LogFAQs > #978889674

DarkDoc posted...

Many problems with this. (1) most people are thick as pigshit, I wouldn't want them working on me. (2) I'm sure they thought of that already. (3) no, nursing jobs are extremely low paid. (4) tax revenue is nothing to do with it.

1) Thats... why you train them? It's not just the doctors either, it's all the support staff.
2) Clearly not, this is a relatively new problem. My hometown has had countless flats and developments put in without a corresponding rise in amenities.
3) Who sets nurse pay? How come countries with better healthcare aren't so afflicted?
4) Tax revenue is an extra benefit, but obviously not the primary reason you invest in your healthcare as a nation.

The list that has all the countries in the world. Sorry, did you want to exclude the ones that didn't fit your narrative?

No, but you'll find that city states and literal island nations aren't exactly representative of more normal countries. In addition, several entries literally aren't countries. Since I'll need to spell it out, let's go through the list.

Monaco, Singapore, Bahrain, Malta, Maldives, Vatican City, Barbados, Mauritius, San Marino, Nauru, and Comoros are all island nations and/or city states. Their population density just isn't comparable to normal nations due to geography. This leaves:

Bangladesh, Palestine (bit of a special case but w/e) Lebanon and South Korea before you get to the Netherlands. I apparently got my numbers messed up, Netherlands is ahead of of India in population density. Palestine and Lebanon are tiny nations, but it would be very arbitrary to exclude them. Also worth noting that Taiwan would be 4th on this list if it wasn't considered a part of China.

Or, I guess, most people in UK/USA don't ride a bike because they are too lazy or too unfit to do so. And countries like Australia and Russia are simply too large for people to consider riding a bike. Other countries are too hilly or have too much jungle for people to ride a bike. It's definitely not a solution that works everywhere.

Fitness is a part of the issue, although it would alleviate itself a lot if more people cycled to work. The real issue is the infrastructure and city planning. If you're from the UK, how easy is it for you to cycle to all of your destinations? If you're outside the cities or home counties, do you even have dedicated cycle infrastructure? How far do you need to travel?

In contrast, Amsterdam, which is considered one of the less bike friendly places in NL iirc, makes it so easy, safe and quick to get around by bike. People don't cycle there because they're poor or health focused, they cycle because it's legit a great mode of transport.

DarkDoc posted...

In the UK public transport is too unreliable and too expensive. And outside of London it barely even exists. Same for USA. Not everybody is as well-paid or has such a low cost of living as the Dutch. Our trains are simply unaffordable for most people.

I take the bus every day to and from the office, it's very reliable here. However, this has taken years to get to this point and the council literally owns the bus company. Public transport is a priority here, that's why it's good. I totally agree that this isn't the norm outside of some cities and London, but it's a choice made by the government, it's not an inherent part of the UK.

I totally agree our trains are whack, especially when you need but gaze over at Europe to see several countries doing it right, but we as a country did that to ourselves when we privatised the railways. Poor public transport is a choice, as is great public transport.

Put to use in jobs that don't exist... Again, from personal experience of being unemployed for 18 months, getting a job is not easy. The UK has a huge number of unemployed , and although some are simply too lazy, there are others that do want a job and can't get one. Because of the overpopulation.

Unemployment in the UK is lower than it's been in decades. If unemployment was measure of overpopulation, this would imply that the country got less overpopulated as the population grew. Unemployment is far more of an economic issue than a population issue.

Similarly, there are people that want a house and can't get one. Because of the overpopulation. Etc.

UK housing is a complicated issue. A major issue is for profit landlords of course as this constricts the supply, but the other big piece of the puzzle is how little investment is made outside of the home counties and a couple of cities. Everyone wants to live in the south because that's where the most jobs and amenities are.