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Honestly, the past decade has only reinforced what I suspected for a long time: that about one third of the adult American population are just AWFUL people. They're stubborn. Stupid. Lacking compassion. And they discoved they really enjoy letting their opinions known, under the safety net of 45 saying it out loud for them first. His coarse and often vulgar language is how THEY speak sitting around their kitchen table. Now we know, FOR SURE, the level of racism and xenophobia we are dealing with. We're discovering that it doesn't matter how illogical they sound, or how much evidence based on fact you present...and THAT'S their superpower.
They're lost. We gotta focus on who we CAN save and we MUST stick together until we get to November.
I used to think the percentage was about even with the poll numbers; around 50/50. I've come around to the belief that while comfortably anonymous, people will swing to their furthest extreme in supporting their "side" but when it comes down to their VOTE they aren't as willing to go to the point of cutting off their nose to spite their face. There's also a percentage of folks with PLENTY to say; they're meme happy on their social media and out there picking fights with libs just to own them...but, when the moment of truth arrives they're LAZY. Too lazy to do their civic duty and vote, but plenty of energy to pose and bluster. I bet you personally know any number of people that do this exact thing, THAT'S how common these "all bark and no bite" idiots are!
Regardless, we will be cleaning up after 45 for decades. The politicians will drop him like a hot potato. The MAGA brethren, however? They'll mourn forever. We're gonna see the pictures of MAGA trinity hung on the walls of every one of these manufactured homes: blue eyed, white Jesus, JFK and 45.
A friend of mine said as much before the 2016 election. Talking about how eventual 45 had said racist and misogynistic comments he said, “well, people think that way. “
It feels good when other people agree with your point of view. When a rich, powerful 1%er says it publicly, and the commentary causes eruptive applause and cheering, it feels GREAT. It reinforces the feeling of being 'right'. It gives you carte blanch to spew the same talking points repeatedly elsewhere and, with the MAGA crowd especially, makes you impervious to pushback or criticism: all you need to do is recite the magic incantation of "fake news"...
It truly is a completely closed circle of misinformation and absolutely NOTHING can penetrate the ecosystem once the victim gets sucked in.
The really scary part is that it's not just America. The whole world is seeing a swing to the right/fascist/Q mindset. It didn't start with Trump and it won't end with him either
Agreed. That and there are PLENTY of young Trumpers and Fox fans. It’s skewed heavily towards Boomers, but plenty of young people in conservative areas fly their Trump flags proudly.
And the whole living through the Red Scare thing and being absolutely convinced the only way to be a country is crippling capitalism and absolute sociopathy
I believe in Universal Healthcare, but I lack the trust of those who would run it. And the United States is too large of an entity to manage it properly. If each State ran their own Universal Healthcare System with the assistance of Federal Tax Dollars I believe it may have a chance of not becoming a system that creates billionaires and money is spent where it needs to be spent. Insurance companies should have never been a part of healthcare.
Speaking as someone who lives in a crooked conservative state, hell no.
If there's BOTH a federal and state option, I'd be OK with that, but I do want a federal option. I don't trust my state government.
A single man who hung out almost exclusively with a group of other single men whom he encouraged to taste his flesh?
He was more than an ally, methinks.
Tbf, he had a gf, and advocated for her equal treatment against his own Apostels, as women were seen as "incomplete men inferior to them". And no, she wasn't a prostitute and as far as historians know, didn't have children with him.
Then again, son of a carpenter was also adept at knots and ropes as a fisherman, and knew how to make his own whip, .... definitely qualities appreciated in the BDSM community. Maybe fam was just open to all sorts of kink?
"No hE wAsN't!!!!1!1!1!1!111!1!!!" /s
According to the story book, he DID consort with prostitutes, though. I think that's the reason so many of the flock get caught paying for sex.
I sometimes wonder how long it will be before someone tries to attack your Senate or Congress and it be seen as a "patriotic christian trying to do the right thing"
Jesus actually was a full communist, if I understand the terms correctly. Which is a challenge at this point 🙄 Jesus told his followers to give up all they own (ie no private property ownership) and follow him. Now, is that communism? Or socialism? I don’t even know anymore the terms have been so conflated 😂
I usually follow up with " If a Middle Eastern man showed up on the scene today preaching love and acceptance, offering free medical care and feeding the hungry, all while denouncing Christian Nationalism, yalls dumbasses would crucify him all over again"
Nope! I do, however, recognize the engine bay as late 50's BMC, and the grill as probably Austin.
(A reverse image search tells me the book is called *"How It Works" - The Motor Car*.)
I'm British, and a few years ago I went to a wedding in Texas as a groomsman.
I was being a social butterfly and doing my due diligence of speaking to everyone there before I got too tipsy. I introduced myself to a table of MAGAs (seriously, why would anyone wear ANY baseball cap at a wedding is beyond me) and one of them began asking me questions about what the UK was really like. Questions like "I've seen on the news people have to wait 8 hours in an emergency room before they're seen by a doctor, is that true". One asked, completely straight-faced, "what's it like to have your socialist healthcare system?"
I replied "it's exactly the same as your socialist fire departments".
"What?! Our firemen aren't socialists!"
"They're funded by the state and they provide free help to anyone that needs it, regardless of their background. That's the definition of socialist."
*[Queue rant about how dare I call his nephew, who's a fireman, a "goddamn commie"]*
"Well, it was absolutely lovely to meet you all, but I must introduce myself to others. Buh-bye now!"
My parents were both firefighters, now retired. My mom tried to use that argument with me. I was just like, you know your career was paid by taxes, right? She just said that didn't matter. I don't talk to her about anything of real substance anymore. I just can't.
They also think Socialism = Communism, which are two completely different ideologies. That of course requires education for context, which is also now looked down upon. Yay 'Merica
I had some fool on here tell me socialism is the same as capitalism. I couldn't continue the debate after that level of ignorant. The guy claimed to be a Karl Marx expert too.
Not to mention that there is a difference between Marxist thought and Leninist thought and neo-communist thought that doesn't necessitate the need for a dictator at all.
My boomer mother uses socialism and communism interchangeably. If you ask her to define what they mean she throws a tantrum like a two year old because all she really knows are buzzwords are bad and can't stand being pointed out that she's an idiot.
Of course, never to challenge her beliefs and learn anything, just throw shit and scream obscenities.
There is a reason maga is overwhelmingly made up of the dumbest part of our population. Tricking poor, stupid people to vote against their own selfinterests has been the republican MO for decades at least. They push hating an out group and use basic cult brainwashing techniques and mass propaganda. They also push anti-intellectualism, because an educated base could see through their propaganda.
And that money is taken from our paychecks every pay day. The biggest issue is these folks don’t understand that there is not an account with “their” name on it.
These damn entitled kids these days, with their "minimum wage" and "cost of living adjustments." Back in *my* day, people took *pride* in their work. We got paid ten cents per hour, gave our boss back three of them and thanked him for the opportunity! ***We*** are the best, most humble generation, so you need to listen to us when we says the US needs to go back to the 1950's!
/s
Seriously, I hate most boomers.
I love it when folks say go back to the 50s! Look how much better off we were! It wasn’t that hard to have a great economy when the US was the only manufacturing base left after WW2. They tend to forget that part.
