I have a neighbor named Karen who is 13. She is totally traumatized by this meme.

Actually, that is where my name comes from. :)

Eh. Beaver’s not that remarkable. Pretty fatty.

@famousone was there a time period in the US when the government was appropriately uninvolved and things were going really well for most people? Which years were those?

Yeah... admittedly, I don’t often agree with @famousone, but he’s right about this one. I can agree that some of the stuff the US is doing right now is wrong and cruel, but there’s no comparison.

And I guess the thing that strikes me most is you seem affronted by the notion that someone might read all the things you say and translate that to mean you don’t care about other humans—but your plan has no place for people who aren’t wealthy or connected.

@famousone, what you’re proposing isn’t functional for a society. You get angry about people translating your words and the say things like you just said. Do you believe people are proposing and saying these things?
...70% taxes... easy life...
No one is proposing that. No one is even suggesting something like that. Having universal access to healthcare is not giving everyone an easy life. It’s giving everyone a chance to have a decent healthy life.
Personally, I’m glad for publicly maintained roads. Maintaining a road is expensive and a lot of work. And using toll roads is expensive and isn’t readily affordable for everyone—which is fine, if there are also public roads available.
But living in a society means supporting members in all the tiers. It’s fine if there are better options for people who have the kind of money you seem to have, but there are too many people that can’t survive in that system. And that’s not freedom. The word you’re looking for is individualism.

@famousone I apologize for not assuming that your use of “numbnuts” was autocorrect. I think it is fair that I didn’t. And I responded to that.
As far wanting other people to have health care, you argue a pretty strong case against it. And it sounds quite a lot like you don’t want it because you feel like it it is coming from “your pocket.”
You don’t want people from countries where this system is effective to chime in because they don’t know us. But they know universal healthcare. They know healthier populations. They know it can and does work.
If you want everyone to have access to healthcare why are you fighting so hard against the opportunity for them to have it?

I recognize that you don’t want everyone to have access to health care. That you think that is a luxury that should only be available to some people. But that is not true of everyone in this country.

Pretty sure “numbnuts” counts as name calling. Even if you don’t even realize you’re doing it.
And, there are lots of conditions a quick physical does catch, like mitral valve defects—even if you don’t bitch about it.
Our governance is what allows the the freedoms you so enjoy. It’s all part of the same system.
The best trick the insurance companies ever pulled on the American populace was convincing them that the cost of healthcare for all would hurt the American people more than it hurt the insurance companies. And you’re so filled up with that story that you can’t believe any thing else even when someone who lives in a place that has these things tells you otherwise.

Also, you talk a big talk about how great America is and anyone who doesn’t believe just like you should leave and then shit all over anything the government does. Which is it? Do you love or think it is f***ed?
And it’s cute that you think no health care is better than VA care. Really cute. Ever think about doing some work to make that system better for you and your fellow vets? Or is that too much like caring about someone other than yourself?
It is also adorable how you got so angry you had to resort to calling me big bad names like a child. Super cute. ;)

Funny, when looked into military service they wouldn’t take you if you had specific health conditions or congenital defects. Has that changed?

My point is that your perspective is from the end of your nose. And while maybe you had a minor procedure you skipped because you couldn’t afford it, you’re not facing the difficulty many of your fellow Americans are.
And you’re fighting against your fellow Americans (because there are plenty of us who agree that the medical system in this country is broken) for something you don’t need and feel entitled to say they shouldn’t have it.
You think your taxes shouldn’t contribute to paying the medical expense of other people, but my taxes contribute to paying for yours. I want that for all my fellow Americans. Even if it means I pay more.

May I ask what kind of medical procedure/care you went without? Perhaps a surgery or treatment of a congenital illness?
Do you feel like you are still suffering today for that lack of treatment, or has the military covered that expense for you now?
Speaking of military, may I ask how much you pay out of pocket for your healthcare premiums/treatment?

I didn’t ask you for a solution sir. I asked you for the last time you experienced that sort of decision.
Is that a never?

There’s a considerable gap between the people who qualify for state medical programs and people who can afford decent healthcare.
I’m happy for those of you that have such great medical care that you don’t think it’s a need, but talk to some people outside of your regular experience. Talk to some folks working in manual labor in need of back surgery they can’t get because they can’t afford insurance and can’t pay the $30k out of pocket. Or people who will have pain from injuries for the rest of their lives because they couldn’t afford the surgical intervention to properly repair it and had to settle for the ER patch up.
It sounds like you have a really nice thing going and I can see why you wouldn’t want to rock that boat.
So let me ask you, when was the last time you went without important medical care because you couldn’t afford it?

My kid had a pretty serious vocabulary when he was very young. Different kids have different skills. He regularly surprised people with the words he used and the context in which he was able to use them. My favorite was his ability to use the word “pandemic” in a sentence in about first grade (and this was about a decade ago so not as topical as today).

I’m willing to concede to a slippery slope on this.
I don’t have any notion that it could ever become legally abuse anyway. We don’t have the resources to investigate and manage nor enforce the vaccine. Then those case would have to be confirmed that the child can have the vaccine (since there are medical reasons not to). So really it doesn’t matter.

@jaharien that’s a very good question. I would agree that in many case childhood obesity is abusive. The issue that arises from enforced diets (in this case) is that obesity has many factors.
In the case of vaccines, there is. Polio vaccine prevents polio. Varicella vaccine prevents chicken pox (and later shingles).
There is not a uniform diet that can prevent/correct obesity unilaterally. Some factors are dietary, some are rooted in activity level, or hormones or mental illness or disability. Some chromosomal disorders or congenital pathology cause obesity. So it isn’t always abuse and it can’t always be managed so effectively.

I almost understand because o certainly don’t want the government involved with how I raise my child.
But generally, as a population we want want/allow the authorities to step on when children are being beaten or sexually abused. Because it is objectively abusive.
How is it not abusive to allow your child to be at risk for a preventable disease for no good reason? Your belief that science is not real is not a good reason.

I don’t know your life, nor your experience so I can only ask the question. I can also say, as someone who has lived both in the Northern US and the Deep South, the racial tension and inequity is profoundly different. I wonder if you have ever listened while a coworker told you about being pulled over in a certain county (with a reputation) not because he was doing anything illegal or questionable but because the sheriff wanted to let him know not to let the sun set on him in this town? Until that moment, I didn’t believe that kind of thing really happened in this day and age. But it does, and he was rather shook up from the experience.
I’m wondering if your neighbor has ever asked you if they could come over to your house in an emergency because they recently received a box of KKk propaganda with a note saying this is a neighborly visit, the next visit will be professional?