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EzraS
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18 Jul 2017, 7:56 pm

I wonder what Russia's health care system is like.



kraftiekortie
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18 Jul 2017, 8:18 pm

Russia has free health care for all; the quality is not all that good--and it has, apparently, gotten worse over the past three years or so.

Like many other nations with free health care, there is the option to buy private health insurance--which is considered much better than the state-run system.



auntblabby
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18 Jul 2017, 8:21 pm

in amuurica, unless you have a gold plated Cadillac quality insurance plan, chances are your health care is not gonna be appreciably better than what is experienced in places like Russia. I speak from personal experience.



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18 Jul 2017, 8:37 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
Russia has free health care for all; the quality is not all that good--and it has, apparently, gotten worse over the past three years or so.


I can't imagine that the Russian health care system would be any good. After all, Russian democracy has eroded.

Thus, nobody is forcing Putin to improve the hospitals. He is a dictator after all. He doesn't need to obey anyone.

Authoritarian countries often have a cruddy healthcare system ... because dictators can't be voted out.

I don't trust any sort of authoritarian regime. I don't care if they call themselves "socialist". Undemocratic institutions are inherently untrustworthy.


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18 Jul 2017, 8:56 pm

DarthMetaKnight wrote:
The vast majority of politicians crave that level of control.

yes but Trump's narcissism makes him crave it even more
His twitter tirades reflect a need to be noticed all the time (which is why he enthusiastically did reality TV)



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18 Jul 2017, 9:38 pm

cyberdad wrote:
DarthMetaKnight wrote:
The vast majority of politicians crave that level of control.

yes but Trump's narcissism makes him crave it even more
His twitter tirades reflect a need to be noticed all the time (which is why he enthusiastically did reality TV)

If Bush were still president, he would likely be throwing Twitter tantrums.

The people running the Republican Party are having a hard time. Working class Republicans are increasingly realizing that only the wealthiest members of the Republican Party decide what the party does. The internet is largely responsible for this.

Trump is certainly a manchild, but he is also a victim of the historical period that he is living in. People are seeing the plutocracy behind the mask of democracy ... and Trump doesn't like it ... because the masses are speaking out against the system that made Trump powerful.


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cyberdad
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18 Jul 2017, 9:56 pm

DarthMetaKnight wrote:
Working class Republicans are increasingly realizing that only the wealthiest members of the Republican Party decide what the party does. The internet is largely responsible for this.

working class republicans with not enough money to cover their health insurance or simple things like their kid's dental hygiene enthusiastically supported dismantling Obamacare. I think it's called "cut my nose to spite my face". The bulk of republicans mistake patriotism with benevolent conservative leadership.

DarthMetaKnight wrote:
Trump is certainly a manchild, but he is also a victim of the historical period that he is living in. People are seeing the plutocracy behind the mask of democracy ... and Trump doesn't like it ... because the masses are speaking out against the system that made Trump powerful.

Yes I accept this, Obama did use social media as well, although he wasn't posting stuff every 5 min



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18 Jul 2017, 10:03 pm

i'm reminded of this line from LBJ- "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."



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18 Jul 2017, 10:16 pm

cyberdad wrote:
The bulk of republicans mistake patriotism with benevolent conservative leadership.


Patriotism is a spook.

People should fight for their rational self-interest. This isn't incompatible with socialism. Sometimes poor people benefit when they form alliances.

What is patriotism anyway? Do the masses have to obey the government? Is that how it works?

In my opinion, any government which does not represent the will of the masses is illegitimate.


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cyberdad
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18 Jul 2017, 10:22 pm

DarthMetaKnight wrote:
In my opinion, any government which does not represent the will of the masses is illegitimate.

Certainly a disconnect there



cyberdad
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18 Jul 2017, 10:23 pm

auntblabby wrote:
i'm reminded of this line from LBJ- "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

Sounds like conservative governance 101



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18 Jul 2017, 10:25 pm

auntblabby wrote:
i'm reminded of this line from LBJ- "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."


This is how racism tends to work. It is usually promoted by people in power as a diversion.

Of course, this can backfire. Neo-Nazism is a good example of this.

Neo-Nazis are basically people who take in right-wing racism and accept the logical conclusion of it. "If these minorities are so dangerous, why don't we boot them out of the country?"

The corporate media tends to dislike Nazism ... but for the wrong reasons. They don't want to lose employees.

Of course, the corporate overlords might start advocating outright Nazism at some point in the future. Remember: Nazism emerged because the German people were seeing through the capitalist lies and so the elites needed a new scapegoat.

Countries naturally descend into genocidal racism when the elites are running out of excuses. It's a last-ditch effort to crush class consciousness and left-populism.


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auntblabby
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18 Jul 2017, 10:27 pm

^^^when will they learn we're all in this thing together? when will they disabuse themselves of the notion that they are better off just the way they are, separate and vulnerable rather than unionized?



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18 Jul 2017, 10:32 pm

auntblabby wrote:
^^^when will they learn we're all in this thing together? when will they disabuse themselves of the notion that they are better off just the way they are, separate and vulnerable rather than unionized?


The internet will fix this problem.

Remember: Technological changes always lead to social/economic/political changes. Authoritarianism is not "natural" for humans. It came out of the Neolithic Revolution. Modern "democracy" may be a product of the printing press. Without the printing press, we might still be living under absolute monarchy.

The internet will, for better or for worse, create the future of politics and economics.


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18 Jul 2017, 10:40 pm

DarthMetaKnight wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
^^^when will they learn we're all in this thing together? when will they disabuse themselves of the notion that they are better off just the way they are, separate and vulnerable rather than unionized?


The internet will fix this problem.

Remember: Technological changes always lead to social/economic/political changes. Authoritarianism is not "natural" for humans. It came out of the Neolithic Revolution. Modern "democracy" may be a product of the printing press. Without the printing press, we might still be living under absolute monarchy.

The internet will, for better or for worse, create the future of politics and economics.

assuming it won't somehow be throttled or perverted like what happens in authoritarian regimes such as china.



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18 Jul 2017, 10:51 pm

auntblabby wrote:
DarthMetaKnight wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
^^^when will they learn we're all in this thing together? when will they disabuse themselves of the notion that they are better off just the way they are, separate and vulnerable rather than unionized?


The internet will fix this problem.

Remember: Technological changes always lead to social/economic/political changes. Authoritarianism is not "natural" for humans. It came out of the Neolithic Revolution. Modern "democracy" may be a product of the printing press. Without the printing press, we might still be living under absolute monarchy.

The internet will, for better or for worse, create the future of politics and economics.

assuming it won't somehow be throttled or perverted like what happens in authoritarian regimes such as china.


The Chinese dictatorship is surviving because American businessmen keep supporting it. It is a good source of cheap labor after all.

If the American people wake up and seize the state, no country will be strong enough to come in and screw it up.

For decades, the American businessmen have used the American military to supress populist movements all over the world. This will not happen if America is put under populist control.

Once the American masses control the US military, they will be unstoppable.


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