I should start this edition with some excuses. As regular readers will know I've been a bit slack during August due to conferences, work and so on, and I arranged to host this edition of CotL several weeks ago. As a result I completely forgot about this until this weekend, when I was reminded by a slightly agitated Leo. Leo, and the rest of you, I apologize for my tardiness.
Since this is the launch of the CotL's new monthly edition, and since we've had so many good entries, I'm going to ignore the "10 posts" rule and have a giant, bumper edition. Much of this focuses on two areas - healthcare reform and gay rights, so I'll divide this post into sections for those two issues and a third for miscellanea. As I go along I'll give my British perspective on the debate.
With the excuses and explanations out of the way, let's have a look at this month's entries.
HEALTH:
As an Englishman, the debate over public health in the United States is both amusing and annoying because of the way that the Republicans have brought our National Health Service into the frame. It's annoying because, well, nobody likes foreigners criticizing their country, especially when those foreigners are American. It's amusing because what the Republicans don't seem to understand is that by any objective measure, the NHS is far superior to the American health system.
We live longer than you, we remain in good health for longer, we deliver cradle-to-grave care for every last one of the sixty million people on our crowded island satisfying the basic human right to health care, and we do all of that for a tiny fraction of the cost per person of the United States. When Republicans point at the NHS and say to Americans "is this what you really want?" the answer should be a resounding "Hell, yes!" It's not the best, but it's better than what you've got.
Katie presents Robot Heart: Sex, Religion, and Politics - Do you know what terrifies me, Peggy? posted at Robot Heart: Sex, Religion, and Politics.
Rick Foreman presents Health Care Is A Human Right posted at Waiting for the Singularity.
Leo Lincourt presents American Id posted at Philosophy On The Mesa.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Tantrum Politics posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness.
Rick Foreman presents Let’s Run Everything in the U.S. Like Our Healthcare System posted at Waiting For The Singularity.
Greg Laden presents Discordant Democrats vs. Republican Dittoheads posted at Quiche Moraine.
SEX:
My view on other people's sex lives can be summed up in four words: "None of my business." If someone's gay, fine. If two gay people want to get married, fine. People are always complaining about how marriage is going out of fashion, well if we get all the gay people married that should really get things moving along again.
If a gay couple want to adopt a kid, then as long as they satisfy all the requirements a heterosexual couple have to, then fine. I don't even understand why this would be a problem. Statistically you're probably reading this during your lunch-break in an office in the USA, so look up, and pick out your two favourite male colleagues. Now mentally compare them to the average trailer park family. Do you honestly believe they wouldn't do a better job of raising a kid?
Nope, sexuality is nobody else's business, and to assume it makes somebody unfit to be a parent, or that they should have the same rights as a married couple isn't just wrong, it's irrational. Unlike these fine bloggers:
Neosnowqueen presents Why you should Vote Yes on Prop 1 posted at Winter Harvest.
Greta Christina presents Same Sex Marriage, And Why You Passionately Care About Maine posted at Greta Christina's Blog.
Billy The Atheist presents If You?re Not 100% With Us, You Are Against Us. and SEX! posted at (((Billy))) The Atheist.
Quandra presents Gay Marriage and The Christian Church posted at Improvement of Self.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Dear Senator Inhofe posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness.
MISC:
The following are a selection of articles which didn't fit into the above categories.
Should black women stay uneducated in the name of family? Andrew Bernardin presents How to Quote Out of Context posted at the evolving mind.
Is inaction undermining democracy? Mel presents Are We Capable of Democracy? posted at BroadSnark.
Will they never be happy? Criticising doom-and-gloom liberals. Doctor Biobrain presents Seeing the Enemy's Weakness posted at And Doctor Biobrain's Response Is....
"There is no doubt that this country is not ready for a Black President." Greg Laden presents Maybe We Should Have Elected a White President After All posted at Quiche Moraine.
On the yawning chasm between godless liberals and Christian conservatives. Magdalune presents Mind the Gap posted at Winter Harvest.
So that's it for this month's Carnival of the Liberals. Next month's edition is hosted at Broadsnark, so get writing!
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"... by any objective measure, the NHS is far superior to the American health system ..."
I am not sure you're right (but you may be).
What concerns me a lot more is that this sentence (probably unconsciously) epitomises the smug complacency that governs almost any debate on the NHS.
Allegedly we have a health systems that is the envy of the world. So why have I only heard that in this country? Why do we have such high rates of MRSA and C. Difficile infections? (And how do these infection rates compare with America's?) Why are there so many stories of abuse and neglect by NHS staff, across all the media?
American politicians of all stripes are framing the health debate in extreme fashion, which is so often their way. But we need to have a clear-eyed view of the NHS and how it can be improved, rather than pointing a finger at other countries and saying how silly they are.
"...smug complacency that governs almost any debate on the NHS."
Well yes, but then a) this isn't a debate about the NHS, and b) I didn't say anywhere that the NHS was brilliant, just that it was better than the U.S. system (something umpteen other nations have in common). As I said: "It's not the best, but it's better than what you've got."
Martin is the editor of layscience.net.
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Your are right (and welcome back, btw).
Still you've got me looking up relative infection rates for MRSA and C Difficile... ;-)
Whew! I felt quite unloved when I didn't see any links coming from the carnival and was too depressed to see who beat me. Fortunately, my shipment of cyanide was also late (thanks to Senator Vitter's scheme to overrun my Canadian supplier with excessive American demand), so I didn't do anything too rash. This could have been my last carnival.
And yeah, I really AM that dependent upon affirmation of my peers.
"pick out your two favourite male colleagues. Now mentally compare them to the average trailer park family. Do you honestly believe they wouldn't do a better job of raising a kid?"
Ouch. Point taken that there are many hetero couples who are bad parents, but I know a lot of great people who live or have lived in trailers. Being poor doesn't make you less.
Sean, regarding MRSA and C. Difficile, we have high rates in America as well. From the New York Times:
"A local doctor who had worked in a Veterans Affairs hospital recognized the signs of Clostridium difficile, a contagious and potentially deadly bacterium. Although the illness is difficult to track, health officials estimate that in the United States the bacteria cause 350,000 infections each year in hospitals alone, with tens of thousands more occurring in nursing homes. While the majority of cases are found in health care settings, 20 percent or more may occur in the community. The illness kills an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people annually."
The increase of these kinds of infections are associated with increasing use of antibiotics, and it is a global problem. We also have abuse, neglect and malpractice. Plus, 60 people die every single day from lack of health insurance, of all things.
And the problems with our health care system aren't limited to poorer health. The high cost of health care in America also has a significant impact on bankruptcy and foreclosure. And there is no relief to high costs in sight. In ten years, the insurance premiums alone are projected to double to an average of nearly $24,000/year. Just...something to think about. While I'm sure NHS is by no means perfect, the situation in the United States is, by comparison, a disaster.
Hi Kate
At the moment I am not convinced either way on the US health vs NHS debate. I don't know enough and I guess (in the words of Ben Goldacre) "it's a bit more complicated than that".
I expect a detailed study would show good and bad points of each system. So I'd be uninclined to agree with your statement that it's a "disaster" in either case and would rather have a dispassionate look at both systems (and others) to see how they could be improved. Too often these debates degenerate into a binary "good" and "evil" discussion, to little benefit of anyone.
On C difficile, even a quick Google of the literature (which is all I've had time for) indicates that the statistics are challenging: one has to correct for an upsurge due to a variety of factors some of which are worldwide and hence not necessarily inherent to the NHS or US health system.
That's why I follow blogs like this one as well as Ben Goldacre's since they tend to focus on facts without too much political bias.
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