Re:Half of Americans fear a health-related bankruptcy
by filleduchaos on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @03:38PM
(#24357098)
I'm aware that nearly all nuance in discussing economic systems has been absolutely obliterated, but I must say that I can't think of any modern functioning societies that actually mix (the socialist bedrock of) public ownership of the means of production with (the capitalist bedrock of) private property on a macro level.
The average wait time at a Starbucks in my town is about 18 minutes because of the number of people who are in line. Starbucks is seen as a great independent business whose lines are just a byproduct how successful they are and representative of capitalism.
The average wait time at the USPS is about 10 minutes in the same town, which largely includes people having to fill out forms for packages. This is seen as an inadequate and inefficient endeavor by a government that spends way too much money.
Because the wait time for the USPS negatively impacts their livelihood, they would prefer to go bankrupt or watch people kill themselves via untreated illnesses (because they can't afford to get them treated) than submit to a single-payer system, even if they had the option to supplement the public plan with private insurance.
Until they turn 65. Then suddenly they're for it, as long as the younger people still suffer.
Americans tend to judge capitalism by its successes and socialism by its failures, even though any modern functioning society is going to have a mix of both.