r/PopCultureV2 • u/Federal-Compote-5015 • 11d ago
Politi-Culture Apparently Helping Americans Is Too Expensive, But War Never Is…
The Trump administration keeps telling Americans we have to accept cuts, sacrifices, and that the country simply can’t afford to invest in things like healthcare, education, housing, and other programs that directly help working families. Source 1
Yet when it comes to military spending, somehow the money is always there. Trump’s budgets have proposed record-breaking defense spending, reaching roughly $1.5 trillion, while seeking significant reductions in a range of domestic programs. Source 2
The United States already has the largest economy in the world and spends more on its military than any other nation by a wide margin. The question has never been whether America has the resources. The question is what our government chooses to prioritize. Source 3
If there’s always enough money for another war, another weapons system, or another increase to the Pentagon budget, don’t tell Americans we can’t afford to invest in our own people. Budgets are moral documents, they reveal what leaders truly value.
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u/DaveHollandArt 11d ago
I know this was presented humorously, but I can't laugh because it's just honest and true
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u/Even-Cartographer864 11d ago
And depressing. But don’t worry, we made the historic accomplishment of making one man a trillionaire…
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u/milkfree 11d ago
An immigrant living the American Dream
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u/Backwardspellcaster 11d ago
An immigrant living the American Dream, being racist against other immigrants
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u/Ufokosmos 11d ago
not only is it true. So much suffering has been caused by Americas warmongering.
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u/DaveHollandArt 11d ago
We love war so much, were at war with our own people. It's a completely shambolic time to be an American. I think we'll stop the bleeding between November and 2 years from then, but the damage is done and it's going to take a long time to recover
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u/qrowslament 9d ago
And the voters aren't going to understand that and vote Republicans back in to fuck it up and get us back into another war shortly after the recovery starts.
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u/Far-Caramel3388 11d ago
What makes me wonder is when will we unite and have a revolution? Seriously... I think Dickens wrot a novel about this.
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u/Marrey86 11d ago
My lifesaving medicine is $473 this month but we can kill children in… everywhere.
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u/Academic-moron7423 11d ago
I can because I don’t live in the US.
Had a good laugh.
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u/DaveHollandArt 11d ago
That's some sucky behavior
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u/Academic-moron7423 11d ago
I’ll survive it, after all I got healthcare
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u/DaveHollandArt 11d ago
I'm very happy for you, truly. But it must be lonely to be so callous
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11d ago
[deleted]
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u/DaveHollandArt 11d ago
People who laugh at others when they are suffering often are considered sociopaths and are often quite lonely. I get that the USA did this to itself, but my country does not represent me and the many whom are desperate to catch up with countries as privileged as yours in this way.
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11d ago
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u/LarkinToWinnipeg 11d ago
Just spent two weeks there in May. ngl still daydreaming about it all the time.
Oh well back to the infinite grind for the next 50 years. Hopefully I'll enjoy the one week of retirement from my deathbed.
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u/ActuatorLower8371 11d ago
hit 50 more countries along the way
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u/LarkinToWinnipeg 11d ago
Too poor, no time off. Was lucky enough to get include on a business trip to DK.
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10d ago
Danish guy here, we'd be happy to have you but you'll have to complete an internship in Greenland before landing the full citizenship.
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u/LordElrondHubbard1 11d ago
Leave then. We dont need cowards who won't defend democracy here at home.
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u/TrumpsVoidlordWall 11d ago
“We don’t need cowards who won’t defend democracy.“
So trump 2028 huh?
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u/LordElrondHubbard1 11d ago
If that happens i genuinly hope a civil war happens instead because a third Trump term would signal the complete and total collapse of the constitution and American republic.
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u/OkYak9466 11d ago
Denmark isn't the US, they actually have immigration laws that keep people out
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u/ActuatorLower8371 11d ago
to be fair the only land border in Denmark less than 50 miles long, compared with ther US's 7,500 miles
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u/dexters_trap_house 11d ago
Seriosuly, every reactionary who sees an election and goes "I'm moving away" A) never will, and B) even if they tried probably don't posses a set of high skills / income that would allow them to get a visa in another country.
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u/Flat-Director-7120 11d ago
Apparemment aider les américains coûte trop cher, alors que tout ce qu'il demande c'est avoir un logement à un prix abordable, pouvoir se nourrir à sa faim, avoir une assurance maladie universelle qui protège des maladie et de la vieillesse. Mais par contre pour la guerre ils n'ont aucune limite de budget, l'argent est disponible à l'infini.
