Poor cut off from water

[AJS-]

jeff m2 said:

Poor people vote in the worst people and end up with the worst service.

Indeed.
This happens pretty much globally anyway. I don't see why it's so much worse in Alabama than it is in Sudan or the Congo. People get it wrong until they have no choice but to get it right.

Conversely in Europe in German tax payers end up bailing out Greek Diversity Coordinators way before the taps run dry, and we're still headed for a train wreck.

[Deva Link]

New POD said:

I was asked what the British thought about Health Care Reforms in the USA, and I asked why a country so rich allows 10 million of it's citizens to live without access to basic health care.

Yet Americans who have good health care provision were absolutely terrified of ending up with something like the UK's NHS. Talk to Americans who have experienced both and they think the NHS is like something from the Third World.

[babatunde]

Deva Link said:

Yet Americans who have good health care provision were absolutely terrified of ending up with something like the UK's NHS. Talk to Americans who have experienced both and they think the NHS is like something from the Third World.

That's like asking someone who always travels 1st class what they think of Economy, a false analogy.

Anyway what is being talked about here is why a country as rich as the USA cares so little for it's poor citizens that it doesn't ensure the basics are available at a reasonable cost, you know basics like WATER

[Frankeh]

Deva Link said:

Talk to Americans who have experienced both and they think the NHS is like something from the Third World.

Do they really? How much better is US private funded healthcare then? From shows like ER it looks exactly the same.

[Deva Link]

Frankeh said:

Do they really? How much better is US private funded healthcare then? From shows like ER it looks exactly the same.

Emergency care is pretty similar. But you wouldn't sit for hours in a clinc waiting for your appointment in the US. They're also much keener (because an insurance company is picking up the bill) to run tests and carry out procedures that Doctors in the UK will avoid if they can (due to the cost).

[Vimto156]

Deva Link said:

Emergency care is pretty similar. But you wouldn't sit for hours in a clinc waiting for your appointment in the US. They're also much keener (because an insurance company is picking up the bill) to run tests and carry out procedures that Doctors in the UK will avoid if they can (due to the cost).

Yes that's the medical equivalent to allowing an accident management company take over the "management" of a claim! Medical insurance cost in the US is astronomical for anyone other than the completely fit. If you have an existing medical condition then prepare to be financially raped!

[Rude-boy]

Vimto156 said:

Yes that's the medical equivalent to allowing an accident management company take over the "management" of a claim! Medical insurance cost in the US is astronomical for anyone other than the completely fit. If you have an existing medical condition then prepare to be financially raped!

Same the World over though.

Years ago as a humble student with a minor non emergency medical issue I went to see the doctor and the transformation in their timescales and approach when I when I first muttered the name 'BUPA' was quite a surprise. Whole thing sorted from start to finish in a matter of 4-6 weeks including consultation, minor op and biopsy (JiC) and it would have been sooner if I hadn't fitted it in around my existing plans...

On the other hand just when they are likely to need it the most my parents have had to look at stopping their policy as the premiums are so high.

[Greg_D]

i agree that there 'should' be some sort of assistance that ensured that the poorest in society were ensured water.

But, and it is a big but (snigger) the realities of its implementation would be huge, especially in america where the layers of government are so much more complex. to ringfence something like provision and pricing of certain amenities would be a legislative nightmare and where would it end.......energy, electricity, roads, waste disposal, telco! in the end, you would end up with local government in charge of nothing

That is saying nothing of people taking advantage of the fact that you would never lose your supply and taking that as carte blanche to not pay their bills and plead poverty at every turn

You'd end up with the british welfare state......

[Deva Link]

Greg_D said:

You'd end up with the british welfare state......

I was thinking that while reading your post.

Of course, it's illegal here to cut-off someone's water supply. There was even uproar when one utility company looked at fitting flow restrictors that would severely limit the flow but still meet their legal obligation.

[unrepentant]

Part of the issue is that responsibilities are often on a state by state basis rather than federal. It would be a shock if this sort of thing happened in the UK or Germany but perhaps less so in Romania or Estonia. By the same token it would be shocking if residents of DC or NY were in this boat but less so in Alabama or Louisiana.

[Deva Link]

unrepentant said:

It would be a shock if this sort of thing happened in the UK ...

It can't happen in the UK - it's illegal to disconnect someone's water.

[hidetheelephants]

Deva Link said:

Greg_D said:

You'd end up with the british welfare state......

I was thinking that while reading your post.

Of course, it's illegal here to cut-off someone's water supply. There was even uproar when one utility company looked at fitting flow restrictors that would severely limit the flow but still meet their legal obligation.

I never understood why they didn't implement that, nor why it aroused so much opprobrium. The non-payers were not being cut off, just prevented from filling swimming pools, running powershowers or flushing the lav more than once an hour. It's hardly the end of the world.

[Greg_D]

hidetheelephants said:

Deva Link said:

Greg_D said:

You'd end up with the british welfare state......

I was thinking that while reading your post.

Of course, it's illegal here to cut-off someone's water supply. There was even uproar when one utility company looked at fitting flow restrictors that would severely limit the flow but still meet their legal obligation.

I never understood why they didn't implement that, nor why it aroused so much opprobrium. The non-payers were not being cut off, just prevented from filling swimming pools, running powershowers or flushing the lav more than once an hour. It's hardly the end of the world.

absolutely, PAY YOUR DAMNED BILLS!!!!!!!!!

[vonuber]

hidetheelephants said:

I never understood why they didn't implement that, nor why it aroused so much opprobrium. The non-payers were not being cut off, just prevented from filling swimming pools, running powershowers or flushing the lav more than once an hour. It's hardly the end of the world.

A water meter in every home is the most sensible solution.

[Jimbeaux]

Fittster said:

chris watton said:

Fittster said:

chris watton said:

Fittster said:

A thread about poor people suffering on PH?

Good luck with that one.

But the climate change threads (political) relate to the poorest being shafted the most - and they're some of the most popular threads!

Yeah, right that's why those thread exist, not to justify rich people possibly having to change their lifestyles (more tax, more expensive energy).

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination (at least by PH standards) 'rich - in fact, tube drivers earn almost £20k more than me. With that in mind, I haven't had to change my lifestyle at all - but I do help my parents (who are poor in the accepted sense) pay their fuel bills - otherwise they will freeze.

Not everyone on PH are super rich tories.......

You are rich on global terms. The average bloke on the planet is much worse off than you.

Is he supposed to feel guilty for that? I am taller than the average Japanese, should I walk with a stoop or should the Japanese grow taller?

Edited by Jimbeaux on Friday 16th December 19:27