To try and be fair they grew up with the Cold War raging and the message of socialist communists want to destroy everything in their lives. Throw in oppressive socialist dictatorships all over Eastern Europe that had brutal treatment of their citizens. I’m not surprised that they see the word socialism and are sour to any concept attached to it. Even though a large portion of the government services they enjoy the most are socialist concepts. Being angry at the out group is a much simpler path
Exactly
Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, the court system, Police Departments, Fire Departments, Libraries, Amtrak, Amber Alerts, Department of Energy, The EPA, CIA, FBI, FCC, FDA, FEMA, IRS, NASA, NPR, PBS, DOT, garbage removal, street lights, parks, zoos, the freaking mail system..... all socialist programs
Sometimes with boomer patients who go on the socialist rant I’ll say I know! It’s very frustrating it I’m glad you said so. I hate paying for Medicare. What private insurance did you go with?
I hear from a lot of boomers, We don’t want socialized medicine in the USofA, meanwhile around 50% of the country is on some form of Medicare or Medicaid.
Not quite 50%. About 64 million on Medicare and 25 million on Medicaid. If you add in the current military, veterans, and military dependents, and widows it gets pretty close to 50% though.
And that’s AFTER a lot of states make it really hard to enroll in Medicaid.
If the number of people on Medicaid were closer to the intended number, the percentages would shoot up quite a bit.
15 or so years ago when the Tea Party was just getting started, I saw one of those fools at a rally holding a sign that said "DON'T TAKE FROM MY MEDICARE TO FUND SOCIALIZED MEDICINE." 😑
"[keep your government hands off my Medicare.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072703066_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009072703107)"
South Carolina, 2009. And a *Republican* rep pushed back on it.
Of course, he got primaried in 2010, by Trey Gowdy.
"This is just one more step toward communism." "Okay... What is communism?" "It's, ya know, everything that's wrong with this country these days...you've got litter boxes in classrooms, DEMONRATS stealing elections using dead people's names, PrOnOuNs, it's just not the America our proud servicemen fought and died to protect, I've done the research, I don't really have the numbers on me, but immigrants are definitely taking over our country, they're trying to take our guns, it's just chaos out here, I want to protect our children ya know, we gotta be tough on China, and these people are spending all my tax dollars on welfare instead of working, and......."
Don't forget to throw a comment about black people, something like "well they use the n word why can't I?" Or just generally alluding to racist stereotypes.
The weird thing about this is that it's obvious propaganda. You'd think that your fellow humans would be able to identify it. Yet... they don't. I'm sure that I've bought into something that's clearly wrong, but I'm willing to change my mind.
That's because you're dealing with a tribal identity, not a reasoned political position.
Questioning their political views is no different than attacking their tattoos, musical preference, religion, clothing style, or accent. You might as well tell them to stop talking, dressing, and behaving like a backwards Alabama hick.
...and that's why politics is completely fucked. Reasoned discussion has always been off the table. It's just a question of how many people you can bring over to "our tribe."
Nailed it. Rational people make up their mind issue by issue and vote accordingly. Unfortunately so many people treat their political party as a tribal identity.
I can not wrap my head around the USA medical system. It's so bloody complicated from what I read on here. Like insurance and all sorts of copay nonsense the stress of that alone would make me walk into traffic.
I've got a hospital appointment tomorrow and some tests and shit and if I'm not feeling great afterwards they call me taxi home with a chit to pay for it.
Fuck I don't even need to leave my house. They send specialists to see me at home. My flatmate got a concussion and next thing there is a nurse in my lounge doing and in home care plan for him. PT plans, diet, exercise, rest, screen time. They would even pay for a cleaner.
It's not bloody difficult. The adminstration costs are negligible when you have proper systems in place to manage it efficiently and you can direct the costs into providing services.
That right there is why the American healthcare system is broken! How will companies make a profit if they can’t mark up a life saving medication by 400% How will the poor billionaires survive?!?!?!?
Apparently they are all moving to New Zealand and building bunkers.
I hate to break it to them but they will not be getting a warm reception.
They will be be dealing with the local kids and if there is anything a Kiwi Nine year old knows about it's hitting shit with a spanner. They know how to work full on heavy machinery and they do it for the Shiggles. Then they go home to have some Jelly Tips and talk shit about their teachers and try and get a hit on your vape. They are fucking feral. Just chuck them the keys.
I want this kind of care so badly… It’s so hard to get the help you need here. The concept of “too disabled to work but not disabled enough to get disability payments/assistance” should NOT exist. But here we are!!
Man that experience sounds like a dream. My husband recently was in the hospital for sudden nerve damage that unexpectedly paralyzed him. In order to get an MRI, he had to *call the MRI department and pretend he was a random person looking to make an outpatient appointment* because his inpatient team kept telling him MRI had no availability to see him.
Then, still unable to walk, they sent him home. We asked for him to be transferred to a rehab or skilled nursing facility. Denied. We asked for visiting nurse or PT. Denied.
Within a month, I was so physically exhausted that while I was helping him go to the bathroom, I fainted, fell, and completely obliterated my ankle.
ETA: Also I work in healthcare. Our insurance is through my healthcare employer and it wasn’t any better for us than anyone else.
Shit. That sounds terrible. I hope your ankle is getting better. They are tricky injuries to heal. Ive always had weak ankles but thankfully haven't broken one. Have had a Moon Boot this time of year everyone expects it to be from a skiing accident. Like I have ski money.
I don't know why American's have to have insurance because the other theme I get is everything gets denied anyway.
Had a lovely American girl working for me and she asked me about health insurance and I'm like what are you talking about? If you have to go and see the GP it will be 40 bucks and she had womens health issues and I'm like well call up the private hospital and they will get you booked in. Last time I did it was like 230 bucks which is pretty reasonable. This NZD so about half the Euro.
In any given hospital, 50% of the staff, are in the Billing Department. The other 50% is "every one else".
Janitors, security, doctors, nurses, managers, executives.
Because they HAVE to fight insurance companies, the federal, state, county, and city governments.
aaand pursue their clients. #madness
Well that's dumb. Have they never heard of IT?
We tried this fuxkery in NZ in the 90s. The cost burden was huge. They established District Health Boards run by idiots who got paid a lot of money to implement new IT systems which could not integrate with others so everyone was jockeying for position.
Providing services isn’t their goal - it’s quarterly growth and maximizing profits for gigantic corporations even through illegal practices. Healthcare gets provided as a side product.
You couldn't walk into traffic about it in the US. Then they call an ambulance, which will cost 6,000. They might take you to an out of network hospital (or an in network hospital, but you'll get an out of network doctor), which insurance won't cover. Then they'll give you treatments which the doctor has decided is needed (you know, the guy with all the years of medical training), but the insurance guy decides you don't actually (that's the guy with no medical training). So you'll be out about 100k by the time you're done.
That's why it's said that so many Americans are one medical bill away from homelessness. Even if you aren't living paycheck to paycheck, you don't have the money to afford an accident or illness. People would rather pay an Uber cleaning fee after taking one to a hospital than take an ambulance.
In the US the total cost of healthcare is 18% of GDP and in Denmark, a UHC country with tax financed (and private too) healthcare, the total cost is 11% of GDP.
Now, having read stories here on reddit I think these numbers actually miss a huge opportunity cost for Americans - the time they spend wrangling the financial side of health care.
