Is money and wealth evil?

[iNow]

  On 1/12/2025 at 12:33 AM, LuckyR said:

you conveniently ignored

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I didn’t ignore it. I argued the same thing a decade before you even joined the site and before Obamacare (not what he wanted, but what he had to settle for) passed 

  On 1/12/2025 at 1:58 AM, TheVat said:

healthcare works best when viewed as a public good, like say primary education, and not a profit centered enterprise.  Just as free public education somewhat resolved a massive literacy differential caused by economic inequality

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In my state, public funds are being siphoned away from public schools and given as vouchers for private schools and that RW ideology you mentions continues to ascend while our reading and test scores fall. 

[KJW]

  On 1/12/2025 at 1:58 AM, TheVat said:

The systemic problem is that healthcare works best when viewed as a public good, like say primary education, and not a profit centered enterprise.

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That's "un-American"! And I say "un-American" because I can't think of any other country that thinks like that. Yes, capitalism exists throughout the West, and conservative governments do push for privatisation, but this idea that any hint of socialism is thoroughly evil seems to me to be a uniquely American phenomenon.
 

 

[iNow]

  On 1/12/2025 at 2:54 AM, KJW said:

any hint of socialism is thoroughly evil seems to me to be a uniquely American phenomenon.

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Much like the obfuscation around cigarettes causing cancer or CO2 leading to climate change, the “socialism is always bad” narrative was a successful well executed marketing campaign by the insurance companies (who do literally nothing but leech money out of the pockets of patients) and for-profit hospitals (who prioritize shareholder value over patient outcomes).

Healthcare costs remain the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US and too many people cannot afford the basic care or medicine they require to survive. 

Yes, Obamacare made it better, but it didn’t do enough and was the best he could achieve in the face of (literally) violent opposition. 

[LuckyR]

  On 1/12/2025 at 2:30 AM, iNow said:

I didn’t ignore it. I argued the same thing a decade before you even joined the site and before Obamacare (not what he wanted, but what he had to settle for) passed  

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Oh cool. Glad to hear we're in agreement.

[dimreepr]

  On 1/12/2025 at 2:54 AM, KJW said:

That's "un-American"! And I say "un-American" because I can't think of any other country that thinks like that. Yes, capitalism exists throughout the West, and conservative governments do push for privatisation, but this idea that any hint of socialism is thoroughly evil seems to me to be a uniquely American phenomenon.

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Nope, they're just patient zero, I know the UK has been infected and I've heard a few sniffles next door in Europe...🤢