Mastodawn

@davidaugust
I don't think Americans pity anybody else's tax rate. You don't think most Americans don't know our for-profit healthcare system sucks? Do you think Americans honestly want to launch GoFundMes? SCOTUS has made it all but impossible for actual Americans to do fuck-all about anything. Citizens United basically allowed every politician to be openly bought and paid for.

Edit for the benefit of my European brothers and sisters:

We do not have a parliament. We are not even a democracy.

We are a Constitutional Republic. Our President isn't even democratically elected!

We elect State "Electors" that in-turn ELECT the President.

And there is FUCK-ALL any American citizen (or even group of Americans) can do to change or fix things WHEN WE HAVE A SUPREME COURT THAT IS ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST US.

I think that's the biggest thing Europeans dont have a grasp on.

mossman Feb 21

@mike @davidaugust FWIW I've had Americans joke about / make fun of our taxes and social security over here plenty of times over the years...

@mossman @davidaugust
It's one thing to joke and commiserate with a bunch of friends sitting at a pub in a foreign country than it is outright bitch about another Country's politics, and target (even if not intentionally) their entire population on social media. You make it sound like we asked for this shit.

Not even the idiots that voted for that asshole asked for this shit.

hot tran*sexual menace Feb 21

@mike @davidaugust still the people need to vote for them.

Also you can still get anyone elected in the primaries if you show up with your buddies and organize the show.

How do you think the republican party got so tea partied/magafied that the classical business republican from the 90s and 00s doesn't really hold any sway there anymore?

@missqarnstein @davidaugust
How about you worry more about your own Country's politics and worry less about ours and painting 350 million Americans with the same brush?

99.9% of the people you are bitching about here did not vote for that son-of-a-bitch, and frankly we're tired of being of being put in his same fascist bucket.

OUR ELECTIONS ARE RIGGED. Or did you not know this already?

Texas is not a deeply red State, it is very much in-fact a very PURPLE State with a huge democratic voting bloc, but the Republicans in Texas love gerrymandering more than they love our Constitution, and sadly we have a Supreme Court (that we can NOT vote for) siding with the fascists.

There is frankly nothing an American voter can do when our own fucking Supreme Court is against us.

hot tran*sexual menace Feb 21

@mike @davidaugust i stop caring about your shitty politics once we're no longer a vassal state of your fascist hellhole.

Yes your systems are rigged but it's only possible because the population is either apathetic, overworked, or too inconvenienced to involve themselves or they flat out agree with white american supremacy.

@davidaugust @missqarnstein

Dave Dee Feb 21

@mike @davidaugust @missqarnstein boohoo participate, put your people in the primaries, in schools, participate.

And why do we bother? Cause your country causes shit that we have to deal with. Go fight some oligarchs and techbros instead of rolling over and whining that everything is rigged.

@davidaugust @missqarnstein @deedo
Again, there you go painting 350,000,000 Americans with the same broad brush.

Europe has its own fascist and autocratic leanings. Take care of your own back yards first.

Blocked. Because I am fucking sick and tired of Europeans telling us what we should fucking do.

hot tran*sexual menace Feb 21

@deedo @mike @davidaugust

Americans really don't like accountability at all. (Just saying because i'm getting unblocked, receive a rage post, and getting blocked again.) 🤷‍♀️

Dave Dee Feb 21

@missqarnstein @mike @davidaugust and once again, instead of seeing we're in fact fighting the same fascists he decides to put his head in his ass once again, forgets about the real enemy and walks away crying.

Ah well. Too much of that is exactly what put America where it is now.

Ken M Sweeney Feb 21

@mike @davidaugust you can always put those armalites to use? I mean a hell of a lot of you did it before so you can keep profiteering from slavery so surely a insurrection to keep some semblance of freedom is a worthy cause?

@davidaugust @TheComfortableSpotPodcast
Have you seen our American Military? They no longer have muskets and bayonets any more. They have tanks and MRAPs and an unlimited supply of weapons and ammunition.