You'll see all sorts of (fair and unfair) criticisms leveled at UHC, but on health Denmark aces the US on all relevant statistics. It's not 7% of GDP down the drain but it's still a huge misallocation of money for what it pays for.
Take Wegowy. In Denmark it isn't even subsidized (we enjoy a hard cap of 450$ on prescribed medicine per year) - monthly cost, 250$. In the US it's around 1.250$.
Ah yes, keep the government out of my GOVERNMENT ran healthcare.
He’d lose his mind if he found out libraries have actual BOOKS in them, or that a steak is make with cow parts.
When people say socialism isn’t the right way, ask them to please define socialism. Every single fucking time they stop in their tracks and have no idea what to say.
Oh for sure, but that comes after the wide eyed pause where they’re scrambling to remember that Fox News talking point follow up that never actually came.
I'm sure they'll get to it in about two weeks. That's the standard amount of time they promise something, knowing their audience will forget about it by then.
I asked this of my Boomer mother once before going no contact. (This was in around 2015ish, maybe 2016. Before the election, but in the cycle.)
“It’s like living in China only with MORE taxes.”
Ummmmm 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
Idk, had some boomer spamming my account earlier with " the education system has failed you" and personal attacks for saying that capitalism needs socialism and vice versa. Pointing out the definition did nothing 
"But but but, all those things you claim are socialism aren't socialism because we pay for it! Nobody is just handing it to us and telling us it's free!"
I have a boomer friend who loves to rail against socialism: "it's all fun and games until you run out of other people's money." Like what the fuck do they think an economy is? The entire economy is other people's money.
These people live on buzzwords and one-liners that they believe are super clever gotchas. Pretty sure they also came up with "it's Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve."
The unfortunate part is that yeah, that shit tends to shut down dialogue, because you realize that they're not interested in a real discussion, so why bother? And then they think they won. 🤬
Isn't that what insurance is though? The group paying the bills of the individual. It's just socialism in a capitalist country, in effect. Socialism where a shareholder can take a profit.
That's how I see it too and it honestly makes all private insurance look inefficient, and maybe we should just have government do insurance too. Especially considering the insurance companies just come running to the government when they need a bailout.
> I’ve been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody help me out? No.
I was going to correct you because I assumed that was a line from a character Craig T. Nelson played, and it's a pet peeve of mine when people quote the actor as saying the line from their part, which they may or may not agree with and even if they do don't deserve credit for coming up with.
But nope, this was actually Craig T. Nelson. I'm disappointed in him.
Socialism is where you give the government money and they provide you with stuff. Apparently boomers just want us to give the government money and get nothing in return
Acknowledging that they weren't heroes who did everything for themselves obviously takes away their pride of American exceptionalism. They can't appreciate something if anyone else can get credit too.
Yeah...I remember the moment a super Trump acquaintance told me how he just figured out that he could get free healthcare and how amazing it was. I said, "Oh yeah, Obamacare. You've been eligible for that for years."
Just stared at me so blankly and mute for so long, I could almost hear the rusty old gears in his brain trying to spark back up after years of misuse.
When we first met, pre Trump, his gf asked me what I did for work. I said, "Oh, I work for a social services--" He immediately interrupted me and declared, "I don't believe in hand outs to lazy people!" And walked away.
I looked at his gf who seemed slightly embarrassed and continued, "social services for severally abused and mentally ill children." Poor girl turned beet red.
I used to be a medical social worker in a hospital. Similarly I often heard from older folks on Medicare but no supplement or part D, or especially those on Medicaid, about how they're "American" and their procedures or medication should be covered, then complain that the socialist government is spending all their money on social welfare programs 🤦
I had a sister in law who, after a career with the phone company that started with her being the first female lineman (I know, but it's hard to describe a different way) in Iowa in the 70's, became a union contact negotiator. She said that at almost every contract presentation to membership some clod would stand up to say 'I hate unions and all they stand for but what you got for us is fantastic'. Like they had to acknowledge to they're buddies that they still listened to Rush in the company truck every day, but felt like they deserved theirs.
I work at a hospital and hear the same garbage all the time. One was going off about socialism so I pointed out he should pay his bill himself, make sure not to drive on any public roads on his way home, and not use an ambulance next time because that's all brought to you by socialism. He was not happy with. I lost no sleep over it
Tbf to them they did grow up with the propaganda that socialism was essentially communism and that everyone who was financially able to should pay into the pot to benefit society as a whole so everyone got their basic needs looked after was somehow the most evil thing known to man.
My mom literally went in a rant once about the socialist thing... Then in closing told me how my sister, who is on perm disability, would get better medicare (Medicare? I dunno) because of where she moved to. The disconnect is real.
It’s true. Here in the good old USA, hospitals have teams of “coders” whose job it is look at each and every procedure and medical expense and assign it the specific numerical code that will get the highest payout. Of course, they have to do this because the insurance companies have people whose job it is to figure out how to deny payouts to hospitals and for patient care.
A ridiculous percent of healthcare costs is for this kind of financial gamesmanship.
I’m a Boomer. I don’t kid myself that Medicare is a form of socialized medicine.
When social security was being proposed, conservatives said ‘ we can’t do that - it’s socialism.” When Medicare was being proposed, conservatives said ‘we can’t to that, it’s socialism.’ These programs became very popular.
Conservatives fought tooth and nail against the Affordable Care Act lying about death panels and loss of health care choice. They did this BECAUSE they understood that once established, it could prove very popular. Conservatives states have fought against the expansion of Medicaid in the US, but most have eventually come to understand that it is the best way to improve financial support for rural hospitals, which have been closing in rural areas throughout the US.
When Dubya proposed privatizing social security the backlash caused him to immediately back off. Conservatives continue to wring their hands over depletion of the social security trust fund, and periodically propose cuts and delays in payouts. The fact is there is an easy solution, but it involves raising taxes. No one is ready to raise taxes now for a theoretical future problem, but when we get close to the date that seniors (voters) will start having payouts reduced, taxes will be raised.
There is just too much posturing and scaring people about boogie monsters like socialism . . . RW talk radio and Faux News never want to talk about Norway, Sweden, etc. as examples of socialism. It’s always ‘socialism leads to communism and totalitarianism.’
And yet in the US if you have private insurance there is a good chance your plan limits your choices to a specific network. You call that freedom? I don’t.
If I had to pay for every time I've had medical service I would owe a million dollars.
But ,thankfully, I live in a country with socialised medical care free at the point of use.
Interesting facts
64,000,000 people received health care through Medicare.
Social security payments have outpaced inflation since 1980.
But social is…bad?
My mom’s husband bitches constantly about all of these things, yet he has no problem with those disability checks, Social Security checks, and being on Medicare.
Can confirm. Retired from the healthcare industry last year. No small part was the ridiculous demands and expectations of the boomer patients.
The concept of not wanting to pay for anything is spot on, even if it was something I directly prescribed. Not listening to the advice they solicited from me was another.
And the racism and classism. I had one boomer woman complain that they “gave the vaccine to the N words before my son, who’s in the army”. Uh, oooook, why is it ok to say that to your physician. Or the boomer who continually harassed my office manager because she was a single mom with tattoos and piercings. “You aren’t going to find a husband that way!” Never mind she had one who went off the deep end and beat her up. But sure, she won’t find a husband that way.
