From: David Morey (us@divadeus.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: Sat Jul 17 2004 - 13:36:33 BST
Arlo
you really know your stuff. Spot on.
David M
----- Original Message -----
From: "Arlo Bensinger" <ajb102@psu.edu>
To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 6:21 PM
Subject: Re: MD the metaphysics of free-enterprise
> Jon,
>
>
> >It's all about balance. There must be some Quality-related reason that
> >people from all over the world come to the United States, rather than
> >Denmark, for important medical procedures. The American health care
system
> >somehow has a good reputation around the world. I'd be willing to bet
that
> >if the US health care system had been socialized long, long ago (like
back
> >in the 1940s) America would not be "the last best hope" for people who
> >need the best health care. Would you agree?
> >
> >As for education, you'll notice the same phenomena. People from all over
> >the world come here for literally "the best" education in the world. So
> >there must be something of very high Quality about it.
> >
> >And most of all, people from all over the world still dream about one day
> >coming to the United States. Hatred for the West has been overblown by
the
> >media--if one country comes closest to utopia on earth in the hearts and
> >minds of people all across the globe, it's still America. (Not the
> >socialist-minded intellectuals, or the religious zealots, but the average
> >people with dreams deep in their hearts of a kind Dynamic Freedom that
> >they've never experienced--whatEVER the reason is, as Pirsig says, there
> >is SOMETHING mysteriously dynamic about America that other nations don't
> >have. America is like a dream girl.)
>
>
> Before I answer, I want to make clear (to avoid dichotomizing this) that I
> am NOT saying Denmark = All Good, America = All Bad. Just so we have that
> clear...
>
> Let me try to disentangle several things here.
>
> First, No one is denying that the American culture is not more free than
in
> many other nations. But I don't think you can claim that our immigration
is
> the result of being "best" in all ways. First, English has evolved,
through
> American hegemony and globalization, into much more a world language than,
> say, Danish. As a result, familiarity with the language fuels a lot of
> immigration when fleeing to a "western" country.
>
> Plus, legal immigration to Denmark and other countries (except for
applying
> for asylum) is actually more difficult that getting into the US, simply
> because those countries are smaller. But don't forget that in the last
five
> years, nearly a quarter of a million people legally immigrated to Denmark.
> That's impressive for it's size. Canada is somewhere around 200,000 legal
> immigrants a year.
>
> Germany has let in nearly a million legal immigrants a year, very close to
> the number legally allowed into the US. So I don't think you accurately
> paint the picture that "they're coming to America".
>
> Second, with the Universities I think you are seeing two phenomena. One,
is
> as I've stated above, ESL as a result of hegemony makes it more likely
that
> students will choose English language countries as there point of study.
> Two, like above it paints in inaccurate picture. The University of Bonn
has
> nearly 1/4 of its students from abroad. Or that Danish "Public statistics
> show that the number of foreign students coming to Denmark to study at
> Danish universities is now higher than the number of Danish students going
> abroad." I could find statistics from other Unis, but you'd see the same
> thing. The European Universities are just as crowded with foreign students
> as here in the US. But I do think you need to consider that "studying
> abroad" is highly valued in many European cultures, not because "American"
> education is better, but because diversity and exposure is valued. I have
a
> friend who works for the German firm Virbraccoustic, who studied a year
for
> his PhD at Bowling Green University. The reason, as he said to me, was
that
> his vitae was stronger showing studying abroad than simply studying
> exclusively in Germany. You'd be hard pressed to find that attitude in the
> American dialogue.
>
> I'll get to health care later, in another post.
>
> Arlo
>
>
>
>
>
>
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