tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17631113.post3170342333122419372..comments2023-10-17T02:48:47.712-08:00Comments on The Ester Republic: Kwitcher whining, fool, health care is a privilege!Deirdre Helfferichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07176487150966377070noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17631113.post-64471561726527123762008-05-28T17:09:00.000-08:002008-05-28T17:09:00.000-08:00That's true. They've got liberté, égalité, fratern...That's true. They've got liberté, égalité, fraternité. We've got life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So we meet on the liberty thing. And we arguably are making progress on equality. The one thing we don't really care about is fraternity...Arvayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02300309277462514252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17631113.post-412274402780318872008-05-28T15:04:00.000-08:002008-05-28T15:04:00.000-08:00Interesting idea, but it doesn't carry as smoothly...Interesting idea, but it doesn't carry as smoothly toward health care as it does toward welfare or charity. In France, the term "individu", relating to "individual" has a bit of a nasty, selfish connotation, whereas in English, particularly American English, the term "individual" implies strength of character, a person who is worthy because they stand out, stand by themselves, do for themselves. In France, that implies a person who doesn't give a rat's rump for others and for the common good. So there's a bit more--it's not just the idea that we are what we are--the emphasis in America on individualism can mean, on the negative side, a self-centered focus. As in the title of the book, Looking Out for #1.Deirdre Helfferichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07176487150966377070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17631113.post-237650412728657092008-05-28T11:06:00.000-08:002008-05-28T11:06:00.000-08:00Maybe Americans are more callous toward the poor b...Maybe Americans are more callous toward the poor because we have a bit more social mobility. A friend of mine told me that she learned a fundamental difference between Americans and Europeans while waitressing in London. Americans will assume that a waitress is putting herself through college, or supporting herself until she gets a career break in her "real" career. Europeans would assume that a waitress was a waitress for life.<BR/><BR/>So maybe Europeans view the poor with more compassion because they carry the basic assumption that the poor are born to be poor and will stay poor, through no fault of their own. Americans, on the other hand, have a bit more social mobility, so we might tend to view the poor as people who are poor through their own bad choices.<BR/><BR/>Just a thought.Arvayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02300309277462514252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17631113.post-14653264823894817252008-05-26T18:13:00.000-08:002008-05-26T18:13:00.000-08:00Very well put!Very well put!Ishmaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12092735311036097850noreply@blogger.com