The US is barely a developed nation. The Economist reclassified the US as a flawed democracy in 2022. There were also proposals by members of the UNCTAD to reclassify the US as a developing nation in 2023, a classification formerly known as third world. The proposals were unsupported by the World Bank.
I don’t remember where I heard this, but someone a while back called America a “third-world country but with Walmarts.” And while the “third-world” moniker is a bit dated and problematic, I think the rest fits pretty well.
The US is like the Two-Face or Jekyll/Hyde of developed nations. It’s more like a developing nation with islands of modernity AND Walmarts.
We have all this money, military, cultural influence, universities, businesses, and so many other by-the-numbers indicators of a modern society. But we don’t have the quality of life, and we just elected Donald Trump in goddamn 2024. Decisively so. Fuck.
True, the part about us having Wal-Marts is accurate. We do have those.
That was before Trump won. I think the category moved from developing to post-apocalyptic.
Pre-apocalyptic as of now, but things could change quickly.
USA:
- Has most powerful military in the world
Also:
- Can’t prevent kids from getting mass murdered in school, and making it worse, it happens every week
😓
There was also just one in Wisconsin a day or two ago…
https://apnews.com/live/madison-wisconsin-school-shooting-updates
The Abundant Life school?
The comedy writes itself, but being American it’ll need to be telegraphed thirty seconds in advance then followed by canned laughter
Well, at least half the oath of allegiance is…yeah.
While Switzerland has universal health care it’s just by virtue of mandating everyone to get insurance from a private insurer.
At least there is a basic insurance package called Grundversicherung, which the insurers have to accept you for that has defined coverage. But it doesn’t cover luxury bones (teeth) or vision.
Anyway I’m just trying to say choose one of the other 31 to model the US system after.
Lol we ain’t changing shit.
This country is an oligarch piggy bank.
Our vote an illusion between sociopath capitalism+ribbons or sociopath capitalism+scapegoats. We don’t get a vote on the economy. We don’t get a vote to end an industry built on conning people into trusting them and paying them for years and then murdering them. Too profitable. That’s why our “leftwing” party declared victory further enshrining that industry into our lives, a heritage foundation plan, to demands by neoliberals we say thank you.
There’s only one way Americans would ever get universal healthcare, but we’re largely too chickenshit, aside from one freedom fighter that will be made example of. So we’ll continue to be treated as livestock, mandated to pay when well, then told to fuck off and die when we become inconvient to the con industry’s quarterly profits.
I always wonder with posts like these, what exactly have you tried to do to fix it? We’ve certainly had primary choices that break the mold of typical spineless corporate Democrats. Did you donate to help save the seats of Jamaal Bowman or Cori Bush? Have you ever done any canvassing? Have you written to your representatives? Do you know the names of your representatives? Have you run for office yourself?
All of us could be doing more and doing it better. The vast majority of citizens haven’t done nearly enough to have earned the right to claim that the system just can’t get better.
I phone banked for Sanders on two campaigns. I call and know my reps.
I live in a rare caucus state. I’ll never, ever forget the silent scowls of neoliberals as leftists came up and tried to convince them to vote for Sanders, not one of them came up either time. Didn’t say a god damned word for their candidate. Just scowled and rolled their eyes wishing they didn’t have to sit through people talking.
We won the room once by numbers and lost once, with no one changing their minds either time. Neoliberals just go the fuck along and do as their told without any opinion but tow the party line. Pathetic.
Who has single payer that covers teeth and vision? And when I say vision I mean good glasses, not shit lenses.
The US has never had a social contract outside of a few things like social security, medicare and medicaid. It’s 335 million people lumped together with a good many of them doing everything they can to fuck everyone else over so they get a slightly bigger slice of the pie, unaware of the fact that if everyone worked together and looked out for one another, things would be much better for everyone.
Even Russia figured this out.
Hurrr healthcare is communism! Can’t have that in muh country gun shot noises
“GUNS AND PEOPLE WHO BREED” ?
Don’t worry: our greedy politicians are trying to erode it in all 32 other countries too. They want to be rich like HMO CEOs but not live in America, and don’t get the paradox.
Imagine if besides the right to bear arms, there were also hospitals for the bears.
Godfreed?
Dude just really don’t like George Reed.
Three to the power of two? Nine?
It’s so much easier just to make a few people rich.
Only 33 developed countries exist?
According to Wikipedia it’s 40:
USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and big parts of Europe.
you forgot Japan and Israel!
Most of the planet is slave labor.
Just so you know, a majority of Canadians want to either try or adopt the US system
The majority of Canadians, or the majority if Canadian politicians?
That first link says that most people want the government to pay a lot more… That doesn’t really seem like “we want the US system”
For instance, almost six in ten (59%) would support the private delivery of publicly funded health services and a similar proportion (60%) is in favor of private healthcare for those who are able to afford it.
