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bipolarber -> RE: socialism, what is it? (9/21/2008 7:07:50 PM)
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In the US, "socialism" is about:
> being able to send your kids to schools, for a ridiculously petty ammount of money (until college) and have them attend "classes"... which are groups of kids learning together.
> they get to these "classes" by riding in busses which travel on "roads" which have been built and paid for via public funds.
> when they want water to drink, they go to a fountain, and are supplied with clean, healthy water via a public water system.
> when they take a shit, the waste is carried to a public treatment plant where it's treated and disposed of in a way that doesn't endanger public health, or the enviroment.
> If their house should catch on fire, or someone should try to break in and steal their stuff, they can call the fire department, or the cops, who are also publicly funded.
> When they turn on their lights at night, and to heat/cool their homes, they usually do so via linking to a public "grid." (although privately owned, the project which brought electricity to the rural areas- the bulk of the US population- was a government project.)
And so on. We could bring up stuff like FDIC, the eradication of polio, smallpox, malaria, but really, why bother? When you start to look at the sheer number of things that have happened that took place under "socialist" programs, you can begin to lose count.
BUT:
If you should have a car accident, or find that you have cancer... in this country you have to give up everything to survive. There have been cases of people having to sell their homes, use up any retirement they may have saved for, even divorice their spouses, just to get the medical treatment they need....
Hospital stays can cost upward of $2000 a day. There are tests and treatments out there that cost more than a new car. Pills that are as much as $500 per dose.
You REALLY think that this is right?
I can see where a wrinkly old dude who's so fucking rich, he can't remember how many houses he owns, would think that getting a lousy visit to the doctor wouldn't be a big deal. To many of us... (about 43% of the US population who are uninsured) it can mean being able to eat that week, or not... if we want to pay for a $150 office visit out of pocket. And even if we make the choice of going to the Doctor, we might not be able to afford the life saving work that they might need to provide. Literally, it's a life and death situation for many of America's poorest, and oldest Americans.
But, the republicans have a history of not giving a shit about poor and old people. I think the other thread on this subject is entitled "Hurry up and die allready!"
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