Episode 9-Own Your Healthcare

1. 

   Nick in MNG says:

   September 14, 2020 at 6:38 am

   Re: Levels of freedom in & out of the USA

   My experience thus far in Mongolia has been that while SOME of the national laws on the books are more restrictive than in the USA, I still have more freedom in most ways than I did living in the States. Most of it is that the government just does not have the same amount of money & power than the US government, and that the local provincial/city governments don’t have the absurd level of overreach some US municipalities do. But I also suspect part of it is the average Mongolian has the attitude of “whatever I’m just gonna do my own thing” along with “better to ask forgiveness than permission”. About the only practical lack of freedom here for ME is that firearms are supposed to be registered and (from what I’ve been told) private handgun ownership is heavily restricted. But ownership of unregistered guns is not exactly rare here, and I’m not aware of any big crackdowns on those. Again, potential benefit of a somewhat weak government.

   The end result is I’m more free here in almost every way at least on a practical, day-to-day basis. You can pretty much do whatever you want on your own property, you can camp just about anywhere in the country as long as it’s not someone’s private land, and the lower taxes & cost of living gives a higher amount of financial freedom for anyone with a half-decent income or savings. And that last one touches on the healthcare angle… medical care is SO much cheaper here, and as long as one is relatively healthy overall with no serious conditions it is sufficient for one’s needs. When we left Denver in 2016 our family medical & dental insurance premiums alone was well over $500/month (with my wife working at a hospital no less!), a number which shocks the average Mongolian when you explain it to them. Shocking because many here earn and live on an equivalent amount each month.

   This isn’t to say one HAS to move outside the US to get greater freedoms (healthcare or otherwise)… I’d still recommend the average American to find a better city/county/state over moving abroad (I myself am still aiming someday to come back to Alaska to live part of the time). But it does outline the need to compare not only legal freedoms or restrictions on paper, but also what the day-to-day freedom (weak local government, cost of living, and effective level of day-to-day privacy) in any place is like.

   Reply

Leave a Reply