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Even some parts of the US have found solutions. From the article: > In Tulsa and Oklahoma City, meanwhile, the government buys staffed unit-hours from an ambu

Even some parts of the US have found solutions. From the article: > In Tulsa and Oklahoma City, meanwhile, the government buys staffed unit-hours from an ambulance operator, while households can prepay a few dollars a month on their utility bill and owe nothing if the ambulance ever comes.

pornel 2mo ago
billed for buying unit-hours from an operator... that's very carefully worded to make it sound like a corporation<>customer relationship and not socialism.
- toomuchtodo 2mo ago
  Lots of policy in the US is hacking around the lizard brain idea of "We cannot have nice things because someone who doesn't deserve it might get it." My favorite example is universal school breakfast and lunch. Without fail, someone will argue that some kids don't deserve it. It doesn't matter that all of the data shows it is more economically efficient and the benefits to kids is overwhelming.
  - sleight42 2mo ago
    You essentially described the Republican and Libertarian perspectives in the US. The Republicans seem to see it as immoral to potentially give a few people support they don't need even if that means that most of the people who need the support actually get it. And, instead, they believe that having an inconsistent array of private interests will somehow be more able to service an enormous population than having an organization (like government...) that is large enough to match that population's needs. The Libertarians seem to either genuinely not care about the rest of the world or, more often than not, seem to be naive about how life can be for the less privileged. It's the lie of the "rugged individualist" in America. Most "successful" people come from successful families. Social mobility, in the US, is part of that lie. Here, we celebrate the person who rises from poverty to become wealthy as a member of a sports team, or as an actor, or similar, while disregarding that these massive successes are outliers. I'm so often disappointed in my own country.
    - shimman 2mo ago
      Sorry 'bub but the Democratic party is as much to blame as republicans. Neoliberalism has infected both parties and let us finally shed this fake reality that the democratic party is the party of labor and not corporations. Good news is that if you want the democratic party to become the party of labor, now is the absolutely best time to have a real impact in your community.
      - sleight42 2mo ago
        The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. I will tar and feather the "right" constantly. The "left", here, is somewhat better. As you say, though, neoliberalism has infected both parties. Personally, I'll take the DSA over both. However, the population is unlikely to accept Sam's. And both political parties would sooner collude than accept the DSA as a modern inheritor of American Liberalism.
    - KetoManx64 2mo ago
      > The Libertarians seem to either genuinely not care about the rest of the world or, more often than not, seem to be naive about how life can be for the less privileged No, they just put boundaries on what services they want handled by the government. Government programs are the least efficient and most wasteful way of getting a job done, and there are endless examples of this. Churches were historically the places people went to for assistance, and churches held people accountable and would push them to fix their underlying issues. Government programs have none of this, you can keep making the same bad decisions and nobody will hold you accountable and the benefits will keep coming in.
      - expedition32 2mo ago
        Christianity died in my country because people got tired of the judgemental, hypocritical cunts. The child abuse scandals that hit later only confirmed it.
        toomuchtodo 2mo ago
- andrew_lettuce 2mo ago
  Come on, across the world we prepay for the use of things regardless if we do or not. As described in the article it's an option, not a political system.

pornel 2mo ago

billed for buying unit-hours from an operator... that's very carefully worded to make it sound like a corporation<>customer relationship and not socialism.

toomuchtodo 2mo ago
Lots of policy in the US is hacking around the lizard brain idea of "We cannot have nice things because someone who doesn't deserve it might get it." My favorite example is universal school breakfast and lunch. Without fail, someone will argue that some kids don't deserve it. It doesn't matter that all of the data shows it is more economically efficient and the benefits to kids is overwhelming.
- sleight42 2mo ago
  You essentially described the Republican and Libertarian perspectives in the US. The Republicans seem to see it as immoral to potentially give a few people support they don't need even if that means that most of the people who need the support actually get it. And, instead, they believe that having an inconsistent array of private interests will somehow be more able to service an enormous population than having an organization (like government...) that is large enough to match that population's needs. The Libertarians seem to either genuinely not care about the rest of the world or, more often than not, seem to be naive about how life can be for the less privileged. It's the lie of the "rugged individualist" in America. Most "successful" people come from successful families. Social mobility, in the US, is part of that lie. Here, we celebrate the person who rises from poverty to become wealthy as a member of a sports team, or as an actor, or similar, while disregarding that these massive successes are outliers. I'm so often disappointed in my own country.
  - shimman 2mo ago
    Sorry 'bub but the Democratic party is as much to blame as republicans. Neoliberalism has infected both parties and let us finally shed this fake reality that the democratic party is the party of labor and not corporations. Good news is that if you want the democratic party to become the party of labor, now is the absolutely best time to have a real impact in your community.
    - sleight42 2mo ago
      The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. I will tar and feather the "right" constantly. The "left", here, is somewhat better. As you say, though, neoliberalism has infected both parties. Personally, I'll take the DSA over both. However, the population is unlikely to accept Sam's. And both political parties would sooner collude than accept the DSA as a modern inheritor of American Liberalism.
  - KetoManx64 2mo ago
    > The Libertarians seem to either genuinely not care about the rest of the world or, more often than not, seem to be naive about how life can be for the less privileged No, they just put boundaries on what services they want handled by the government. Government programs are the least efficient and most wasteful way of getting a job done, and there are endless examples of this. Churches were historically the places people went to for assistance, and churches held people accountable and would push them to fix their underlying issues. Government programs have none of this, you can keep making the same bad decisions and nobody will hold you accountable and the benefits will keep coming in.
    - expedition32 2mo ago
      Christianity died in my country because people got tired of the judgemental, hypocritical cunts. The child abuse scandals that hit later only confirmed it.
      - toomuchtodo 2mo ago
andrew_lettuce 2mo ago
Come on, across the world we prepay for the use of things regardless if we do or not. As described in the article it's an option, not a political system.