Good ol' Xtian capitalism

[Rokcet Scientist]

[Tiberius]

Or as the Libertarians would argue, that's a grand total of $4 trillion you can save and give back to the people.

[Violet]

Or as the Libertarians would argue, that's a grand total of $4 trillion you can save and give back to the people.

And then watch as your people die from not being able to afford healthcare and from being butchered by the nation to the south which still maintains a funded military.

[Tiberius]

You do realise that $4,000,000,000,000 divided up amongst the adult population (estimated by Wolfram Alpha to be 206.8 million), equals:

$4,000,000,000,000 / 206,800,000 = $19,342

So...yeah, I'm pretty sure people would be able to afford health insurance (and a load of other things) with that money. Oh, and the military budget and the cost of wars are completely different things.

[Violet]

You do realise that $4,000,000,000,000 divided up amongst the adult population (estimated by Wolfram Alpha to be 206.8 million), equals:

$4,000,000,000,000 / 206,800,000 = $19,342

So...yeah, I'm pretty sure people would be able to afford health insurance (and a load of other things) with that money. Oh, and the military budget and the cost of wars are completely different things.

Hell, just one of my surgeries costs 10,000+ of that (The average MTF cost was about $10,400, and the average FTM surgery (including top and, for those who had it, bottom surgery) was about $17,900. <--- http://www.tgender.net/taw/thbcost.html )...

But yes, Tiberius: I was being intentionally silly (Though I don't blame you if you can't tell the difference between my silly posts and serious ones.)

[Tiberius]

The whole point of insurance is so that people don't have to pay those large costs though. Insurance works because everyone likes the thought of a safety net, even if most people won't use it many times in their lifetime. So whilst healthy people are paying their premiums and not having doctor's fees or surgery bills, the insurance company is able to accumulate money and use it to pay for the fees and bills of those that are unhealthy.

Well...that is how it is supposed to happen, but as I understand it your insurance companies are morally bankrupt. I often wonder why Americans don't just stop their insurance en-masse and form their own insurance company based on actual charitable values. I suppose the ever-present government would be against that sort of thing?

[Tobie]

The whole point of insurance is so that people don't have to pay those large costs though. Insurance works because everyone likes the thought of a safety net, even if most people won't use it many times in their lifetime. So whilst healthy people are paying their premiums and not having doctor's fees or surgery bills, the insurance company is able to accumulate money and use it to pay for the fees and bills of those that are unhealthy.

Well...that is how it is supposed to happen, but as I understand it your insurance companies are morally bankrupt. I often wonder why Americans don't just stop their insurance en-masse and form their own insurance company based on actual charitable values. I suppose the ever-present government would be against that sort of thing?

I think that Community orientated and ran services ( banks, insurance, etc) would be a good way to go. In the UK, Credit Unions are becoming bigger, because they are customer owned banks that put profits into helping out the local community. If this kind of organisation extended into other areas, it could help put a stop to all the money-grabbing executives that care more about how clean their shoes are than the well-being of customers.

[reverendjeremiah]

Dont get me started on the woes of capitalism and competition again.