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"Return the dignity of work to young men who need to be at work instead of playing video games all day."

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended Republican efforts to attach work requirements to Medicaid, suggesting that young American men are wasting their lives "playing video games all day" instead of working.

Johnson's remarks came as House Republicans pushed forward a budget framework that would help finance President Donald Trump's tax cuts, with plans to slash federal spending by trillions. GOP leaders are eyeing $880 billion in reductions to Medicaid, a move critics warn could gut health coverage for millions of low-income Americans.

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[-] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago

As a gamer, I believe the appropriate response is, "Suck my dick fag Johnson, your mom's a cum guzzling whore draining the resources of my balls."

Or something to that effect.

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

It's unfortunate how many self-described "gamers" voted this entire thing in because they hate women and hate accountability and hate responsibility.

Only a seasoned Xbox Live veteran could phrase that eloquently.

[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

If you are interested in video games, mental health and the current moral panic about it from an actual scientific perspective... from a scientist who is also a life long fan of video games... and understands them beyond "is too much video game bad?" check out the youtube channel Psychgeist, in particular this recent video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42D9olrXL-s

If Mike Johnson gave a shit about young men, he would be terrified by the speed that mobile phone gambling, especially but not limited to sports gambling is tearing through and destroying the lives of young men in the U.S. I mean, everyone is suffering from it but demographically the whole industry seems aimed at young men.

Fuck you Mike Johnson, video games are art and you don't understand art because you are a boring-creepy ass fascist.

Let me say this emphatically, if you are out there playing video games and not really wanting to go through the hellish process of applying to jobs in the U.S. and decide to play an extremely good video game that is both mentally challenging and also a vehicle for socialization and making friends.... good. The rules of capitalism were supposed to be that if the pay and conditions you are offering employees isn't sufficient vs. the required amount of labor and time, you need to sweeten the deal as the employer, that is how bargaining works?? The fact that people like Mike Johnson always return to this rhetoric the minute the "wisdom of the market" turns not in favor of the rich tells you everything you need to know about Mike Johnson and his ilk.

fuck you, pay me - The Philharmonik 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵

https://thephilharmonik.bandcamp.com/track/pay-me

Hours - Maky Lavendar 🎵 🎵

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3d0bcuokTk

non-acoustic version that bumps 🎵🎵🎵

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyfH8zSfTX4

https://makylavender.bandcamp.com/album/at-least-my-mom-loves-me

[-] Bryter@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Makes me think of Bukowski's 'The Genius of the Crowd'...this part particularly;

"...but there is genius in their hatred

there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you

to kill anybody

not wanting solitude

not understanding solitude

they will attempt to destroy anything

that differs from their own

not being able to create art

they will not understand art

they will consider their failure as creators

only as a failure of the world"

https://youtu.be/el8BHe18owk

[-] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Return the dignity of work ...

... by paying them what they're fucking worth, asshole.

[-] b3an@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

No no. Dignity is being paid minimum, getting minimal benefits like healthcare.

Don’t want to DRAIN THOSE RESOURCES.

Fucking assclown Johnson.

[-] WatDabney@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 week ago

Sorry Mike, but one of the good things that's come out of the internet is that it's made people far more aware of just how much of the value their labor creates goes to paying for the privileged lives of worthless shitheels like you.

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Upvoted for usage of the word "shitheel". Love that word.

[-] Saledovil@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago

This "people should work harder" point is always made by people who haven't done a honest day's work in decades.

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[-] leadore@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

'They're Draining Resources'

"Building new power plants and taking all the water just to service broligarchs' AI businesses is fine, though."

[-] PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The US has the lowest unemployment rate in history. Who he fuck has time to play games?!

[-] WhatSay@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 week ago

He's a waste of air

[-] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 week ago

Men should stop wasting their time on nonsense like religion. Grow up. You can't leave your life based on a fairy tale.

[-] kahless@lemm.ee 4 points 1 week ago

The labor force participation rate for men ages 25-54 is approximately 90%.

Who the hell is he talking about? We're all working already

https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm

[-] OCATMBBL@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Children. That's why they're eroding child labor laws.

[-] iowagneiss@midwest.social 3 points 1 week ago

They call 13 year old girls "young women," so it stands to reason that they're talking about getting teenage boys into the workforce for minimum wage here, yeah.

[-] ChillPenguin@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Just classic republican nonsense. Bitching about things that don't exist. But they blast it all over, so people believe it.

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[-] Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Fuck you. Pay me.

[-] Jaysyn@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Fuck you, I've worked 8+ hours a day for the past 30 years & I will do whatever the fuck I want in my off time.

Reminder: Mike Johnson has never actually worked a real job.

He's a hypocrite & if there is a Hell, he'll be burning right there beside me.