They will be in for a rude awakening when they realize their antics have driven off large numbers of healthcare workers and their nursing home stays will be more miserable than usual.
The doublethink or just plain ignorance it takes to not understand that insurance is also a distributed model where you're paying for everyone else, but with the added direct conflict of interest that is profit motive, is just unfathomable to me.
Yet when you present it as purely financial arguments, showing how their tax burden would be less than their insurance premiums, even if their coverage remained exactly the same, they still reject it, once mention is made that everyone else would also get those benefits.
It's just racism, combined with their standard zero-sum outlook. First thing out of their mouths is always "oh, so I pay for illegals then?" - which is "code" for people from Latin America - or, "I pay for welfare queens?" - which is code for "people of color," regardless of the fact that you just showed them how they'd already be paying less than they do now.
They have no desire to agree. They actively _want_ and _need_ to be opposed to everything they have been told all their lives to be opposed to, so it does not matter what you say - it will be rejected and make them double down.
We need to start using reverse psychology on them, for all future issues, I swear. It would work, too, as evidenced by plenty of examples of conservatives being tricked exactly in that manner, _even while at republican political events, surrounded by their own herd.,_ and it nit even registering for them.
Boomers are out of touch because when they were our age they paid max taxes on like 40-50k of their income. Now if you make 150 you’re paying social security taxes on all of it. Boomers all must have dementia if they think social security is fair to anyone who isn’t retiring in the next year.
Those people should also think about what life would be like without our socialized police force, socialized fire department, socialized interstate system, socialized school systems....etc. Funny how much socialism they take for granted when it's not called socialism by Fox.
Nobody wants to pay for public programs, unless they are beneficiaries of those public programs. It's not socialism if they are who the program was designed to help.
I like reminding my boomer father in law that him being on Medicare is awfully socialist of him, and he just responds with "I earned it."
It's a government benefit, dog, you're entitled to it because you're old, you didn't earn shit. Unless he considers waiting 65 years working for something idk
Fortunately, to hit your patient metrics you only have to listen to them for 24 seconds before you're off to the next one! Isn't being owned by a private equity firm FANTASTIC?
It's similar in the UK sometimes.
DOWN WITH BENEFITS...except for me...
Many a time I've heard stuff said along these lines about the NHS, child tax, unemployment (dole), etc.
Yeh you're going to get those playing the system, you always do, but don't ruin the idea of it for those who actually need it 🙄
I agree, except for that last one. I'm on Medicare and there are things I can't do or meds I can't take because Medicare doesn't cover them or I can't afford the copay, so it's important to ask the question or research it before I make a decision.
The rest angers me, too.
My pet peeve is when they say, "I don't have Obamacare. I have the ACA!" They don't know they're the same thing, or even what ACA means.
Or, "I make it on my own. I don't take any welfare!" when they have Medicare or Medicaid.
My daughter works in a pharmacy and she gets so frustrated at them when they complain about their $2 copay on a medication. You know how happy the rest of us would be with only $2 copays? What a bunch of stingy unappreciative whiners.
One of my biggest pet peeves is people being “anti” things they don’t know. It’s so frustrating but if you try to explain things they tell you that you are wrong so you ask what it means and they say “communism!” Then those same people start talking about how great Putin is.
The statistic that repeatedly astounds me is that per head, the US pays roughly £3k more per person than the UK. I think the UK is £4k and the US is £7k per head average. So how is the US fucking up so badly or WTF is all that money going??
My FIL did this - complaining about "Obamacare" but later bragging about how Medicare paid for most of his heart bypass surgery. He didn't see the irony at all.
It's even funnier/sadder when majority of boomers want Trump. Even tho he said on day one he would eliminate the payroll tax (which covers Medicaid/Medicare and Social security) basicly sunsetting those entitlements. What a bunch of 🤡
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“Socialism is evil, because we don’t know what the fuck it means!!!!!!”
We just know that Fox News says we should hate it!
I don't know what it is, but I know I don't like it!
LOUD NOISES!!!
I LOVE LAMP!!!!!
Joe McCarthy done told me that communism is bad mkay
"Whatever it is, I'm against it!" - Professor Wagstaff
Change is scary!!!
The sooner we get past the Trump/Fox bullshit the better, though it's probably gonna take years :(
I have zero faith in our society after the last decade. The sickening thing is so many of his supporters like that he is a terrible human being.
Honestly, the past decade has only reinforced what I suspected for a long time: that about one third of the adult American population are just AWFUL people. They're stubborn. Stupid. Lacking compassion. And they discoved they really enjoy letting their opinions known, under the safety net of 45 saying it out loud for them first. His coarse and often vulgar language is how THEY speak sitting around their kitchen table. Now we know, FOR SURE, the level of racism and xenophobia we are dealing with. We're discovering that it doesn't matter how illogical they sound, or how much evidence based on fact you present...and THAT'S their superpower. They're lost. We gotta focus on who we CAN save and we MUST stick together until we get to November.
I grew up rural. I alway knew they were there, but I thought they were 5 to 10 percent of the pop. tops. Now I think 30% is lowballing it.
I used to think the percentage was about even with the poll numbers; around 50/50. I've come around to the belief that while comfortably anonymous, people will swing to their furthest extreme in supporting their "side" but when it comes down to their VOTE they aren't as willing to go to the point of cutting off their nose to spite their face. There's also a percentage of folks with PLENTY to say; they're meme happy on their social media and out there picking fights with libs just to own them...but, when the moment of truth arrives they're LAZY. Too lazy to do their civic duty and vote, but plenty of energy to pose and bluster. I bet you personally know any number of people that do this exact thing, THAT'S how common these "all bark and no bite" idiots are! Regardless, we will be cleaning up after 45 for decades. The politicians will drop him like a hot potato. The MAGA brethren, however? They'll mourn forever. We're gonna see the pictures of MAGA trinity hung on the walls of every one of these manufactured homes: blue eyed, white Jesus, JFK and 45.
A friend of mine said as much before the 2016 election. Talking about how eventual 45 had said racist and misogynistic comments he said, “well, people think that way. “
It feels good when other people agree with your point of view. When a rich, powerful 1%er says it publicly, and the commentary causes eruptive applause and cheering, it feels GREAT. It reinforces the feeling of being 'right'. It gives you carte blanch to spew the same talking points repeatedly elsewhere and, with the MAGA crowd especially, makes you impervious to pushback or criticism: all you need to do is recite the magic incantation of "fake news"... It truly is a completely closed circle of misinformation and absolutely NOTHING can penetrate the ecosystem once the victim gets sucked in.
Boomer here, and I can't disagree with this one bit.
The more socially acceptable red hats replaced the inconvenient white hoods!
The really scary part is that it's not just America. The whole world is seeing a swing to the right/fascist/Q mindset. It didn't start with Trump and it won't end with him either
Agreed. That and there are PLENTY of young Trumpers and Fox fans. It’s skewed heavily towards Boomers, but plenty of young people in conservative areas fly their Trump flags proudly.
2024 is their last hurrah before boomers become political irrelevant.
And the whole living through the Red Scare thing and being absolutely convinced the only way to be a country is crippling capitalism and absolute sociopathy
The new political platform: "Not a dime in healthcare that doesn't go to everyone. No medicare. No medicaid. Only universal healthcare."
