Should England join the US and leave the EU?

Don't criticise that user, "Mr. I've got more money than you and you're all scum, therefore I'm right" always has to be correct.

All the UHS does is allow treatment to a relatively small number of US citizens who are on low earnings. The reality is that insurance premiums for the rest of the population has gone up even more, with even more people being bankrupted by medical bills, and over 1000 only being insured for a few months of the year.

Lazar, Kay (April 4, 2010). "Short-Term Customers Boosting Health Costs". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/04/04/short_term_customers_boosting_health_costs/. Retrieved 2011-07-11

This is supposed to be good?

No he despairs of the US system and wishes they had something akin to the NHS, and I don't blame him.

He is in the minority.

That's true, no one in this country wants the NHS

The reason we haven't had any kind of meaningful healthcare reform in this country is because of the NHS. Our politicians use the NHS to frighten us into maintaining the status quo. In a way the problems our system has are all Britain's fault. People use the canadian system and Britain's NHS to frighten americans because they are generally considered to be the worst of their kind.

I lol'd at this song and comments and I knew I just had to post it in this thread. What a joke.

I lol'd at this song and comments and I knew I just had to post it in this thread. What a joke.

Hang on mate, this is a BRITISH site, with mostly BRITISH people posting. I think that if anybody has to go elsewhere it is you americans.

I'm not generalizing Americans, I never said all Americans were like that but most are. The American users posting on this thread is a clear example. It's extremely obvious you and other users are boasting to be the best nation on purpose to irritate other users so stop with this meaningless debate? Boasting about us being the best country is not giving any valid points as to why the UK should join forces with US... Instead it's giving us Americans a bad image living up to the sterotype that Brits and other countries think of us. Maybe if you and others would stop boasting and talking out your ass of why the US is almighty and great then maybe people from other countries will give us Americans a little more respect and not think of us as the old average sterotype.

Blame your corporate media and the ignorant people who buy into that nonsense not the NHS which is hugely popular in the UK.

But, seriously, can't you leave our country alone?

It's ok to pick on America - because it is "the greatest/strongest country in the whole wide world". It can look after itself. Besides, there is so much that is wrong with American society - it would be cruel not to point them out.

And what exactly in common have the British got with the Mexicans which are becoming a substantial part of the US population? White Americans will be in the minority in less than 50 years and Spanish will be spoken as much as English is today.

That's true, no one in this country wants the NHS

The reason we haven't had any kind of meaningful healthcare reform in this country is because of the NHS. Our politicians use the NHS to frighten us into maintaining the status quo. In a way the problems our system has are all Britain's fault. People use the canadian system and Britain's NHS to frighten americans because they are generally considered to be the worst of their kind.

OUR corporate media?

It's coming from your media, not ours.

Where do you think these stories are coming from? All you do is need to read the online version British papers and you get no shortage of NHS horror stories. They usually run one every week or so. Every week when I am driving home listening to a US radio talk show, they read something off the guardian's website about the NHS killing someone. Then they scare the living hell out of the listeners by saying if the left have their way that kind of healthcare is coming to this country.

Imo so many people idealise America mainly because they believe its easier to succeed. The media influences young minds, its people believing a ferry tale, any place could be sold like that if only the picture perfect scene is portrayed. I'm not going to say that I wouldn't like to live in a place like California, but that's only coz of the weather and geo-location..I would hate to live in US social infrastructure, majority poorly educated, and just shoddy ideology in general. Hate the people love the land. And for those people that say Ahh UK sux there's no good jobs here, no prospects either,, America is so much better, if u can't make it in UK u wont make it over there unless u already have some sort of help. For anyone wanting to migrate for sakes of a happier home, I say home is where u make it.

That wasn't answering the Ops question directly, more of my view of peoples mind set..coz ops question was more of a cultural union rather than a political one

Or alternatively we should all join 'The Dark Side'

Long ago I used to be living in Seattle, Washington. during that time I used to drive a lot to a town rather close to the Canadian border, Bellingham was the name of it... nice place and it had one of the best ever Chinese food I've had outside of Asia which we would go to just for kicks plus to do some shopping as some food stuff were cheaper there than it was in Seattle.