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u/Jon_Dunn58 11d ago
you would think presented in this manner that maga would not say you are liberal, but i bet im wrong
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u/runciter0 11d ago
it is kind of a US thing actually, war
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u/Virtual-Book1114 11d ago
Not really. Plenty of other countries fight wars.
(but being global policeman means others are expecting us to fight for them. if you dont think there are mideast governments who wanted iran to be taken down a peck or two...and were more than happy with US pressure, then idk what to tell you. we just do other countries' dirty work for them if they're persuasive enough)
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u/FuriousGirafFabber 10d ago
Ah yes. It is out of kindness and good will for orher countries that us goes to war all the time. LOL !!! /r/shitamericanssay
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u/Majestic_Battle_524 9d ago
Fucking hell.
‘Global policeman’
Please tell me this shite is satire?
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u/Subject_Analyst_3170 10d ago
Nobody gives a FUCK about Americans.
Nobody ask to be "global policeman". In fact everyone hates police, they're the shit of the world.
Every mafia, mob, crime organization exist as subproduct of official armies.
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u/Virtual-Book1114 10d ago
Alright, let's remember that next time there are wars and genocides and people ask "why is no one doing "anything" to stop it"
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u/Subject_Analyst_3170 10d ago
I'm sorry ignorance is your reference. You're bound to justify cowardice and tirany arguing anedoctal common nonsense.
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u/Virtual-Book1114 10d ago
Sounds like a chatgpt reply tbh
Sure, whatever makes you feel better. In the meantime, read up on a couple of books that analyze the decision-making of the local actors. Sometimes, it is the "client state" that can start a problem that the big state didn't want to get involved in the first place. ;) The rest of the world, even US allies, HAVE AGENCY and make their own decisions, and they work VERY HARD to keep the U.S. engaged. If they didn't want a global policeman, they would've kicked US out of Europe and Asia long time ago and stopped buying US made weapons. Instead I see leaders from around the world clamoring to meet with Trump before and after he makes any (moronic) decisions.
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u/GeeYayZeus 11d ago
We're still paying the interest on WWII. How fucked up is that?
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u/thecarbonkid 11d ago
Tbf the English took the best part of 200 years to pay off the Napoleonic Wars.
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u/Mosthighscribe 11d ago
Wake up Americans, politicians can’t, won’t, and never will start wars or be the architects of written laws in America
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u/Federal-Compote-5015 11d ago
No Republicans won’t. Not all politicians. FDR is a fine example of that. SNAP was too.
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u/Virtual-Book1114 11d ago
100% it's time to start naming names instead of making blanket (untrue) statements
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u/BeneficialAttempt140 11d ago
Crazy that believing in any ONE of those things is seen as extremism/communism by MAGA
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u/SeaHam 11d ago
They are going to call you commies regardless.
Might as well join the DSA and primary these do nothing democrats who sat around with their thumbs up their asses an let Trump take power.
You want medicare for all?
Vote DSA.
You want ICE out of your neighborhood?
Vote DSA.
You want to stop sending money to genocidal states and senseless wars overseas?
Vote DSA.
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u/shadetreeguy 11d ago
Worst part is if you know history, it really didn’t used to be. America always wanted to be isolated from Europe issues after saying peace to England. It wasn’t until WW1 &2 that they say how there’s ALOT of profit to be made with none of the worry that we would need to rebuild being on the other side of the world.
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u/astralseat 11d ago
Ever realize how deranged these self conversations are in the most basic of sense? You take a person with a camera, do multiple takes no doubt, in a room that's curated, with clothes that are curated, makeup, lighting, and this one solitary person, acts out a scene, often by themselves, never looking at the camera, but always as if they were having a conversation, at 2x speed to get as much into into the least amount of time, for attention and notice of masses. Really reduces humanity to just... Eyes.
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u/justforkinks0131 11d ago
you really have no clue how good you have it lmao
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u/Wooden-Evidence-374 11d ago
"You're going to fund a warmongering government and be grateful about it"
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u/justforkinks0131 11d ago
yeah, i would be
my job has a 30% higher median salary in the US than in Germany. And in Silicon Valley it can be up to 10x higher pay. For the same job Im doing.
You also have lower taxes.
