Hi Bob-
No, I don't think any the worse of you for your thoughts. ;-)
It is fascinating how reasonable people have such different ideas of what is reasonable. What anyone thinks is reasonable has a lot to do with where and how you were brought up. I was brought up middle class - my parents were a teacher and a secretary. Neither of them, or anyone they knew - or I know today here in Oregon - has a problem with *big government.* It's a very different world in Texas. My in-laws are from Houston and I got an earful of big guv talk when I would visit.
I've always admired how those damn Scandinavians take care of their own and always come out near the top on quality of life. And how the lowly Brits and Canadians - even the French - provide universal health care. To me this seems reasonable, but not everyone agrees.
Of course, big guv can be inefficient, but the free markets are often highly inefficient, too. Good ideas and hardworking people are often crushed by market swings, mergers, corporate lawyering, and by being just a step too slow... It seems there just have to be safety nets for those who get ground up.
What irks me most are cheats, people in all walks of life, who find ways to take unfair advantage of other people. It happens in both public and private life, big and small. From the Pentagon to the sub-prime loan packagers on down to the managers of Crystal City, TX and Bell, CA, down to the SSI fraudsters... Don't get me started...
Re: health care. The Oregon Health Plan, which went into effect in 1993, did a pretty good job of providing rationed services to the working poor. It's had it's problems over the years, but all in all, did a lot of good. In recent years it got merged with Medicaid and now a quarter of the state is covered. Only 75% more to go! 8-)
Dan |
