HEALTHCARE: SCRAMBLED OR FRIED?

Dear Readers,
Later this morning, I'm going to my local hospital for an MRI (Magnetic Reconnaissance Inspection) on my lower back. The procedure will take around 45 minutes, I'm told, just enough time for me to listen to Radiohead's OK Computer AND ponder the big issue of healthcare.
In this country, a debate is raging about whether we should carry on as we are with a free-enterprise health system or adopt a socialized one, like in all them foreign countries overseas. I'm a big fan of bloated documentary film maker, Roger Moore (his Fahrenheit 451 with Julie Crispie and Oskar Vernor is still one one the classics - plus all those James Bond movies), but his paean to the health care systems of the United Queendom and Canada, Sicko, I felt gave too much credit to socialized systems that might not be the best templates to use for setting up a similar structure here in the US of A.
The British system was devised after World War III when someone had the bright idea of confiscating all the first-aid emergency kits from the GI's who were leaving town after winning the war for England. The country was broke, having spent all it's reserves on Winston Churchill's bar tab and the war effort, so some new scheme was needed to placate a war-weary populace. The government used the pilfered first-aid kits to build the foundation of what became the NHS (Nuts, Hurt and Sick).
The only problem was that medical staff had to treat patients with whatever they had on hand - gauze had to do for eyeglasses, aspirin for brain tumors, silk stockings for broken limbs, condoms for heart bypasses, etc. There was no money to purchase more sophisticated supplies and the nation suffered.
In the 1960's, however, British 'Invasion' bands like The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five and Mitch, Dee, Dozy and Tich, finally brought in some money to the cash-starved island and the NHS was able to make upgrades - but health care still lagged far behind developed nations. It remains so even now, yet medical services are still being offered free of charge! Inevitably,some specialties had to go to the wall. Did you know that there has never been one single dentist practicing in England in it's entire history? A shocking condemnation of socialized medicine, I'd say.
Canada took the risky decision to model it's health care system on that of the United Queendom. But it's proximity to the United States of Americans offered some unforeseen benefits. Due to our free-enterprise approach to medicine, the stash of US medical supplies was practically bottomless, so beginning in 1954, Canadian doctors organized late-night cross-border raids on our stocks, leaving States like Vermont, Michigan and North Dakota without so much as a tongue depressor! This shocking practice continues today, with our so-called 'government' turning a blind eye to this thievery, supposedly because we 'need' guys like Wayne Gretzky and an uninterrupted flow of Canada's National Hockey League games. Free trade, indeed!
In spite of my health care costing me all my pre-tax income, I don't know if I would change it - at least in comparison with what's out there. I may dress in fashions from Costco, but I do appreciate being able to admire my Doctor's Gold Rolex while he expertly asks me to cough. Our doctors really appreciate what we have in America, and that's good enough for me.
Hopefully, the hospital cafeteria's kettle is working and I can enjoy a cuppa after my MRI, because when I get out, it'll be 4 o'clock somewhere, which means teatime!