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Scary, childish comments on MSNBC

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This article is on MSNBC today:

Patients face bitter choice: Pay up or lose care

Premium-pay medical practices grow as doctors seek more control, cash

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34019606/ns/health-health_care/

And, to go along with the article, a poll:

"If you don't choose to pay extra to sign up for "concierge" or "boutique" medical care, should you still get the same access to your doctor's time and attention?"

http://healthcare.newsvine.com/_question/2...e-and-attention

Some of the comments on the poll are frightening:

"Fee for service doesn't do the job.Single payer is best."

"Greedy worthless doctors are ruining health care by wanting to charge for anything they can. Universal health care for all Now!"

"Health care is like water, and it must be available to everyone. The public pays for the first 12 years of medical training, if not longer."

"As a kid, access to a doctor was based on illness, need - No self respecting MD would deny based on $$. The rich always had private MD's."

"Access to good healthcare is a right that belongs to everyone, not just the priveliged."

"Health care should be a right, not a profit making scheme to pay CEO's of insurance companies millions of dollars."

"No other industrialized society is as barbaric as ours, and we need to improve the moral foundation of our healthcare system."

"It is no surprise that doctors are among the most wealthy in the U.S. They feel above reproach."

"This is completely disgusting and greedy. They make their 6 or r7 figure salary and now they want more? They're just as greedy as AIG CEO"

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Yep, face it. We who understand exactly why socialized health care is evil are the extreme minority in the world. Most people are communist, almost always implicitly, and would much rather take *your* wallet than make their own money. I blame it on our government education that teaches how communism was noble in theory but didn't work in practice. Most people go through their lives never questioning that premise, and those people can easily be turned to the "dark side" because they already accept communism "in theory."

That's why I don't bother reading user comments on news websites anymore. Ninety-nine percent of the time they're just plain retarded.

What's even sadder is that most of these people are *not* just inexperienced college students who don't have health insurance, don't go to a doctor, and have never even had a job. Nope, most of them are adults with lives, families, jobs, *and* health insurance. It's just that most people aren't willing to look past the first layer of facts to the important issue: why is that the case? People just assume health insurance is expensive because ins. companies are "evil." They don't care to do a little research and find out: oh wait, that's right, private health insurance is taxed but employer-paid health insurance isn't. No wonder it's more expensive for me.

They also don't realize these facts: EMTALA, HIPAA, the more than 1500 health insurance mandates across the country that make health insurance unaffordable for many, the fact that you can't buy insurance across state lines or carry your existing plan across state lines...need I go on?

EDIT: This is why it just tears me up inside when I see Objectivists and libertarians who aren't supporting each other right now. It's not a compromise to live with Glenn Beck's religious views because right now it's more important that we have an economic and political voice. Religion is a pretty minor issue, frankly. Besides, Glenn Beck didn't incite the Tea Parties. Rick Santelli did. He's an explicit Objectivist. Even Yaron Brook was at the Tea Party in Washington, people. We need all the voices out there we can get: Glenn Beck, Rick Santelli, Rush Limbaugh, and the Tea Parties. It's not a compromise to side with these people. It's to our advantage. Issues like religious views can be dealt with later. Much later. The crisis we face now is one of communism, not Christianity. We aren't entering a dark age of religious zealotry. We're entering a dark age of communism; so we need to fight *that*.

Edited by Krattle
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EDIT: This is why it just tears me up inside when I see Objectivists and libertarians who aren't supporting each other right now. It's not a compromise to live with Glenn Beck's religious views because right now it's more important that we have an economic and political voice. Religion is a pretty minor issue, frankly. Besides, Glenn Beck didn't incite the Tea Parties. Rick Santelli did. He's an explicit Objectivist. Even Yaron Brook was at the Tea Party in Washington, people. We need all the voices out there we can get: Glenn Beck, Rick Santelli, Rush Limbaugh, and the Tea Parties. It's not a compromise to side with these people. It's to our advantage. Issues like religious views can be dealt with later. Much later. The crisis we face now is one of communism, not Christianity. We aren't entering a dark age of religious zealotry. We're entering a dark age of communism; so we need to fight *that*.

I agree with a lot of what you say in your edit, Krattle.

But I do believe that while we should tolerate some of the religious right because of their advocacy of capitalism some of the more extreme voices do more harm than good.