Heh... once we stopped by at a hospital to visit one cute Swedish girl who was doing an internship... so happened I parked at the long stay carpark.... I had to ask someone whether we were still in USA because the carpark was full of Canadian cars. I was asking the manager of that cute Swede why there were so many Canadian cars in the long stay car park only to be told that hospital had almost 60% of patients from Canada, she even showed me some of the adverts the hospital placed giving special discounts to Canadians... surprising many came for cardiac related surgeries, some came for knee and hip replacement surgery and another bunch came just to see a specialist because there was a special deal for Canadians that could pay either by cash or card, all they had to pay was US$55 for a first opinion and for another US$15 they could get a 2nd opinion from another doctor within the hospital. If you were deemed to be a good candidate where the possibility of a complication was remote then they would perform that surgery for you at a lower cost than if you paid for it with US health insurance.

It amazed all of us then since we were all rather young at that time... and had no idea that to get a heart bypass there was such a thing as a waiting list in Canada and we seriously thought that must be one of the most blatant abuses of human rights if one can't get a life-saving surgery like that immediately.

I'm pretty sure if tomorrow the NHS model was transplanted in most US states one thing for certain taxes will sky rocket far more than what most families will pay for health insurance.



How strange, in 2002 while I was living in NJ it used to be common to hear radio talk shows on how good the US healthcare system were because they compared it to the NHS surprisingly they usually took it from the BBC.

Let's just say when my then boss told me I'm being sent to Britain I negotiated to have my US health insurance cover maintained and I had access to private health care while in Britain.... having said that, private healthcare in Britain is as good as any of those in US other than the specialized ones which are by far superior in US.


Where do you get the idea that the majority of Americans are poorly educated?

Social infrastructure? You like the dependency and entitlement culture that's now rife in Britain I suppose?

Actually I would dispute it with you that if you can't make it in Britain you won't make it in USA.... every year thousands of people from Asia make it to USA and most that do settle there end up making it big... just look at the number of Indian nationals working in the Silicon Valley. Go to any hospital in US, guaranteed you will somehow somewhere find one Indian or Arab doctor. Tell me something....... how come most South Asians in Britain either work in a curry house or are jobless?

Every year thousands of people who are ethnic Chinese, Japanese or Koreans make it to USA, many of them become top students at their Ivy League universities and many of these end up in some of the most competitive companies in the field. How come till today despite Britain having Chinese people since the 18th century the only famous oriental person holding a high position in an organization in Britain is Nottingham University? Weird the country bangs on about diversity and all that but there isn't a single judge, MP, Minister or Deputy that is of oriental heritage?

Now let's talk about investment banking and law.... long long ago I started working at an American investment bank, it's among the most prominent one in Britain as well. In the year I joined it there were 80 of us who had started out as a trainee then... 70 of us never had rich parents, investment banker parents or even parents who knew investment bankers. Funny thing, of the 80 of us, only 30 were 100% White Americans, the rest were either mixed, foreign born or Americans of other ethnicities. Why not you go check the statistics of any investment banks operating in Britain what extent of those they hired already had connections in the institution? Do you think it will be easy for someone who hails from a working-class background in Wolverhampton despite being redbrick uni educated to even be called for an interview?

Lawyers, in all of USA there are plenty of them that are foreign born, plenty of them that are blacks or even hispanic or asian. Surprisingly there are a few good judges in USA that are black, women or came from poor backgrounds, how many of such lawyers or judges exist in Britain?

97 percent of Massachusetts residents have health insurance, so I have no idea who his is talking about when he speaks of people being bankrupted by bills. Even if that is the case it is better to be treated and left with high bills than to die on a waiting list because you can't get treated. A lot of people die on waiting lists every year in countries with socialized medicine

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

Say no to the USA!