[Info-vax] HP stopping VMS paper documentation ?

[ChrisQ]

On 12/03/11 18:58, JF Mezei wrote:

>
> helth care is a tough question because private enterprise wants to do
> it, but when it does it, it costs way too much to the nation and not
> everyone is covered.

I know health care is a sensitive issue in the us, but I don't see how any
civilised society with regard for human rights and justice can live with a
system where equality of health care isn't free at the point of need. Or,
in another way, where the quality of care depends on how much money you 
have.
We in the so called advanced western democracies claim to want to advance
civilisation, but what is civilisation if it isn't built on regard and 
respect
for others and their needs ?. As for private enterprise, would you trust 
any
of them to do the right thing, rather than maximise profit ?. Unelected, 
largely
unaccountable and responsible only to their shareholders. Government
can't do it all and must contract out a lot of stuff, because state 
management
is inevitably inefficient and feeds on itself, but all essential
services should be regulated down to the wire to prevent abuses.

Of course, state intervention can get out of hand. Apparently, Denmark 
has the
highest standard of health care in the world, free at point of need, but 
it has
to be paid for from high taxation. What they don't do, however is go 
around the
world spending billions on unnecessary wars and other foreign 
adventures, so
they have more $ to spend for the common good. You could argue that the
only function of government is to work for the common good, but the 
message seems
to get more and more diluted...

Regards,

Chris