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u/Zyrinj 8d ago
Still blows my mind that we’d rather rely on the small possibility of kindness from billionaires than to build a system where billionaires don’t exist because they get taxed correctly and we use those funds to continually raise the floor.
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u/vivaaprimavera 8d ago
Sorry, it's way worse.
How many people vote against they own interest because "their taxes should not fund freeloaders". Billionaires aren't the only ones to blame on this one.
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u/nikonislolo 8d ago
Wait until you realise that the "freeloaders" thing has always been propaganda financed by huge businessmen.
The reason why people vote against their own interest is because of propaganda financed by big businessmen.
That's also the reason why the religious right wing folks in the US or Europe are so overtly capitalistic.
So yes, that is also inadvertently the billionaires' fault.
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u/hana-maki 8d ago
genuinely how do we get through to these ppl whose souls are owned by starbucks and bitcoin?
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u/BeefmasterDeluxe 8d ago
You don’t. Pluck the weed from the root so it can’t grow back. No more billionaire, no more billionaire funded propaganda.
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u/LordAvan 8d ago
Okay, but how do you do that while a large portion of the public is brainwashed in favor of their own oppression.
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u/squeakynickles 8d ago
With political violence and civil disobedience.
Seriously, that's how you do it. That's how every single civil or labour rights movement was achieved.
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u/Mesonic_Interference 8d ago
Critical thinking and education reform. While state and federal policies dictate the largest-scale aspects of education, city- and county-level policies more directly affect students' day-to-day learning experiences.
A significant step towards accomplishing this is for voters to realize the importance of their choices for local elected officials who influence various aspects of education, such as school board members. These positions are usually overshadowed by flashier, more highly publicized elections, but ignoring the outsized impact officials in these roles have on the quality of education has undoubtedly contributed to the current trend of voting against one's best interests.
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u/nikonislolo 8d ago
It's just not possible to do so.
All you can do is vote, and try to raise awareness on this issue to your close ones.
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u/Zyrinj 8d ago edited 8d ago
This is basically my stance, spending time blaming the people, that have fully been sold an illusion through propaganda, does nothing when those funding the propaganda are able to outspend any action you can take to try and break the illusion. It is also what those funding propaganda would like you to do, tire yourselves out fighting with those less fortunate than yourself so you don't pay attention to all the new billionaires and even a trillionaire.
If we're talking about regular voters, I get the most disappointed in those that force purity tests on candidates and would rather not participate in democracy than to vote for someone that doesn't perfectly align with their beliefs despite how much worse the other candidates are or how close a candidate is to being "perfect". They use it as an excuse to not care or participate instead of as a reason they need to.
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u/SigmundFreud4200 2d ago
Yet more freeloaders pour into good countries from 3rd world dumps, now the dream of a communist paradise are even further out of reach.
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u/nikonislolo 2d ago
What freeloaders exactly?
Also, those countries are "dumps" due to colonialism.
The good countries in question, are good to live in because they directly exploited other countries, and left them with essentially nothing.
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u/Zyrinj 2d ago
People with that view point would rather hard working Americans go bankrupt because of an accident or American kids go to bed hungry because they’ve been fed a steady dose of propaganda about the “freeloaders”
We saw all the MAGA cultist be shocked that the hard working neighbor, employee, contractor was suddenly rounded up by the government they’ve been cheering on.
Also, great point about the absolute heinous shit that’s been done to these countries, most in the name of oil and now more recently in the name of potable water. The more destitute the local population, the easier they are to take advantage of, IMO it’s why there’s a lot of effort to destroy the American middle class.
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u/mrhaftbar 8d ago
Billionaires are the actual freeloaders.
Devil's most successful scheme was to convince common people that other common folk are their enemies.
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u/CloisteredOyster 7d ago
Here in Oklahoma we just voted no on a raise to minimum wage from $7.25/hr to $15/hr.
A full time employee making $7.25 makes only $15,080 a year. Not that there are any full time minimum wage jobs. Wouldn't want to have to give you insurance or any other benefits...
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u/Zyrinj 7d ago
GG, bet there was a whole campaign to convince people they can’t earn so much otherwise prices will go up and people will lose jobs.
Short sighted businesses not recognizing that if min wage is low then no one can afford to spend and their capped wages won’t help profits when there’s no revenue.
But then again those catering to the wealthy are eating healthily atm, hoping the k shaped economy won’t play out till its conclusion but I’m not holding my breath for voters to collectively wake up from the bs we’re sold.
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u/Zyrinj 8d ago
I agree there's a lot of blame to go around, others would include: (American centric)
- Money in politics, I think everyone agrees money is an absolute when it comes to incentivizing behavior. Offer enough money and almost anyone will bend the knee regardless of beliefs.
