Notices by Louis Ingenthron (louisingenthron@qoto.org), page 3

@freemo True. Folks on the right just get bored and call you a "libtard" and move on. Folks on the left seem to get personally offended that anyone capable of logic wouldn't reach the same conclusion as them.

@freemo I think that graph is reasonable, but only if you’re talking about the people who are regularly tuned into politics.

I think the folks who don’t pay attention most of the time probably fit closer to a standard bell curve.

@freemo Do those exist?

Or are the issues with insurance so systemic that not buying into the system ends up shortchanging the practice, making such honest practices unprofitable in a broken system?

I.e. if prices are inflated because insurance companies insist on spending more resources bartering than paying out, wouldn't an honest doctor practice that gives up-front pricing still have to deal with that and end up taking a loss as a result?

@freemo @realcaseyrollins No, no, I'm talking about how much the average American has saved up, i.e. how much they have in their bank account to pay for emergencies sans insurance.

@freemo @Raccoon They can only afford it if they work many years for the predatory institutions first. Right out of college, most doctors are deep in debt.

@freemo @realcaseyrollins So, it looks like the overall median savings for Americans is something like $8,000, but when you look at Americans under 35, it drops to $5,000.

That means half the population has less than that.

I agree that losing insurance would drive prices down (modern insurance is definitely a scam), but I think you're underestimating the number of people who would be able to handle a serious unexpected medical expense on their own... more likely, a new industry of loan sharks would crop up around the void.

@freemo Well, yeah, but also I vaped way back before it was cool and common, back when the tech was very iffy. I think that did more damage than the later, safer, stuff.

@freemo Yeah, and the vaping is even more dangerous because of how much "healthier" it seems. I'm in my mid thirties and already starting to struggle to get enough oxygen, even though I quit more than five years ago.

@freemo @realcaseyrollins The other problem with that is that, even with reduced prices, most people still wouldn't be able to afford emergency care. That leads us to a place where laborers end up disabled for life because they can't get a broken arm treated promptly.

Making it free up-front would likely be more economically viable than dealing with the long-term systemic effects of people not getting the care they need (similar to how we deal with homelessness and drugs: just endlessly throwing money at enforcement instead of prevention).

@freemo @Raccoon Yeah, but are there any of those left?

If your mission is to help people, but all your employment options are predatory, then the best you can do is try to work within the system to do as much good as possible.

@freemo @realcaseyrollins Fwiw, I consider myself a member of the "woke" and I agree with your definition. It applies to anyone whose brain chemistry works significantly differently from neuronormative standards.

@freemo The crazy thing is how they never have even a nanosecond of self-reflection or consideration of the bewildered expressions of everyone around them. They just assume we all secretly agree with them despite all evidence to the contrary.

@freemo Yep, I get that a lot too because of my general appearance and demeanor, lol. I can't tell you how many times I've been standing in a restaurant waiting for takeout just to have a Florida Man © walk up to me and start a conversation about how *this time* the deep state can't weasel their way out of it and Biden is going to prison. I've found the best thing to do is just mutter "yep, uh huh, sure buddy, good luck with that" as I slowly step away.

@freemo I've lived my whole life in blue cities in red states, so I may be biased in the opposite direction, but most card-carrying Democrats around here think AOC and Bernie Sanders are at least a little bit nuts.

@freemo I strongly disagree with your distribution percentages.

That *might* be accurate if you're only talking about the subset of the left that uses microblogging websites, though.

But I think you're falling prey to the vocal minority. If the far-left extreme folks were really in the majority, then Bernie or Liz Warren would have won the primary in 2020. But even in a Dem party primary, which should already have a pretty strong leftward lean, they chose Biden, who is much more of a centrist (or "flip-flopper", or "opportunist", or whatever, but he's definitely put a rightward distance between himself and the straight-up-socialists in the party).

@freemo Ah, okay. I tend to define 'leftists' as "Bernie supporters" lol

@freemo What do you consider to be the qualifying factors for a "leftist"? It could be that your observed outcome is a result of your definition.

@freemo Are you concerned at all about what happens when you stop using it? Or are you considering using it indefinitely?

@freemo I agree, but I think it's important to draw a pretty big line between orderly organizations that claim to have accountability for their members and an unordered collective that anyone can join or act in the name of.

@freemo Yep, open source definitely has its own problems, but it still generally comes out on top.