The most flummoxing thing for a narcissist is to be confronted with incontrovertible evidence that they’re wrong or that they lied. It’s combination of their a) not comprehending that other people don’t think the same as they do or worship them so much they follow without question and b) thinking that whatever other…

I think perhaps you swing too far to assuming that poor = lazy in the vast majority of cases. I’d posit that there are a lot of people who are or would be motivated and great citizens, but life just does sometimes grind you down with so much of your energy just going to basic survival that even the easy, basic stuff…

It gets easier and easier to have those conversations as time goes on and Trump does increasingly outrageous things: less has to be said because his supporters have less and less to offer in his defense, so those of us who do not support him don’t have to say as much for the truth to be understood.

For your enjoyment: http://jezebel.com/1795160830

I like his weird accent. And I don’t need him to talk. (I’d apologize for the size of these pics, but the better to enjoy them....)

I’m not following your point about isolationism, at least as a response to me. Maybe that was a more general comment? Because I was simply noting that our non-isolationism is a reason for our military/defense spending.

Well, I’m not sure that “they shouldn’t have it good” is a great rationale, but fair enough, and I get your point that we need to take care of our citizens as much as or more than others who have their own infrastructures and governments.

No, you didn’t say that 75% of the students are good quality. I threw it out as a very generously low percentage, because most people are quite swift. As for your acquaintance, it’s possible to graduate with Cs and/or to take easy classes...both at Harvard and at every other college. Few colleges are interested in…

I’ve spent a decade in the industry, in the US :-), so I’m familiar with the concepts you raise. And yes - everyone is in it for profit, from insurers to providers to manufacturers of devices and pharma (there are a handful of nonprofit insurers and some hospital systems). Some people take issue with that, even as a…

Not exactly true. The $5000 showing is usually the non-network-negotiated price (the “MSRP,” so to speak), at best. The amount charged is not that amount. And hardly anyone (except maybe those paying out of pocket...it varies) is actually billed or pays that $5000. The numbers are inflated. So if it says $5000…

For every “poor person” who goes to the ER for free healthcare, there is another “poor person” who simply doesn’t get any healthcare because they can’t afford premiums, or they pay their premiums but have a HDHP and can’t afford the deductible or co-pay, and they’re responsible citizens (to other people and to their…

We also do more militarily, both active and preventative, than anyone else. There’s plenty of (famous) waste in military/government spending, but stats that don’t rationalize incongruities aren’t helpful.

As a citizen of a country, though, you’re always going to have to live with some decisions that you don’t love. Hopefully at least those governmental decisions will be for the greater good.

It’s also an argument for starting with the providers and manufacturers who raise prices for profit and high salaries.

And when, three years after you chose to have a child because you and your spouse make in the comfortable 6 figures (not rich, but very comfortable) and are superstars at work, and you’ve decided you are now ready to expand your family, you’re in a terrible car accident (someone else’s fault, and they died, no assets…

I think you make an excellent point, and we should all keep it in mind.

If you frame up healthcare as a basic human right, you might have some more common ground morally speaking.

That is descriptive of certain insurance models; the whole debate is whether that should be prescriptive or not.

The notion is one of “each according to his means.” Sure, you may not like someone else deciding what you can afford, but there’s little argument that truly poor people cannot afford much at all. Are they less human because of that?

Difference: employer-based insurance is definitionally dealing wtih an employed population. Employment tends to correlate with better health. When you throw in everyone else, quality of health declines. Along with quality of healthcare, thus perpetuating the cycle endlessly. Guaranteed healthcare is an enormous…