From the Washington Post:
In Defense of Britain's Health System
By Ara Darzi and Tom Kibasi
Fear is the weapon of choice for opponents of reform who have no substantive alternative to offer. America spends five times the share of its national wealth on health as Singapore, and yet life expectancy in each country is roughly the same. Even allowing for other factors, it is undeniable that the way a health system is organized and operated makes a difference. Americans fear that countries such as Britain and Canada ration care -- and that such rationing could and should never be tolerated in the United States. Yet 47 million uninsured is quite an extreme form of rationing. So at this moment, the burden of proof falls upon those who oppose change -- for they stand in defense of fear.
The market rations so well that it's not seen as rationing, and isn't even correctly called rationing.
ReplyDeleteThere are no abstracted rules except for particulars that bureaucrats would be abstracting from, in the case of the market. The particular case is what is considered, by the market.
What you get is a deal that in each particular case both sides are happy with.
On correctly using a word, see Stanley Cavell on what a chair is. It comes out very hard to say exactly. The particulars are everything. Yet nothing is hidden.
It's very deep that you can't come up with a rule for something you nevertheless know.
Stanley Cavell, look inside and search for "comfortable enough."