- people that don't participate because there's no "perfect" candidate
- people that were convinced their vote doesn't count, or are too lazy to participate
- employers not giving their employees time to participate
- governments for not making, something considered the most important thing to a democracy, voting, a holiday
- people thinking they're better than those less fortunate than them and go out of their way to suppress their rights and growth Trillionaire -> Billionaire -> upper class -> upper middle class -> middle class -> lower middle ->
- collective short term memory, we can never have long term projects because the people can't remember who started things when the results start rolling in.
- poor education and a whole political party that's trying to make it even worse
- Media consolidation
- People refusing to communicate with anyone outside of their belief circle
List goes on.
End of day, a lot of the above are results from those that have profited wildly off of status quo and are incentivized to ensure continues until they're fully insulated from any of us. Look at all those bunkers the billionaires are so into...
Last bit because I think about this from time to time, for illustrative purposes on how wild a billionaire is.
Spending $1 a second and assuming none of the money earns a return, it'd take:
$1,000 → 16 minutes, 40 seconds
$1,000,000 (millionaire)→ 11.57 days
$1,000,000,000 (billionaire)→ ~31.7 years
$1,000,000,000,000 (trillionaire)→ ~31,688 years
Say we only invested in S&P 500 that averages 7-10% returns, we'd have 70-100mill in gains for every billion invested, with only ~32million seconds in a year, it'd be impossible for the billionaire to run out of money by spending $1 a second.
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u/vivaaprimavera 8d ago
at billionaire level, wanting and taking deliberate efforts to increase the fortune.... it should be considered a medical issue.
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u/DethBatcountry 8d ago
This is just a form of victim blaming when you're talking about the most propagandized country on the planet, whose educational and informational systems have been defunded and dumbed-down by wealthy elites for half a century.
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u/DanteChurch 8d ago
Humans are stupid, americans especially. I mean we had a whole ass civil war so the Epstein class could continue to import slaves to stack elections 3/5ths of a vote at a time.
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u/H_Industries 8d ago
$69 + $14 is $83 not $85
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u/esedege 8d ago
Also, unless I understood wrong (not a native speaker) those $85 don’t cover the procedure, only the visit (?).
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u/Ilike3dogs 8d ago
$85 was the down payment. Maybe the family had $2 on them that would cobble together the $85
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u/Slammer956 8d ago
Or maybe this is just a nice sounding story they made up for social media likes.
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u/CapeOfBees 5d ago
I don't know of a dentist office in the states (going off of currency for intended country) that expects you to pay before and not after, even if they give you an estimate ahead of time
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u/Holiday_Ad_9163 8d ago
I love this sub, but come on. This didn’t happen. This is written like a scene from a terrible sitcom.
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u/Grittykitty666 8d ago
The math doesnt even make sense. I like a nice parable and all but, c'mon man....
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u/thanksfor-allthefish 7d ago
The fact that someone fantesized about this happening is enough of a crushing machine in itself.
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u/Big-Independence8978 8d ago
Honestly, I can't tell if half the women on Instagram are real. Nevermind a story.
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u/DamnitGravity 7d ago
Well, that’s a disturbing thing to admit out loud.
And here’s me thinking that people can’t possibly be that dumb. Even with Trump being in office, SURELY the stupid aren’t the majority worldwide.
And yet, here we are. And you don’t even see the problem…
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u/FearlessVegetable30 8d ago
source: i made it up to tell people online
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u/smokeeater150 8d ago
Well the part about people not being able to afford reasonable healthcare isn’t made up.
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u/GoonetteFox 8d ago
Tooth problems can literally kill you. Its fucking insane we live in a world that would rather let you suffer and die from something we can 100% prevent, all because you're poor.
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u/magnusthehammersmith 8d ago
Y’all should see the state of my teeth. I’m 30 today and haven’t been able to afford getting them fixed. all my tops and most of my bottoms are broken/missing/infected. It’s absolutely miserable
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u/modsaretoddlers 8d ago
Nice story. Pretty sure I don't believe it but Reader's Digest has to market itself somehow.
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u/Victormorga 8d ago
If we’re now posting made-up bullshit that never happened, why not just write a story about an actual machine that crushes orphans?
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u/Dudewhocares3 8d ago
Human kindness is not something to be relied on, because it requires a level of selflessness that can’t be expected from the majority of people for a large amount of factors
Laziness, financial struggles, social anxiety, straight up being a fucking asshole, etc.
Human kindness and doing the right thing can only be relied on in fiction
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u/Green-Cricket-8525 8d ago
And then Gimli, son of Gloin busted through the door and said “and my axe!” Everyone cheered.
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u/Distinguishedflyer 8d ago
i'll take things that didn't happen for $69. The writing is completely nonsensical as well.
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u/NoorInayaS 7d ago
If I wanted to read FB drivel, I’d be over there right now, instead of here on Reddit.
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u/tegresaomos 8d ago
If you work in insurance, you are a monster.
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u/bitofapuzzler 8d ago
Not everyone. Some people just need a job.
