Sunday, December 20, 2015

Bernie Sanders Has A Point - Single Payer Systems For Healthcare Work Best

Bernie Sanders has a point. Our healthcare system is extremely complicated and drains our nation and the taxpayers unnecessarily for profits. Since World War II, Great Britain has participated in a single payer system. It works quite well. France also has a single payer system.

The United States uses a For Profit model of care. It drains the economy and provides lousy coverage for most Americans. It makes them vulnerable to economic chaos if they get sick. Medical bankruptcy is the second highest reason Americans apply for bankruptcy. The system works for corporations more than people.

It would be easier to reform Medicare and offer universal healthcare for all ages. Simple to do, hard to achieve with our Congress. The medical lobbyists are just as effective as gun lobbyists. They will not go down without a fight.

Here is a breakdown of the economic impact or system of care has on us versus a single payer system in France and England:

 
United States
United Kingdom
France
Total (per capita)
$8,713
$3,234
$4,123
Public health care (per capita)
$4,197
$2802
$3,247
Private health care (per capita)
$4,515
$561
$876

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Why Is Donald Trump Surviving All The Negative Press

The latest on Donald Trump is that he is crazy. According to many, his ideas are dangerous to the American people. He is a racist, misogynist, and fear monger. But what some fail to acknowledge is that on many points, he is actually correct. This explains his popularity and why he survives so many assaults from the media and celebrities alike.

Donald Trump is appealing to so many people because he has discussed many issues that people are frustrated with. There is more than meets the eye with our political election. Even if you are hostile to the "Donald", people are rejecting the assertion by the media that we should think he is a big entertainer, not a politician. He has spoken to the heart of many serious problems facing our country that the media will not discuss due to their ownership by major corporations. Even Hollywood celebrities, who stand firmly against Trump refuse to come out strongly against the issues that Trump has accurately fought for in this election  Here are a few examples:

Media/Corporate Marriage - Donald Trump has exposed how the media works for corporations. Once he was deemed a threat, they have attacked him with unprecedented tactics we have never seen in previous elections. Go back and watch the Republican debates. When have we ever witnessed so many questions that lead in with an attack of another candidate in our lifetime? The media starts with a question as follows, "Donald Trump has said......do you agree with his position?" It is amazing how the debate is shaped to change the popularity of Trump.

China/Mexico Trade Policies - Donald Trump cares more about the working class than you think. He is just as outspoken as Bernie Sanders. The past 30 years of devastation to the American Middle Class can be traced to unfair trade practices with China and Mexico. For years, the Democrats and Republicans allowed hundreds of thousands of companies to move from their home districts south of the border or east to Asia. For most Americans, they have been told the same thing by both parties, "there is nothing we can do." The truth is high paying jobs gone without a serious fight. Why is that? Donald has repeatedly reminded the media is that our corporations have denied middle class wages be exporting jobs to low wage countries. He clearly states, "When I am President, we will have a fair trade policy and make the playing field equal." I will introduce tariffs and negotiate with the Chinese and Mexican governments to introduce fair trade agreements.



Immigration and Rape - Donald Trump is vilified for a statement than most candidates would not want you to know about our immigration policy. Many immigrants cross the Mexican border through what is called coyote runners. Coyotes are paid to human traffic many of the women and men that work in the United States illegally. You would be surprised how far reaching this system of labor is in our country. Every state has illegals, and their stories are horrifying. Coyote runners also rape the women, and some of them become pregnant. These women are powerless. Silent, due to their illegal status, many Americans do not know the horrors of human trafficking on our border because they can not speak. The abuse does not end once they arrive to the United States. Illegals are continually threatened to pay huge bribes to the coyotes because unbeknownst to them, during there journey gangs have kidnapped family members after they arrive. This allows for long periods of indentured servitude. No system of justice to go to, they must suffer from our border policies and pay the ransoms.

