http://www.activecitizenship.net/content/view/56/78/

It’s at least a start!

Graham, You have to test it, otherwise it’s just words.

I’m not criticising the holding of theories, I’m just saying that you have to put them to the test. you cannot just refer back to the theory as proof of the validity of the theory. Nor can you put the theory to the test in one field of social and economic life, (selling computers), and hope that you can slide it across to another field of social and economic life (health).

In order to convince, you have to give evidence. anything else is just an intellectual card-trick.

I mean, you are telling me that these theories show us the difference between socialized and non´-socialized economies. But how does that play out with regard to health? The German, French and Spanish public health systems are of a standard that we only dream about. The American public system is a disgrace to humanity. You need to tell me, with facts and researched empirical evidence, why non-socialized is better.

In other words, citing a theory is not proof of a theory.

Good luck with the next few months, and certainly I’ll keep on visiting your site!

Also your obviously are not from the country side

What the above blog post aims to demonstrate is that logical economic laws easily predict and explain the broad differences we can readily observe between socialised and other industries. The theory acts as a powerful tool to interpret history, but the history itself is not how we derived our theory.

The justification for all of this is rather involved, and I know I haven’t provided it here yet, but I do plan to do that over the coming months, so I hope you will stick around. If you join our message board I will provide you with the original works which influence me.

I mean, what you’re saying to me is that it is too complicated for you to do the type of qualitative and quantitative research necessary to come to a reasoned analysis of the different methods and approaches. So, because of that, you use the bizzare analogy of the supply and demand of computer sales and, well, hope for the best.

May I suggest that you bite the analytical bullet and do the research? The reason being is that, despite what you think, your comparison doesn’t serve any real purpose except to bounce itself off your almost theological assumption of supply and demand as a universal truth.

You HAVE to put that to the test. you HAVE to sit down and give a critical analysis of the various health care systems in operation in the western world, and once you’ve done that, then you can say whether your supply and demand thesis stands up in the field of health care.

Even in general, even for the purposes of simple blog, you can at least tell me something about the faults – as you see them – in the Spanish model, the German model, the French, Dutch, and Scandinavian models.

What you cannot do, at least you cannot do it and retain credibility for your thesis, is to say: well, all of that stuff is really, really difficult, so.. here´s my conclusion on health, based on what I know about selling computers.

For the purposes of a simple blog post, I think it’s a much stronger point to illustrate the dramatic differences in the rate of advancement between socialised and non-socialised industries. I am appealing to simple economic principles. The laws of supply and demand apply in all exchanges, whether we are talking about PCs or operations. The comparison in progress is not useless in that context.

Incidentally, I’ve written and now edited this comment of mine using an iPod Touch – another neat example of the type of product you get from a relatively unregulated industry.

What you need to do is compare health systems. So, compare the American health care system with the European model, or compare Ireland with the American and the European models. Then you have something to work with.

Anyway, I’m sorry I don’t see what is objectionable about being able to get medical attention immediately.

Ah! but can you get broadband in your area, or REAL broadband in any area – without state intervention?

The problem IS you can get a PC, and medical attention, instantly with cash. Without cash you might have to wait 18 months for a colon cancer test. Or maybe die.