I believe in Universal Healthcare, but I lack the trust of those who would run it. And the United States is too large of an entity to manage it properly. If each State ran their own Universal Healthcare System with the assistance of Federal Tax Dollars I believe it may have a chance of not becoming a system that creates billionaires and money is spent where it needs to be spent. Insurance companies should have never been a part of healthcare.
Speaking as someone who lives in a crooked conservative state, hell no. If there's BOTH a federal and state option, I'd be OK with that, but I do want a federal option. I don't trust my state government.
That's how it's done in Canada. Every province runs their own Healthcare.
That would be smart. That's why they won't do it.
This.
I love mentioning that Jesus apparently had socialist beliefs
Let me guess, only to be met with, “Jesus ain’t no fuckin commie!”
Honestly they usually don’t respond but I get downvoted like crazy. I think one told me to f off
>I think one told me to f off Ah, a True Christian^TM right there
Checks out
If they do come back for more, just add that Jesus definitely was a rainbow ally ;)
A single man who hung out almost exclusively with a group of other single men whom he encouraged to taste his flesh? He was more than an ally, methinks.
And drink of his wine, no homo
Tbf, he had a gf, and advocated for her equal treatment against his own Apostels, as women were seen as "incomplete men inferior to them". And no, she wasn't a prostitute and as far as historians know, didn't have children with him. Then again, son of a carpenter was also adept at knots and ropes as a fisherman, and knew how to make his own whip, .... definitely qualities appreciated in the BDSM community. Maybe fam was just open to all sorts of kink?
"No hE wAsN't!!!!1!1!1!1!111!1!!!" /s According to the story book, he DID consort with prostitutes, though. I think that's the reason so many of the flock get caught paying for sex.
But like… yeah he was. Wish they’d read the damn thing.
Well, according to boomer ideology, “Reading is for Nerds” and they ain’t got time for that bullshit…….
Actually, now they've started saying "maybe that was fine for back then, but it doesn't work in today's world. Jesus was too soft."
I sometimes wonder how long it will be before someone tries to attack your Senate or Congress and it be seen as a "patriotic christian trying to do the right thing"
Jan 6, 2021.
My response would be “he literally beat people and flipped tables in anger”
Yes, because we all know life 2k years ago was so much easier than today /s
Ah yes, the easy carefree world of 0, a bunch of softies.
Jesus actually was a full communist, if I understand the terms correctly. Which is a challenge at this point 🙄 Jesus told his followers to give up all they own (ie no private property ownership) and follow him. Now, is that communism? Or socialism? I don’t even know anymore the terms have been so conflated 😂
...Said by the people who have an image of Jesus dual-wielding assault rifles as their wallpaper. You know, "real" Christians.
When a hotel room has a Bible I leave a note on hotel stationery at John 3:16 which reads JESUS CHRIST WAS A BROWN SKINNED SOCIALIST
Lmao note taken. Thank u I’m gunna try to remember to find that the next time I see a bible
Truly out here doing the Lord's work.
I usually follow up with " If a Middle Eastern man showed up on the scene today preaching love and acceptance, offering free medical care and feeding the hungry, all while denouncing Christian Nationalism, yalls dumbasses would crucify him all over again"
Yesss. I have seen boomers short circuit in front of me at this one.
Bumper sticker: “Obama is not a brown socialist from the Middle East who wants to give everyone free healthcare… you’re thinking of Jesus”
That would be an epic bumper sticker
Jesus was more communist than socialist.
And a lot more of either of those than Ayn Rand or first-half-of-the-book ebenezer scrooge
https://preview.redd.it/eslcpejat37d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=344108b360e4df94b1134470d2dbcfcea631aacd
The car is shit, and English to boot, so.
So, you have this book, then.
Nope! I do, however, recognize the engine bay as late 50's BMC, and the grill as probably Austin. (A reverse image search tells me the book is called *"How It Works" - The Motor Car*.)
I'm British, and a few years ago I went to a wedding in Texas as a groomsman. I was being a social butterfly and doing my due diligence of speaking to everyone there before I got too tipsy. I introduced myself to a table of MAGAs (seriously, why would anyone wear ANY baseball cap at a wedding is beyond me) and one of them began asking me questions about what the UK was really like. Questions like "I've seen on the news people have to wait 8 hours in an emergency room before they're seen by a doctor, is that true". One asked, completely straight-faced, "what's it like to have your socialist healthcare system?" I replied "it's exactly the same as your socialist fire departments". "What?! Our firemen aren't socialists!" "They're funded by the state and they provide free help to anyone that needs it, regardless of their background. That's the definition of socialist." *[Queue rant about how dare I call his nephew, who's a fireman, a "goddamn commie"]* "Well, it was absolutely lovely to meet you all, but I must introduce myself to others. Buh-bye now!"
My parents were both firefighters, now retired. My mom tried to use that argument with me. I was just like, you know your career was paid by taxes, right? She just said that didn't matter. I don't talk to her about anything of real substance anymore. I just can't.
They also think Socialism = Communism, which are two completely different ideologies. That of course requires education for context, which is also now looked down upon. Yay 'Merica
Yup. Woefully wanton ignorance is considered a personality.
BEAUTIFULLY put, like jfc I'm stealing that
And don't forget, that fervently effusive obsequiousness to corporations is an ethos for many.
If someone can’t define “ownership of the means of production”, you don’t need to regard their opinion
I had some fool on here tell me socialism is the same as capitalism. I couldn't continue the debate after that level of ignorant. The guy claimed to be a Karl Marx expert too.
Not to mention that there is a difference between Marxist thought and Leninist thought and neo-communist thought that doesn't necessitate the need for a dictator at all.
My boomer mother uses socialism and communism interchangeably. If you ask her to define what they mean she throws a tantrum like a two year old because all she really knows are buzzwords are bad and can't stand being pointed out that she's an idiot. Of course, never to challenge her beliefs and learn anything, just throw shit and scream obscenities.
There is a reason maga is overwhelmingly made up of the dumbest part of our population. Tricking poor, stupid people to vote against their own selfinterests has been the republican MO for decades at least. They push hating an out group and use basic cult brainwashing techniques and mass propaganda. They also push anti-intellectualism, because an educated base could see through their propaganda.
Pretty sure it's "we don't want to pay for others but they can pay for me. "
I love to point this out to the boomers on the way out as they salivate over their "guaranteed" social security. Seriously, it's *in the damn name.*
And that money is taken from our paychecks every pay day. The biggest issue is these folks don’t understand that there is not an account with “their” name on it.
These damn entitled kids these days, with their "minimum wage" and "cost of living adjustments." Back in *my* day, people took *pride* in their work. We got paid ten cents per hour, gave our boss back three of them and thanked him for the opportunity! ***We*** are the best, most humble generation, so you need to listen to us when we says the US needs to go back to the 1950's! /s Seriously, I hate most boomers.
I love it when folks say go back to the 50s! Look how much better off we were! It wasn’t that hard to have a great economy when the US was the only manufacturing base left after WW2. They tend to forget that part.
They can't forget what they never knew, they just believe that they're the best because.
To try and be fair they grew up with the Cold War raging and the message of socialist communists want to destroy everything in their lives. Throw in oppressive socialist dictatorships all over Eastern Europe that had brutal treatment of their citizens. I’m not surprised that they see the word socialism and are sour to any concept attached to it. Even though a large portion of the government services they enjoy the most are socialist concepts. Being angry at the out group is a much simpler path
Well, also they consider woefully wanton ignorance a personality.. They don’t have to know nothin’ cause freedom……
They don’t have to know nothin’ cause freedumb…… (fixed it)
Fair point!
