to think we really are 2 completely different cultures - the USA and the UK - just looking at the 'rebellion' taking place

[chomalungma]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8228769/Bleak-figures-China-US-economic-hit-virus.html

I know it's only some Americans. I know that it's a massive country with many many more people than the UK

But these scenes are astounding. People flocking to beaches. Protesting about lockdown.
Protesting with guns about lockdown

You just can't imagine these scenes in the UK at the moment.
Especially not the Ohio Zombie picture

It just amazes me - sometimes you think we are very similar to the USA, and then many times, you realise we are completely different.

PhineyJ in the states without any insurance at all it is just a day or two. You might have to claim bankruptcy but it doesn't take that long. I'm speaking of before covid also.

NOTANUM, I wonder if the difference between the attitudes of America and Canada go back to the war of Independance. America wanted to be free of British rule so they were fighting for ‘freedom’ and this would have led to a “we don’t need you, we’re strong, independent and don’t need to be told how to live live” attitude which has gone on to help create the overriding culture.It brings to mind my childhood favourite ‘ The little house on the prairie ‘ where as you described homesteaders had to be self reliant and survive against all the odds.Canada on the other hand stayed in the fold whilst creating their own identity of course and let’s not forget guns breed a special kind of madness in those of a susceptible mindset.

America is a country that was born out of Rebellion from a tyrannical goverment helll bent on colonization and empiricism

Also many of the settlers were essentially economic refugees, especially those that came in the 19th century. That is part of American cultural DNA as well: coming from nothing and making something of value.

When was Medicaid introduced?

1965

For unpaid medical bills, most hospitals will try to work out a payment plan, which might include reducing the amount to be paid. Some may write off the entire amount if it appears to be uncollectable.

@Hunnybears

Medicare was made available by President Lyndon B Johnson in 1965.

Obamacare was supposed to create an "alternative marketplace" for more affordable health insurance options. Many employers either didn't offer insurance to their employees or they made have had too high premiums for their employees to be able to purchase insurance or for self-employed people. In my particular case, Obamacare was far more costly. The one good thing Obamacare did was to force insurance companies to accept patients with pre-existing conditions.

if Trudeau had not thrown money at almost everyone, i think there would be more defiance? and maybe there are tiny area's that are secluded that really have gone on with their usual routines. not like i would know what a neighbor three farms over in the prairies is up to.

@Chomalungma.....That view point was born out of Occupation by a tyrannical goverment. By Your own Crown. Queen Elizabwth 2's great,great,great grandfather. Our laws and Constitution is ALWAYS derided on these posts. However, the majority of the posters refuse to see that our laws,our constitution was a direct answer your countries behaviors. From the right to bear arms to the fact that our President can't interfere with the States is all because of Britain. We made those laws because we didn't want to live under a Monarchy and these laws, our rights give the people of the US to defend that position.

Note that Medicaid and Medicare are not the same thing. Medicaid is need-based to help low-income people. Medicare is age-based for people age 65 and older. Both were established in 1965.

When was Medicaid introduced? Was that part of the Obama care it was that available before then?

Much earlier. 1965 to be precise.

www.medicaid.gov/about-us/program-history/index.html

However, the majority of the posters refuse to see that our laws,our constitution was a direct answer your countries behavior

Of course the US Constitution is a direct answer to the way the UK behaved back then.

It's great to see a country with a written Constitution written by people who did not want to be ruled by a Monarchy and the style of Government we have in the UK. It's good to see the checks and balances.

But it's also interesting to see the very different attitudes (in general) as has been discussed on here - and where they come from.

Obamacare was a great idea. It really was but ot had one major flaw......It depended on the States to expand their Medicaid programs.But because States reserve the right to govern and make decisions for themselves not every state did so. Magor failure Obama really should have talked to the States before even trying to pass that. Another problem with Obamacare is that it hurt people who needed help the most. Millions of people lost their employer offered health care insurance because the policies became too expensive. They were forced onto the Marketplace just to find out that even the most basic plans were too expensive.

@SenecaFallsRedux....Its called the pull yourself up by the bootstrap mentality

@chomalungma but yet here we are being demonized for it

ut yet here we are being demonized for it

I don't want to demonise the USA. It's just very interesting to see the massive differences between different countries despite a lot of shared history and a shared language as well as a shared culture via TV and films etc.

@chomalungma

It is interesting to compare the development of the much bigger US compared to the European countries where many of the settlers came from - with the European wars, the industrial revolution, expansion of the Western USA, the American Civil war and the World Wars.

American history is fascinating, as is the mixing of different European cultures that so many of the settlers came from. I'm mostly of Irish heritage, as is about 10% of the US population, and I'm listening to the Governor of NY of Italian heritage and a heavy NYC accent (mostly Dutch in origin) give his daily briefing on the pandemic.

I wonder how other mainly English speaking countries - which have been colonised - such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand (and yes, I know there were people living there before) compare in attitudes with each other.

I think the NHS setup we have here has something to do with the UK’s compliance. Despite the existence of several outlying groups in the UK like the BNP for example, the NHS is a non-political entity, central to nearly every civilian in the country and something the vast majority of people are proud of in spite of the faults that it has. We have been asked to stay at home fundamentally so we can do our bit to protect this service and I believe that the average person’s respect for the NHS is what helps the vast majority comply with the government’s requests.

The antagonism of the colonists by the Tory administration in the 1770s was more a case of incompetence than tyranny. The colonists' protests were that they were being denied their rights as Englishmen, and the references to George III in the Declaration of Independence as the instigator of all their grievances needs to be seen in the light of their understanding that the real source of their anger, the North administration, was the King's government acting in his name and with his consent.

Perhaps if everyone had been a bit more reasonable, the wealthy landowners in the colonies could have afforded to pay some tax, and in return the responsibility for fighting the French and Indians (as they had it at the time) could have been delegated to them.

Might have been a very different timeline.

It is not lives against economy any more.
It is lives against lives. Lives we lose to Covid19 and lives we lose due people not getting medical help with cancer, heart problems, depression, bankruptcy.

Of course we do have our own people to try to imitate Trump
twitter.com/toadmeister/status/1251411860638838784Toby Young

Katie Hopkins
@KTHopkins

Those self-satisfied wankers . . .

I never think we are remotely similar to Americans, now of you had said Canadians you might have had a point

@MissConductUS

I'm a representative from the southwest of the US and one person of the 17% of the US population (as of 2016) that is HISPANIC!

Suck it!

I'm only teasing!

I'm mostly of Irish heritage, as is about 10% of the US population, and I'm listening to the Governor of NY of Italian heritage and a heavy NYC accent (mostly Dutch in origin) give his daily briefing on the pandemic.

In a state named for a British prince and from a city named for his Scottish title, said prince later becoming King (James II and VII when he was Duke of York and Duke of Albany).

I was watching something on the war of Independence and how we might have won it - had just a few decisions gone differently.

Now that would have been a very different time line