American culture

Do we see lack of healthcare as shameful? Some do. But there are things you don't appear to understand about American culture. This isn't intended to be a rant, but rather an informative post.


 * 1) American ideals mean we are fiercely independent, sometimes too much so. We don't work well together as a community, unless there is some catastrophe that affects the whole country, like WW2. Many people came together and donated time, materials, and money for the tsunami in Japan, and hurricane Katrina, but I can't say a majority actually did anything. Basically, if you are too dumb to prepare for the future, it's your own fault.
 * 2) But it's even more complicated than that. Now since salaries have been stagnant for 20+ years, but out-of-pocket expenses have continued to rise (like medical premiums we have to pay and yearly deductibles), even if we wanted to help our retired parents, most simply don't have the money.
 * 3) Some serious root problems with America include: a) voter apathy allowing corrupt politicians into office, and b) in very many cases there are literally no politicians who aren't corrupt in some areas to vote for in the first place.

At a bird's eye view, ignoring the details, I can see how some people might think American culture is cruel, but it actually encourages thoughtful preparation, and helping yourself. That's why people who don't want to help themselves do so poorly in America.

Also, it's not that we don't want help from the gov't, it's that the US gov't has a long history of bungling social programs. Social Security is the only legal Ponzi scheme in the country. It's such a bad idea it is outlawed in the rest of the US.

It's not that we don't want a better, less corrupt healthcare system, it's that so many Americans simply cannot respect someone who has to be taken care of like a helpless child. Many people are perfectly capable of working, they just don't want to. The lion's share of the rest likely have medical problems related to poor health choices. They just don't want to change. Again, these people have the potential to change, they simply don't want to. And I don't want to pay for their poor choices.