Donald Trump and US politics

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Millennial?

Triggered?





Thank you for proving my point.

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鬼殺し wrote:

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astraph wrote:

As an external observer, i laugh at american politics. Yeah, Trump is an idiot, but how DNC, wth their corporate backing, imperialist hawkish programms is perceived as a Left Wing party is beyond me. Even Bernie Sanders, who for the most part has centrist "new deal" style political positions is perceived as a socialist cracks me up and shows how much the political spectrum has moved to the Right. Do not forget that in the period from the 50s- early 70s when economic inequalities had shrank the most in the history of the US, started alot with Eisenhowers 90%+ taxation on the big capital, which was far more extreme than what Bernie was proposing, and Eisenhower was a CONSERVATIVE.

The idea of a real left in the US as it stands is sort of laughable. The place was founded on capitalism and cannot in any way, shape or form extricate that from everything else about it. Money drives everything. There's no room for real socialism when that's your absolute base.

And that's not really that bad. Full left is pretty messy and frail. But even moderately socialist ideas like universal basic healthcare for all citizens is a pipe dream for them right now. They'll cite any number of reasons, and I don't care to dispute them, but the one they won't cite is that it's a filthy socialist idea and fuck the poor if they won't get a job that comes with employer-subsidised insurance. Fucking drains of the system. Let 'em die.

http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2009/05/25/whats-health-care-like-in-aust/ -- older article I found while lightly researching/confirming what I've said above. Older as in pre-Obamacare, so maybe more relevant now than it's been in years, lol.

I believe the root of that problem is a massive straw man—a straw elephant—that we have all bought into. This idea that health insurance equals health care seems wrong to me.

I don’t know the solution, but I do know (or, believe) that we say the words “health care” an awful lot without actually discussing health care, and that there will not be a solution so long as we continue to discuss not health care.

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JNF wrote:

Triggered?

No. I was asking you. Are you a millennial?

Nothing wrong with being one, of course.

Quite skilled at dodging I see.

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CanHasPants wrote:

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鬼殺し wrote:

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astraph wrote:

As an external observer, i laugh at american politics. Yeah, Trump is an idiot, but how DNC, wth their corporate backing, imperialist hawkish programms is perceived as a Left Wing party is beyond me. Even Bernie Sanders, who for the most part has centrist "new deal" style political positions is perceived as a socialist cracks me up and shows how much the political spectrum has moved to the Right. Do not forget that in the period from the 50s- early 70s when economic inequalities had shrank the most in the history of the US, started alot with Eisenhowers 90%+ taxation on the big capital, which was far more extreme than what Bernie was proposing, and Eisenhower was a CONSERVATIVE.

The idea of a real left in the US as it stands is sort of laughable. The place was founded on capitalism and cannot in any way, shape or form extricate that from everything else about it. Money drives everything. There's no room for real socialism when that's your absolute base.

And that's not really that bad. Full left is pretty messy and frail. But even moderately socialist ideas like universal basic healthcare for all citizens is a pipe dream for them right now. They'll cite any number of reasons, and I don't care to dispute them, but the one they won't cite is that it's a filthy socialist idea and fuck the poor if they won't get a job that comes with employer-subsidised insurance. Fucking drains of the system. Let 'em die.

http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2009/05/25/whats-health-care-like-in-aust/ -- older article I found while lightly researching/confirming what I've said above. Older as in pre-Obamacare, so maybe more relevant now than it's been in years, lol.

I believe the root of that problem is a massive straw man—a straw elephant—that we have all bought into. This idea that health insurance equals health care seems wrong to me.

I don’t know the solution, but I do know (or, believe) that we say the words “health care” an awful lot without actually discussing health care, and that there will not be a solution so long as we continue to discuss not health care.

What we have now — that is, Obamacare — is a bizarre monster with a free-market visage and a communist heart. It's "insurance," but charging higher premiums for pre-existing conditions is forbidden. Theoretically every citizen can choose where to buy "insurance" from, but they can't choose to not buy it.

Ultimately, the effect of Obamacare is cronyism and corruption. The health "insurance" market in much of the US has since narrowed to a single provider (which everyone is then mandated to buy from, unless they're poor enough for Medicaid). The best description of this system is socialized medicine with a heavy dependence on government subcontracting, because non-government businesses have regional monopolies the government enforces. Obamacare is functionally single-payer (only the monopoly pays the hospital bills), except with really shitty regulatory control so as to make healthcare a Deep State within the bureaucracy, almost fully immune to the voice of the people (and FOIA) but wielding monopolistic power — taxation without representation.

Obamacare is a microcosm of the failure of the modern American Left to remain true to their core principle of populism. They've remained true to their desire to see the State take control of certain economic functions, functions they don't want the free market performing, and I admit that some functions should be state-controlled and not left laissez-faire. However, it is critical that when such monopolies are permitted that they are subject to the will of the people through democracy. It's risky enough to create such monopolistic monsters, but to ignore the importance of transparency and oversight is to spawn an abomination without caring to attach a harness and to let go of the reins. It is in this reckless disregard for populist control that the modern Left reveals itself to be useful idiots for the corporatist cronyism it purports to oppose.

When the leadup to a piece of legislation includes the sound bite "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what's in it," that's when any principled Leftist should become thoroughly committed to opposing passage until transparency is achieved. But there are barely any principled Leftists anymore, because it's so much easier to just virtue-signal from within your propaganda bubble.

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JNF wrote:

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Just for fun: https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/922232225369874433

Just for fun.

That URL does not imply that the money didn't go towards relief for Haiti though, Just that the majority of it went to non-Haitian organizations. I would expect most international humanitarian organizations to not be based in Haiti, wouldn't you?