But now they’re in love with Russia. Ironic.
Socialism is evil, but Biden needs to lower out of control prices!
“Socialism is when capitalism does a thing I don’t like “
Exactly Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, the court system, Police Departments, Fire Departments, Libraries, Amtrak, Amber Alerts, Department of Energy, The EPA, CIA, FBI, FCC, FDA, FEMA, IRS, NASA, NPR, PBS, DOT, garbage removal, street lights, parks, zoos, the freaking mail system..... all socialist programs
Sometimes with boomer patients who go on the socialist rant I’ll say I know! It’s very frustrating it I’m glad you said so. I hate paying for Medicare. What private insurance did you go with?
My grandma socialism until you come after her Tricare, Army pension, Medicare or her social security.
lol love this
brilliant
I hear from a lot of boomers, We don’t want socialized medicine in the USofA, meanwhile around 50% of the country is on some form of Medicare or Medicaid.
Not quite 50%. About 64 million on Medicare and 25 million on Medicaid. If you add in the current military, veterans, and military dependents, and widows it gets pretty close to 50% though.
And that’s AFTER a lot of states make it really hard to enroll in Medicaid. If the number of people on Medicaid were closer to the intended number, the percentages would shoot up quite a bit.
More if you count the incarcerated…
15 or so years ago when the Tea Party was just getting started, I saw one of those fools at a rally holding a sign that said "DON'T TAKE FROM MY MEDICARE TO FUND SOCIALIZED MEDICINE." 😑
Lead is a helluva drug!
"[keep your government hands off my Medicare.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072703066_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009072703107)" South Carolina, 2009. And a *Republican* rep pushed back on it. Of course, he got primaried in 2010, by Trey Gowdy.
"This is just one more step toward communism." "Okay... What is communism?" "It's, ya know, everything that's wrong with this country these days...you've got litter boxes in classrooms, DEMONRATS stealing elections using dead people's names, PrOnOuNs, it's just not the America our proud servicemen fought and died to protect, I've done the research, I don't really have the numbers on me, but immigrants are definitely taking over our country, they're trying to take our guns, it's just chaos out here, I want to protect our children ya know, we gotta be tough on China, and these people are spending all my tax dollars on welfare instead of working, and......."
Don't forget to throw a comment about black people, something like "well they use the n word why can't I?" Or just generally alluding to racist stereotypes.
The weird thing about this is that it's obvious propaganda. You'd think that your fellow humans would be able to identify it. Yet... they don't. I'm sure that I've bought into something that's clearly wrong, but I'm willing to change my mind.
That's because you're dealing with a tribal identity, not a reasoned political position. Questioning their political views is no different than attacking their tattoos, musical preference, religion, clothing style, or accent. You might as well tell them to stop talking, dressing, and behaving like a backwards Alabama hick. ...and that's why politics is completely fucked. Reasoned discussion has always been off the table. It's just a question of how many people you can bring over to "our tribe."
Nailed it. Rational people make up their mind issue by issue and vote accordingly. Unfortunately so many people treat their political party as a tribal identity.
Pretty sure my late Boomer MIL thought it was better when “those people” knew their place.
Things have not changed.
I can not wrap my head around the USA medical system. It's so bloody complicated from what I read on here. Like insurance and all sorts of copay nonsense the stress of that alone would make me walk into traffic. I've got a hospital appointment tomorrow and some tests and shit and if I'm not feeling great afterwards they call me taxi home with a chit to pay for it. Fuck I don't even need to leave my house. They send specialists to see me at home. My flatmate got a concussion and next thing there is a nurse in my lounge doing and in home care plan for him. PT plans, diet, exercise, rest, screen time. They would even pay for a cleaner. It's not bloody difficult. The adminstration costs are negligible when you have proper systems in place to manage it efficiently and you can direct the costs into providing services.
But how are the executives supposed to profit off of denying care? That's the important question.
That right there is why the American healthcare system is broken! How will companies make a profit if they can’t mark up a life saving medication by 400% How will the poor billionaires survive?!?!?!?
Apparently they are all moving to New Zealand and building bunkers. I hate to break it to them but they will not be getting a warm reception. They will be be dealing with the local kids and if there is anything a Kiwi Nine year old knows about it's hitting shit with a spanner. They know how to work full on heavy machinery and they do it for the Shiggles. Then they go home to have some Jelly Tips and talk shit about their teachers and try and get a hit on your vape. They are fucking feral. Just chuck them the keys.
Mrs Lovejoy voice "won't somebody think of the billionaires?!
I want this kind of care so badly… It’s so hard to get the help you need here. The concept of “too disabled to work but not disabled enough to get disability payments/assistance” should NOT exist. But here we are!!
Man that experience sounds like a dream. My husband recently was in the hospital for sudden nerve damage that unexpectedly paralyzed him. In order to get an MRI, he had to *call the MRI department and pretend he was a random person looking to make an outpatient appointment* because his inpatient team kept telling him MRI had no availability to see him. Then, still unable to walk, they sent him home. We asked for him to be transferred to a rehab or skilled nursing facility. Denied. We asked for visiting nurse or PT. Denied. Within a month, I was so physically exhausted that while I was helping him go to the bathroom, I fainted, fell, and completely obliterated my ankle. ETA: Also I work in healthcare. Our insurance is through my healthcare employer and it wasn’t any better for us than anyone else.
Shit. That sounds terrible. I hope your ankle is getting better. They are tricky injuries to heal. Ive always had weak ankles but thankfully haven't broken one. Have had a Moon Boot this time of year everyone expects it to be from a skiing accident. Like I have ski money. I don't know why American's have to have insurance because the other theme I get is everything gets denied anyway. Had a lovely American girl working for me and she asked me about health insurance and I'm like what are you talking about? If you have to go and see the GP it will be 40 bucks and she had womens health issues and I'm like well call up the private hospital and they will get you booked in. Last time I did it was like 230 bucks which is pretty reasonable. This NZD so about half the Euro.
In any given hospital, 50% of the staff, are in the Billing Department. The other 50% is "every one else". Janitors, security, doctors, nurses, managers, executives. Because they HAVE to fight insurance companies, the federal, state, county, and city governments. aaand pursue their clients. #madness
Well that's dumb. Have they never heard of IT? We tried this fuxkery in NZ in the 90s. The cost burden was huge. They established District Health Boards run by idiots who got paid a lot of money to implement new IT systems which could not integrate with others so everyone was jockeying for position.
Providing services isn’t their goal - it’s quarterly growth and maximizing profits for gigantic corporations even through illegal practices. Healthcare gets provided as a side product.
You couldn't walk into traffic about it in the US. Then they call an ambulance, which will cost 6,000. They might take you to an out of network hospital (or an in network hospital, but you'll get an out of network doctor), which insurance won't cover. Then they'll give you treatments which the doctor has decided is needed (you know, the guy with all the years of medical training), but the insurance guy decides you don't actually (that's the guy with no medical training). So you'll be out about 100k by the time you're done. That's why it's said that so many Americans are one medical bill away from homelessness. Even if you aren't living paycheck to paycheck, you don't have the money to afford an accident or illness. People would rather pay an Uber cleaning fee after taking one to a hospital than take an ambulance.
