Anyone can become disabled.
Anyone can lose their job.
Anyone can become homeless.
Anyone can go hungry.
These are not moral failings. They can happen in an instant.
Most people are far closer to living in poverty than they realize.
We must fight for one another & for the most vulnerable.
@broadwaybabyto
Much ❤️!
And thank you for the reminder !
🕊️
Watch out for drunks driving through red lights.
@Luecke_Bernhard
No, no. EVERYONE can be a billionaire. If they are, that was God's doing. It's you're poor, that's your own fault.
This American Calvinism created an insidious form of feudalism.
@broadwaybabyto
@elpolacodesplegado
Just like anyone can be president,
*anyone* has a chance to become a billionaire, if they're willing to abandon their humanity and devote their life to it.
...but not *everyone*, and not at the same time.
Those who try and happen to fail because become just bitter losers without friends. We don't hear about those people much. I wonder how many there are, and how much worse they make this world. And how much money billionaires make from them.
@Mr_Teatime
It helps to be born rich, get raised among people who have money and know people with money. Good start if you need money for a startup or want to go to Stanford.
A do-no good poor person must be a genius to make it in this system and even then most of them get robbed of their ideas by the rich.
@Luecke_Bernhard @broadwaybabyto
@Luecke_Bernhard @elpolacodesplegado @broadwaybabyto
The crazy thing is that this is true despite the fact that playing lottery is much more likely to make you poorer than netting you money.
...and that's also because the huge number of betting shops and suchlike are kind of part of the package when your government cares about money more than about humans.
@broadwaybabyto
1/2
On a cycle tour in Norway, many years ago we were about to start a big climb when we met a Russian man coming down the pass that we were about to go up.
We stopped for a short chat. When we heard that he had been living in Norway for some time we asked him what Norway was like.
He looked at us, pausing to think, and then said "It's not good, but where is better?".
It took a while to sink in. But it sums up Norway perfectly.
@broadwaybabyto 2/2
Yes, there are problems in Norway.
Yes, there are poor people in Norway.
Yes, the bureaucracy can sometimes make you want to weep.
There may be no places that are better than Norway but there are places that are much worse.
If I could do something to help people who live in countries where universal healthcare is seen as a weakness and a right to dignity in sickness and old age does not exist, then I would.
I do think of you all and wish you well and hope for change.
@broadwaybabyto all the young people complaining about paying for ObamaCare...
"But I'm young and healthy!"
And you'll never have a car accident...
@codebyjeff @broadwaybabyto
But tomorrow you may be unemployed and suffering from burnout.
And if you have universal healthcare paid for by taxation you STILL get that health care even if your income is below the taxation threshold.
If you have properly funded social security paid for by taxation you will likely get income support as you try to recover from your burnout even though you do not pay taxes at the moment.
Remind me how that works with insurance funded private healthcare?
I learned this lesson the hard way in 1991. I had the misfortune of being in a right-wing idiot controlled state (ie Pennsylvania) which had 'no fault' insurance.
So... Guy was drunk, had a couple unrestrained dogs in his car, ran a stop sign and I woke up in a CAT scanner.
But No Fault means 'not his fault you were in his way filthy prole!'
So I ended up at 19 with memory loss, missing teeth, skull fractures, and about $40,000 in debts.
It is also easy to forget with chronic conditions is that any dreams or even wishes you might have had of moving to another country or even another province or state closer to family are harder to achieve if not impossible.
For various health related issues my family unit has to stay in Norway. Moving nearer to family say Canada, The Netherlands would mean declaring our various health issues, both chronic and one-offs to the authorities
Which might make any move impossible.
@broadwaybabyto THESE AREN'T A RESULT OF SOMEONE'S LIFE CHOICES.
(I'm not trying to seem argumentative, Im supportive of the sentiment while trying to correct the statement.)
Neoliberal capitalism has failed, society needs cohesion and compassion, a support framework…
@harmonicarichard
I rather envision him ending up like Assad.
Except for hungry disabled homeless unemployed people, they can't
But those who have checked some of the boxes have higher chances to fulfill the others too 😕
The vast majority of people will be disabled at some point in their life. It’s just a question of when.
@broadwaybabyto I can confirm that.
I've been a self-employed consultant most of my life, from project/programme management big international projects to being a government advisor.
Made a killing, and lived the high-live, until 2014, when I suffered brain damage, and everything came crashing down. Suddenly, no income, and no prospect of an income. Haven't been able to work much since.
If not for some insurance my dad forced me to take out, I would have been living on the breadline now.
I'll add the one that the right seems to ignore the most (probably as they're most often the source):
Anyone can be born to a toxic childhood environment.
Twpalovi
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A
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