[-] Tryenjer@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

That's the problem, he doesn't want people to have an off time.

[-] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 3 points 1 week ago

Get me a job that pays at least minimum wage. Anything less isn't deserving of anyone's effort.

[-] drinkwaterkin@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago

This must be a sign from God that I need to pursue the American dream of monetized game streaming.

[-] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

That's funny. Last I checked, I'm not the one taking recess for f'ing Easter of all things.

[-] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

no one shut down their job and prevented everyone from working for over a week just because they didnt get their way, either.

Typical republican sophistry

[-] eierkuchen@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

Hes totally a drain on Oxygen ressources. He should stop using it.

[-] pyre@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

says guy who's job is literally nothing more than draining resources. go fuck yourself cuntface.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 3 points 1 week ago

You're a drain on resources you authoritarian bootlicker.

[-] dotslashme@infosec.pub 3 points 1 week ago

Who TF think medicaid goes to people choosing not to work?

[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

They don’t care. The cruelty is the point.

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[-] Makeitstop@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

What the fuck does that have to with access to medical care you absolute fucking waste of flesh‽

No one is living off of Medicare or Medicaid. No one is able to not work and instead play video games all day because of these programs. All a work requirement does is make it harder for these programs to help the people who need them. Which of course makes it more likely that they will be stu k with deteriorating health issues which will make it harder for them to work.

This is just an attempt to cut benefits for the poor to make room for tax cuts for the rich. It's all about obfuscating the cuts so they can try to dodge accountability.

Fuck you Mike Johnson. You are net drain on humanity. You are actively working to increase suffering and death. Stop pretending to love Jesus because the last time he met someone like you he whipped them and drove them out of the temple.

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[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago

‘They’re draining resources’

... from their rich overlords.

That's what he means.

Hey now, the reason I game so much is cause I have insomnia. I go to work!

[-] Th3D3k0y@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Possibly mildly unpopular opinion. I'd probably be happy giving up gaming to work more, say 60 hours a week total, if that meant I could fully support my family on my own income and let my wife do something other than work (if she chooses)

[-] GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today 3 points 1 week ago

Just repeating what the others said, but the 40 hour work week is brutal enough on balancing home and family. When I would pull overtime shifts and work 60-80 hour weeks, only a fool would have been able to look at what was going on and call it reasonable. I'd come home from work, if it was day 6 I would throw the clothes in the wash, crawl into bed, wake up and shower, put on the work uniform, and go back to work.

Food was whatever restaurant or fast food joint a coworker was heading to, and maybe some peanut butter or crackers at home.

I was single then, and no kids or true responsibilities outside of work. It would have been insanity to try and add significant chores and child-rearing to that timetable, and any romance with the partner would be impossible. It doesn't have anything to do with gaming, much less your wife and family.

[-] Auli@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago

No thanks I would like a work life balance.

[-] Bosht@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I'm not sure what your profession is but I worked a relatively easy job and 60 hours killed me, plus killed any semblance of family life I had. You're not home, and when you are you're too exhausted to do anything. With a physically gruelling job I'd imagine it would be even worse l.

[-] absentbird@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

I doubt you'd be happy with that long term. I had a friend who did that and it burned him out hard, working long hours for a family he hardly had time with. But maybe you're exceptional.

Regardless, it's not easy to find a job like that in this economy.

[-] gmtom@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

The Trump admin just made their fatal mistake. They. Attacked. Gamers.

[-] Skoll@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

BOTTOM TEXT

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[-] Objection@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

They targeted gamers.

[-] Salamanderwizard92@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

Oh are we gonna return to the video games are evil and should be banned era of America? What's next DnD is turning kids into devil worshippers?

[-] meyotch@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 week ago

Yes and after that, LSD-laced Disney character stickers being handed out in elementary schools.

Jesus, these fundies were have a different panic every month in the Reagan years.

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Many men look at the pain/reward ratio and it's not actually worth it. People are rational: toiling away to at best afford a tiny apartment that takes up half your salary while the other half is spent on food is not alluring. Ironically, this guy is in a position to alter society so the rewards are not so small and instead he chooses moral condemnation as the tool to motivate, as though his castigation will change the equation. He may be an idiot or may be very intelligent and just exploiting the system by saying what people want to hear to distract from the real problem.

[-] TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

These assholes talking about working lol.

They "work" 70(?) Days out of the year. On top of that they spend like 95% of their time telling billionaires what they will do for them if they give them money.

Fuck this pencil-dicked Evil Leave-it-to-Beaver looking motherfucker.

[-] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I just finished working four 12 hour shifts dealing with morons and shitty people, Mike. I'll play some god damn video games if I want to.

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this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
26 points (96.4% liked)

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