Take Rush Limbaugh for example. I enjoy that he is an advocate for capitalism but he is also childish, mean spirited and a bigot. He hates gays and loudly advocates for the stripping away of a woman's right to control her own body. It takes a long time of reflection and study to understand the fundementals of Objectivism and the ideal of rational self interest. Who here can claim to have done it all at once?

The problem with the extreme voices on the side of the religious right is that people here how much hatred they have of women, gays, immigrants, and how much they want to force religion down people's throats then they associate thoses beliefs with capitalism.

For myself, I am willing to tolerate many of the injustices the religious right would impose over the socialist democrats at this time- because I understand that the right to work for something and keep it is a primary right. If I don't own anything it doesn't matter if I can marry a same sex spouse, or choose to go to church or not, etc.

But many have not yet reached that conclusion. These extreme voices are driving many away.

(edit-typos)

Edited by QuoVadis
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Gosh, these comments really do scare me. They almost made me question my free market beliefs, but one look at the amount of money and wealth people create and accumulate in of capitalist system got rid of any doubts for me and now I'm more convinced than ever that we must fight the liberal/red menace that has brainwashed these poor people if we are to survive as a nation and capitalism is to survive as an idea. :thumbsup:

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But many have not yet reached that conclusion. These extreme voices are driving many away.

Yes, sometimes the extreme ones drive away potential believers.

Abortion...yeah, that's one of the more despicable stances on the right. But in relation to what's going on now, it's almost meaningless. It *can* be dealt with in the future. The philosophical revolution in America and the world has to start somewhere; it's clearly already begun here, so we need to be out there supporting it with Objectivism.

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I agree with a lot of what you say in your edit, Krattle.

But I do believe that while we should tolerate some of the religious right because of their advocacy of capitalism some of the more extreme voices do more harm than good.

Take Rush Limbaugh for example. I enjoy that he is an advocate for capitalism but he is also childish, mean spirited and a bigot. He hates gays and loudly advocates for the stripping away of a woman's right to control her own body. It takes a long time of reflection and study to understand the fundementals of Objectivism and the ideal of rational self interest. Who here can claim to have done it all at once?

He does not "hate gays"! I don't find him "mean spirited" or "bigoted", quite the contrary, he is very benevolent. You're right about the abortion issue. His vice is his religion. His virtue is his fairly strong adherence to reality, reason and freedom, more so than the vast majority of conservatives. There is a necessary clash in his thinking between this vice and these virtues. So, as with most people he has mixed premises. I give him credit for having a stronger mix of the good than most people.

Glenn Beck comes across to me as more religious, although I haven't heard him nearly as often as Rush. Sometimes Glenn Beck's views do seem a bit on the edge. He appears to have some solid and good thinking, but is more rough around the edges than Rush.

I think we have to be wary of the religion, although religion has been pretty much omnipresent as long as America has been around and we aren't a theocracy yet.

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He does not "hate gays"! I don't find him "mean spirited" or "bigoted", quite the contrary, he is very benevolent. You're right about the abortion issue. His vice is his religion. His virtue is his fairly strong adherence to reality, reason and freedom, more so than the vast majority of conservatives. There is a necessary clash in his thinking between this vice and these virtues. So, as with most people he has mixed premises. I give him credit for having a stronger mix of the good than most people.

Glenn Beck comes across to me as more religious, although I haven't heard him nearly as often as Rush. Sometimes Glenn Beck's views do seem a bit on the edge. He appears to have some solid and good thinking, but is more rough around the edges than Rush.

I think we have to be wary of the religion, although religion has been pretty much omnipresent as long as America has been around and we aren't a theocracy yet.

I agree. I've never found Limbaugh to be bigoted or mean spirited. There is no doubt that he is a huge proponent of individualism and capitalism. For the most part he keeps his religion out of his show, but it definitely seeps in occasionally. When it does, it ends up weakening an argument he is making which should have been justified via pure human reason. His core foundation is clearly based on individualism and capitalism... but yeah, when all else fails he does play the God card.

The mean-spirited and bigoted charge gets put on him a lot. That is a tactic of the left. The "extremism" charge is a favorite tool they use... remember "'Extremism' or The Art of Smearing" by AR. Usually, the only thing they can point out are comedic bits or sarcastic statements that poke fun at the politically protected "groups". There is a whole website dedicated to monitoring his show and feeding quotes to MSNBC and left wing websites, blogs etc.

Beck is a lot more all over the map. I don't know what his core principles really are and I don't fully trust that he knows either. He seems to be poking sticks in the right areas now and is doing a good job shinning some light on things that would go otherwise uncommented on at the "news" channels.

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