9 thoughts on “Cognitive Dissonance ”

  1. It’s like my in-laws in the U.K. Who talk about how amazing the NHS is, while still carrying private insurance for themselves. My mother-in-law has even explained to me that she would have waited years in pain for her hip replacement on NHS, and in the next sentence said it’s a shame the US doesn’t have a similar system.

    I don’t think our current system is perfect, or even amazing, but a lot of liberals seem to either gloss over, or be entirely ignorant of the realities of government controlled health care.

    Like

    Reply

    1. One of the terrible realities of the NHS is that it saves lives. It has saved my life, twice, without ever questioning my right to healthcare or expecting me to pay a penny. It also saved my daughter’s life and my newborn grandson’s, all for free. What’s the cost of neonatal care in the US? Also the current NHS waiting time for hip replacements is generally 4-5 months, not years.

      Of course it’s not perfect, is any system? Most hospital staff are chronically overworked, there is a shortage of nurses and of hospital beds and the UK’s tory government are deliberately underfunding it. As everywhere in the developed world, patients expectations are constantly rising. What will happen to the NHS after Brexit is anybody’s guess however, as many NHS doctors and nurses come from the EU.

      Like

      Reply

      1. “What’s the cost of neonatal care in the US?”

        • The majority of people in the US have insurance through work, so the cost for them is nothing. What I know is that if I were pregnant with Klara in Canada, I would not have Klara right now. I can’t say about the UK, but in Canada, I know for a fact that nobody would give me the kind of care I needed for this very high-risk pregnancy. And that, of course, is a very big deal for me.

        Like

        Reply

        1. It’s wonderful that you were in the right place and had the right medical care. I wasn’t dissing it, merely wondering as I’m totally unfamiliar with the US system.
          I am quite defensive about the NHS as I am very familiar with people knocking it using supposition and Daily Mail headlines instead of facts.
          We are losing the NHS, it’s slowly being destroyed by this UK government who as ardent capitalists would love to allow their cronies (and themselves) to make a lot more money out of healthcare than they currently do. The risks to poorer patients of this strategy seems not to move them. My father was a GP who knew the NHS was wonderful, he’d seen what went before.

          Like

          Reply

  2. “Our healthcare system sucks less than your healthcare system!”
    Or you can think a system is generally good even if it doesn’t personally turn up roses for you, which is what I guess is happening with these Britons and Canadians?

    BTW, Happy Brexit Day! :p

    Like

    Reply

    1. Canadians base their entire national identity on sticking it to the US. What’s sad is that nobody in the US even tangentially involves Canada in the building of their national identity.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I keep forgetting that the
        US invaded Canada twice (or rather what would become Canada?) and it’s not just a plot point in a South Park movie.

        The War of 1812 was a huge deal for something that doesn’t get studied much in the US for the US and Canada. For the British it’s just a minor theater of the Napoleonic Wars (which is why, I suspect the US stayed the US instead of reverting back to a colonial possession.)

        Like

        Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.