Stephen Fry - Hay Sessions 5/6

[LGD3]

The throw a stone at the market thing.. I wonder if Americans would be less embarrassed by not knowing the answer than say a Briton, Irish, Australian, New Zealander, or indeed a Canadian..

[yngguy4u]

America does have some socialized policies though. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the military as Steven Fry says, but these programs are considered safety necessities for the elderly, the public at large and low income households. Having those institutions is surprising but that's about as far as we want to go with socialized anything. Less govt, less control.

[yngguy4u]

I just have to say that, as an American and a liberal one, I can understand why we don't want subsidy in the arts. #1 We wind up making more in donation...if the government gave the arts money, donations would dry up leaving the arts less funded than they are now #2 if gov't spends money on funding the arts then government will feel it has influence and control on how the institution it funds operate .

[arky429]

I would like to state that in the preamble to the us constitution We the People of the U S, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice(our socialized justice), insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence(our socialized mil ),[1] promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

a lot of things have been socialized before the was socialism

[arky429]

I would like to state that in the preamble to the us constitution We the People of the U S, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice(our socialized justice), insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence(our socialized mil ),[1] promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

a lot of things have been socialized before the was socialism

[dougmanjones]

They're not right-wing, redneck idiots? Plenty of us are, Mr. Fry, but I thank you for the favorable description of my country.

However, if you ever want to meet the gun-toting, racist, homophobic, religious fundamentalist, right-wing idiot.....give me about 5 minutes and I'll find you one.

[fee316]

@dougmanjones - yeah I agree with that one. I live in the South so I could find one in 60 seconds flat.

[dougmanjones]

@fee316 - ha! me too. Baton Rouge, LA to be exact.

[fee316]

@dougmanjones - lol. I am in Texas!

[HTHAMMACK1]

@fee316

Your ignorance of the South is quite stunning. I refuse to believe you live in the South

[fee316]

@HTHAMMACK1 - And I care what you think because? Oh yeah, I don't. lol. Move along now, thanks.

[HTHAMMACK1]

@fee316

Then I'd suggest you not spout a bunch of nonsense like the clueless sack of sh*t you are. Otherwise, you'll get called on it.

I also don't remember asking whether you cared or not. I called you on or BS.

[fee316]

@HTHAMMACK1 - Yeah you really called me out there, lol. You are so adorable, move along now kiddo.

[HTHAMMACK1]

@fee316

I see you don't have a response? Just admit you said something stupid, and move along.

You're the kind of idiot whose mother should be slapped every day for giving birth to a fool like you.

[fee316]

@HTHAMMACK1 - I stand by what I said 100% and its morons like you that resort to grade school name calling to attempt to make a point, which you have ultimately failed to do. Your anger is very telling of how you were raised:) Move along now junior, you can't seem to be able to handle an adult conversation. Bye now:)

[bernstein1990]

@dougmanjones listen to what he is saying. and listen hard :)

[pritz29]

i meant to say infallible in my previous comment, I apologise for the error.

[BRIGSTOCK]

Why did he spend the whole programme talking about the USA? God I am so BORED with the USA- we have Europe on our doorstep but you'd never know it.

[glebber]

whenever he says "standards" it always reminds me of the 'a bit of fry and laurie' sketch where he and hugh talk about how they couldn't do a sketch b/c it had too much sex, violence, and violent sex in it...

"standards... STANDARDS"

xD

[ganett]

did he say fraiser was in the 80's?

[shoshanq]

Well, it is a spin-off of Cheers which is an 80's show with Frasier as a character. It is an easy mistake to make :)

[fee316]

Yeah I caught that too, it was in the 90's not 80's but oh well, he has a right to make a mistake.

[glebber]

yeah, everyone has a right to make a mistake... for ex: he said (i believe) "McClain" when it should be "McCain"... but everyone makes mistakes!

:D

[fee316]

exactly:) His speech is so eloquent, I guess it just proves that nobody is perfect.

[squidgysailor]

he looks like tony and sounds like tony

[nathanfornash]

Hello Tony.

[Tropicaliak]

and I don't even mean that nationalized medicine would be a failure in the US. I just don't think the comparison to the military is valid.

(and don't worry-- I believe Stephen is brilliant and wonderful and lovely in the most sincere way. I wouldn't go on about it if I didn't value his ideas.)

[pritz29]

yeh i found the comparison rather peculiar also. Nonetheless, im sure Mr Fry would not want us to treat his every word as fallable. One point of contention hardly leads to dissonance and the man is still brilliant.

[Tropicaliak]

difference between the government running the military and the government running health care is the degree to which the services are public goods. the military is a public good. it's not as though one sends three soldiers and a helicopter to war for one's own personal protection. one does however visit the doctor and receive a treatment for one's personal well-being. there are positive externalities of a healthy person but health care is still consumed directly by the individual.