Cross-cultural differences:The American Way of Life vs the European model of Society

[Revmitchell]

wealthy, and middle class living is a choice. You must choose to do the things necessary to have and maintain a reasonable lifestyle. It can be done by all.

Those folks who live on the street( most of who are not insane as is believed by some) can work and save their money instead of smoking cirgeretts or drinking alcohol or doing drugs.

It isnt easy and some tuff sacrifices have to be made. But it is always possible.

 

[KenH]

Originally posted by Matt Black:
Take Sweden for example: there the government funds just under 90% of the healthcare costs but at the cost of only 8% of its GDP; in the US, the Federal Government funds only 45% but healthcare absorbs approximately 14% of US GDP, most of the rest of the cost being borne by employers.

I have no desire to give up what is left of our free market health care system for an Authoritarian health care system. I would rather see the the portion of the our health care system that the government is involved in returned to the private sector through severing the linkage between employment and health care through the use of Health Savings Accounts(HSAs):

Crisis of Abundance LINK

Book Description

America's health care troubles largely stem from a great success: modern medicine can do much more today than in the past. So what's the trouble? How to pay for it. In easily comprehensible prose, MIT-trained economist Arnold Kling explains better ways of financing health care for the poor, workers, the disabled, and the elderly. Kling predicts relying less on government and more on private savings would improve health outcomes. A must-read for health care reformers.

I haven't read this book yet but it is one I am eyeing.

A good start in reforming health care would be for it be handled as a defined-contribution basis instead of as defined-benefit basis.