A Lesson From America

Written by Andrew Wilkin

Alistair Cooke's letters from America was avidly listened to by my family at Sunday breakfast, telling the state of a nation from over the 'pond' through a series of small stories and anecdotes. Last night I met up with a friend I have not seen for probably 14 or so years, and I had my of lesson (could not exactly say letter here) from America.

As we sat chatting in the over priced restaurant that we went into to escape the London rain, which I might add he mentioned on a number of occasions usually with rain doesn't last longer than half an hour in Houston, we strayed lightly on to a number of topics. Notice we avoided a full on debate of politics which in my opinion is a sure fire way to lose friends...

I asked what the predominate professions were where he lived, he told me that after oil and gas, the next biggest was the medical profession. Near where he lived was a very large medical centre, as he described it my jaw begun to drop, the size and scale just beyond my comprehension.

Naturally the topic of healthcare reform came up, as a child he was a strong Labour supporter, so I was surprised that he was strongly against the reforms. He pointed out that the Fed takes care of children and the elderly and others should pay their way and not free-load.

His monthly bill for insurance was $600 for a family of four, however if you were out of work as his brother was, you had to pay the employers contribution too, which was about the same again (though I get the feeling it was really double). So you're out of work, and you have to pay $1200 to $1800 for health insurance, seems like a bit of a kick when you're down.

This was where the real lesson came in, a total difference in attitude and culture. His response was that people need to put money aside and plan for the bad times, that people are responsible for themselves. A very different view of society from ourselves. Everything was about people needing to plan and work for themselves and their family.

Whether you agree with this attitude or not, it is clear that this will have a profound affect on their willingness to enter into network marketing and entrepreneurship. The whole culture being one of you have to do it for yourself rather than rely on others. As a society we can certainly learn a lot from this can do approach, though at the same time I would not want to give up our willingness to help others in their time of need.