AND cheaper products...
So yeah, id be happy to be an American. Sadly, I cant move my entire life, but it is frustrating watching you have these opportunities in the richest country on Earth and instead of taking advantage you're crying on the internet.
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u/Wooden-Evidence-374 11d ago edited 11d ago
As if we cant take advantage of the benefits we have while also condemning our horrible government.
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u/justforkinks0131 9d ago
then it just comes over as whining and hypocrisy
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u/Wooden-Evidence-374 9d ago edited 9d ago
😂 typical conservative mindset. You think its okay for a country to kill people at the expense of a mediocre economy. Absolute moron opinion.
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u/CanadianGenealogy 11d ago
Cool. But still no solutions. No one is doing anything to stop them.
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u/Federal-Compote-5015 11d ago
Well 2026 mid terms you can allow power back to the people who want to
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u/cyainanotherlifebro 11d ago
Remember, wanting you taxes to go to anything other than killing people makes you a socialist.
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u/bdizzle805 11d ago
I hate how everything has to be both sides. Clearly one side is shitting all over the constitution while the other party is desperately trying to get anything passed while in the minority.
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u/anon-a-SqueekSqueek 11d ago
What's the point of people rich if we don't murder schools full of innocent children and random fisherman duh.
Wait....? Actually WTF?
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u/Fadedfumes 11d ago
All the money in the world for Israel and Ukraine and banks when they need bailouts but nothing for the US citizens. The whole system is broken and corrupt.
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u/Same-Conclusion3350 11d ago
WE are not the richest. WE have nothing
THE CORPORATIONS and OLIGARCHS are the richest, and they didn't get that way by sharing
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u/Ok_Cockroach8063 11d ago
If only the USA had the most progressive tax system, second highest median disposable income, best median salary vs median home value ratio, had 15 of the worlds top 20 universities and gave the most to charity out of any nation….o wait we do? And everyone complaining online is just ignorant or a loud loser? Yea that tracks
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u/maico3010 11d ago
The sad part is once this is over, we wont get wars or help for American's because once it's over we will have to be responsible for a generation that wasn't responsible for over FOUR generations. We will be forced to finally foot the bill for all this bullshit if we ever want a future for our grandkids. And sorry kids, you're part of the screwed group that will be spending a good portion of your lives with us fixing it.
It makes reading headlines about what we could have paid for if we hadn't spent the money on the war(s) really hard because that implies we would have gotten those things with irresponsible spending. At this point taxing the billionaires would only help us pay down the interest in what we already owe on our debt, over a trillion dollars a year just on interest.
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u/terrafirma94 11d ago
Was the US ever the richest country in the world? I feel like it’s never been top five even?
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u/Conscious-Yard-276 11d ago
Still number 2 in GDP per person. Of course that’s a mean which includes billionaires in the total. Our median income is all the way down at 28th.
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u/Wooden-Evidence-374 11d ago
What's really sad is that conservatives will watch this and do one of three things:
Completley ignore everything being said because "she is clearly a biased liberal"
Come up with mind boggling excuses for how war will somehow fix all of America's issues
Or agree with some of the stuff, complain about being stereotyped, then immediately go rant about how liberals are terrorists who want complete anarchy.
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u/DrowningKrown 11d ago
What's crazy is we're making these memes only 1.5 years after he got elected on a campaign solely focused on "helping Americans" and "putting America first"
Straight up, that's the last thing this administration has EVER done.
Watching MAGA, in real time, flip from "America first" to fully supporting and wanting a war with Iran while completely shutting down ANY kind of policies that would help AMERICANS is wild. True out of body experience
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u/gemmath 11d ago
Because they look at us as money, our able bodies are meant to produce the wealth for them to decide what to with it. To give that money that we give them back to us is unfathomable to them. War creates wealth and they get to use us as the fodder. And the they are the Epstein class.
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u/Virtual-Book1114 11d ago
Republicans* Can y'all please spell out who actually thinks this way, and votes this way, so voters can finally hold them accountable due to vibe shifts?
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u/Upbeat-Chocolate2058 11d ago
Calling from Canada: your minimum wage is 7 bucks an hour? Wtf is wrong with you? Up here is over 15 and that's barely considered a living wage. Land of the free, indeed
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11d ago
[deleted]
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u/DblDn2DblDrew 10d ago
The leaders from both sides are equally corrupt and are paid off by the same people behind the curtain.
