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Originally Posted by alansmithee
That makes no sense whatsoever. It's like saying you can't make the best cars if everyone can't afford them. People from countries worldwide fly to America to take advantage of the immense benefits of American medical facilities.
Quality of facilities has nothing to do with the state of health of a country. State of health has to do with access to facilities. For those who can afford it, America has the best medical treatment available.
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Of course it makes sense. It makes so much sense, your second paragraph there just reiterated it.
You might make the most bestest fantastic car in the world. And one person might have it. That doesn't make the automotive industry of your country better than the automotive industry of some other country.
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That's your mesurement. But from a historical perspective, that might not be the best way to measure a country's greatness.
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What historical perspective would show that to evaluate the quality of life for the average person within a country it is best to measure the quality of life of the atypical of a country?
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Might Europe be a better place to live for average people? Almost undoubtedly.
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There ya go, then.
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Europe seems to have tied their fate to the "average" person. They ensure that most people will have some minimum standards, standards that are higher than America's. The tradeoff is that they will have fewer that are at the high end. And less people who are at the high end will seek Europe, because they will be pulled back to the pack. America takes a much more cutthroat approach which allows for higher levels of success.
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You say average like it's a bad thing. Almost everyone is average. The aggregate of a society where almost everyone that you know or will ever know has a high quality life is simply better than the aggregate of a society where almost everyone you know or will ever know has a low quality life. The benefit of living in a country that has slightly more atypical people is next to nothing in comparison to the benefit of living in a country that has a higher quality of life for your own self.
Of course, everything I just said is nonsense if you believe you will someday achieve the "American Dream" and find yourself at the top of America, and by virtue, the top of the world. Because if you did get to that point, you'd be better off living in America - you'd be able to afford access to the highly exclusive supreme healthcare, you'd be able to afford access to the highly exclusive supreme education for your children, etc. etc. etc.
But there's a reason that phrase has the word
Dream in it. Because it's a mythical achievement. You won't have access to the benefits you attribute to America. So you will find that your life is lower quality than it would have been had you lived in Europe.