Why are some Americans so afraid of anything remotely "socialist", like a different healthcare system?

Answer 1

Because they are indoctrinated that the "best" way to be is self-centred.

If you are lucky enough to have had opportunities in life that have led to you getting a good job and a good income then you can look down on those who are struggling, shake your head and insist that with all the "freedom" in America there is no reason for "anyone" to be poor and so if you are poor its because you "won't work" or you're lazy, stupid, ignorant, drunk, unmotivated, unworthy etc etc etc blah de blah.

They feel that paying taxes infringes their "liberty" to keep their money and spend it on what they like

I don't understand American way of thinking at all. to me medical treatment is a basic human right. Noone should go without it. Also those who haven't got good jobs etc aren't necessarily stupid or lazy. Some of those who are rich and successful never earned it (Paris Hilton for eg) and some of those who aren't rich or successful just never got the breaks to allow them to make a lot of money. Not everyone can be a millionaire.

It seems only right that your country has been good to you you should give something back. If they prefer to see people dying in the streets through poverty maybe they should move to the third world

Also, like the poster above, they confuse real Socialism with the brand of facism which Hitler called Socialism. Hitler called himself a Socialist but he was not.

Uncle John - the NHS works fine in the UK. Much better than your system where people go without health care because they can't afford it.

And if you don't want to wait 6 weeks for a CAT scan you just pay and go private. We have both private and social healthcare.

Answer 2

Decades of propoganda, and a gullibility that is quite breathtaking.

Makes me laugh that anyone can think that a National Health Service is a 'socialist' thing. In that case, so would a National Education System.

Face it, the services that are provided to the public are more in tune with socialism than capitalism which ideally would only provide services to those that can pay, which would be fine if everyone could pay. What stinks is the callousness of those who can afford to when considering the lot of those that can't.

It's going to take a long time before the brain washing subsides, and only then if the establishment and media allow it to happen, which they seem determined not to.

There are a lot of very good Americans. Unfortunately there are far too many who for one reason or another are not...

Answer 3

The USA may have good/great health care...IF you are rich. Those who are poor or fall through the cracks cannot afford that great health care. Health care in American is only as great as your pockets are deep. The USA has it's own form of death panels. Insurance companies! Try to beg and plead for an insurance to change their minds and pay for a treatment, service or medication. Good luck, cause you will need it! Next. The "American" system is radically more expensive. By the time you pay your monthly insurance premium, meet your YEARLY deductible and then pay co-pays at each medical visit/treatment...Americans pay a LOT more out of pocket. In the US 3/4 of all bankruptcies are due to medical bills and 50% of those had medical insurance. You will NEVER hear of that happening in the UK. Next is wait times. In the US there are wait times to see specialist, for non-emergency surgeries, special tests etc. Anyone who says there aren't is a liar. We had to wait a LOT longer in the US for appointments and tests than we do in the UK. In the US we have had to wait months to see specialist. In the UK the longest we have had to wait is 2 weeks. I could go on, but I am sure you can see the picture. Why wouldn't the British fear the American system when it is clearly inferior in every aspect?

Answer 4

National Healthcare is not socialist. Just like basic education, emergency services-firemen, police, etc., everyone should have a right as a citizen to receive a basic health plan. It works well in other, free democratic countires. If we care at all about the weakest of our citizens, we should be willing to do something more than what we are doing.
I can't wait for all of these people who are so against national healthcare to retire and try to live on a fixed income with severe health problems. Social Security and Medicare does not pay all of your mounting bills, folks!! What kind of country do we want to have and what kind of people are we if we would deny care to someone who cannot afford it??

Answer 5

You are paying the government through taxes and depending on the government to provide good services without any real competition. The government agency acts as a monopoly. Taxes will continue to increase while level of service will decrease.

Yes our health care system needs change and we need to vote against candidates who support big business lobbyists (insurance co, pharmacy co, etc), but providing blanket national socialized healthcare is not the way to go.

Answer 6

Americans are shallow and easily scared by words like "socialist". They'd rather pay two or three times more money for a worse system, a system that routinely drops people from coverage as soon as they get sick. Its the price Americans pay for being stupid. Look at it as natural selection--the stupid Americans are eliminating themselves from the breeding population. In a few generations we will be gone, killed off by our "health" ""care"" "system", but at least we will have died happy, knowing we didn't suffer under socialism like the Canadians, the English, the French, the Germans, the Japanese, the Swiss, the Australians etc etc

Answer 7

Well, because we believe in our govt and we are afraid of change and the govt. having even more control over us. That is really funny. It is the word "socialist" that causes the fear, that makes people think of full govt. control... Ok, canada might be OK at it, along with other countries, but really, who would trust the US Govt to regulate our medical needs? It would be a disaster, since this country can't seem to do anything right. So, in that case, vote Ron Paul....

Answer 8

As you can easily read in some of the other answers here a lot of people just don't know what we are trying to do in regards to free health care to all in this country 1, the government IS NOT charge of health care they simply are the payer hence single payer health care they would not change anything more than that, basically all that is doing is taking the profit out of the whole deal at least on the part of big insurance companies, for all you people that say "I don't want the government involved in my health" OK . . . . Do you realize that the insurance companies (who are now in charge) are only in the business for one reason PROFIT. and how do they achieve profit denying claims I work for a big insurance company and I have read some of the letters from people that come in to our adjusters and its hart breaking, I would gladly find another job to put these companies out of business. PROFIT HAS NO PLACE IN HEALTH CARE

Answer 9

Because they confuse true socialism with communism and the Nazis. In an ideal society people earn their rights by assuming the obligation to care for the weak, the old, the poor, and vulnerable. The National Health Service in Britain may not be perfect but if you collapse in the street the paramedics arrive in Minuit's and they check your pulse and airways first not your insurance or your bank balance.

Answer 10

I don't want to wait six weeks for a CAT scan as they do in countries with socialized medicine. People come to the U.S. from all over the world for the best medical care, why ruin a good thing? Besides, who pays for all this care? We'd be sitting in a long line at the doctor's office asking these same questions with a different healthcare system.