Do you honestly think any American, let alone even a "well armed milita" (words in the 2nd Amendment) can honestly stand up to the US Military? ISIS tried. Al Qaeda tried. The Taliban tried. And they were a helluva lot better armed (not to mention their home-turf advantage) and they couldn't.

So what makes you think any American citizen can?

This is no longer the 18th Century.

Ken M Sweeney Feb 21

@mike @davidaugust to be honest, my original comment was in jest, but history does show that nations built on fragile democratic systems and deep internal divisions can unravel quickly — and when that happens, institutions, including the military, don’t always remain unified. 1)

Ken M Sweeney Feb 21

@mike @davidaugust Comparing this to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban misses the point. Those weren’t conventional wars, and in the case of the Taliban, the outcome after 20 years is an even stronger Taliban in Afghanistan. The real risk in a constitutional crisis isn’t a militia “beating” the U.S. military in open combat — it’s political fracture and divided loyalties within institutions themselves. History suggests that kind of breakdown is far more plausible than a Hollywood-style showdown. 🔚

@davidaugust all true for less than 6,000,000 people

Arthur van der Harg Feb 21

@noplasticshower @davidaugust If it’s feasible with 6M people, then it should be much more doable with over 60 times as many.

Morten Juhl-Johansen Feb 21

@ArtHarg @noplasticshower @davidaugust Add to that just over 6 million people in Denmark.
I definitely take home a bigger part of what I have earned here in Denmark when I calculate in health care, childcare and education for myself and my family.
/Edit: My point was, I used to live in Brooklyn, so it is not a theoretical comparison.

@mjj @ArtHarg @davidaugust I understand your point and politically I agree with it. But it is very naive.

@[email protected] @davidaugust I wish that were true. I love Norway and have a great deal of respect for that approach. But you guys seem to have no sense of just how big and how disparate the US is.

For example, I live in the DC metro area which has more people in it than Norway and overlaps physically with the tips of two states and a District with different laws and different (sometimes nonexistent) representation.

California, about 20 states west is the same area as Norway with the 6.6 times more people.

Arthur van der Harg Feb 21

@noplasticshower @davidaugust Then your argument should not be “for 6M people”, but “sorry, we chose a system of government that puts individual well and woe before collective action”. It’s not that you couldn’t do this in California or even in the entire US. The risks would be lower than for Norway. But it’s just that Americans are OK with paying for a stretch of road that they themselves drive on, but not for one that their neighbour drives on. That is what corporations exploit.

@ArtHarg @davidaugust that is my argument. Bye bye.

Jugger1511 Feb 21

@noplasticshower @davidaugust in Germany it's truth für 83.500.000 people. If you are Not an idiot you can scale it Up . In the USA is health Care obsessed by criminals

CS Feb 21

@jugger1511 It might be somewhat fairer than in the US, but there is also a strong private sector in Germany‘s health system.

@jugger1511 @davidaugust the US includes at least 1/3 very stupid people

Mastokarl 🇺🇦Feb 21

@noplasticshower @davidaugust I assume for the majority of us 450,000,000 EU Europeans it is pretty similar. Certainly all of western Europe.

nickapos Feb 21

@Mastokarl @noplasticshower @davidaugust I know plenty of old people that would be goners in Greece if it was not for the public health system, with all its issues and delays it has kept them alive.
These are poor people living with pensions 200-300 euro per month.

schamspeare Feb 21

@davidaugust Oof. So true. They want less government, fewer social programs, no assistance, no "handouts." They aspire to selfishness, which they call independence and self-reliance. So far behind they think they're in front.

Audelle Hinnant Feb 21

@davidaugust
I don't think people understand the idea of free Healthcare. Yes, paying for it in taxes, means it's not free. However, paying for it in taxes means, I don't have to go six years without glasses because I can't afford the exam. It means if my glasses break today, I can go to get an exam, get my prescription and go to get my glasses without taking from my food, rent, and clothing.
Not sure about glasses outside of the US, is that a separate charge?

