Economic Growth Via Lie Propagation

After reading Toxico's essay I felt it needed a response of far more than what one could squeeze into the comments sections. The essay seems filled with misconceptions about America.

Let us start with racial issue. Does racism exist in America? Yes, it does but so does it most everywhere. Look at the riots in France by Muslim youths over their treatment by French society as a whole. How about the violence against Turkish immigrants in Germany? On a related issue anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe. I have spent a lot of time overseas including living in three different countries for a year or more and I can honestly say some of the most prejudice nations I have ever been in were Japan and Korea.

The U.S. has over 120 different ethnic and racial groupings according to the US census. That we get along with each other as well as we do particularly compared to the more homogenously populated European nations is a tribute to our tolerance. The old Soviet Union only managed to keep its widely diverse population together with an oppressive police state.

Crime and traffic enforcement. Yes, our law enforcement might spend too much time enforcing traffic laws but speed trap and red light cameras are not unknown here. They face a lot opposition by the public. Part of it is that Americans don't like a lot of government cameras watching us regardless of the reason. Another is our right to face our accuser in court. How do you cross-examine a traffic camera in court? Making it a civil penalty rather than criminal one does not set well with us either because then it becomes not a tool for law enforcement but a revenue stream for government.

The US also spends more time on traffic law enforcement because we drive more and have more cars than Europe. In The US and Europe Law enforcement spend more time reacting to crimes than preventing them it is the nature of the beast in free societies.

The problem I have with capital punishment is that juries sometimes get it wrong and once a person is dead there is no do over. We constantly hear of wrongly convicted people being released from jail after DNA evidence that was not available at their trial clears them.

Health care: Why persist in the stupid idea that because forms of socialized health care works (Well sort of works-see Chaoulli vs. Quebec June 9, 2005) in Europe or Canada it will work in the US? The United States is a nation of over 300 million people spread out over 3 million square miles. They consist of over 120 different ethnic and racial groupings and their economics and cultural difference are as diverse as the topography they live in. A one size fits all program imposed by Washington is not the most efficient answer to our heath care problems never mind the lack of constitutional authority.

Europe does not even have a single type of health care system Switzerland's for example, is far different from the United Kingdom's

The Health care needs of the people of Wyoming are certainly different than those of Connecticut.

It makes more sense with regards to economics, efficiency and certainly constitutionally to let each state decide how to take care of the heath care issue as Massachusetts. Vermont and Hawaii have done. A state can even elect not to take care of it. In 2002 the voters Oregon rejected a state wide universal healthcare plan.

It would take a perverse, even criminal interpretation of the commerce or general welfare clauses to suggest that the Federal government has the right to impose such a plan on the people of Oregon.

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce. ... The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State."

~~James Madison, Federalist No. 45

Also let us consider some lies about US heath care. One of which is that Europeans live longer. If you look at the standardized mean for life expectancy Americans live longer than in any other OECD country. The standardize mean eliminates non-health care related factors such as auto accidents (Americans drive more so we have more auto accidents) violent crime etc. We also have a better survival rates for most forms of cancer than Europe

Infant mortality. Some say the Cuba has a better infant mortality rate than the US. What they don't tell you is the Cuba doe s not count any child that dies who is less than a year old in its numbers. Other countries fudge the numbers in a similar manner.

Spending . Yes the U.S. spends more heath care but included in those numbers are the fact that we spend more on medical research than any other country.

Capitalism. The US has not had a pure capitalistic system since the 1930s as anybody who tries to start and run a business here will tell you. The downturns in the system have more to do with government being a sleep at the wheel (SEC regulators too busy surfing the net and watching born) or engaging in the very activity is condemns business for doing (Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac).

The supposedly more regulated and supposedly more equitable European systems have not been able to avoid their own downturns. Even with high taxes and relatively low defense spending they have had to introduce austerity measures as population demographics and economics make their overly generous social welfare programs untenable as we are finding out here.

The US is not perfect but the rational because it works elsewhere ignores the fact that we are so very, very different from everybody else.