| vlad321 said: I would assume difficult to determine would mean more along the lines of "costs too damn much to do again" over difficulty to get the results. And yes, you compare the European populations, but add them all up, and notice 15 or so European nations are in front of the US. I'm guessing that if you add them all up it would show more people are getting better socialistic medicine for cheaper. You can't just 'add them up'. Every country has different circumstances revolving around it. The WHO said that it was too complex to do it again. Ask them, not me. My guess is it's very subjective to determine with sketchy methodology that certainly doesn't incorporate numerous factors and elements.
How are more people getting 'better socialistic medicine' for cheaper. The tax rate in Italy for example is almost 50% . Assuming equality, if I make 8.00$ per hour in the USA and I work 40 hours a week. I will gross around $320 per week and take home around $260 per week. In Italy, I'd garner around $160 per week. Factor it out for yourself. I'd have around $4800 extra a year in America to spend on what I please (Healthcare, Bills, Debt, you name it).
As for distance, please refer to this chart: http://rankingamerica.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/chart-of-urban-populationxls.jpg (I have no fucking clue how Hong Kong has over 100%) The percent is irrelevant because the US even at (43%) still has over 150,000,000 Americans far away from urban cities.
If anything people in the US are far closer than people in Europe are, seeing how many of them are in cities, closer to hospitals. Also are you saying there are more elderlyin the US than in the EU? Europe had just as big of a baby boom as the US did in the 50s and 60s. No. I'm saying that when factoring in the geopgraphic features the US faces with elderly issues as well as separating lifestyle decisions from healthcare is impossible to quantify in a study of this sort and for many of these reasons is impossible to quantify. Which is exactly why the WHO doesn't want to stamp it's name on something like this anymore.
Edit: Forgot to mention, the WHO is part of the UN, based in NYC. Edit2: Also forgot that it was in Switzerland, the most neutralcountry in Europe you could think of.
The USA / UN notoriously are in conflict. Switzerland while largely neutral in many things, does maintain a Euro-centric attitude most often. |
