Andrei Panait 9758402 PHIL235 November 20, 2012

Biomedical Ethics Term Paper: Socialized Health Care

While many countries today have some sort of public health program, their effectiveness is not conclusive and there is undoubtedly a great deal of controversy regarding all aspects of socialized modern health care. In North America but more so in the United States, there is a deep-rooted stigma associated with all things that relate to socialism, most likely due to history and the negative reputations of most countries with this sort of economic system. Capitalism does seem to fit the American way of life and even some aspects of human nature as we are generally competitive and compelled to have freedom of choice. However there is another aspect to human nature that drives us towards more collectivist ideals and it is found in our compassion, caring for others, unity and social solidarity.
When exploring these issues the most important problems seem to occur at the extremities of the spectrum and in similar ways. Capitalism has allowed people to gain absurd amounts of wealth, often through corruption and deceit, and that wealth gives them unimaginable power while socialism tends to be corrupt and oppressive. This leads us to the obvious deduction that no system is perfect, whether it is a public or private health care system, a capitalist market or a democratic government, some might seem foolproof in theory but all have their flaws in practice, probably due to the volatility of human nature. We will argue that, in many ways, health care is a right, with the optimal yet not perfect system being public and equitable while serving everybody’s medical necessities at a reasonable and affordable price.
There are quite a few horror stories heard about the Canadian public health care system involving lack of personnel, equipment, funding and waiting