[Trantor]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Whoa, some of you guys are still upset at Europeans, we keep noticing

I am not upset about europeans. I am upset at you for your previous post suggesting Brazil did not have public healthcare.

From WHERE, precisely, did you saw anything regarding I am upset at Europeans?

and what exactly do you mean with "still upset at europeans"?? Considering Brazil was settled by europeans, speaks an european language, follows an european religion (mostly), uses Roman Law, etc, etc, I see no reason to be upset at Europeans of the past. It would be like being upset about your own ancestors. (although that happens a lot even in europe, like French rooting for Asterix while despising the romans, as if over the centuries many romans had not mixed with gauls, plus all the culture Gaul acquired from Rome, and even the french language)

... You're wrong. The better you do, the better our own opportunities over there for real, eh. And we certainly wouldn't spit at more Brazilian investors in France, believe it. So get wealthier, that's all my sincere wishes to you.

how is that related to anything I said?

BTW that's right, I didn't know the Brazilians paid for some universal healthcare system. We know how costly it is over here too, but the question is how and what we'd do without it. It seems pretty unfair and risky to let lower incomes and the unemployed pay for their health on their own. And in fact, as you surely know, right? we've got quite a lot of low incomes and more and more unemployed to deal with too. Time is rough over here as well. So you know, you've just got these 2 obvious options left.

1 - maintaining the system just about the way it is at the cost of your private sector competitiveness. That requires to be able to develop some higher quality goods and services to remain competitive, like the Germans partly do for instance. Although even in their country, it's far from easy for all, I hear. Their overall quality of life is sometimes questionable in some respects. Too many low income "poor workers" in particular, they say.

Or 2 - reforming your healthcare system, just selling it all to your private sector to relieve it and ease their investments, which could create lots of jobs indeed. That's closer to the US libertarian way, but that's what we French won't do. How could the poor afford healthcare while they're still jobless or something? Idk. I don't think we'd ever give up on universal healthcare paid by taxes, it's just too risky.

that's the problem being a poor country. You are even more trapped between the two. Too much poor population to let them fend for themselves, too much poor population creating a burden on the private sector with high taxes... a burden that is HIGHER than on rich countries exactly because yes, the private sector IS less competetive because of worse ports, worse roads, less credit, smaller internal market for many types of products, etc.

We don't pay for plastic surgery, though! Isn't it silly? At some point, you need to be selective and pay for what's really essential only.

actually, plastic surgery is paid only in cases where people had their faces ruined by some accident.

but sex change is considered plastic surgery and is covered, because GLB groups were adamant that it was psychological terror for a woman to be "trapped" in the body of a man, or something like it... so it was considered a matter of mental health...