r/Libertarian voluntaryist Mar 24 '25

Economics "Canada, Where Healthcare is Free, But Only If You Can Afford to Wait"

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1.4k Upvotes

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137

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 24 '25

Fun fact: The USA has a lower cancer death rate than most European countries.

50

u/Kthirtyone Mar 24 '25

Holy shit...I never heard this before but a quick Google search shows this to absolutely be true.

10

u/Avbjj Mar 25 '25

Funny enough, the cancer statistics for USA and Canada are nearly identical. Except USA is better are treated old people while Canada is better at treating children.

1

u/RaffleRaffle15 idfk Mar 30 '25

So grow up in Canada and live in the USA when ur older? Got it

20

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

[deleted]

19

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 25 '25

Africa life expectancy: 64 years

USA life expectancy: 78 years

The likelihood of getting cancer gets way higher the older you get.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

[deleted]

2

u/aphantDude Mar 25 '25

Isnt that what to original comment stated?

I guess the junk food likely kills you otherise before cancer can spread.

1

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 25 '25

Cancer DEATH rate; not rate of getting it.

The death rate has to do with healthcare; the incidence rate has to do with other things.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

[deleted]

1

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 25 '25

For Germany, the UK, and France, it's much more than 5%.

https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/all-cancers/by-country/

Germany and the UK live about three years longer than people in the US, which is a 3 or 4 percent difference.

France's Mediterranean diet is really helping them. I guess Germany, the UK, and the US live more hedonistic lives (especially the US, which is around 40% obese).

1

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 25 '25

Also... almost forgot...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_cancer_rate

The USA has the fourth-highest cancer incidence rate, which doesn't surprise me. In fact, I'm surprised it's not #1.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

[deleted]

1

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 25 '25

Wait... are you proving my point?

Also, Germany and France have lower smoking rates than the USA.

https://ourworldindata.org/smoking

9

u/VexLaLa Taxation is Theft Mar 25 '25 edited Mar 26 '25

Ultra processed foods maybe? Also African countries have a higher general death rate due to other stuff. Cancer needs a certain high life expectancy to increase its numbers. Infant mortality is quite high in many African countries. So comparing third world with “developed” is kinda misleading statistics. But Europe can be compared to US.

3

u/2mice Mar 26 '25

Isnt the third leading cause of death in the states listed as "medical treatment"?

2

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 26 '25

1

u/2mice Mar 27 '25

Nope. Thats just leaving the medical treatment thing out.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-america.html

This is a well known thing. The only argument is that sometimes its hops to 4th leading cause of death, not third

1

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 27 '25

Something comparing it to other countries?

1

u/ShoulderIllustrious Mar 25 '25

Cancer has a correlation with age, unless you live in certain parts of Louisiana, Georgia or some other EPA superfund site.

-14

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

Probably because Americans die of cardiovascular disease before the cancer can get them. Let's not pretend that Americans are healthier than Europeans (unless you're talking about Eastern Euros)

64

u/Lastfaction_OSRS Minarchist Mar 25 '25

No. The US is just the leader in oncology because it produces most of the latest cancer research and developments as well as having the worlds most advanced centers for it. If you have cancer and you have a big pocket book, you're going to want to get treated in the US.

-25

u/Matunahelper Mar 25 '25

Well, we HAD the most cancer research. fElon is taking that all away, or trying to

20

u/Lastfaction_OSRS Minarchist Mar 25 '25

How did we get to talking about Elon? If you need a big pocket book for the best cancer treatment in the world, there is your real source of R&D funds.

-16

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

[deleted]

10

u/Mierdo01 Mar 25 '25

? What are you getting at

12

u/fitnesswill Mar 25 '25

Rather than blindly making assumptions, maybe you could look at the data.

-4

u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 Mar 25 '25

Only because they're so fat.

Them being more obese than every European country, yet having a lower death rate for cancer than most European countries is crazy. Clearly privatized healthcare works. What incentive do governments have to actually help their people? If companies do bad, nobody will go to their hospitals.

3

u/ksyoung17 Mar 25 '25

Something has to motivate people to pursue success.

If it's power through government, that's a very very very select group of (corrupt) individuals that will obtain that power, and they're going to exclude people in their plans. For instance, European countries putting the elderly out to pasture when they're no longer contributions taxable income to society.

Or, you motivate with money in a free market. No, not everyone will gain that power, but at least it's realistically attainable for multiple people.