Death of America's empire:45 million on food stamps,60 million no sick leave,59 million no medical

[Democrats Ramshield]

(Cross-posted by author from the Daily Kos.)
Death of America's empire:45 million on food stamps,60 million no sick leave,59 million no medical

by Democrats Ramshield



As an American expat who lives in the European Union, shortly after my arrival here I started to realize that I'd be freed from the propaganda exercise of the American plutocrat owned media.

So it is that at least for the ephemeral duration of this short diary originally published at the Daily Kos, that I invite you to come along with me and to see exactly what it is that the for profit American corporatists media owned and operated by the plutocracy never want you to see.

For openers what this diary will show you is that America is the only major industrialized nation in the world that as a human right does not provide a universal medical access plan for all residents (59 million Americans are without medical insurance), and that America is the only major industrialized nation in the world that doesn't provide job protected paid maternity leave by right of law in support of true working class family values. Unlike every country in the European Union, America does not provide paid sick leave to 60 million working class Americans. Let's put that in perspective, that is a population the size of France. Americans receive fewer annual leave days by half of any country in the European Union, and unlike every country in the European Union, American employers are not required by law to provide any annual leave.

The chart below which the Telegraph is referring to shows America ranking last in terms of unemployment benefits.


(Cross-posted by author from the Daily Kos. To read my whole article, please click on this link. Thanks.)

[aquart]

1. Grover Norquist's America.

[hobbit709]

2. But we're the Greatest Country In The world

Extreme :sarcasm:

[truedelphi]

3. I applaud your efforts.

As someone who was able to first hand experience a medical bankruptcy, I am always amazed at how many of my compatriots who don't want Universal Single Payer HC.

However, Michael Moore and his movie "Sicko" did bring many conservatives into the fold.

In our case, the bankruptcy was helped along by a mis-diagnosis of my spouse's condition. Not only did we go bankrupt, but for nine months he was blind due to the misdiagnosis. And there wasn't even a way to sue for malpractice as Kaiser Hospital erased the computerized medical records of the pertinent visits.

I was also truly amazed to see President Obama let Rahm Emanuel handle the backroom visits of Big Pharma and Big Insurers, giving them a seat to help create what the 2009 Health Care Reform Act would become. Candidate Obama understood, and even said that the best and most logical way to reform HC would be for

Universal Single Payer Health Care To Become Law

while he ran for office for Illinois Senate in 2004.

But Candidate Obama disappeared shortly after the election, to be replaced with a twin identical in appearance but vastly different in philosophy and attitudes.

[truedelphi]

4. K & R. n/t

[Doctor_J]

5. Unfortunately there is no recourse but to leave

Those of us with the means should ALL be planning to leave. There is nothing left here in America to stay for. The proper corrective action - big piles of bodies of plutocrats, teabaggers, media members - would have happened years ago if it were going to happen at all. Now we have the spectacle of a "leftist" president proposing cuts to Medicare and SS, and of a few satanic Congress representing about 5% of the voters getting everything they want in the legislature. Meanwhile we erupt with thunderous applause when Beck loses one radio affiliate or the fascists hold the WI legislature by a slim margin. While the Cock Bros of the world certainly hold most of the blame for our situation, we the people are not blameless, since we refuse to fight back in any meaningful way.

[Quantess]

6. I sort of disagree.

"We the people" are kept half asleep, pacified with TV and other distractions. We are lied to and propagandized by our media. And many of us have fought back, but so far it's been unsuccessful. We live in a fascist-lite state.

Modern day Americans aren't any inherently dumber than any other people of any time in history. We're hypnotized.

[Doctor_J]

11. My point exactly. Massive destruction of the

means of propaganda would fix almost all of our problems, very quickly

[bhikkhu]

7. The wealthiest nation on earth

(more or less, now), with a super-abundance of food and every sort of material goods, but we seriously suck at distribution. That's about the best way to put it.

Other countries have different sorts of problems, our is mostly internal - greed, hoarding, miserly employers, everything competed for down to scraps and shreds, and little civility or compassion of one for another, not just between "classes", but within classes, within towns, and even neighborhoods of equals.

Two solutions to the food stamp "problem" - first its not a problem, and we might be better to provide 60 or 70 million people with food stamps. We have the food, after all, and there's no need to stigmatize the need to eat or the act of sharing abundance. Second, wages should be higher. There was a day when a wage-earner could support a family; then it took two wage-earners in a household, now its more like they're both lucky to have jobs but the jobs probably don't pay enough to support a household...

[blkmusclmachine]

8. Everything seems to be going according to plan:

Ollie North's plan, that is. Drown, baby, drown! Drown, baby, drown! Drown, baby, drown!

[fasttense]

9. Check out the link.

It is asking about rides and assistance for people.

[Overseas]

10. Sad K&R.