Comments by "whyamimrpink78" (@whyamimrpink78) on "REPORT: The Happiest Country In The World Is..." video.

It isn't about race, it is about culture. You can have two different cultures while being the same race. Also, the US has states that are large than countries. That is where the diversity comes from.
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Happiness is subjective. It is something that has very vague standards while determining it and thus any of these reports are essentially arbitrary and frivolous.
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1. Population size is a very legit argument. Large population means it is harder to micromanage the finances of the programs. Also, it creates a larger diversity with culture and economically. Cost of living in KS is much different than in CA. But the number one point on population is that you are making the assumption that everyone is the same, or very close to being the same. That you can implement a one size fits all policy and that everyone will benefit in some way because everyone is basically the same. That is simply not true. We aren't. We are different in many ways. A saying I once read was that three people can decide what goes on a pizza when two of them are dead. Now expand that to 320+ million people. To assume that everyone is the same is showing a high level of ignorance and, not to be rude, a degree of bigotry. 2. It isn't about "white people". You can have two different cultures of people of the same race. Not to be rude but you are the one being racist here. Denmark and Sweden have different cultures where they are both nations of mainly white people. It isn't about "only white people are able to run such system". It is about how the culture is in place where people have a lot in common due to small populations. Now I did mention before that everyone is different, and that is true. But people do have a lot of the same needs and desires. With 5 million people those needs and desires are similar where as with 320+ million people they differ greatly. Living in the midwest for 20+ years and now living out west for almost 10 years I see major differences in culture. This was seen in 1776 when the founding fathers designed this nation. That is why the came up with state rights. There are many arguments against "social democracy" as you see it. However, you also view everyone in the world is the same which displays your myopic views on people.
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"Only when you assume that you have to have a single managing body for the entire thing. Take for example Germany with its 80 mil people. Do you think the german education system is controlled by Berlin? Fuck no. Germany has 16 states, ....." The US has the same thing where all 50 states run their own education curriculum. This goes against your population argument as even countries with only 80 million are looking to reduce the size to allow for micromanagement. "Thats just nonsensical blathering. Social democratic systems are designed to lift everybody up to the same level, regardless of the individual positions people are in. Thats the entire point of it." What level? Based on what? Take poverty for example. CA is not even in the top 10 if you go just of the federal poverty rate. But when you include PPP then it is number 1. Take the min. wage for example, $7.25/hr is a high wage in many parts of the country. Why was it so hard to get 60 senate democrats to pass the ACA? Because across the nation they deal with different issues. ". Like, take a look in detail at Finlands educational system or Germanys healthcare system and say again that they are one size fits all policies or that they are unscalable(population size). " We have around 30 states with a population larger than Finland. And you just said that Germany has the states run it. I am all for more state rights in the US. I have several reasons why, but one reason is because of a country like Finland. They do many things well, but they have 5 million people. Also, and this is a different topic, but Germany and Finland have issues with their healthcare and education systems as well. "What is it you think they have in common that Americans don't? Compassion? Solidarity?" Different experiences. Go to TX and then go to MN. You will see many different cultures. Now live in each area for 10 years, you start to see little differences. I lived in the midwest for years. Now I live out west. There are many differences such as the food they eat, how relationships work out, drinking habits, exercise habits, etc. Little things you would not see unless you really live in those areas and are involved. Education is different. Take NV for example. It is really low on education. However that is mainly because of Vegas. They have a problem with education because people realize you can make $80,000 a year parking cars. Why get educated? That changes their culture drastically. "Its not ethnic diversity thats prevents social democracy in the US. Its big business and its massive influence on politics and media." Now you are changing the topic to big business and big government. There is a desire to have government. However, you need to be able to control it. You blame big businesses when in reality they have no power, government does. You need to control government. You do that placing restrictions on it and keeping it as local as possible. That, again, shows the value of population. Think about it, how many members of congress can you vote for? Now how many of your state representatives you can vote for? Keeping government as local as possible ensure it remains the servants and not the masters. "Healthcare and education are basic needs of everyone. Even the people who don't think they need it, need it." Healthcare is very, very, very complex. Different places deal with different issues. Many places have strong charities. Many places have different rates of obesity and cancer and AIDS. But again, healthcare is very complex. Other nations who have universal healthcare have many issues. Education is very vague. Also, education can be a form of indoctrination. That, again, is why it should remain local to ensure the government is not using it as a way to keep people stupid. But as a whole just saying "healthcare" or "education" is very vague. "Social democracy is about giving everyone the same opportunities in life" Again, that's vague. You talk about education and healthcare, every state offers K-12 education. They have that opportunity. If you dig deeper you realize there are many places they probably don't simply due to lack of resources. You can't just snap your fingers and these things appear for all. On healthcare that is vague. So an obese individual should have the same healthcare access as I do? "You don't really get to reap the benefits of universal healthcare when your closest doctor is a 4 hour drive away and you don't have a car." So do you want to give them a car or force doctors to live next to them? "How would population size or diversity lead to problems in a universal healthcare system specifically? How would these factors affect an education system thats modeled after social democratic ideals?" Different diversities, different cultures, different economies, etc.
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Look at that happiness list. Look at countries with 100+ million people and tell me who is number 1.
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Iceland is number 4 on that list. It has 300,000 people and is an island. You don't think that doesn't play a role? Population plays a huge factor.
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Anyway, this list is completely arbitrary as is. Happiness is subjective. Consider this, there is a correlation between income level and suicide rates.
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Name and Address Supplied, I am not discrediting social programs. I support many social programs. I am just showing people that there is a lot to it.
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Ari, I support decentralizing these programs. In the US we do it already in many ways. However, we have too many programs that are centralized causing problems. Medicare, the department of education, the federal min. wage. Those all need to be removed. Our complex federal tax code needs to be simplified. Also, something like universal healthcare was tried in many states but did not pass due to cost and higher taxes. That is a culture thing as our society does not want to pay higher taxes. Along with that in all reality the healthcare system we have is not any worse than what other countries have. This is a different topic in itself but in short, by every objective measure, countries with universal healthcare systems DO NOT have better healthcare systems. But as a whole I support social programs, I just want them to be ran at the state and local level.
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Ben H, you have to be careful with your numbers. You talk about how much we spend in defense. To start, that number always changes. I read more than the next 7 countries combine, or 8, and now you say 10. Using the next 8 countries combine, which is the most common numbers, if you were to take the combine GDP of those 8 countries the defense spending is around 2.5% of that GDP. In the US it is 3.5%. That is a different of percent. We spend more than them because we have a much larger GDP than them. You want to know what else we spend more on than many of those countries combine? Education. We spend more on education than several countries combine. So by your standard we spend too much on education and we need to cut. That is by your standard. Single payer healthcare is not more cost effective.
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Leinja, I took today off of work to study for one of my tests. I have that ability. I am far from a servant.
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I know, we need 12 months off!
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" we have our army with mandatory military service. We have our freedom to work on any career we want" Kind of contradictory there I would say.
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Happiness is subjective which makes these reports rather vague and almost frivolous. Even at that there are many variables involved in this. Take life expectancy for example and consider that the US has a high obesity rate. High obesity rate is a sign of a lazy nation which shows how great we have it.
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