> We can choose.
This is true, but not in the sense of the leading candidates in the US presidential elections - both of whom oppose universal health care (despite its wide public support).
This is true, but not in the sense of the leading candidates in the US presidential elections - both of whom oppose universal health care (despite its wide public support).
So while what you say is no doubt true, it's got nothing to do with what I'm talking about. I'm not expecting universal health care by June of next year or something.
You start by just getting people to say "Yeah, you know, that makes sense. I would support that." And when enough people can agree with that idea, eventually you get candidates who say "I have this terrific idea (parrots back to the world what the world is already saying is a good idea)."
If there were a general consensus that this is something all Americans like, you can bet money we would have a presidential candidate who not only supports the idea but already has a well-thought-out blueprint developed for how to implement it. In fact, you would likely have two candidates competing for your vote based on the idea that "My universal health care plan is better than theirs! Vote for me, Joe Schmoe, the guy with the better universal health care plan!"
And then some poor people have hobbies like becoming the (apparently) first woman to make the leader board of HN shortly after getting themselves off the street and back into housing. (That would be me, in case that needs to be said.) And some people close to me are of the opinion that me running my big fat mouth on HN while homeless and earning a pittance online while sleeping in a tent is why tablets are no longer expensive shiny toys for rich people and are actually productive and affordable for ordinary people with sucktastic lives.
So, studies aside, you will have to excuse me for sticking to my guns here. My apologies for having no idea how to convince you I'm the one that's right in this case.
Oops. My bad.
It's beyond the bounds of reasonable probability both that a majority of Americans would develop enough empathy to support the idea of a universal social safety net and that policy elites could be motivated to implement such a consensus.
[0] https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/c...