hi all

someone wrote, in part:
> We live in a free capitalistic society both in the
> US and Canada ...

not quite correct, from my point of view

although both countries are democracies ,
there are many aspects of canada that are 'socialistic'
(i.e. deliberately and specifically NOT 'capitalistic'
i.e 'for profit'),
the most visible of which may our health care system,
created by a national act of parliament over 30 years ago
to provide universal health care for all canadian citizens
regardless of their ability to pay

our health system was thus designed to be 'free'
meaning no (or minimal) user fees

pharmaceutical prices and availability
are subject to government scrutiny and control

my ontario disability pension means
i pay nothing for doctor/hospital care
and a nominal $2.00 fee for each prescription

a different example of socialism in action
can be seen in quebec where universal %5 per day daycare
has been offered to all parents for years
(i wish it were a national program!)

these programs are currently under review
in re costs and accounting transparency details
but the overall principles are rock solid
in the minds of the canadian public
and are not to be 'messed with'

no socialist or capitalist system is 'free'

our medical care
and my presriptions
and quebec's daycare services
are not 'free' -
but the costs are borne by all citizens
in their taxes paid to support their government services

which seems to me to indicate that
exporting a medication to the usa (or any other country)
means that its cost is subsidised by canadian taxes and taxpayers

it seems to me that some usa citizens want
to get the benefit of canada's socialised medicine system
without paying the real cost

i suggest that usa citizens pursue the only genuine solution
to their medical care crisis and establish their own
socialised universal health care system

according to my sources:
- 80% of usa citizens believe that health insurance
should be provided equally to everyone in their country
- 52% say that they would be willing to pay more in taxes
or insurance premiums to see that happen
- non-universal health care in the usa costs $4,200 per year per capita
as oompared with universal health care in
germany at $2,400
canada at $2,300
uk at $1,400

> The way we improve the standard of living for all
> of our society and much of the rest of the world
> is through economic incentives.  Along the way we
> try not to provide incentives that take away from
> the least blessed in our society and for the
> most part it does work ...

also quite incorrect, in my opinion

economic 'incentives',
or as i view the concept, freeing capitalism to 'do its thing',
only enables the rich to get richer at the cost of the poor
(that's the reason socialism and communism exist)

the past 20 years of 'globalisation' and so-called 'free trade'
and the suppposedly helpful but ultimately destructive antics of
the world trade organisation (WTO) and the international monetary fund (IMF)
have not benefited the world's poor; quite the opposite, as a matter of record.

in monetary terms
the developed countries are richer than ever before
with more multi-millionaires than ever before
and the 'developing countries' are poorer than ever before
with more people than ever before forced to subsist on $1 or $2 per day

> We in the US are quite well off ...

by what standard of measure?
as compared to what other countries?
what percentage of usa citizens cannot afford medical insurance?
what percentage have gone bankrupt due to medical costs?
what percentage are unemployed?
what percentage are in prison?

> Most of the very costly drug research is done by
> the drug companies because they can reap rewards
> that are great enough to balance the risk.  By
> the way, when they reap those rewards they pay
> taxes that are huge.  Those taxes sometimes go
> to fund government research that provides basic
. information that the drug companies take, add their
> own money and research to, and develop new drugs
> that benefit all mankind ...

these ideas are myths perpetrated by the pharmaceutical companies
whose sole mission is to generate profits for their shareholders
and who have in recent years been making bigger profits
than ever before

how cooperative are they in providing
low or no cost aids drugs to african countries
- where the death rate from aids is causing
global population statistics to need revising?
- where every 14 seconds a child is orphaned
due to aids?

the gold standard med for pd is levodopa -
a med which was pre-existing and was found to be beneficial
for parkinsonism by pure chance and luck
by a neurologist in clinical practice
(read "awakenings" by dr. oliver sacks)

58% of the medical journal article writers
are paid by the pharmaceutical companies to put the best 'spin'
on their study results 'analysis'

> Now here comes the hard part for you to accept...
> If we in the US do not pay for this there will
> be few if any new drugs.  We are the first to
> benefit.  We have the safest drug industry.
> We have the safest food supply. We have the best
> medical care.  We have the best doctors.  We
> have lower per capita taxes then most.  We have
> the highest standard of living in the world...
> (by the way you may be able to name some small
> country that has it better but when you look
> at the countries wealth you will find it is derived
> from outside and not self sustaining).

the only reason i find the above 'hard to accept'
(and the rest of your message - un-replicated here for the sake of brevity)
is that most of your ideas are also myths and not borne out by facts -
may i suggest and recommend, for example,
harper's and resurgence magazines and michael moore's books,
as starting points for myth-correction

janet

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