Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2006/01/02/eu-study-more-exclus.html
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Thing is, this happens all the time. It’s rule by anecdote, and I’d say it’s the default rather than the exception. For example, I’ve seen this here in health care discussions- “me/my spouse/parent/cow-orker had [disease] and because they were in [country with socialized medicine] they got treatment that they wouldn’t be able to afford”. I mean, go ahead and make a moral argument about health care, but I find “we received 100k of treatment for free, therefore it’s a good thing” to be a thoroughly uncompelling argument, but people fall for it because it tugs at the heart strings.
Whether it’s politicians doing the rounds in farm states or reporters talking to taxi drivers whose medallions have plummeted in worth, there’s never a shortage of people rationalizing their special carve-out.
@falcor: time warp
LOL, didn’t notice. But it does raise the question, this was ten years ago, how have things been working out?