SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, MY ASS

I said I'd provide more details on this. I didn't really want to, but I felt obligated. This post is in honor of Paul Martin's superficial and debt-creating health-care arrangement.

Last week, a lot of people were asking me “why the hell did you have a laser shining up your arse?”

It is an odd but reasonable question.

Briefly, I had developed a small medical condition late Saturday night and Sunday morning. I didn't recall passing anything unusual, although I had been rather aggressive while dragonboating on Saturday afternoon so my doctor later assumed it was caused by physical exertion.

For most of Sunday, I ignored the problem. That usually works for me. However, this time it didn't. By Monday morning I was unable to sit.

I left work, went home and dropped by my local clinic when it opened that evening. The doctor said it was good thing that I had come as it was possible that I may have needed a brief stint of hospitalization had I waited much longer.

He suggested I have the problem removed on the spot with laser surgery, which is something I'm not going to talk about again.

It was only a small local clinic, but it had an impressive bit of gear. Most impressive was the laser machine. It does have purely medical uses, but the doctor can also make a bit of extra cash by offering things from minor cosmetic surgery such as the removal of unwanted hair and blemishes.

Many clinics here have them, even in less developed areas of the city. In Canada I would assume they remain a rarity found only in specialized cosmetic-surgery clinics.

Having a laser up my bum is not something I ever care to repeat, but if I were living in Canada it's unlikely that I would have even had that option. Instead, it would have been a freakin scaple.

As well, I would undoubtedly have had a much longer waiting list for the surgery.

I do not oppose all public-sector health care, just the inane socialized systems of Canada, Cuba and North Korea – where private-sector health care is essentially banned.

Among countries of similar levels of development, it is those that have private or dual-payer (state and private) health-care systems that have the most widespread proliferation of medical technology and highest quality of care.

So, in the future, if I ever hear anyone attempt to describe Canada's health-care system as the best in the world I will politely pose a simple question: “How would you like a cold scalpel shoved up your arse?”