I am retiring at the end of the month. I am a Nurse Care Manager for adults with multiple chronic illnesses, helping them navigate an increasingly complex healthcare environment. And by increasingly complex I mean more stacked against the patient. Medicare Advantage programs are horrible and UHC is the worst. Too many stories. People go into medicine/ healthcare because they care about people- I can tell you I have not heard any words of sympathy this week for the CEO in the halls where I work. Where is it all going? I don’t know. I know real reform needs to occur in health care. Does it take a CEO or an Archduke being assassinated to light that fire? If not, what does it take?
I think the politicians and corporate shareholders making money off American health care and insurance will be unmoved. Nothing, I'm afraid, is going to change. I'd like to believe otherwise, but I've lived too long and seen too much to expect it.
What I’ve wondered about voters, especially Texas voters, for years! They bitch and moan about taxes and then turn around and vote for people who only cut their services, but they buy the retoric. And god forbid a state income tax that really would lower taxes for the majority while the wealthy would have to actually pitch in.
Texas is one of the true, "I've got mine, you get yours" states. Our tax burden is hidden in toll roads and local sales taxes and the nonsense that a homestead exemption makes a real difference in property taxes. People moving here for tax purposes are uninformed fools.
I really enjoy your straight up tell it like it is honesty and admit to being so very exhausted by anything Trump related. I still can not imagine how any thinking person could have voted for him. We are not alone, but will it make a difference?
I don't know, Mary. My suspicion is that his incompetence and that of his billionaire cabinet members will wrought so much destruction in government institutions that the public will finally pay attention and respond. But I feel like that is hoping against hope.
I think many votes were from people who want an absolute “revolution “.. just blow the whole thing up. They won’t get what they want because capitalism is not being questioned. We have an oligarchy, run by corporations… in a capitalist system. Voters aren’t given a way to change that… not since Bernie Sanders. But there have to be hundreds of Bernies running… and the two parties don’t have them.
We also need to get rid of court rulings like Citizens United and make an effort to remove dark money and PACs from our electoral process. I'm also in favor of ending the electoral college and making this a true democracy with a majority rule, but that would make things a bit tougher for the oligarchs.
This plutocracy's miasmal potential gives rise to thoughts of the French Revolution, a nightmare of chaos, horror, and death that purged the monarchy and its kindred spirits. United CEO's execution is a tragic example of this. In other words, I fear what I'm seeing take form in our future.
Maybe, but I suspect we are going to see more incidents like the shooting of the United CEO. Too many people now feel utterly helpless and are forced to watch the wealthy begin their rampant rape of the nation.
Except "gilded" by definition is about a thin coating of gold. In this instance, I think the attempt will be to hoard all the wealth the country might possess, and keep it for the oligarchs. I think we are in a considerably more dangerous time than what was transpiring in the early 1900s.
And yet the same people who complain about how the insurance companies are ill-treating them scream “communism” when universal healthcare is proposed. It’s by no means perfect but no one goes bust for not being able to pay their medical bills, or dies for lack of the means to find a co pay or lies awake night after night unable to sleep because their child has a serious illness and they can’t afford to pay for treatment. As a Brit with many American friends I know that our access to the NHS makes such a huge difference to people’s lives in so many ways.
Not sure we can ever change it, Ann. There is too much money at stake, and we are a greed-driven land. At a minimum, someone needs to push a hybrid version of a universal provider that offers tiers of care. But I'm not optimistic.
Well done, sir, and thank you. The collective is insane and runs on lizard brains. There's nothing to be fixed because it wasn't working anyway. We're NEVER DONE in any case. Let us observe, write, cry, rage, make art, love whoever we want, and live our best lives for however long we have. It feels like souls are watching and I don't feel so alone.
I think your protocols for the days ahead are a perfect prescription, amigo. But we cannot keep our heads in the sand and need to, as Dylan Thomas urged us to, "Rage, rage, against the dying of the light."
Sadly, every point you raise rings true. As the Trump administration “fixes” America by dismantling government, cutting regulation, and undermining the rule of law, the wealthy will be best-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities, thus expanding the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots.’ It’s not hard to imagine what happens next.
I think what happens next, Geoff, is more incidents like the one in NYC. There are just too many people marginalized and disenfranchised who are now forced to sit and watch as their tax money is stolen and the institutions that are central to our government are destroyed by greed and a lust for power.
They are very busy committing crimes and figuring out ways to hoard all the gold they can. And they see “waste” in government as spending on the social safety net programs that have sustained the middle WORKING class and our veterans. They do not care.
