Beg to differ:

1) Lack of tolerence
2) Poverty (and related disease)
3) Pollution
4) Ignorance
5) Litigation

I think I'll run through why over at my place [/shameless plug]

Jim-seriously? You're going to list "Africa" as a serious problem? And socialism?

Seriously?

I kinda' thought that the red scare days were over (or pink, if you're thinking socialism).

Socialism can work-I've seen it do so. It can also suck a clown's ass, but there's good and bad.

Africa, yes. Murderous governments, rampant disease, starvation, epidemics of infant death, ritual mutilation, lack of the most basic health services for a very large majority of Africans...that continent (a big chunk of it anyway) is the very biggest social concern the world has today.

Socialism and the creep of socialist policy into benign democracies. Perhaps pure socialism is workable (I've gotta doubt it though) but half-assed socialism we're seeing crop up all over the place is slowly bankrupting some of the oldest democracies in the world. Compare the rate of inflation, amount of unemployment and percent of earnings taken in countries like Canada, France and Great Britain from 20 years ago and from today. It is not a pretty picture.

All right, I'll give you Africa on the disease portion alone, but support you as well on the starvation, health services and the bad governments *cough*Mutabe*cough*.

I'm still not with you on the socialism, though. While I did love having the great snap-your-fingers-and-the-US-health-care-system jumps system, I recognize that that was only provided to me since I had a good job with good health care. For thoes without (check out Serenity's Journal), they're screwed. At least in Europe you get access to the health care-sometimes you have to wait a while, and the doctors often wish you would just die and save them the trouble-but everyone gets seen.

Before the economy crash, unemployment is Europe was quite low, and in fact the UK's rate is still lower than the US (Sweden has suffered horribly, teetering aroun 10%).

I'm not saying it's the best system in the world, but I also don't think that any other system is any better.

*steps off the soapbox*

I guess my biggest problem with socialist policies is that they tend to crash those economies. Take a healthy network and add enough vampire taps and eventually you'll crash it.

(Damn, that was about the geekiest analogy I've ever come up with! I'm such a nerd.)

Jim - I agree with you on the socailism part too, but GF disagrees with me.

The REAL problem behind healthcare in this country is your list item #3. I'm convinced that if reality could be reintroduced into the healthcare system, we could easily take care of the uninsured WITHOUT government intervention.

And tied into excessive legislation is excessive litigation.

jimmy, your politics knowledge is like your IQ - ungodly in its magnificence. By the way, it is mugabe not mutabe - it's an obvious typo and I don't even know why I'd point it out except that I'm of such a small-minded sort that the inadvertent mistakes of others gives me a severe chubby. But isn't it funny how I totally fucked up capitalizing a proper name when I pointed out somebody else's error? but i guess you are from usa, so one such as myself from a degenerating socialist country that owes its very existence to yours should just keep my head firmly lodged in my ass and shut my cock holster right? I love fox news!

1. Terrorism
2. France
3. NATO
4. Middle East
5. Lack of refinarys in the U.S. (Opec is right, we don't have the refinerys to refine our supply.)

I love fox news!

Ahhh . . . the last cut is always the unkindest. Bravo!