It looks Obvious - Latest Comments in Not so different

Re: Not so different

zoolish — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 11:08:15 -0000

We might. But, to me, that just sounds like good old "blame it on someone else". Surely welfare states have their faults. But capitalism is no white angel either. At the end of the day, it's a matter of choice. I know mine, and I guess you know yours.

Re: Not so different

Rogel — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:43:12 -0000

It is definitely worth the debate. But when comparing we should know that we compare between two different versions of welfare state systems rather than free market society compared to a welfare.
We might find that some of the faults assigned to Capitalism are actually problems inherent to its rival approaches :)

Re: Not so different

zoolish — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:19:16 -0000

You have definitely pinpointed one of the more important problems of American politics and policy. It's not that Americans don't spent money on welfare, it's that they do so without due public discourse and thus with poor results. Examples are to be found in abundance, but none (I think) compares to that of your health system. Undoubtedly the most expensive health system around, with almost half of the spending coming from federal sources (yupâ€¦). And yet, Americans don't receive better health care that countries spending just a little over half that amount (standardized by GDP measures to account for differences in population and economies, of course). Actually, most Americans receive much less. Instead of turning a blind eye to welfare, Americans might benefit tremendously by looking it in the face. Despite the evil reputation welfare politics has been given by some economists (let's leave the politicians out for a sec), it (welfare) simply has to do with the sort of society one wants to live in. Is that something not worth debate?