2/25    Any reason why British people have bad teeth in general?
        \_ Floride.  POE.
           \_ I thought floride prevents tooth decay.  -- !OP
              \_ Purity Of Essence.  The Brits have it.
        \_ Mostly it's a comparison issue: Americans place a high regard on
           orthodonture and good-looking teeth, whereas Brits traditionally
           have not. This is changing, and within a generation or so, Brit
           teeth may look no worse than average American teeth. Cf. Japanese
           teeth or any other nation's teeth, for that matter.
           \- there is probably a discontinuity because it isnt covered
              in their national heath care system or something like that.
              \_ Japanese health insurance usually covers dental fixes but
                 not regular check-ups. Ounce of prevention, etc.
        \_ Socialized medicine.
           \_ Rubbish. My brothers and I grew up in the world's greatest
              living example of socialism, the US military, and our teeth
              are fine.
              \_ The USM isn't socialist.  As a soldier you are a product and
                 resource unit, property as you will, of the USM.  It wouldn't
                 do to spend so much on your training and upkeep and then have
                 you not ready for battle because of a tooth ache.  The USM
                 takes care of it's property until it's time not to.   If you
                 weren't actually soliders and just army brats then the same
                 thing applies.  Can't have dad distracted from war because
                 his kids are home screaming in pain about their rotted teeth.
                 \_ I got guaranteed healthcare, dental, housing, counseling,
                    utilities, education, travel expenses, moving expenses,
                    subsidized groceries and consumer goods, and in return the
                    military told us where to go and what to do. I presented
                    papers at every gate I passed through, listened to
                    radio programs laced with propaganda (FEN, AFN), read
                    newspapers with propaganda (Stars & Stripes), and
                    assumed that the phones were tapped. How is this not
                    socialism? And yes, as I said, we grew up in the USM, so
                    we were military brats.
                    \_ Socialism has nothing to do with being a slave to the
                       state.  That is what the military is.  Try a dictionary,
                       polisci classmate, or your favorite online resource for
                       a detailed definition of socialism.  What you describe
                       is exactly what I described: the military owns you and
                       takes cares of you like property or a puppy, tells you
                       what to do, when, where, and how, and then when needed,
                       they spend you in a war somewhere or send your dad's
                       dog tags and a flag home to your mom.
                       \_ From Wikipedia:
                          "Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or
                           political movements that envisage a socio-economic
                           system in which property and the distribution of
                           wealth are subject to social control. This control
                           may be either direct-- exercised through popular
                           collectives such as workers' councils-- or
                           indirect-- exercised on behalf of the people by the
                           state. As an economic system, socialism is often
                           characterized by state or community ownership of
                           the means of production."
                          Now, examine what I wrote above and tell me how this
                          fails to meet a definition of Socialism.