Misogyny? Yes, he says awful things towards women. However, we have another candidate running for President on the Democratic ticket that is married to the worst misogynistic former President in our history. Yet not a hint of questioning to why she is so loyal to her husband. A 23 year old intern was taken advantage of by the mystique of the Presidency and was manipulated to give the President oral sex. This abuse of power happened repeatedly throughout their marriage and Hillary as she said, "stood by her man." Fascinating when you think of the double standard by our media.

The Muslim Ban on Immigration - almost 40 years ago, Jimmy Carter placed a ban on immigration due to the Iranian Hostage crisis. He was worried about domestic terrorism. We have had numerous terrorist attacks on our homeland. Why is a restrictive immigration policy considered so crazy? Whether you agree with Trump or not, this is not an unheard of policy. Many presidents have restricted immigration due to national security concerns. What Trump has said about any ban is that it would be temporary, until we can better vet our immigration from foreign countries that sponsor terrorism. The media has carefully shaped the discussion to make it sound like it is a permanent ban.

Donald Trump is attacking the system. He is calling out both political parties. For many who profit from such a system, this is very threatening. You do not have to vote for candidate to listen to his/hers ideas. Take a second look at Trump. He actually is pointing out many problems with our political system that is challenging the media/corporate marriage that has existed for 30 years.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Are We Distorting History When Attacking Trump?

Donald Trump has made some proposals that seem way out of line of common thinking. The media is portraying him in a historical context that is inaccurate.  Let's slow down a bit and think about the historical context we use regarding Trump.  Here are a few examples:

Refugee Crisis and ISIS: Trump has snarled a lot of liberals and often gets comparisons to Hitler. Yet it was Franklin Roosevelt who was the only President to create internment camps for American Citizens in our nations history when we were at war. He is a liberal icon. Is Trump so crazy that his policies are very similar to FDR?

Citizenship and Immigration: Trump's policies regarding immigration are referred to us unheard of in our nation's history. However, we have limited immigration in our past. Often times, in response to unprecedented growth within a minority group that has impacted our economy. Citizenship has been challenged repeatedly during our history. This is nothing new. Naturalization acts date back to 1790. The Chinese were actually refused entrance into our country for 50 years.

Monitoring of Muslim Immigrants: Again, nothing new. For example, In 1950, after the start of the Korean War, the Internal Security Act barred admission to any foreigner who was Communist, who might engage in activities "which would be prejudicial to the public interest, or would endanger the welfare or safety of the United States."  The United States has a history of restricting or monitoring immigrants when we are at war.    

Donald Trump's demagogy is very much a part of American History. Instead of using polarizing examples of Foreign figures such as Hitler, we need to examine our own history first.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Beware The Social Media Meme......

Social media is tool or in some cases a weapon to manipulate a reaction from people to support social policy. A quite effective tool at that. The most effective and caustic weapon on social media is the meme.

The definition for most people is that a meme is an internet anecdote passed along for humorous reasons. I enjoy them as much as the next person. However, over the past few years. political parties and hate groups have decided to redefine the meme as follows:

an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.

Here is the problem. We are predisposed to opinions based on emotional reactions we have because of past experiences in our lives. There is a way to tap into those experience through sight and sound. Similar to PTSD, we store negative images  due to life changing events stored in our mind. We react to similar image that remind us of traumatic events. Memes can manipulate a reaction to past events. For example, if you feel somehow slighted by the loss of someone you loved, you react to someone else pain and suffering. However, if you place blame on another individual or organization for that loss, you will react to larger life changing events in a negative way.

Believe it or not, we can tap into past experiences in unique ways that we never consider. For example, social media exposes our weakness to sarcasm, hate, and subconscious meanings without us realizing the harm it can cause. We respond to our  individual weakness over an individual strength of human potential. In a sense, we love to see people fail due to our own choices in life. This is quite dangerous for any society.

The meme is here to stay. Ungoverned, it can cause more harm than good. Beware the social meme.

A Child's Reality of What is Important

A Child's Reality of What is Important

The YouTube Experiment

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