(September 18, 2013 at 10:13 pm)InevitableCheese Wrote: My personal opinion before reading: My mind heads towards socialism and Marxism, but I believe capitalism has been the most successful. Democracy gives great freedoms, but as Churchill said "The strongest argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."Okay, I live in one of the most capitalistic countries in the world, and I'll start with Health and why we are better than the USA, AND the UK. We have a pharmaceutical benefits scheme - of course so does USA and UK, but we also have specialized pharmacies, and the vast majority of pharmaceuticals cannot be sold outside of them. In the USA, the taxpayer wastes far more millions of dollars buying products that the patients do not need because the patients can't get decent advice in the "drug store" as to "hey do I need to take this for my condition?" We still have wastage, and wastage is unavoidable, however we have a system that minimizes it, especially as we're talking about taxpayer money being spent on wasted products (ie, drugs that the patient doesn't need).
I live in America, and these people are fucking stupid. I'm sorry if my country pisses you guys off sometimes. If I had things my way, I'd be born in Britain.
In the UK, all doctors are paid the same salary, and you do not get a choice what doctor you see. Also, you don't pay to see your GP. Basically they believe all GP's are exactly equal. Well I know of a number of GP's in CANBERRA, here, where I live, who have been well known to over-prescribe drugs. You get a choice what lawyer you hire, you get a choice what car you buy, you get a choice what house you live in, rent or buy.
That's capitalism and capitalism works with market competition - competition drives the competing parties to provide better products or services. Doctor's are not perfect, no person is perfect. I have a friend who is a GP and he has said to me, when asked, that he does worry that some patients are abusing drugs (ie prescription drugs). He is effectively admitting that not every decision that he makes in his 10-minute consultations is in the best interests of his patients. He's not malicious, he doesn't mean anyone any harm, but he knows as I know, and all of us know that there are limits because we're all only human.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
