>>>>>>>All those liberals want is to have health care for everyone.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Everyone has health care. You pay for yours, I pay for mine.
>>>>>
>>>>>And those who can't pay do what? Especially the children.
>>>>
>>>>I don't understand why Republicans are so scared of universal health care. The health system remains the same, but you just have a single insurer (the government) which picks up the tab for only a tiny minority of the poorest of the poor. Everyone gets a better deal since their is no big slice of profit taken out of the pie. The insurer can also negotiate huge national purchases of drugs as a discount.
>>>
>>>Profits lead to research & development, which leads to new technological advancements and discovery, which leads to cures. The profit motive has expidited the medical advancements that we've seen in the past few decades. In short, profits are good.
>>>
>>>Fundamentally, I am for less government power and more individual power.
>>
>>I would agree with you except that not all people really are created equal. I am one of those bleeding hearts who feel that the civility of a society is measured by how it treats its weakest members. Some people are smarter than others, some are more talented etc. Not everyone can make their way in a dog-eat-dog society as well as others can, if at all. If it's not the government's job to look after those people, then whose?
>
>If you are referring to victims of a terrible tragedy then I agree that they should be helped. I feel it should be more locally oriented. There are many organizations dedicated to helping the less fortunate.
>

Why should there be such a thing as charitable organisations? Why should I give my money to the government and then have to turn around and fund charitable organisations too? Part of the reason I give money to the government (apart from not wanting to go to jail) is so that it can help the less fortunate. And yes, I do give money to charities, but only because the government refuses to do what I feel is its job.

>As for those who can't hack the 'dog-eat-dog' society. I feel zero sympathy. Make better choices in life. The world is full of 'challenged' individuals, be they mental, physical or sociological, who have had great success in their life. It is not luck, it is a matter of will and desire. If you can't hack it then maybe natural selection should run it's course.
>

I take it you also disagree with minimum wage laws, health and safety laws, etc, being dumped on the poor corporations who are being hindered from making ever greater profits by this government interference? Aren't you also one of the people down on illegal immigration? Isn't it only illegal due to government regulations? Wouldn't companies be even more profitable if immigration was thrown open to just anybody, and let those who can survive do so, and the hell with the rest?

>>One thing about the profit motive, it also is what creates orphan diseases. The pharmaceutical companies don't want to do research in areas that won't return large profits, so if the government doesn't get involved, then who? Even then, it's just more money for pharma. The government has to pay them to do the research into those orphan diseases. When the government stops funding them, more people die.
>
>I'm not following you. Huge advancements are made in major diseases but because the smaller ones don't get the attention it is the pharma's fault? Why? Aren't there charitable organizations that contribute and universities still doing research? Pharma doesn't create the problem, nature does.

At no point did I say it's pharma's fault. It is the fault of the process. If profit is the driver for everything, then these things will fall by the wayside. I fell it should be the government's job to see that this doesn't happen.

See above re charitable institutions. Besides, why should anybody set up a charitable institution? Shouldn't they instead be out hustling for a buck and trying to eat all the other dogs?