Originally posted by: BigDH01
Originally posted by: Duwelon
Typical liberal fix to a problem they caused in the first place. Running out of money to pay for the votes you bought in the last election via more and more social programs that enslave the people to state? Simple: raise taxes on the evil rich to continue the same trend. The slaves don't care, they're uninspired so getting government scraps are all they think they can get anyway and once they're dependent on the government more with each passing day, the less likely they'll break free of their dependence or work hard enough to give up their cushy benefits.
They are running out of money due to a couple of factors, but chiefly the recession. In a recession, state spending on services goes up due to increased costs in unemployment and Medicaid and revenues decrease due to less spending and income tax revenue. I don't understand how Medicaid and unemployment make people slaves any more than massive debts. Besides, employers pay unemployment specifically so that their employees can collect in case of layoff.
What is your solution? Eliminate Medicaid? That's fine, but as I've said before, I'm a pragmatist.
Here's what kicking people off of Medicaid does for community costs. Obviously enough, removing someone's preventative benefits simply forces them into the emergency room which imposes an even greater cost on society. As long as we believe that everyone has the right to at least emergent care, then society will pay for universal emergent care one way or another.
And lest you forget, the increase in Medicaid and unemployment spending in times like these are due to increased job losses. These are people that were working and have since suffered a loss of income. These aren't slaves, they are people in need of assistance, which is exactly why programs like Medicaid, TANF, and unemployment were created. And they were created long before the last election.
I also find your idea about slavery to the state quite interesting. If private health care insurance costs become too astronomical, then only the largest corporations will be able to purchase it for their employees. Would employees of these corporations not also be slaves? Doesn't a system with astronomical health care costs discourage people from starting their own business and paying for their own health care?
And when average middle-class working people have severe health issues and go into massive debt, are they not also slaves? Slaves to their debt? Let's not forget that a huge
proportion of people filing for bankruptcy due so because of health costs. And most of those had insurance at the onset of their illness. Working and middle class people are filing bankruptcy to free themselves from the debt slavery thrust upon them by our private health care system. Again, these are working people.
I also find your description of scraps quite naive. One way or another, we are all working for someone's scraps. What I earn is certainly scraps compared to what Wall St bankers are (were) earning. It has certainly been my experience that money buys you freedom, so compared to those that really lead this country (business leaders and politicians alike), I AM a slave, a working slave. The government may have certain coercive powers over me, but I certainly feel my company's coercive powers more directly everyday. The government may forcefully take money out of my paycheck, but my company forcefully takes my time by forcing me to stay late. Granted, I could refuse to stay late just as I could refuse to pay my taxes. In either case, I lose freedom. I get thrown in jail or risk losing my home and lifestyle. Most of us are slaves of one form or another.
This is one reason why I despise the ever increasing costs of healthcare and especially education. Education is a system that has been especially corrupted. At least slaves to healthcare debt have bankruptcy. Slaves to student loan debt have nothing and costs of higher education has been skyrocketing. I am of the opinion that corporations like this arrangement. It is analogous to indentured servitude. Corporations usually require a college degree to get hired and students have been graduating with an increasing amount of debt. To repay this debt, you must go to work for the companies that required you to acquire debt in the first place. And if you don't? Well, bankruptcy only extremely rarely absolves student loan debt. If you default, the lenders will get liens against any property you own and get judgments against you that force the garnishment of wages. If you aren't working, the principle simply increases. And what is usually the first cut to be made when state budgets are tight? Funding to public universities. Tuition here is going up another 4.x% next year.
The purpose of this spiel? It is simply to point out that almost all of us are slaves to some degree or in one respect or another. My definition of slavery is relatively simple and benign. It is when another power has enough coercive power over you to get you to act or perform in ways you wouldn't otherwise conceive. For some people, this is their mortgage. For some people, this is their student loan or healthcare debt. They spend their lives going to jobs they hate to address their debt. For some people, this is government. For some, this is religion. For some, this is their company. In the end, it doesn't really matter.
No offense, but look at your beliefs. You certainly believe in God and Heaven and Hell. If God came to you tomorrow and told you to cut off a finger or spend eternity in Hell, what would you do? Maybe you should consider your own position in the Universe before you label others slaves.
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