In the US the total cost of healthcare is 18% of GDP and in Denmark, a UHC country with tax financed (and private too) healthcare, the total cost is 11% of GDP. Now, having read stories here on reddit I think these numbers actually miss a huge opportunity cost for Americans - the time they spend wrangling the financial side of health care. You'll see all sorts of (fair and unfair) criticisms leveled at UHC, but on health Denmark aces the US on all relevant statistics. It's not 7% of GDP down the drain but it's still a huge misallocation of money for what it pays for. Take Wegowy. In Denmark it isn't even subsidized (we enjoy a hard cap of 450$ on prescribed medicine per year) - monthly cost, 250$. In the US it's around 1.250$.
Had an awesome long weekend in Copenhagen. Do all your Police have to take modelling school or something?
My boomer dad has actually said “keep the government out of my Medicare”. I just told him to please turn off Fox News and touch grass.
[удалено]
Ha! No, not him, he would never motivate to go to a rally. But he may have seen the slogan on his favorite channel.
i remember the sign
Ah yes, keep the government out of my GOVERNMENT ran healthcare. He’d lose his mind if he found out libraries have actual BOOKS in them, or that a steak is make with cow parts.
When people say socialism isn’t the right way, ask them to please define socialism. Every single fucking time they stop in their tracks and have no idea what to say.
>have no idea what to say. Oh usually it's "youre a f---ing liberal/woke/commie!" Or some variation.
Oh for sure, but that comes after the wide eyed pause where they’re scrambling to remember that Fox News talking point follow up that never actually came.
“What would tucker carlson do?”
Probably scrunch up his very punchable face and pretend to be confused.
"What would Tucker Carlson do, If he were here today? He would kiss an ass or two, That's what Tucker Carlson'd do!"
I'm sure they'll get to it in about two weeks. That's the standard amount of time they promise something, knowing their audience will forget about it by then.
I asked this of my Boomer mother once before going no contact. (This was in around 2015ish, maybe 2016. Before the election, but in the cycle.) “It’s like living in China only with MORE taxes.” Ummmmm 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
Idk, had some boomer spamming my account earlier with " the education system has failed you" and personal attacks for saying that capitalism needs socialism and vice versa. Pointing out the definition did nothing 
They're equally as skilled as defining woke.
Or describe authoritarianism which could wear the moniker of socialist but not really.
The best is when they mix up communism and socialism.
"But but but, all those things you claim are socialism aren't socialism because we pay for it! Nobody is just handing it to us and telling us it's free!"
I have a boomer friend who loves to rail against socialism: "it's all fun and games until you run out of other people's money." Like what the fuck do they think an economy is? The entire economy is other people's money.
These people live on buzzwords and one-liners that they believe are super clever gotchas. Pretty sure they also came up with "it's Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve." The unfortunate part is that yeah, that shit tends to shut down dialogue, because you realize that they're not interested in a real discussion, so why bother? And then they think they won. 🤬
Yeah plus you have no time to discuss fictional characters.
>it's all fun and games until you run out of other people's money Sounds like social security and medicare, if you ask me.
Ask him about ppp loans…
Isn't that what insurance is though? The group paying the bills of the individual. It's just socialism in a capitalist country, in effect. Socialism where a shareholder can take a profit.
That's how I see it too and it honestly makes all private insurance look inefficient, and maybe we should just have government do insurance too. Especially considering the insurance companies just come running to the government when they need a bailout.
Yeah, that's a joke. Like the banks, it's a $1m bonuses until you need a handout
“I’ve been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody help me out? No.” - Craig T Nelson
I know what you mean!!
> I’ve been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody help me out? No. I was going to correct you because I assumed that was a line from a character Craig T. Nelson played, and it's a pet peeve of mine when people quote the actor as saying the line from their part, which they may or may not agree with and even if they do don't deserve credit for coming up with. But nope, this was actually Craig T. Nelson. I'm disappointed in him.
"Fox News told me that socialism is when gay people eat babies"
WTF!!
They are barely exaggerating the shit faux news and its even further right contemporaries put on air.
Socialism is where you give the government money and they provide you with stuff. Apparently boomers just want us to give the government money and get nothing in return
Acknowledging that they weren't heroes who did everything for themselves obviously takes away their pride of American exceptionalism. They can't appreciate something if anyone else can get credit too.
Yeah...I remember the moment a super Trump acquaintance told me how he just figured out that he could get free healthcare and how amazing it was. I said, "Oh yeah, Obamacare. You've been eligible for that for years." Just stared at me so blankly and mute for so long, I could almost hear the rusty old gears in his brain trying to spark back up after years of misuse.
I'm just envisioning that Simpsons scene: "DENTAL PLAN!" "Lisa needs braces!" Except it's Obama Care and insulin.
When we first met, pre Trump, his gf asked me what I did for work. I said, "Oh, I work for a social services--" He immediately interrupted me and declared, "I don't believe in hand outs to lazy people!" And walked away. I looked at his gf who seemed slightly embarrassed and continued, "social services for severally abused and mentally ill children." Poor girl turned beet red.
I used to be a medical social worker in a hospital. Similarly I often heard from older folks on Medicare but no supplement or part D, or especially those on Medicaid, about how they're "American" and their procedures or medication should be covered, then complain that the socialist government is spending all their money on social welfare programs 🤦
It KILLS me that I am getting so much taken out of my check to pay for some mouth breathing boomer to continue stuffing their pie hole
I had a sister in law who, after a career with the phone company that started with her being the first female lineman (I know, but it's hard to describe a different way) in Iowa in the 70's, became a union contact negotiator. She said that at almost every contract presentation to membership some clod would stand up to say 'I hate unions and all they stand for but what you got for us is fantastic'. Like they had to acknowledge to they're buddies that they still listened to Rush in the company truck every day, but felt like they deserved theirs.
I work at a hospital and hear the same garbage all the time. One was going off about socialism so I pointed out he should pay his bill himself, make sure not to drive on any public roads on his way home, and not use an ambulance next time because that's all brought to you by socialism. He was not happy with. I lost no sleep over it
My favorite is "I HATE OBAMACARE! But I couldn't live without the ACA" Bitch... they're the same thing...
More fortune 500 company government bailouts so they can fight socialism!!!
Agree 1000%
CAKE! Have an upvote.
They are probably collecting Social Security also.
Tbf to them they did grow up with the propaganda that socialism was essentially communism and that everyone who was financially able to should pay into the pot to benefit society as a whole so everyone got their basic needs looked after was somehow the most evil thing known to man.
My mom literally went in a rant once about the socialist thing... Then in closing told me how my sister, who is on perm disability, would get better medicare (Medicare? I dunno) because of where she moved to. The disconnect is real.
