The welfare state at work.
Since ‘universal health care’ is such a popular topic in the U.S., here’s how it’s working out in the UK.
On the one hand, babies and the elderly get ‘put down’ to save money and people are pulling out their own teeth due to lack of dentists.
The British Dental Association says around 12 million people are currently looking for an NHS dentist providing free care as increasing numbers of practitioners turn their backs on the NHS in favour of more lucrative private practice. Concern over the state of children’s teeth comes amid a population-wide emergency in dental services that has seen people resorting to “Victorian-era” solutions such as pulling out their own teeth.
But it also means the ‘disabled’ get free cars and boy are there suddenly a whole lot of disabled demanding their free cars.
One benefit, created to help those with disabilities be more mobile, allows people to give up part of their welfare cash handout in return for a new car every three years. It now accounts for around one in every seven new car sales in the U.K. Among those who got new cars last year: 40 people whose primary medical condition was tennis elbow, 50 with wheat intolerance and 320 with dyslexia, according to government figures.
Some seven million people—more than 10% of the population—now claim at least one or more sickness or disability benefits.
Catherine Wieland got on Britain’s welfare rolls in 2021. With a history of emotional trauma, she was too anxious to go outside or carry out simple tasks like washing herself, she told the government. Using a taxpayer-subsidized program for those with disabilities, Wieland paid a small deposit for a free BMW, which she used to regularly visit the hair salon, dine out at restaurants, attend a Brighton pride parade and visit an amusement park.
This is the typical paradigm for the welfare state in which basic shortages of core services is offset by vast amounts of money being spent on consultants, grifters and assorted special interests. You can get a free house or a car, but if you want to see a dentist, better pull your own teeth.
The extremes may not be as grand in the U.S. just yet, but we’re getting there. Just ask your friendly local Somali health care center.