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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 16, 2024

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Fast and cheap is at least theoretically possible. A big chunk of healthcare is walk-in in China, where the life expectancy already exceeds that of the United States. Appointments with specialists are easy to get, with most wait times measured in days to weeks rather than months.

There may be some state subsidization going on, but the direct cost to the consumer, along with overall cost of care is much lower than in the west. Overall I admit not knowing how their system actually works.

There is something resembling health benefits by employers, but as far as I can tell it's literally just a health savings account that the employer contributes some money in every year rather than insurance.

If you adjusted for the life expectancy hit of air pollution, they'd be comparable to SK and Japan in longevity, so their public health actually seems to be effective. Big gains in the past decade as well.

There may be some state subsidization going on, but the direct cost to the consumer, along with overall cost of care is much lower than in the west. Overall I admit not knowing how their system actually works.

Reasonable government health care is a part of the East Asian package.

It's an emergent trait of demographics, and not really something that is replicable in a Western context.

For similar reasons, there is essentially no violent crime in any East Asian country. It's not government policy, it's a fundamentally different society.

It's an emergent trait of demographics, and not really something that is replicable in a Western context.

Actually Australia manages to do it as well. It is entirely replicable in a Western context, though maybe not in the USA as it is currently constituted.