Melancholic Mediocrity

Feb 21

@faliate
I average about 8 or 9 years per set of eyeglasses.

@davidaugust

DerPumu (he/him)Feb 21

@LibertyForward1 @faliate @davidaugust that may not last forever. At a certain age you might benefit from new glasses every 2-4 years

Melancholic Mediocrity

Feb 21

@DerPumu @faliate @davidaugust I would love to replace them that often, but I'm generally only able to scrape enough money together every decade or so

Audelle Hinnant Feb 21

@LibertyForward1 @DerPumu @davidaugust
Right. My glasses broke six years ago, I cannot afford an exam, nor have the funds to get one.
If taxes go towards medical expenses, it should extend to the nearly blind as well. The longer we go without glasses the worse our eyes get. I know that is impossible in the US. However, for the countries that do have a universal health care, maybe petitioning the government departments that run these programmes and asking them to extend the medical benefits?

DerPumu (he/him)Feb 22

@faliate @LibertyForward1 @davidaugust in many countries glasses are part of "free" health care. Here in Germany it's covered by the mandatory health insurance.
To be precise, that's not taxes going towards medical, over here, taxes are separate from health insurance, so politicians can't line their industrial friends' pockets with that money.

Audelle Hinnant Feb 22

@DerPumu @LibertyForward1 @davidaugust
Oh wow okay! That's amazing!

Miha Markič Feb 21

@faliate @davidaugust In my country exams are free and glasses and lenses are subsidized.

nickapos Feb 21

@mihamarkic @faliate @davidaugust Eye tests are free in Scotland and NHS advises people to have one every 2 years.
Similarly dentist check ups cost less than 10£ with an X-ray and polish and they are also scheduled at least once per year via NHS. You can of course go in at any time if there is an emergency

Miha Markič Feb 21

@nickapos @faliate @davidaugust Free dentists checks and care over here in Slovenia including x rays.

🇨🇦 CowMan 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 🇲🇽Feb 21

@faliate @davidaugust Optical, dental, prescriptions are not covered in Canada. Well, not universally covered.

Ysegrim Feb 21

@faliate @davidaugust In Germany, though examination by an ophthalmologist is free, glasses are usually not covered, except if you're practically blind without them.

Audelle Hinnant Feb 21

@ysegrim @davidaugust
This is why I wish my grandparents never left Germany. Also, one of the reasons why I want to migrate back to Germany. Besides the culture and food, there are many great things about Germany.

Eye Feb 21

@davidaugust

I'd rather pay tax any day!

I don't understand people not wanting to pay their share of tax; we ALL benefit.

Silent.Tom Feb 21

@grb090423 @davidaugust people nowadays dont care for "we", they only care for "I"

Eye Feb 21

@twallutis @davidaugust

Yes, there's a lot of that thinking but I'm hopeful that gradual growth of Green Party membership worldwide proves otherwise.

Xenia Feb 21

@davidaugust "thank God I don't pay as much taxes as those foolish Europeans! Now to do my monthly payment towards my student loans and medical debt-"

decapitae Feb 21

@davidaugust 👍

Debora Weber-Wulff Feb 21

@davidaugust
Not just Norway! Many European countries also have free healthcare, free college, parental leave, and more. It’s necessary to have a well-educated, healthy population that doesn’t fall for fascists…

David August ❌👑Feb 21

@WiseWoman indeed, a real bulwark against fascism.

j_bertolotti Feb 21

@WiseWoman As much as I love having free healthcare, parental leave etc, people in EU countries fall for fascism every other week.
@davidaugust

Debora Weber-Wulff Feb 21

@j_bertolotti @davidaugust

True, although it is not every day. We still have lots of work to do!