This means that throughout the year you owe a debt to the government. When you pay a debt that money is no longer “yours”. It is the government’s money. The government, in turn, has a responsibility to spend that money for the benefit of society as a whole. But what benefits society as a whole is hotly debated. They will NEVER, EVER be able to spend tax dollars in a way that makes every single citizen happy. It is impossible.
You think I want my tax dollars subsidizing churches? One guy I used to work for gave a million dollar donation to his church to buy them an organ. At the time that was about 40 years of my income, 40 years of my life working just to pay back the portion of the taxes he avoided with a donation to his church. Of course, that’s not quite accurate. I was in the 25% tax bracket at the time, he was likely only in the 15% because the tax brackets are set up so that the ways you can make money only if you’re rich are taxed at a much lower rate than the sweat of your brow. So it was probably only like 30 years of my life. And I make more money now, so I should be getting close to paying off that organ by now.
You have this illusion that there is some perfect system that can make everyone happy because it will make you happy. That system doesn’t exist. It cannot exist. You can’t make all the people happy all the time. Voting is the method of changing how your tax dollars are spent. It’s not a perfect method. There is no perfect method. You need to get over the belief that it’s “your” money the government is spending and just deal with reality. When you pay a debt you give up claim to the payment. When you pay your taxes, you’re paying a debt. Your claim to that money ends at the voting booth.
Yes, Lausten, as a mother of biracial adult sons, I worry about the increasing violence too. I worry for my elderly mother who is on medicare and social security. The dotard wants to cut those two programs and put the money into his damn wall, that’s not needed, and into the military, which is also not needed-not yet at least. Knowing the dotard, he’ll start a war in November with the hopes of staying in office as dictator and to keep from being arrested for his crimes (at least the ones in New York).
Thank you Widdershin for those well considered remarks and valid points and thank you Mriana for your readiness to engage with logic and intelligence. This nation critically needs such voices to counter the current drift into uncritical acceptance of authoritarianism. Thank you also to Sree who adds her voice to the mix of opinions that animate this First Amendment, free speech forum. Well expressed views contrary to our own force us to hone and clarify our ideas in opposition and are vitally important in a free society.
Widdershin: Whenever you have 2 or more people the rights of one will have to be limited by the rights of the other. There’s an old saying; you can’t make all the people happy all the time. In as perfect a society we could possibly get our rights would be limited only when it came to infringing on the rights of others, and America is actually getting closer to that all the time.Japan is a nation of 125 million people who are happy marching to the same cultural beat. I know from experience, having lived in Tokyo. The willingness for each to conform for the greater good of all is the answer to Mriana’s wish for America.
The rights for gays to marry, for instance, should always have been. The right for two people to decide to participate in a cultural practice should not be restricted for no good reason, such as based on gender, alone.Subcultures are free to live as they wish within their respective communities. Whenever I drive through Indiana, I see Amish folks in their horses and buggies by the sides of roads. Like other uncommon folks, they form a quaint minority that adds to the color of the American cultural landscape.
Sree, what you said is not true at all. The college I went to Chinese and Japanese students were not happy to conform for the greater good. Some even rebelled against the government. I do not believe for a minute that you ever lived there.
You do not have the answer to my wishes for the U.S. Again, your making things up because you have no clue as to what you are talking about.
Homo: Other than obeying civil and criminal statutes that protect all of us the government only requires citizens to pay taxes and this is done primarily through the honor system of trusting people to voluntarily comply.Taxes is the lifeblood of government. Remove its power to collect taxes and the corruption will be snuffed out in the federal government. The smaller the government, the more power goes back to the citizen who pays the taxes. It is easier to deal with the county commissioner, who lives on the same block, than with the President of the United States residing in an alternate universe.
As far as allowing individual states complete freedom and political autonomy in how they organize themselves it would mean the eventual dismantling of all federal protections ensuring voting rights, work place safety, minimum wage guarantees, environmental protections and other federally mandated rules enacted to make life better for Americans.Why can’t we have all that good stuff on a state by state basis? Why mandate laws across the board for the whole country? What happened to freedom of choice? Uniformity is oppressive and threatens our personal freedom.
