[bkmartin]

That's not racist. Italy is not a race. It is an indictment of the medical competency in Italy based on his perception of their system. I wish people would stop throwing that term around so loosely. If you don't like what he said, then actually form a coherent rebuttal. Not that his comment was much better than your own... just making a point here.

[tigroferoce]

As an Italian whose wife is working in the public health care system my views might be a little biased.

Not that Italian system does not have its problems, but we have quite high life expectancy [1] and our system was ranked second in 2000 by the WHO [2] and apparently is still quite efficient [3].

And, by the way, it cures just anybody the same, from super rich people to illegal aliens.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expe...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization_rank...

[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-29/u-s-healt...

[bkmartin]

I was not making any claims of the Italian medical system. I have no idea how they stack up. I was taking objection to the parent post claiming that the grandparent post was making a racist statement. If you guys are doing great in Italy, then awesome! :) Maybe you guys could share some notes with the United States, particularly when it comes to cost... we need serious help.

[tigroferoce]

I totally agree with you. I'm not the best person to ask for advices, but this guy [1] knows tons about how to run hospitals on budget. The only problem is that he is perceived as very leftish in Europe, so I guess that in the U.S. his opinions will never ever be acceptable.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_Strada

[smallnamespace]

Just to play devil's advocate though, there are many factors that influence life expectancy outside of the medical system.

Italy seems to have a large confluence of positive factors: 1st world country, relatively healthy traditional diet with fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood, mild Mediterranean climate, and a culture that emphasizes close familial and social ties.

[tigroferoce]

Of course this is true. Indeed I was not surprised to see the high life expectancy, but more to see the efficiency of the system close to Japan and Israel ones.

[taeric]

I find it interesting to read that "Foo is not a race." I thought it was pretty established that "race" is a dodgy thing, at best. Such that any collection of people that have been together for a long time would ultimately qualify.

Back to the readings for me, it seems.

[gizmo686]

You could consider "Italian" to be a race; but Italy is just the country where Italians happen to be from.

[logfromblammo]

If Italian is not a race, it surely is a tribal identity that transcends the borders of Italy the country.

[taeric]

I think every person reading malpractice is huge in Italy, took that as Italians are huge in malpractice...

And, I still see race as a dodgy concept.