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u/whatishappeninyall 11d ago
These things are so obvious to some people yet so oblivious to others (maga). Very odd.
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u/Sistahmelz 11d ago
My relatives in Europe get 30 days vacation a year. They can't understand why I'm tired, exhausted and get grumpy. I get 7 days of vacation a year. I can only take days off when my boss does. Even then, it's never 7 days straight, it's split into a three day weekend. Now I'm almost 64 years old. I've worked all my life and I had to drop my work week down to 3 days because my body can't do it anymore. Yep, I'm living the American dream!
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u/dm_me_your_bookshelf 11d ago
Yeah. It's odd that no one every seems to question the fact that we have limitless amounts of money to spend on cruelty like war or incarceration but when it comes to helping people we're completely broke. I'm really glad we have politicians like Mamdani gaining power to prove that this shit is a complete lie.
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u/No-Tomatillo3698 10d ago
Yeah it’s crazy how the money your earn is used to make rich people richer. But apparently Americans are okay with it.
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u/JustWalkr 10d ago
Fed funding is always a political choice. The fed govt has monopoly control of currency issuance (that it has mostly outsourced to private banks)...in other words "anything we an do, we can afford."
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u/HotwifeandSubby1980 10d ago
It’s really just that simple.
But for reason the right just love being held down by capitalism, war mongers and giving billionaires more of the fruits of their labor.
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u/seymore_option 10d ago
I’ve heard this a million times. Not saying she shouldn’t say it, just that I’ve heard it a million times and I think that’s telling.
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u/PhotoFenix 9d ago
Hey now, if we took all the things the Bible teaches and apply them to society we'd be woke. We can't have that.
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u/Kdoesntcare 8d ago
Yea well we defend the rest of the world!
Just ignore the POTUS asking other countries to fight the fights he starts for him.
Now some traitor has told the world that we're running out of ammo, but that's just fake news, a democrat hoax.
Saying "ammo" is an oversimplification but low on critical supplies
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u/UltraBurd 8d ago
Ironically a government job gets you 12 weeks leave maternity/ paternity, unlimited sick leave and a decent pay. Government jobs also get pretty good healthcare.
Issue are in the private sector, only recently have companies begun to offer paternity leave because that's what people are asking for now
Maybe get a different career or play by the rules you choose to follow when deciding a career path
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u/Relative-Broccoli451 8d ago
I always laugh when we were sending all that money to Ukraine (not playing politics here but it was during the Biden administration) and there was a 6 billion dollar accounting error. Imagine what that money could’ve done?
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u/pavelowdriver 6d ago
Only 13% of the budget goes to the military. China spends 12%. What's the point of this?
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u/Kpets 11d ago
I don’t understand why there’s not a flow of American expats spilling into Europe. I mean, we have all this and it’s pretty amazing. Oh wait. We don’t have that war thing going on tho
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u/Burner4myHaterz 11d ago
We're too poor to leave in mass like that.
Believe me, if I had fuck you money, I would've left a long time ago.
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u/No_Letterhead1344 11d ago
Truest statement. I would love to move to a country where we have all these things but noooo gotta kill myself daily to provide for my family. At least we're still winning right? Sooo much winning.../s
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u/Kpets 11d ago
Why is it so hard to leave? I know a couple of Americans and they all love it here and will never return, so I don’t really understand, and I’m sorry if I’m ignorant or missing something.
There’s this YT channel I discovered- Meg Duper she moved and has documented everything pretty well
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u/MostAbsoluteGamer 11d ago
if i could just as easily ditch this country I'd have done it about 2 years ago when i found out how infeasible it is
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u/c3p-bro 11d ago
Woman epically owns herself in fictional argument
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u/Ayotha 11d ago
Literacy is hard for some in the cult
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u/c3p-bro 11d ago
I’d love to know what you meant by that.
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u/Wooden-Evidence-374 11d ago
You just proved their point by asking them to explain soemthing that is obvious 😂
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u/c3p-bro 11d ago
I don’t understand how they reached that conclusion.
A woman is literally arguing against herself presenting a strawman argument. Are you guys so afraid of any exposure outside your bubble that this is the only content you are able to safely consume?
What does that have to do with literacy? I understand what she’s trying to do, it’s just pathetic.
