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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Freedom of choice
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
I just came across this article.
Personally I find parts of it a bit unfocused, but the part that really struck me was the section about freedom of choice, written in the context of Obamacare.
It seems to me that an awful lot of the Ship discussion about political left/right issues, and especially American political issues, revolves around 'freedom of choice' in one way or another.
For my own part I've often made reference to my perception that American culture places a high value on 'individualism', and really I've meant the ability to make individual choices, or local choices (rather than having a distant government make them, that 'distant government' originally being over in the UK).
And this article touches on the downside of freedom of choice: that it potentially leaves a large amount of the population to flounder without real information or real power.
Am I making a sensible analysis here, or striking out on my own peculiar way of thinking? And does the desirability of free choice vary depending on the context/topic?
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
It does seem unfocussed.
The American style of making decisions in the present and not based on a foundation of historical precedent works because we mostly have arrived from different histories to form a hybrid society.
As for the horrors of the unwashed having to make choices, that's usually better than what would be arranged for you by the "stability class".
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
Because of the NHS I have more freedom of choice over healthcare than an American in my circumstances would have.
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Freedom of choice (in the US health care "system") is a chimera. People who have no health insurance have no choice at all. People with health insurance have limited options due to the restrictions of the health insurance company and preferred provider list and its death panel -- or whatever you want to call it. The people who decide whether your procedure is covered or not. Only those rich enough to not need insurance at all have a full range of options to choose from.
As usual, pushing "freedom of choice," in this case by way of privately funded health care, benefits those at the top grossly disproportionately.
[ 14. November 2012, 15:36: Message edited by: mousethief ]
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
quote:
The American style of making decisions in the present and not based on a foundation of historical precedent works because we mostly have arrived from different histories to form a hybrid society.
Huh? You're still using Queen Anne's pints (the UK pint is 568 ml, standardised in 1824 and more or less abandoned for metric measurements now). There are people in the coastal regions of Virginia who are still speaking Elizabethan English! You may not have much history, but you have plenty of traditions. Some people seem to be quite attached to them ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
And in the UK, you don't have to worry about whether you can pay for your treatment*, allowing you to focus on important issues such as who's going to feed the cat while you're in hospital. That's freedom.
*Yet.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Freedom of choice (in the US health care "system") is a chimera. People who have no health insurance have no choice at all. People with health insurance have limited options due to the restrictions of the health insurance company and preferred provider list and its death panel -- or whatever you want to call it. The people who decide whether your procedure is covered or not. Only those rich enough to not need insurance at all have a full range of options to choose from.
As usual, pushing "freedom of choice," in this case by way of privately funded health care, benefits those at the top grossly disproportionately.
Exactly. We have the illusion of free choice, because most people at any given point in time are relatively healthy, which means they are unaware of how tenuous their health care is (i.e. that their insurer can-- or could, until Obamacare-- cancel their coverage at the point they become inconveniently ill). We are proud that we have (we suppose) "the best health care in the world"-- unaware that most have no access to that superior care. It's all about the myth, rather than the reality.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
And in the UK, you don't have to worry about whether you can pay for your treatment*, allowing you to focus on important issues such as who's going to feed the cat while you're in hospital. That's freedom.
That tends to be my reaction as well. I had a conversation about this recently, where a friend made the point that there are services you only need very occasionally (and more or less hope you won't need at all) such as police, fire, ambulance, and major health care. And when you find yourself in the situation where you DO need those kinds of services, the very last thing you'd be wanting to do would be considering the market and choosing between all the options and deciding which one of the offerings was right 'for you'. Or leafing through the fine print to find if you precise situation was covered.
They're simply not enjoyable choices to make.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
Also, partly because of the NHS, private healthcare is cheaper in Britain than in the USA. So I have more freedom of choice to spend my money on it if I want to.
And an American who was paid the same as me would pay more tax for healthcare than I do, so they don't even have the freedom to spend the money on private healthcare that I get taxed.
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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