For example the population of Sweden is aproximately 9,045,389, the UK 60,943,912, Australia' 21,007,310. There is no way in hell you can compare those countries healthcare systems, based on various tax schemes, politics, social issues, demographics, etc based on a country like the US with a population of aproximately 303,824,640. No way.

Plenty of others seem to manage to compare various health care systems world wide.

For example, you could say that compared to the US, the current health care system in Somalia is very bad.

Anyone can make a comparison of any two (or more) things. Just because you don't agree, doesn't mean the comparison is invalid.

No, Somalia's health care plan has never been floated in this country as something to behold and to be emulated. The others have and they would not work in the same way with the same set of rules that those countries have as the basis for their plans.

I think the reason Australian and UK health care systems are compared to that of the US so often is simply because as nations we do share similar (multi) cultures and the basic structures are also very similar.

I'm sure there are some great things about the US health care system, but from what I have learned, I definitely prefer the one we have here because medical assistance seems so much more accessible and affordable for everyone. In saying that though, I have to acknowledge that it is a biased view. If I lived in a rural area I doubt I'd feel the same or if I were an indigenous person living in a remote community.

Each has good and bad points, and I think the point of making the comparison between different countries is to inform ourselves on what we're failing in and what we're succeeding in.

What about the ethnic subcultures. They have very diverse value systems and care for their ill, elderly or infirm in many different ways.

Most of them would be politicians. Just like statistics, they make their point and then use a comparison, good or bad - valid or not, to justify it.

Well I was implying that everyday people don't seem to have a difficulty in making comparisons. It happens on this board all the time.

We very rarely have reports of our health care system being compared to that of other countries in the media here. Mainly it's reports about what's wrong and what should be fixed and how much it will cost according to what person.

It reminds me of the time on active duty and while on exchange with UK forces. They marveled at how big our forces resources were while I marveled at the simplicity of their structure. Great observations and there is much we can learn from each other, but to think that we can simply solve each others problems by adapting the others process and structure is pure fantasy. Same goes for our health care systems.

I agree. We have a totally different economic structure here and the UK is different again. I see Australia as being somewhere in the middle of the US and the UK as far as health care goes.

Reread my post and the point of my post. I never compared economics, military issues, politics, or health benefits. In fact, you will find out that we are making the same exact point.

Explain what you mean.

Ethnic Somalis living in the United States usually practice Somali culture with obvious American, more African-American in this case, traits. If you are using their value systems I wouldn't call it American.

I don't know if we are on the same page or not.

No PH, I wasn't talking about Somalis at all.

Dude, you are drifting out to sea.

I was using them as an example. Why didn't you define ethnic subcultures as I asked?

Do you mean Chinese-American versus European American, do you mean rural America versus suburban America, or do you mean something completely different?

Either way, since the Oakland County police officers dealt with the problem, we can conclude that he lived in the bay area. That either means he lived in a urban or suburban environment. In either of those environments, there sometimes is no safety net for people who are alone and this is the result. The government doesn't have a responsibility, the utility company doesn't have a responsibility, his family doesn't have a responsibility.

In both suburban and rural areas, people live a very independent lifestyle so it is no surprise that something like this will happen every once in a while. Precautions should be taken, but they cannot be guaranteed 100% effective.

Sorry PH - my drift was far beyond yours. If you were in the ocean as merc said, then I was nearing Jupiter.

I was going in the direction of the Chinese-American, Asian-American and so on. The many varied cultures in America deal with this type of issue and many similar to it, in very different ways. That is all I was thinking about.

Just a point of clarification - he lived in the small city of Bay City, Michigan, which is in Bay County, and which is located right on the web (that area where the thumb meets the rest of the hand). Incidentally, this is the town which the Bay City Rollers named themselves after.