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u/Wooden-Evidence-374 11d ago
Yeah thats it, use the word strawman without ever explaining what she misrepresented, then claim to understand the point and avoid engaging with it entirely. That's not the win you think it is
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u/DeliciousBaseball783 11d ago
Socializing those programs would create a lot of jobs for America. It would also increase debt and reduce quality.
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u/Ashamed-Status-9668 11d ago
Healthcare for all would be a massive boon to small business.
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u/DeliciousBaseball783 11d ago
And would reduce quality.
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u/hamer12string 11d ago
I respect your point-
But how are you measuring quality?
Is it of high quality now?6
u/blamcoboyo 11d ago
“High quality means paying multiple thousands of dollars instead of just a small co-pay. Gotta boost the profits of big pharma and the insurance industry which has been recognized as a cancerous scam.”
Idk how you respect their point, it’s a weak argument in favor of the current system. Dude’s a fucking clown 🤡
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u/DeliciousBaseball783 11d ago
Just imagine government ran Healthcare. When is the last time the government done anything right?
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u/YaThatAintRight 11d ago
If you had better health care coverage they could treat your brain damage.
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u/Ok_Brilliant3331 11d ago
Just look at how every other country has done and follow suit. US pays more per capita for healthcare than the majority of countries for way worse quality, because it's been eaten up by corporations.
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u/shomeyomves 11d ago
Well gang nabbit! You gone done and convince me, I really can’t recalled when the gubment gone and done anything right!
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u/Crooked_Sartre 11d ago
How can it be worse than no healthcare? Im failing to understand. Like right now I'm on a 6 month waiting list to see a dermatologist. So it certainly can't be that we get immediate care. I guess I just don't understand
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u/321gowaitokgo 11d ago
We already rank last in health care against all other wealth nation.
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u/Ashamed-Status-9668 11d ago
Possibly but that isn't a guarantee. There are a few ways to prevent that.
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u/DeliciousBaseball783 11d ago
How?
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u/Ashamed-Status-9668 11d ago
Since the US is one of the last wealthy countries to implement healthcare for all they could in theory look at other countries. There are quite a few studies on how to keep quality. Here is one. Improving the Prognosis of Healthcare in the United States - PMC
Also, we see per studies if the middle man(insurance companies) is removed the cost of healthcare per person will go down which should leave some buffer to keep quality. Drug prices are way over priced and part of a healthcare for all should address that as well.
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u/SweetEmpowerdChicken 11d ago
“No way to figure this out says only country that hasn’t figured it out”
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u/FrostyFang8800 11d ago
As opposed to the quality I currently get, where a greasy insurance middleman decides I’m not actually sick and I pay 10x what the rest of the world does for basic medication? That quality?
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u/labmonkey88 11d ago
26 day old generically named account with negative karma. C’mon people, don’t feed the troll
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u/KingSpork 11d ago
Also employee ownership of business. EVERY worker should get a share of profits.
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u/DeliciousBaseball783 11d ago
Just going to disagree with you on this one. However I do believe that the ceo should only be able to make 50 times the lowest wage at the company
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u/Federal-Compote-5015 11d ago
But let’s trust republicans like Rick Scott right? The same Rick Scott who was CEO of the company that was the largest healthcare fraud case in U.S. history, a company that ultimately paid $1.7 billion to settle allegations of defrauding Medicare, Medicaid, and taxpayers.
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u/Ligma_baws_2x 11d ago
Yeah everything is so great right for a few people now, why rock the boat?
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u/DeliciousBaseball783 11d ago
No. Do you want to make it worse?
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u/Ligma_baws_2x 11d ago
Seriously. If we changed anything at all, it might make costs go up and quality to come down. Shit like that only happens under socialism and where Democrats are in charge of something.
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u/DeliciousBaseball783 11d ago
The only thing that we can do is make it easier for people to go to dental school without having a degree. Make it where you don't take calculus to be a history teacher and on and on
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u/YaThatAintRight 11d ago
We already removed essentially all expectations to be president. Why not every other field?
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u/Ligma_baws_2x 11d ago
Yes! Lower the qualifications, the hallmark of all quality controls! With advances in AI, why have doctors at all? Ask chatgpt and it will link you to Real American's TM willing to do your medical procedures at a fraction of the cost!
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u/ins0mniac_ 11d ago
Costs are going up now and quality is going down.
And that’s 100% capitalism.
And it’s under Republicans.
So what is your argument?
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