Quote Originally Posted by Renton View Post
[video=youtube;ON5SxrCjbCU]All of that is under free market capitalism so when you say "The government controls 35% of the economy", including health care, you make it sounds like they're controlling every aspect of Healthcare, when they're not. It's a mixed system that has aspects of socialism and aspects of capitalism. Competition is still allowed to thrive, albeit in a more limited way than it was in America, as the government has replaced insurance providers. But was the American free-market alternative, HMOs pre-obamacare really a shining example of capitalism?
The American and Canadian governments both spend almost 45% as much as their GDPs. Not in capitalistic ways, more like in ways I described in my FAA anecdote. The US federal (30) and state (10) governments own over 40% of all the land in the U.S. including as much as 95% in western states like Nevada. In light of these facts how is it hyperbolic to state that that countries like the U.S. and Canada control over 1/3 of their economies? I think it's an understatement. They spend over 1/3 of it based on the whims of a congress that anyone on either side of the aisle would admit is as corrupt and incompetent as any congress in American history. And this isn't even to mention all the absurd and destructive price controls they impose on on all aspects of the economy.