A side note

[blamebrampton]

Dear Americans,
Outside of your strange, strange country, most of the developed world has this marvellous thing which we like to call health care for all. I'm reading an interesting mpreg (that will teach me not to read the warnings!*) story from hd_hols and the poverty-stricken pregnant one is in despair as his health insurance will not cover it. On the off-chance it was written by someone on my flist, the good for society news is that in the UK, this is not the problem you might think it is! And I have my fingers crossed that in the US, it won't be for much longer, either.

(And if anyone is planning to respond telling me that socialised healthcare is evil, I will LAUGH AT YOU, and then I will QUOTE REAMS OF STATISTICS until you FLEE.)

XXX
BB

* And yes, my dislike of mpreg is not supported by the excellent writing that occurs within that genre and the imaginative plots that many superior writers bring to bear on the concept. But I still don't like it!

Comments

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. *starts reading warnings very carefully*

I have no idea if the quality or writing is generally good or bad in mpreg stories, because I NEVER READ IT. *shudders for a bit longer than is strictly decent*

And, you know, living in the UK and having the NHS as a given is so awesome. I can't even tell you.

And coming across an error like that in a fic would make me stop reading instantly.

But I don't like Michael Moore either.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

I NEVER READ IT.
Oh! That makes me sad.

There are some truly excellent fic out there that get skipped because of the Mpreg warning.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

lol, I'm sorry. It squicks me deep in my soul. Pregnancy, childbirth and children is the last thing I want from male characters.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

*g*

I'm not that fond of those things with female characters either. :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I come across far worse errors in stories that hit my desk for publication, so I'm giving the author the benefit of the doubt ;-)

And while I really don't like mpreg (as in, spend all my time saying 'But why would you? Surely you'd just hire a surrogate if it was that important?!' until J comes out and tells me to stop ranting at the laptop ;-) I have to say that I have read some really good ones, especially Jolene, so I never say never!

I SO agree with you about the comfort of having healthcare as a given. Sure, neither the NHS nor Aussie Medicare are perfect, but I would rather their imperfections than the US system.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there are some beautifully written mpreg fics, but it just disturbs me on a cellular level for some reason. In a "that's not for me" way, not in a "not one should write this" way. Just want to clarify that -- I'm all in favour of people reading and enjoying mpreg, it's just not something I can read, for various reasons.

And, yes. The stories I read about American healthcare from so many of my friends still living in the USA make me cry. People choosing between taking their kids to the doctor and paying rent, people letting broken bones go unset because they don't want to pay for a doctor visit. It's one of the main reasons I never want to move back there. Well, that and only getting two weeks of paid vacation a year.