I am retiring at the end of the month. I am a Nurse Care Manager for adults with multiple chronic illnesses, helping them navigate an increasingly complex healthcare environment. And by increasingly complex I mean more stacked against the patient. Medicare Advantage programs are horrible and UHC is the worst. Too many stories. People go into medicine/ healthcare because they care about people- I can tell you I have not heard any words of sympathy this week for the CEO in the halls where I work. Where is it all going? I don’t know. I know real reform needs to occur in health care. Does it take a CEO or an Archduke being assassinated to light that fire? If not, what does it take?
I think the politicians and corporate shareholders making money off American health care and insurance will be unmoved. Nothing, I'm afraid, is going to change. I'd like to believe otherwise, but I've lived too long and seen too much to expect it.
What I’ve wondered about voters, especially Texas voters, for years! They bitch and moan about taxes and then turn around and vote for people who only cut their services, but they buy the retoric. And god forbid a state income tax that really would lower taxes for the majority while the wealthy would have to actually pitch in.
Texas is one of the true, "I've got mine, you get yours" states. Our tax burden is hidden in toll roads and local sales taxes and the nonsense that a homestead exemption makes a real difference in property taxes. People moving here for tax purposes are uninformed fools.
I really enjoy your straight up tell it like it is honesty and admit to being so very exhausted by anything Trump related. I still can not imagine how any thinking person could have voted for him. We are not alone, but will it make a difference?
I don't know, Mary. My suspicion is that his incompetence and that of his billionaire cabinet members will wrought so much destruction in government institutions that the public will finally pay attention and respond. But I feel like that is hoping against hope.
I think many votes were from people who want an absolute “revolution “.. just blow the whole thing up. They won’t get what they want because capitalism is not being questioned. We have an oligarchy, run by corporations… in a capitalist system. Voters aren’t given a way to change that… not since Bernie Sanders. But there have to be hundreds of Bernies running… and the two parties don’t have them.
We also need to get rid of court rulings like Citizens United and make an effort to remove dark money and PACs from our electoral process. I'm also in favor of ending the electoral college and making this a true democracy with a majority rule, but that would make things a bit tougher for the oligarchs.
This plutocracy's miasmal potential gives rise to thoughts of the French Revolution, a nightmare of chaos, horror, and death that purged the monarchy and its kindred spirits. United CEO's execution is a tragic example of this. In other words, I fear what I'm seeing take form in our future.
I agree. The marginalized and disenfranchised might become more of a threat of violence than we thought the Proud Boys might be if Trump lost.
The pitchforks are starting to come out in preparation for storming the castle.
Maybe, but I suspect we are going to see more incidents like the shooting of the United CEO. Too many people now feel utterly helpless and are forced to watch the wealthy begin their rampant rape of the nation.
The Gilded Age 2.0! If we can make it through the other side, I hope we can get to actual social reforms again.
Except "gilded" by definition is about a thin coating of gold. In this instance, I think the attempt will be to hoard all the wealth the country might possess, and keep it for the oligarchs. I think we are in a considerably more dangerous time than what was transpiring in the early 1900s.
Bigger, Better, More Dangerous Gilded Age? So, French Revolution 2.0?? *cringe emoji*
And yet the same people who complain about how the insurance companies are ill-treating them scream “communism” when universal healthcare is proposed. It’s by no means perfect but no one goes bust for not being able to pay their medical bills, or dies for lack of the means to find a co pay or lies awake night after night unable to sleep because their child has a serious illness and they can’t afford to pay for treatment. As a Brit with many American friends I know that our access to the NHS makes such a huge difference to people’s lives in so many ways.
Not sure we can ever change it, Ann. There is too much money at stake, and we are a greed-driven land. At a minimum, someone needs to push a hybrid version of a universal provider that offers tiers of care. But I'm not optimistic.
Well done, sir, and thank you. The collective is insane and runs on lizard brains. There's nothing to be fixed because it wasn't working anyway. We're NEVER DONE in any case. Let us observe, write, cry, rage, make art, love whoever we want, and live our best lives for however long we have. It feels like souls are watching and I don't feel so alone.
I think your protocols for the days ahead are a perfect prescription, amigo. But we cannot keep our heads in the sand and need to, as Dylan Thomas urged us to, "Rage, rage, against the dying of the light."
It's the oligarchy, anyway. No idea what to do with that.
Sadly, every point you raise rings true. As the Trump administration “fixes” America by dismantling government, cutting regulation, and undermining the rule of law, the wealthy will be best-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities, thus expanding the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots.’ It’s not hard to imagine what happens next.
I think what happens next, Geoff, is more incidents like the one in NYC. There are just too many people marginalized and disenfranchised who are now forced to sit and watch as their tax money is stolen and the institutions that are central to our government are destroyed by greed and a lust for power.
Illegal stuff…where are our leaders? Hold them accountable.
They are very busy committing crimes and figuring out ways to hoard all the gold they can. And they see “waste” in government as spending on the social safety net programs that have sustained the middle WORKING class and our veterans. They do not care.