From that first link
You need extensive therapy
I’ll gladly swap citizenship with any Canadian! Come and claim your coverage by our wonderful privatized healthcare system! No take backsies
Idiots are everywhere on this shithole of a planet
The Canadian system broke due to abuse by some types of immigrants, failure to attract and keep docters and nurses, and the never ending greener pasture to the south that offers doctors a more attractive and better paying lifestyle than Canada
the Canadian system is broken because we have to share a border with America. It wasn’t the abject horror until the doctors and nurses quit from the covid days, and we flooded a bunch of bad Immigrants in who had no interest in doing anything but abusing the country for all they could cash out on.
I love that the blame has to be pushed onto immigrants who pay the same taxes we all do. Who receive the same socialised benefits we do.
Rather than blame the government rats that have been siphoning cash away from public infrastructure for decades. Have you taken a look at Doug Ford or Danielle Smith? Have you listened to Pierre Pollievre talk his dogshit plans for privatisation in Canada?
Why come so close to hitting the mark only to blame it on immigrants that only serve to strengthen the system if they too weren’t taken advantage of by parliamentary ghouls.
it’s not the driving factor. but merely the ugly truth about an overlooked issue thats flown under the radar with this whole thing.
to clarify, when Im talking about “bad immigrants abusing the system” I’m talking about people who come here on a fake student visa or otherwise scammed their way in, Obtained a PR, also scammed under the same student visa path they took . and then scheming to get multiple family members brought over to join them under the family reunification path, and all of a sudden one person turns into 18 people . they come over, have zero interest in integrating, they just want to milk the land for what they can get, one of them being everyone utilizing the healthcare system for expensive services they wouldn’t otherwise get at home.
To be clear, universal healthcare is slowly failing in the UK
It really isn’t. It was being undermined by political powers who wanted to line their own pockets with a private system.
The Tory playbook is to underfund and sabotage public interest so they can claim it doesn’t work without private ownership.
we’ll see what Starmer does. So far his gestures have sounded promising, but you never know
You just aggressively agreed with my statement while stating you disagreed at the beginning.
No, your statement was indicating that universal healthcare was failing. It isn’t and has been successful in the UK for over 70 years.
When you say universal healthcare in the UK is failing with no additional context you are using the conservative rhetoric, which is damaging.
It’s like if you failed an exam because your class funding was cut to only give teachers half as much time to teach, then you claimed that education doesn’t work.
If we agree with each other on the broader points, then that’s great.
It’s like if you failed an exam because your class funding was cut to only give teachers half as much time to teach, then you claimed that education doesn’t work.
No it’s like claiming state funded education system is failing, not education doesnt work as a whole, your reply is ambiguous and could be understood as the latter. Healthcare categorically works and no-one can deny that.
Healthcare in UK has consistently been defunded year on year, it is failing slowly due to the population increase, increase testing and diagnosis along with population density issues in cities during this reduction of budgets. A measurable consequence of these factors are increased refferal wait times and suicides for healthcare professionals, both at their highest levels. This can be solved with money and good management.
I still dont understand how you can’t see we are aggressively agreeing.
By design of the ruling parties, not because universal healthcare is impossible
One could argue ruling parties reducing funding for universal healthcare (reduction of giving to the poor) is inevitable.
#lateStageCapitalism
Because conservatives are deliberately sabotaging it.
And healthcare is an utter disaster in the US, your argument holds zero merit
Canada has free health care but it doesn’t exist anymore lol. Good luck seeing a doctor even when you’re dying
As a Canadian, this is news to me. I just used the free healthcare system a week ago.
I’ve been on a waitlist for a family doctor for nearly 10 years
That doesnt mean Canada doesnt have a healthcare system, lol. Just because your experience in one part of the country has been bad doesnt mean all of Canada is without healthcare.
Kind of a typical western Canadian perspective. Thinking your province represents the entire country.
Thinking your province represents the entire country.
That’s ontario
But yeah we should get more representation - like way more. We foot the bill of the entire nation.
What does this mean? You literally can’t see a doctor?
I can if I go to the emergency room and wait for 10+ hours.
But yeah here in Victoria the only remaining alternative is walk in clinics, which people are already lined up at 6am for 9am opening
Similar to the other person that replied to you, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Some provinces have relatively crappy healthcare (looking at you, Alberta), but these outcomes are directly cause by conservative Premiers cutting funding to the system and policies that restrict immigrant doctors from being licensed with the schooling, experience, and licensing that was received in their country of origin.
Despite all of this, I don’t wait grossly long in the emergency room if I have to go, I’m able to get a doctor for prescriptions, and I have clinics I can go to if I need non-critical care. All of it free (excluding medication, dental and some other critical items)
We do have free health care, it works. It’s underfunded and understaffed as a result of Conservatives trying to destroy the public services, which gets people expressing dissatisfaction with the service, which allows them to further stripmine the system by funneling public funds to private clinics and the like to ‘improve things’ when really they should be properly funding our public system and paying more people good wages to work there
I live in NDP stronghold Victoria and we have way worse healthcare than Alberta for example.
Could be worse. You could be an American where you spend an exorbitant I amount of money on private insurance AND you spend even more money on out-of-pocket costs that insurance won’t cover AND it takes months to get an appointment with a doctor.
