On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:39:37 -0700, JR wrote:

wrote:

And please define "poor." And to save time, "poor by US standards"
ain't gonna impress me much - YMMV.

For the sake of this particular argument, let it mean anything from
"lower middle class" (and, yes, that can be relative across societies)
to "penniless."

Regardless of nit-picking definitions, I stand by my statement, slightly
rephrased, that I'd rather be a poor Italian sick in Italy than a poor
American sick in the U.S. I suspect I'd also rather be a poor German
sick in Germany than a poor American sick in the U.S., but I don't know
the medical system there--nor the economy--well enough to say with much
confidence.

I mean this as a serious question - why didn't you remain in Italy and
become an Italian citizen, or, why don't you return and become one? IOW,
why wouldn't you rather be an Italian citizen as opposed to your current
(US?) citizenship?

The statement is based on experience. If you disagree, that's fine with me.

I don't agree or disagree because I haven't any basis to even form an
opinion on why _you_ would rather be a poor Italian sick in Italy than a
poor American sick in the US. Even if I had such information, your
preferences are yours and IMO, folks are perfectly entitled to their
preferences.

TC,
R