To someone who does not live in the US, this sort of thing is frankly astonishing. In fact, I meant to post my incredulity over at rdf's fine page on making do with less. It is ridiculous that people who are retired actually have to come up with an amount that is a substantial fraction of a rental of a low-value property every month just to fund health insurance. (I mean, at the time I did a quick calculation and worked out that rdf was paying half to two-thirds the value of a cheap flat in HK - where I live and thus my point of reference - for medical ... and flat rentals in HK are not cheap!)

I repeat, it is absurd, and quite literally unbelievable, even to people from other, comparatively harsh Anglo-Saxon societies like the UK, and especially to people from places like Australia or New Zealand (which themselves are not really that great compared to Europe. Having Anglo heritage sucks). How in the world have people in the US been conned into thinking they've got it made in the greatest society on Earth? I know modern propaganda was invented there and is applied mercilessly, but even so, it beggars the mind that people put up with this crap ...