Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

We don't need to have a system where there are only 2 terrible choices.

if the federal government wasn't so large but rather a looser organization such as the EU, then each state would be a sovereign entity and the presidency wouldn't matter so much. then you would have 50 or more choices (50x2=100)



You look at Europe and seriously want that?


I live in Prague but travel often to the DC area for business. I’d choose to live in Prague in about 70000 out of 80000 simulations.

It just feels better to live here for many reasons (safety, culture, nature, walkability, quality of restaurants and clubs and overall you don’t see many poor people around). Europe has economic issues but the quality of life is very high most of the time.


I would also choose Prague over DC. Honestly DC is not a great place to live.


Universal healthcare, strong working class, strong k-12 education, govt mandated work/life balance & child support, abortion, free from a large population of Christian (protestant) nationalism that influences politics at every level... why yes, yes I do.


Universal healthcare is usually not a plus.. ask any Canadian.


I'm Canadian and living in California. I want Universal Healthcare.


Try living in Canada. And experience the healthcare and wait times there. Many Canadians come to the USA for healthcare, or wish they could.


Even if the wait times get bad sometimes, isn't it worth the wait at times rather than going bankrupt? I think it's...a great trade off.

There are wait time problems in US too but maybe not as common.


You know it's the law in the US to have health insurance? Literally everyone must have health insurance otherwise you get penalized.

If you have health insurance it's not going to bankrupt you.

I know plenty of people without a job and are poor in the US... guess what? They get free healthcare. They don't pay a penny. You can even give birth and not pay a penny out of pocket if you are on Medical.

The US has a large population on free healthcare. California actually has quite a large "socialist" state. Lots of things are free or near free for people people. Similar to Canada or Europe. No one talks about it though.


If you want "universal healthcare" aka "free" healthcare, just quit your job.

Make below 40k or whatever the threshold is and you get Medical in California. It's basically free healthcare.

And if you have a job.. well then you have health insurance, and you won't go bankrupt because of it. And you get much better quality healthcare than in Canada.


This argument doesn't work in 2024.

I'm making well over six figures a year (and not in the Bay Area, for reference) in my 30s and have top quality healthcare supplied by my job. The last time I talked to a doctor, I had to schedule an appointment six months out just for a routine examination and blood work. The labs I reached out to for getting sleep studies done (which, for reference, I would've needed to pay out of pocket entirely) said they'd need similarly as long.

Can you convince me that our healthcare system is not broken? Ostensibly the person in your argument that is supposed to benefit the most from it?


Meh, I personally like it. It's a bit of liberating feeling to never, ever think about health insurance here in Vancouver. Obviously has ups and downs (especially for non elective surgeries), but it's my personal preference.


I look at America and seriously DON'T want that.


Multiparty representative democracy with a prime minister is a far superior system than a presidential republic.


It has advantages but I don’t see UK, Germany and France thriving.


Beauty, walkable cities, history, better workers rights? I have never found a reason to go to the USA besides jobs and your national parks, nothing else.


Over the American system? Anyday


It's an interesting idea, but it's more or less been tried.

The conclusion of that experiment was that half of the country would gladly go to war to force the other half to stay as one country. I don't think that has changed. Especially given that the primary political divisions aren't between state lines; They are rural and urban divisions.


This is already the case. American states have a lot of latitude in setting policy and governing themselves.


ranked choice voting!




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: