by MrBill » Thu 22 Feb 2007, 09:12:27
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bshirt', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'A') Canadian with an American obsession? I happen to think that personal bankruptcy means exactly that. You lose your assets. Period. You can start over. But from scratch. Bankruptcy should never be an easy out. Period.
Well said, MrBill.
Fat, dumb and lazy Americans think it's their birthright to be able to run up credit cards endlessly and then sign a few papers, erase their debt, keep their house and toys and then start all over again.
Now that bankruptcy isn't the welfare project it was for decades (where the responsible members of society were forced to pay for the scum), many whine and moan that the "middle class" is being destroyed.
Total bullshit.
To be fair there are a few caveats. One, many personal bankruptcies are caused by health related problems and lack of adequate medical insurance.
America is one of the only countries where you can pay into your medical plan your entire working life, but lose your job, and then be denied medical coverage because you do not have a job and you have a pre-existing medical problem. That ain't right either.
The solution is mandatory, universal medical insurance with automatic payroll deductions that is portable from job to job. Premiums based on your age and level of health & fitness. No opt-outs.
It will be a risk based assessment the same as automobile or life insurance. The higher the risk, the higher the premium. And it should be a self-financing insurance scheme, not a government subsidized programme.
Of course, no one is asking me. I am just a dumb Canadian! ; - )
UPDATE: for anyone interested
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')et, in Canada, we don't even know how many people actually have diabetes. The best guess is around two million.
We do know, however, that diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability, and that it costs around $13-billion a year to treat.
That we are doing so little to prevent this kind of suffering and expense speaks volumes about how our health system has gone astray in the setting of priorities.
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"Yes, we should be doing this kind of thing routinely," he says.
"But the reason we don't do it is we have an illness-care system, not a health-care system."
In our illness-care system, almost two in every three dollars are gobbled up with the treatment of chronic conditions -- conditions that are largely preventable, including diabetes, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and most cancers.
Dr. Lewanczuk notes that car owners do all kinds of little things to keep their vehicles running smoothly such as changing the spark plugs and the oil. They don't wait until the engine seizes up and major repairs are required.
Yet, that is the way we treat our bodies. Worse yet, that is how the health system is designed -- to deal with a massive breakdown such as a heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and circulation problems that require amputation of a limb. (All of these are common symptoms of diabetes.)