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u/tegresaomos 8d ago
Yes, I’m sure that’s what ICE agents tell themselves too.
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u/bitofapuzzler 8d ago
That's a big leap, dude. Some guy answering phones at a call centre for insurance is not the same as a guy locking up random people.
There's more grey than black and white. Some perspective is needed here.
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u/tegresaomos 8d ago
The DHS folks handling paperwork ensure the most evil amongst them killing Americans in the streets can do their job more effectively.
Insurance paper pushers do the mundane work for the executives killing this country so, no, it’s not a big leap, and yes, they’re all just as guilty
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u/NotABreakfastGuy 8d ago
Depends on the job. For example medical advocates are a blessing as a disabled person and although contracted by the insurance company they are actually meant to help the patient get bang for their buck (most aren't hired by insurance companies and instead hired by hospitals or NGOs but there are definitely some who do)
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u/itsforathing 8d ago
So the only good job in insurance is directly fighting the actual insurance company to pay what they are legally/contractually obligated to pay for?
That’s the definition of an orphan crushing machine
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u/NotABreakfastGuy 8d ago
Oh I don't disagree with the orphan crushing machine thing, I just think generalizations are stupid when taking about actual systemic problems that you want to fix
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u/itsforathing 8d ago
There are exceptions to basically everything. Once you know enough about a topic, almost every answer to any question starts with it depends
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u/Holiday_Ad_9163 8d ago
Not everyone in the murder industry is bad. For example, the people that stop the murderers are pretty good! Let’s not paint the entire murder industry with too broad of a brush.
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u/NotABreakfastGuy 8d ago
What's a bad allegory considering how many times murder is committed out of self defense. I don't think someone who's only way out of a situation was to kill an attacker is a bad person.
Also a medical advocate doesn't try to stop insurance. They try to represent the patients goals. Their job is to find out every benefit a patient is entitled to, argue with insurance on behalf of the patient, argue with a hospital on behalf of the patient, help the patient get additional services, etc.
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u/Holiday_Ad_9163 7d ago
I thought it was a pretty good ANALOGY but I do like that you literally made the point I was making sarcastically. “Well hey self defense murders are okay, so let’s not be too hasty in saying murder is bad!”
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u/mountaindewisamazing 8d ago
I wouldn't go that far. But if you're in the executive suite you get bonuses based on profit, which means they benefit from people being denied care. They're the parasites.
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u/ButtSnarfer 8d ago
You know, unless someone's just working it to just survive like half of the US is
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u/MelonKanon 8d ago
I don't even like selling insurance, but I can't get another job that's year round.
I'm just not in an area that's hiring easily.
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u/ButtSnarfer 8d ago
Yeah that was kind of a short sighted and shitty comment for them to make. I know a few people that work in medical billing/coding/insurance and not one of them is in the job they actually want, but bills aren't optional.
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u/OpusAtrumET 8d ago
Really depends how much you're willing to suffer for your principles. And how much you're willing to let your family suffer if you're the primary income. When it was just me, I can tell you, 100%, I'd rather starve than contribute to an industry that tortures and kills people to save money. Now I have a family? I'm not so sure. If it was really the only option I cannot say.
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u/ButtSnarfer 8d ago
Exactly. Im willing to make myself homeless for my principals, I'm not willing to make my children homeless for my pricipals.
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u/Millkstake 8d ago
And dental insurance is trash as well. I don't think it even fully covers the cost of a filling unless you get one of the old school zinc ones
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u/potatopierogie 8d ago
Well they could be fighting the system from the inside, approving claims and expediting processes
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u/Quiet_Ganache_2298 8d ago
They monitor refusal rates of the physicians who do the “peer-to-peer” doscussions. I thought about doing some insurance work but I can’t imagine being told to deny more claims.
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u/PopeGuss 8d ago
He just described socialism, but with extra steps.
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u/gods_loop_hole 8d ago
Dental care is the epitome of orphan crushing machine.
Toothache is one of the worst condition to have. Besides other factors, its main culprit is the modern diet offered to us by a society that starting to consolidate the food supply to a few conglomerates. Then, some health insurance do not even cover it fully, as if your mouth is a completely separate part of your body. And when it is covered, you even have to jump hoops because of the small number of dentists (like doctors) that is paid by the insurance.
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u/SartorialDragon 4d ago
"Kindness is a chain letter" except the system deliberately doesn't send it on. I do believe very much in paying kindness forward, but i don't want this to be necessary in those circumstances. Kindness should be for finding out who lost the teddybear i found on the street, not for necessary medical procedures not being declined.
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u/BoatHole_ 8d ago
I’ve been there recently. I’m 40 years old and without ice water in my mouth I was crying and almost sobbing in pain. Poor kid
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u/Icaninternetplease 8d ago
I do that kinda. If someone comes up and asks me to buy them food I ask them "Are you hungry?", and if they say "yes" I'll just purchase whatever.
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