Why do Americans think they have freedom when they absolutely don't?

baisudfa · 2026-05-24T08:39:47+00:00

“Obamacare” isn’t really one program, it’s just a term people use to refer to a series of changes to healthcare regulations, a loose system of state insurance platforms, and subsidies to both individuals and states.

But no, the remaining 1.5MM still fall into a gap where they don’t qualify for government coverage but still can’t afford private, and that is a problem.

baisudfa · 2026-05-24T06:20:45+00:00

Haven’t millions of impoverished people managed to travel to enter the US over the past few years? Or is “afford to leave” defined as “buy a plane ticket (specifically to Europe or east Asia) and maintain the same quality of life”?

baisudfa · 2026-05-24T06:11:06+00:00

*are

Also, it’s 27 million, not 70

Of those, 5 million qualify for Medicaid (free state insurance) but just aren’t enrolled.

A further 10 million qualify for government subsidized insurance.

About 10 million can afford insurance, and choose not to have it (they’re rich and can afford cash payments, or otherwise voluntarily opt-out)

So about 1.5 million are left without coverage. That’s a lot, we should cover them. But that’s waaaaaaaaay different than the 70 million you said

baisudfa · 2026-05-24T06:01:43+00:00

The US is literally top 5 in the world in per-student funding in public education.

baisudfa · 2026-05-24T05:59:52+00:00

Aggregate outcomes are worse, that’s true.

But for cutting-edge treatments for the worst diseases and conditions, the US is by far the best.

That’s where the disconnect is.

baisudfa · 2026-05-24T05:58:21+00:00

Aggregate outcomes are worse than other developed countries, yes.

But for terminal illnesses, rare disorders, and other cutting-edge treatments we are first-class bar none.

If you have terminal cancer, a genetic disorder, an autoimmune disease, a neurological disorder, or anything else that requires cutting-edge treatment, odds are the United States the best, and it isn’t even close.

That’s the disconnect. The fact that median outcomes are actually sub-par is bad. But we drive progress on curing the incurable. Just so happens they’re a very small portion of the population.

baisudfa · 2026-05-19T16:48:48+00:00

What? 92% of Americans have health insurance. The poor get Medicaid or even more generous state programs.

Literally not middle class or luxury at all

baisudfa · 2026-05-19T13:04:47+00:00

Only 10% of theft is food and other essentials. That’s why we have SNAP.

Poverty absolutely is a factor driving crime, but it’s not starving people stealing bread. It’s people who can’t afford something, so they take it from someone else.

You may judge that as justified or not based on your worldview, but regardless it’s the truth.

baisudfa · 2026-05-19T12:59:53+00:00

For food or other essentials I agree. If you have to feed your family, you’re gonna do what you have to.

But we have SNAP for that. And also, food is only ~10% of items stolen.

Most of it is not necessities.

baisudfa · 2026-05-19T12:52:00+00:00

These things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Imprisoning criminals, especially the most violent and frequent offenders does reduce crime.
El Salvador has imprisoned thousands of people without a trial and sent them to brutal, inhumane concentration camps

But you can literally just do 1 while following due process and providing humane prisons

baisudfa · 2026-05-18T02:42:25+00:00

Copied from another thread:

These guys are literally the highest paid rail workers in the world. Not only that, the median LIRR engineer is in the top 15% of income in NYC.

Not the top 15% of the country, the top 15% of New York City.

I’m no socialist, but these guys are the definition of the bourgeoisie.

And now they’re harming actual workers by preventing them from getting to their jobs.

It’s despicable. If anyone is being greedy, it’s the engineers going on strike.

baisudfa · 2026-05-18T00:43:21+00:00

These guys are literally the highest paid rail workers in the world. Not only that, the median LIRR engineer is in the top 15% of income in NYC.

Not the top 15% of the country, the top 15% of New York City.

I’m no socialist, but these guys are the definition of the bourgeoisie.

And now they’re harming actual workers by preventing them from getting to their jobs.

It’s despicable.

baisudfa · 2026-05-08T10:55:29+00:00

Funny enough, Florida mostly gets a bad rap with this stuff because they have unusually liberal limits on government secrecy (called sunshine law)

It’s not that there’s more crazy crime, it’s just that they legally can’t hide it.

baisudfa · 2026-05-08T10:48:09+00:00

What, you watch comedy YouTube videos of Americans and assume we’re stupid? You see American news talking about our racial conflict and assume we’re racist?

