this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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Maost progressive Dem!
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David Copium-man
desperately trying to gaslight everyone 
At our benefits meeting the rep was straight face telling us to ask hospitals/doctors what the cash price is before running it through insurance as the negotiated rates are shit.
She spent the whole session basically telling us not to see the doctor because they'll bill us for some bullshit diagnostics at our annual visit that won't be covered.
Reminds me of the Obamacare "death spiral" but the death spiral is just good ole capitalism
I am working on an effort post where I walk through the median American’s budget, and compare that to qualitatively to what a typical worker in the Eastern Bloc in say the early 80s would have. The early conclusion I’m coming to is that MAYBE the American gets more treats (not even sure that’s true) but life is way more precarious, with health care and housing being so easy to lose.
Health insurance is such a scam. I think in the coming years less and less will be covered and Americans will question why they are even paying premiums in the first place. Universal healthcare will become even more popular but it won’t matter since we don’t live in a democracy. Despite health care being near the top of the list of what voters care about, Democrats won’t even bring up a Public Option while universal healthcare just gets more and more popular.
I totally agree with your maybe qualifier. I'm a stingy hermit but our treats suck. Yeah I can get a really nice meal for a third of my paycheck, but the real treats I want inherently threaten capitalism or aren't profitable. Human connection, walkable cities, clean and modernized public spaces, and free time are enemies of the bg because they create community, which shares a lot of letters with the bad word.
Even our media sucks because it can always start out good, but in the end the show, movie, book, game has to lib out and show how both sides or that "killing the baddies is actually bad." Any depiction of communism has to be in a situation where capitalism died of natural causes.
Really what Americans have to do is go overseas and spend their "powerful" dollar in a place that's being exploited. I don't like that feeling at all, though I guess I'd prefer my money go to people who actually deserve it. The fact that people have been traveling abroad for healthcare and saving money doing so is absurd.
Ok done ranting. Would be really interested in your post when it's ready!
Yeah it’s like, take a moment and think about all the sort of unnecessary possessions you have (I feel like calling them “treats” isn’t always the best because some unnecessary things are cool). Think about how those actually make your life better or worse. Cell phones aren’t a great comparison because they didn’t have them in the Soviet times.
For me personally, it comes down to like, my coffee maker and some other kitchen things, my e-reader, my TV, then books and board games. Other than that, I don’t really have much else. If the USSR was able to fix their shit in the 80s and continue on to 2023, do we really think my Soviet doppelgänger wouldn’t have those things too? In terms of actual quality of life… I mean I make decent money now but I don’t think I’d be less happy if I was living in the 2023 Soviet Union (ignoring the fact that I’m a commie so obviously I’d rather be there). I might have marginally less treats but I’d be way more secure in life. And I’m someone who makes above the median income in a country that benefits massively from imperialism.
I think the other unsaid "benefit" that's enjoyed is relative safety from warfare. Of course the primary export of the US is warfare. Not a very healthy relationship
I hope to have the satisfaction of seeing the day when the media's old talking point "how you gonna pay for it", just does not work anymore. The day when the any average joe on the street tells a reporter asking about how great his employer plan is to go f off. There is a certain satisfaction in seeing that happen.
Idk, maybe there is hope of seeing that happen given how one of the pillars of the media's consensus, dogmatic support for Israel, has been shown to be weak among generations that came of age post 2008. If the media does not have total control over that narrative, what else are they bluffing on.