For such a vast country, stretching from sea to shining sea, we seem to be rather insular, do we not?

Allan,
Sounds like you had a nice visit to Germany and made it back safe and healthy. My only issue with your blog is that you didn't include the issues and troubles going on in the Euro zone due to socialized medicine and Socialism in general. You happened to visit one of the Eurozone powerhouses. Do you feel you would have received the same treatment in Greece, Italy, Portugal or Ireland? You very well may have, but the facts speak for themselves. Socialism as a whole is driving countries to bankruptcy. The PIIGS of the Eurozone have unsustainable debt and are on the verge of collapse. Greece has been bailed out numerous times and austerity measures have failed to quell the economic problems. In fact, it is quite possible we will see countries withdraw from the Eurozone within the next 5 years. This will have a rippling effect on the global economy.

A lot of Vets don't go to VA hospitals due to the substandard care and the fact that if they screw up, you have no recourse.

Cool another former socialist who has seen the light?!? They came to private facilities for private care. They had the option to use their "free" socialized medicine at home. Yet choose to come here.

There are many voices in the nation, not just the Occupiers and TEA Partiers.

Pointing out that our system is largely influenced by government programs doesn't mean I am against government covering any health care costs. Rest assured I am against socialized medicine because costs go up, quality goes down and bureaucrat make decisions on care instead of doctors and patients.

You know some Canadians, I have family there, that doesn't make either one of us experts. The "Canadian Wings" of hospitals on our norther border speak volumes. The waiting lists for many basic services are not something most Americans support.

When we look at health procedures where insurance is not involved, ie cosmetic surgery, lasik, etc the prices go down. Have a child in Hackensack, I understand they are over $60 for a c-section. Third party payer systems also have the same basic flaw. If you spend your money on yourself, you think about quality and cost. When you spend your money on someone else, you think about cost, and see so about quality. When you spend someone else's money on someone else, you don't care about quality nor cost. Its human nature.

Your characterization of only the rich getting care is a departure from reality. Most people in this town can easily afford health care despite the government's interference driving up the price.

Obamacare, in the long term, is unsustainable financially.

If you think Americans don't wait for services you're wrong. Many people have to wait months to get a doctors appointment. You may not want a bureaucrat making your health decisions, but why do you want an insurance company executive whose profit depends on denying your claim to make those decisions?

Your hypothesis about cost is wrong as well. That is proven in every other industrialized country.

But when you say "most" people in our affluent town can afford it, that says it all. Every person should be able to afford it.

There is always an emergency room, an yes, if its not life threatening, there usually is a wait. However, there is a difference between a few hours and many months. Dentists have lead times as well, particularly if you want service at a time that is convenient to most people.

If I am unhappy with my insurance carrier, I can get another. If I don't like my government insurance, I am screwed. Agreements made with insurance companies are contracts subject to law. It it weren't for the progressives/liberals in the 1940s instituting wage control and subsequently use the tax code to continue employer provided health care, we would have a free market. Car insurance works, cosmetic surgery gets cheaper year over year. Yet it costs $100s of thousands if you have a heart attack, tens of thousands to have a baby, etc. All because of the skewed payer system we have.

My statements were not hypotheses but rather common sense observations. You'd didn't challenge them for a reason. Instead you claimed the implication was wrong. If the rest of the world was good at health care, why do the vast majority of new drugs come from America?

Health insurance and health care are two different things. They should be treated as such.

Yet more ignorance, or willful omission? I have an employee in Frankfurt. He points out that in addition to the income tax, there is VAT of 19% of most goods, and a solidarity surcharge of 5.5%. My guess is you googled german taxation and read the first paragraph.

When a contract doesn't cover a procedure, that's not a ration. It's simple a risk not covered. When the government takes over a business and reduces service, the word ration applies.

BellairBerdan, I am curious, which government school(s) did you attend?

I guess I should discard my first-hand knowledge for something you read on Wiki.
"In addition to providing health care there is also little to no additional cost to attend many of Germany's universities." Who pays for all these "free" perks?

I was "stationed" there....I was in the Army. The taxpayers paid for my health care. That's what we do for our armed services. It is something that is EARNED. I have Tricare insurance, which I EARNED after serving 20 years in the US Army. It is socialized/rationed medicine. That is why I am against Obamacare. I live it.

If you decide to wander outside of Bergen County one day, you may borrow my GPS.

Well, TP the Patch Patriot, it seems you are the one full of willful omission. That 45% tax is for couples making over $668K per year. The majority of people pay about 29%. That solidarity surcharge is also on a linear scale according to salary, topping at 5.5%. ( I'm sure you just forgot to put those parts in) If you'd like to add those other costs onto their tax burden it would only be fair to add those similar burdens, sales, property, water taxes and cost of health ins and college debt to the American's rate. If you actually did that and compared apples to apples you'd see we would be paying more than those in Germany and getting less.

To Michael I will discard your firsthand knowledge because it is simply untrue. Those "perks" aren't free. They are paid for by taxes and are EARNED by the people just as you feel you earn your perks. BTW that's a pretty good deal you have. Spend only 20 yrs at a job, learning your trade while paid by the people, Then retire early, get a pension and lifetime health insurance. Then you take the knowledge the people paid for get another job and yet another salary while taking that job away from a soldier.You got a pretty good deal. It's a shame to see you always wanting to deny similar for others. It's also sad to see you knock your own benefits. You can always give them up. But, I bet you still take advantage of them, don't you?

(In regards to Mike) As Bellair types that from the comfort of his/her home while rockets and bombs are NOT exploding around the neighborhood.

Bellair, you are funny.
Spend only 20 years? Have you ever been in the military? I pay more than teachers do for medical....it's not free. My retirement is less than social security. It is no where near what a teacher earns after they retire. I don't complain about the benefits I EARNED.

So, now I am taking a job away from a soldier? Your ignorance is profound. Since Viet Nam, the military has employed civilian advisors. The roles of civilian contractors has grown since the early 90s....after Desert Storm. The military depends upon the services provided by us, the contractors. Having never left your living room, you wouldn't understand.
I will be in Germany for a week in June. I'll be sure to enlighten my friends there about the taxes they pay. They will be thankful to you for explaining so clearly.

The world is not that simple, you have totalitarians (communists/dictators/etc), socialists (including progressives and other statists), big government conservatives, tea party conservatives, libertarians, etc.

Haidt is both simplistic and too lenient toward moral beliefs that have historically led to mass murder and totalitarianism. Using his logic, Chairman Mao, Stalin, etc are simply liberals.