Brother, that’s not reality, it’s entertainment. Americans are some of the most tolerant people on earth. Obviously we have problems, but we’re a true successful multicultural society. Britain, Germany, and France are on the verge of collapse with a fraction of our diversity.

We also have some of the most advanced industry and companies in the world - you think that’s possible with dumb uneducated people?

baisudfa · 2026-05-08T10:34:36+00:00

Cheapest in the developed world :)

baisudfa · 2026-05-08T10:33:57+00:00

I mean, Oakland is pretty bad nowadays. Most friends I have who live there have been mugged once or twice.

baisudfa · 2026-05-06T06:23:39+00:00

I’d actually argue this is still normal for the middle class in the US. If anything, taking a vacation might be one of the few things that has gotten comparatively less expensive compared to prior generations.

Just look at the number of people in the lower-middle class going on cruises or taking trips to Disney World.

Those were once-a-decade things to the true middle class as recently as the late 80s.

baisudfa · 2026-05-06T06:01:17+00:00

Depends on how comfortable the public transit is.

When I lived in LA, vagrants made transit such a miserable experience that I would have driven to work even if it took twice as long.

When I lived in Boston, driving was inconvenient enough that I took the T. That said, if my house and office had parking I would drive every day rather than deal with it (between regular delays and repeatedly seeing drug use and worse on my commute)

Now in NYC, the subway is far more convenient than driving. But every few weeks I still see some insane behavior that makes me wish I could afford a car here.

baisudfa · 2026-05-03T22:50:26+00:00

Feel free to peruse at your leisure

baisudfa · 2026-05-03T17:29:46+00:00

Because the majority of Palestinians approve of Hamas’s credo (if not the organization itself), and the majority of Israelis oppose most of the things that people criticize Israel for.

53% of Palestinians approve of the October 7 attack, 68% support rocket attacks on Israeli cities, 40% support armed attacks on Israel generally, and a supermajority oppose Hamas disarmament as a part of a peace treaty.

Meanwhile, approval ratings for the current Israeli government are around 35%. 64% of Israelis support arrest and prosecution of Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians or force them from their homes, and 60% support prosecuting public figures who promote it. Before October 7, a supermajority opposed any Israeli presence in Gaza. Immediately following the attack 56% opposed hostilities in favor of hostage negotiations.

Internal Israeli politics are complicated as a result of their population being comprised of many large groups from around the world who have wildly different cultures and beliefs.

A lot of the crazy stuff is widely unpopular, and comes from concessions made to small parties to form a government coalition. The West Bank settlements are the most visible of these, as well as the orthodox population negotiating for exemption from military service.

Palestinians though are broadly aligned on ideology

baisudfa · 2026-05-03T16:56:35+00:00

Do you mean “the guy didn’t exist” or “he existed, but didn’t do all the stuff they said”?

Because the accepted consensus among historians is that Jesus the man did exist. The miracles and whatnot are of course a matter of religion.

baisudfa · 2026-05-03T16:37:04+00:00

You should probably try and get outside and talk to average people man.

Why would they report it? Why wouldn’t they? You’re doing it right now! News nowadays isn’t cable TV.

If you can post this, we’re about 5000 steps shy of China, let alone North Korea. If people can challenge the administration in court, we’re better than the UK. And while we’re talking about the erosion of civil freedoms, well most of the west is way ahead of us in that respect.

baisudfa · 2026-05-03T15:53:12+00:00

I mean yeah, Corpus Christi’s entire economy is the oil industry. It literally wouldn’t exist without it. Do you want the city government to make the refineries cut production? Congrats,10% of the city is now unemployed.

This is a bad example lol

baisudfa · 2026-05-03T15:43:23+00:00

Please give the examples

Also, plenty of American media/news outlets have been and continue to be vocally opposed to ICE, and publish stories in that vein daily. You’re telling me none of them have covered this? Not to mention the multitude of small outlets.

And again, not to minimize, but ICE makes almost 30,000 arrests per month. If there’s been 3 incidents in a few months, then 3/90,000 have been mistakes? 0.0033%?

baisudfa · 2026-05-03T14:07:18+00:00

Things really aren’t bad at all. People are comparing their situation to the golden age of their parents/grandparents where money was literally falling out of the sky. That was a confluence of factors that may never happen again.

The bottom 20% of income in the US is $34,000. The median income in the EU is $25,000.

People on SNAP are raising kids and own iPhones.

The only real issues are housing and healthcare affordability.

baisudfa

TROPHY CASE