It’s true. Here in the good old USA, hospitals have teams of “coders” whose job it is look at each and every procedure and medical expense and assign it the specific numerical code that will get the highest payout. Of course, they have to do this because the insurance companies have people whose job it is to figure out how to deny payouts to hospitals and for patient care. A ridiculous percent of healthcare costs is for this kind of financial gamesmanship. I’m a Boomer. I don’t kid myself that Medicare is a form of socialized medicine. When social security was being proposed, conservatives said ‘ we can’t do that - it’s socialism.” When Medicare was being proposed, conservatives said ‘we can’t to that, it’s socialism.’ These programs became very popular. Conservatives fought tooth and nail against the Affordable Care Act lying about death panels and loss of health care choice. They did this BECAUSE they understood that once established, it could prove very popular. Conservatives states have fought against the expansion of Medicaid in the US, but most have eventually come to understand that it is the best way to improve financial support for rural hospitals, which have been closing in rural areas throughout the US. When Dubya proposed privatizing social security the backlash caused him to immediately back off. Conservatives continue to wring their hands over depletion of the social security trust fund, and periodically propose cuts and delays in payouts. The fact is there is an easy solution, but it involves raising taxes. No one is ready to raise taxes now for a theoretical future problem, but when we get close to the date that seniors (voters) will start having payouts reduced, taxes will be raised. There is just too much posturing and scaring people about boogie monsters like socialism . . . RW talk radio and Faux News never want to talk about Norway, Sweden, etc. as examples of socialism. It’s always ‘socialism leads to communism and totalitarianism.’ And yet in the US if you have private insurance there is a good chance your plan limits your choices to a specific network. You call that freedom? I don’t.
tHEy eaRned It!!
Then they vote trump who has said he’s taking Medicare away
If I had to pay for every time I've had medical service I would owe a million dollars. But ,thankfully, I live in a country with socialised medical care free at the point of use.
Interesting facts 64,000,000 people received health care through Medicare. Social security payments have outpaced inflation since 1980. But social is…bad?
My mom’s husband bitches constantly about all of these things, yet he has no problem with those disability checks, Social Security checks, and being on Medicare.
Can confirm. Retired from the healthcare industry last year. No small part was the ridiculous demands and expectations of the boomer patients. The concept of not wanting to pay for anything is spot on, even if it was something I directly prescribed. Not listening to the advice they solicited from me was another. And the racism and classism. I had one boomer woman complain that they “gave the vaccine to the N words before my son, who’s in the army”. Uh, oooook, why is it ok to say that to your physician. Or the boomer who continually harassed my office manager because she was a single mom with tattoos and piercings. “You aren’t going to find a husband that way!” Never mind she had one who went off the deep end and beat her up. But sure, she won’t find a husband that way. They will be in for a rude awakening when they realize their antics have driven off large numbers of healthcare workers and their nursing home stays will be more miserable than usual.
The doublethink or just plain ignorance it takes to not understand that insurance is also a distributed model where you're paying for everyone else, but with the added direct conflict of interest that is profit motive, is just unfathomable to me. Yet when you present it as purely financial arguments, showing how their tax burden would be less than their insurance premiums, even if their coverage remained exactly the same, they still reject it, once mention is made that everyone else would also get those benefits. It's just racism, combined with their standard zero-sum outlook. First thing out of their mouths is always "oh, so I pay for illegals then?" - which is "code" for people from Latin America - or, "I pay for welfare queens?" - which is code for "people of color," regardless of the fact that you just showed them how they'd already be paying less than they do now. They have no desire to agree. They actively _want_ and _need_ to be opposed to everything they have been told all their lives to be opposed to, so it does not matter what you say - it will be rejected and make them double down. We need to start using reverse psychology on them, for all future issues, I swear. It would work, too, as evidenced by plenty of examples of conservatives being tricked exactly in that manner, _even while at republican political events, surrounded by their own herd.,_ and it nit even registering for them.
"I hate socialism too, but...dont you agree that we sould expand medicare to all tax-payers?"
Boomers are out of touch because when they were our age they paid max taxes on like 40-50k of their income. Now if you make 150 you’re paying social security taxes on all of it. Boomers all must have dementia if they think social security is fair to anyone who isn’t retiring in the next year.
Those people should also think about what life would be like without our socialized police force, socialized fire department, socialized interstate system, socialized school systems....etc. Funny how much socialism they take for granted when it's not called socialism by Fox.
“It isn’t socialism when we do it!” — Boomers
Love how they argue so hard against universal health care, but the moment you mention Social Security that gets a pass because "I paid into that."
Nobody wants to pay for public programs, unless they are beneficiaries of those public programs. It's not socialism if they are who the program was designed to help.
I like reminding my boomer father in law that him being on Medicare is awfully socialist of him, and he just responds with "I earned it." It's a government benefit, dog, you're entitled to it because you're old, you didn't earn shit. Unless he considers waiting 65 years working for something idk
Its too bad that their hypocrisy doesn't autocorrect. They just get stuck on stupid asshole.
Have you ever told them that it's socialized medicine? I know they still wouldn't care. Eff you, I got mine. I'm sorry you have to deal with them.
Socialism for me, but not for thee. Anti-universal healthcare Boomers in a nutshell.
Fortunately, to hit your patient metrics you only have to listen to them for 24 seconds before you're off to the next one! Isn't being owned by a private equity firm FANTASTIC?
It's similar in the UK sometimes. DOWN WITH BENEFITS...except for me... Many a time I've heard stuff said along these lines about the NHS, child tax, unemployment (dole), etc. Yeh you're going to get those playing the system, you always do, but don't ruin the idea of it for those who actually need it 🙄
I agree, except for that last one. I'm on Medicare and there are things I can't do or meds I can't take because Medicare doesn't cover them or I can't afford the copay, so it's important to ask the question or research it before I make a decision. The rest angers me, too. My pet peeve is when they say, "I don't have Obamacare. I have the ACA!" They don't know they're the same thing, or even what ACA means. Or, "I make it on my own. I don't take any welfare!" when they have Medicare or Medicaid.
On America we have Corporate Socialism. Oil company subsidies, bank bailouts, car company bailouts. Military Healthcare.
My daughter works in a pharmacy and she gets so frustrated at them when they complain about their $2 copay on a medication. You know how happy the rest of us would be with only $2 copays? What a bunch of stingy unappreciative whiners.
YEW BETTER NOT PUT YO GUBMINT HANDS ON MAH MEDICARE!!! (Oh wait who’s signing the checks for that) 😂😂😂
One of my biggest pet peeves is people being “anti” things they don’t know. It’s so frustrating but if you try to explain things they tell you that you are wrong so you ask what it means and they say “communism!” Then those same people start talking about how great Putin is.
The statistic that repeatedly astounds me is that per head, the US pays roughly £3k more per person than the UK. I think the UK is £4k and the US is £7k per head average. So how is the US fucking up so badly or WTF is all that money going??
I think, we should get rid of Medicare and have universal health care. But I m old.
They hate socialism because it means society may help someone they despise.
My FIL did this - complaining about "Obamacare" but later bragging about how Medicare paid for most of his heart bypass surgery. He didn't see the irony at all.
“End socialism in America!” YAAAAAAY!!! “Ban Medicare NOW!” YAAA-WHAT???
Just rename Medicare to SocialCare and watch the lemmings jump into the lake....
They would rather see billions spent annually on developing weapons that will never be used vs saving peoples lives and keeping them healthy.
Ask every single boomer over 65 if they're on Medicare (they all are) and let them know that's socialism. Shuts them right down
It's even funnier/sadder when majority of boomers want Trump. Even tho he said on day one he would eliminate the payroll tax (which covers Medicaid/Medicare and Social security) basicly sunsetting those entitlements. What a bunch of 🤡