No, I haven’t had to deal with the VA.

But I did move from the US to Colombia. And I’ve received more thorough care from the national healthcare system here than I ever did in the US. Instead of simply treating my symptoms (which is the general practice in the US), the doctors here actually found the underlying conditions that I’ve apparently been living with for years, possibly even decades.

The healthcare system here is concerned with keeping the population healthy instead of increasing shareholder value. It takes a bit longer than in the US, but I have the peace of mind of knowing that (1) my doctor isn’t getting kickbacks for prescribing me a specific medication, and (2) regardless of what is needed for my treatment, I won’t go bankrupt paying for it.

So, while I don’t necessarily believe that a government can manage much of anything without any corruption or profit motive, I do have some evidence that a government can manage healthcare in a way that provides greater benefit to its citizens than the privatized healthcare industry in the US.

No, it’s government-subsidized privatized healthcare.

Socialized healthcare wouldn’t have a profit-driven middleman involved.

My non-educated family all insisted that I go to college. As of now, I am the only one of my grandparents’ descendents who has a university degree. And that includes the generation after mine (my cousins’ children).

My experience as a teacher has given me a glimpse into other people’s lives that shows me how very fortunate I was to have a supportive family.

You don’t have to believe my anecdotal evidence, but my time working with low-income students has shown me that a surprising number of parents are absolutely dead-set against higher education for their kids. It doesn’t make sense, but a lot of things in the US don’t make sense right now.

It seems like you’re saying that the only way to give back to society is by having children. So people who don’t want kids or who can’t have kids are parasites?

Sounds like a white supremacist talking point to me.

Sure, but chances are low that uneducated people are going to great lengths to make sure their children are well educated.

One of the most horrifying things I’ve encountered in my career as a teacher was a father who insisted that his incredibly bright high school senior not accept a college scholarship because, and I quote: “I didn’t go to college, and you’re not better than me.”