THERE! So the billionaire pays more to get higher quality insurance. In a single payer universal healthcare system, the billionaire and the minimum wage worker both get the same quality of healthcare despite paying different amounts. This is what I mean.

You have absolutely no idea how a world without single payer works because you assume we have basic shit you take for granted.

I have experience with the Indian multi payer, non universal healthcare system. It sucks a lot more than the US. U guys at least have the affordable healthcare act, which prohibits discrimination against ppl with pre-existing conditions by insurance companies. Indians don't even have that. The universal single payer healthcare system that I have experience with is the Canadian one.

Now, of course the arguments against universal healthcare fall flat on ethical grounds, as you explained above. I am not saying that universal healthcare is bad or whatever. However, that does not change the fact that universal healthcare follows the "from each according to their ability to each according to their need" thing. Rich or poor, everyone gets the same quality of healthcare despite paying different prices. The rich here are subsidizing the poor.

Now, there's nothing wrong with that. The concepts of private property themselves cause trouble, where we lose all sight of humanity, blah blah blah. That's a discussion for another day.

The point is, if you are rich and want a better life for yourself, you probably should be against universal healthcare. If u r anything but that, and want a better life for everyone- u, ur family, ur friends, or just society in general, universal healthcare is a common sense choice.

[–] TotallynotJessica@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

That doesn't change the fact that selfishness in this case is measurably less prudent in the long run. This is often the case for capitalist ills, but being selfish is only in one's self interest if they ignore the bigger picture. The effects of our broken healthcare system are more well documented and understood, but it's also the case with poverty and climate change. They make things worse for even the wealthiest people.

Even though the collective class of wealthy people is smaller and more capable of working together, they often got there by refusing to think about the collective, while those who were less selfish tended to get filtered out. It's all too easy to undercut others who try to work together, so they choose the worse option consistently and fuck over everyone in the process. It's the prisoner's dilemma, with no one having the guts to risk the others getting ahead.

That is the fundamental reason why no major country will abandon fossil fuels. All our kids would be better off, but there's too much risk of losing out to someone who didn't do their part.

However, part of the problem is that the capitalists in charge refuse to acknowledge the benefits of not being selfish. To avoid the internal conflict of questioning their choices, we easily ignore unfortunate truths. It happens everywhere, from comedy entertainment to the highest levels of science. Repeated game theory does not favor the most selfish strategies, but people think that selfishness pays off in the long run, so they refuse to consider the most prudent options.

So no, you are actually wrong about what's in rich people's self interest, but you're wrong in the same way they are. Capitalists are not more logical than average people; they're actually quite stubborn and stupid. They'll drink lead and die from it before they'll accept that they're wrong about it being safe.