Do you really think states like South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi would be better protectors of individual freedom and liberty than our national government? We’ve already seen this movie and it was called The Civil War.The Civil War was wrong and killed off more Americans than any other wars. Whatever for? Slavery? This practice would have died a natural death like the rotary phone. And why can’t states protect individual freedom and liberty? What individual freedom are you talking about? If you don’t want God, go live in Hawaii or New Mexico. If you want to smoke weed, go to Oregon. Without national government, you have choices. This is what makes our country great.
If you want to smoke weed, go to Oregon. Without national government, you have choices.Libertarians always assume a world where work is rewarded evenly and fairly. Not to mention that community doesn't matter much at all. Never mind that your kids are in a good school, or your grandma lives nearby, if you want to smoke weed, just pack up an move. It's the Ayn Rand world of cardboard characters.
Ayn Rand was insane and all out for herself. One can’t be out just for themselves. You can’t be uncaring about family, friends, other people, other animals, and the earth.
Sree, what you said is not true at all. The college I went to Chinese and Japanese students were not happy to conform for the greater good. Some even rebelled against the government. I do not believe for a minute that you ever lived there.Living in Tokyo is not that big a deal, Mriana. I have lived in Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris also. You need money to live that way if you are not working for the State Department or for the CIA. I don't believe money is evil. If I did, I would be stuck all my life clutching the Bible in Plainsville, USA.
You do not have the answer to my wishes for the U.S. Again, your making things up because you have no clue as to what you are talking about.Your wishes for the U.S. is what drive American politics which is called Maya in Hindu philosophy. Remember the Summer of Love? Back then, my mom said, American politics were not about socialism and free everything. It was about love, sex and Rock n Roll.
Your wishes for the U.S. is what drive American politics which is called Maya in Hindu philosophy.Just so you know Sree, I don't look things up for you like I do for Xain. You have destroyed any trust you once had with me, so a reference to Hinduism or Switzerland or whatever doesn't mean much. If it's something I'm familiar with, I'll tell you how you are misapplying it, if not, the odds are pretty good you don't know what you are talking about, or do know and just want to watch me go look it up and then tell you how wrong you are.
That’s just it, Sree, I don’t believe you lived in any of those places or you were an army brat who never left the family barracks area. I also don’t think you know what the United States is about. However, I read an article a few minutes ago and I don’t think the author is wrong concerning what the United States is about.
The author isn’t wrong with what she’s saying- to the dotard’s minions, dems are destroying the U.S., but to dems, the Repugs are destroying the U.S. The thing is, the very thing that would make the U.S. a better country is the very thing the Repugs rail against. The Repugs don’t want change from the standard quo, they want everything to stay the same because they are not comfortable with change and to them change is destroying the U.S., thus why the dotard is destroying everything that FDR created and everything after his presidency. If a Dem created it, especially if President Obama did, it must be destroyed, even if betters the country. After all the Repugs can’t have a black person making the U.S. better by changing the status quo. Anything that changes the U.S. for the better and removes racism, bigotry, xenophobia, sexism, etc is wrong according the Repugs and they will stand on their heads and tell lies as to why it’s wrong. They are so afraid the U.S. will be taken over by people of colour and the poor, that they rail against change.
https://www.dailykos.com/…/-I-am-a-Black-woman-Trump-and-hi…
"America was built on racism, nationalism, xenophobia, sexism, bigotry, classism, (insert negative noun here). And so, it follows, that anyone trying to move America away from these bedrock principles, is in fact, destroying this country."
"There are no bounds to the mental gymnastics that these "good people" will exercise, to excuse injustice against others. In fact, these "good people" hardly even seem to care when newly instituted policies adversely affect their own lives (think tax cut for the rich). For them, destroying America means attempting to dismantle racism, nationalism, xenophobia, sexism, bigotry, classism, (insert negative noun here)."