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Comment by graemep | Hacker News Reader

You seem to think communism is the only alternative to the American system? Given how differently various countries run, and communism is almost dead (even China is not really communist anymore) its clearly not true.

The US (and the rest of the world) is run increasingly on oligarchic rather than free market lines anyway, so that is the real comparison.

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Ah no that’s not what I said. But a lot of healthcare systems in Europe are close to communism yes (but they’re hybrid, there’s also some markets mechanism)

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

There's a gaping conceptual chasm between "publicly funded" and "communist".

And there’s a big chasm between the system we have in europe and simply being “publicly funded”, so you are also simplifying reality

Universal healthcare is just an mandatory insurance scheme with an efficient centralized bureaucracy. You know, insurance, that thing that prevents markets from falling over when something goes wrong. We also have fun things like bankruptcy, which means some people don't get payed back. Should we reintroduce debter prisons to get rid of all the communism in the system?

It varies a lot. Compare the UK, Germany and Singapore. Very different in the level of centralisation.

It's different because private insurance and hospitals want to make profit

You think public insurance don't? There is a difference between making profits and placing profits above everything else.

Extracting resources and giving less in exchange is a form of making profit. Socialized healthcare does that too.

How is an insurance backed up with taxes, related to the concept of abolishing private ownership?

Communism doesn't want to abolish private property so perhaps try to know more about the thing you're talking about before lecturing.

Sigh. What is your definition for communism then? I'm curious to hear that.

It's about the means of production… not about all property.

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