"Democratic and Republican pundits have no shortage of bogus talking points to discredit calls for Medicare for All. The “How will you pay for it?” refrain was central to the (apparently successful) bipartisan attempts to isolate the Bernie Sanders campaign.
A memorable recent incarnation of this effort came when Democratic nominee Joe Biden weaponized the Italian health care system—which has been besieged by one of the world’s most lethal outbreaks of Covid-19—against universal health care during the March 15 Democratic presidential debate. “With all due respect to Medicare for All,” he said, “you have a single-payer system in Italy. It doesn’t work there.”"
http://www.thenation.com/article/world/universal-health-care-italy-coronavirus/
So much for that.
Not arguing the US should or shouldn't adopt Medicare for all. Just pointing out that Biden has an underlying, kneejerk sense of American superiority, which is not only a Trump problem. He saw Italy was suffering with the pandemic and leapt on it to suggest the US medical system was superior. Turns out six months later that more Americans have died of COVID19. Partly, it just took longer because the US is bigger. Not saying the American medical system is worse, although the Italian one reliably does extremely well in international comparisons.
Wish the US would strike an attitude of being like and not unlike (or better than) other countries. Free countries make different choices. Surely Trump provides an opportunity to cure this bipartisan disease.
I wonder. Is this the same sort of sense of self that was applied by US governments to native Americans (manifest destiny!) and to America's slaves?
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