Quote Originally Posted by cariad(CC)
Taking a deep breath before I say this, and not wishing to be in the slightest bit offensive. I admire many things about the US, but that is a sweeping statement.

Having been talking to someone from your country who has lost their house after needing medical treatment for an illness which they did not have insurance cover for, I would debate your point. You do not appear to have the freedom to be non-wealthy and healthy, which to me is a fairly basic right.
The above was a response to the statement "no other country on our planet allows the freedoms or civil right's that we [in the United States] enjoy." Your point is well taken -- there are serious problems with the US Health Care system.

I have never been to the UK, so perhaps there is a fundimental cultural difference between the way we look at certain things. Then again, perhaps it's just a difference between the way two individuals look at things. To most Americans, "Freedom / Liberty" and "Prosperity" are two very different concepts. The former refers to the absence of interference by the government, while the latter refers to your material well-being. If someone does not have access to the health care they need, then that person's problem is a lack of prosperity, not a lack of freedom.

I'm not belittling the problems of people who don't have access to health care. I am simply saying that when someone from the US boasts that we are a "free" country, that person is not necessarily boasting that we are prosperous. If you wish to critique the statement that no other country on our planet allows the freedoms or civil right's that we enjoy," then critique it in terms of government interference that people in the US must suffer, since that is the point that the poster was making.

- Lady Dena