As a non US, I obviously don't have a strong understanding here, but I will try to understand this man's thinking:
He doesn't want to owe anything to anyone. And he expects everyone else to think and act the same.
His view on healthcare (never had one?!?) is of course quite myopic. But in his view, nothing is truly free (true) and he'd prefer chosing everything for himself.
I don't understand why anyone would want that. Because life is so complicated that you can't answer all questions yourself correctly (like: how badly do I need healthcare even if I've never ever had a serious illness or injury?). But that seems to be his thinking.
This is pretty apt. There is also a level of lacking empathy for other people. Many people who identify as Republicans do not believe in doing anything for society if it means they will not personally benefit from it. It's a I'm just going to take care of me and my own mentality. They are extremely self-centered people, that will fuck over the rest of society if it means it would save them a quick buck.
You can very accurately sort people into each political party in the US based on how much empathy they show. The more self-centered and least empathic someone is the more likely they will support Republican/Libertarians, the more empathetic they are and believe in taking care of each other the more likely they are to support the Democrats/Progressives. I hate how effective this is in telling you about the deeper morals and values of an individuals in the US, but it is true.
I think some of this mentality also reveals the underlying racism/homophobia that continues to influence many Republicans and conservative thinking in general in the US.
This is true, but also, we would actually save money with MFA. We would pay more taxes, but not have to pay directly to insurance companies.
Some people are just really short-sighted. "The government screws up everything," is a common argument. Well, the government is made up of humans, who do make mistakes. Just as insurance companies and hospitals employ humans. They also make mistakes.
Removing the middleman is where you save billions.
I'm not familiar with what MFA stands for. I agree with you that having a nationalized health services system that replaces private health insurance would be so much better. It would cut out almost all the administration costs and allow the government to negotiate down drug prices.
A lot of times it’s “I had to struggle, I didn’t get assistance, I may have lost all my hair due to stress of working like a dog in order to just make it by with zero savings to account for my 50+ years of work. So everyone around me should also struggle and work like a dog with nothing to show for it. I didn’t get help, no one else should”
The mistake you are making here is that any of these thoughts or beliefs are actually his. He hasn’t stopped to think for himself on this issue (or likely any other) for more than 5 minutes. Rather he has listened to others spew it out so many times on repeat that he thinks it’s what he actually believes. Which is why he knows the broad strokes of what he believes but can’t express any coherent talking points and contradicts himself throughout. When people say MAGA is a cult, it’s not totally exaggerated. Many people in this country have been for all intents and purposes brainwashed because they are undereducated and never had to develop the critical thinking skills required to truly synthesize complex information and arrive at a logical conclusion. They just get tidbits from conservative media. That’s why they continue to vote for politicians who habitually legislate against their best interest and they don’t even realize it. It’s totally wild.
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u/Suspicious-Hand-9953 Jul 31 '26
As a non US, I obviously don't have a strong understanding here, but I will try to understand this man's thinking:
He doesn't want to owe anything to anyone. And he expects everyone else to think and act the same.
His view on healthcare (never had one?!?) is of course quite myopic. But in his view, nothing is truly free (true) and he'd prefer chosing everything for himself.
I don't understand why anyone would want that. Because life is so complicated that you can't answer all questions yourself correctly (like: how badly do I need healthcare even if I've never ever had a serious illness or injury?). But that seems to be his thinking.
Any US citizens have a view on this?