We have a government that has catered to the insurance and drug industry for too long. They've let the insurance companies make profit off of our misfortunes. They've let drug manufacturers flood our streets with opioids, while making fortunes from drugs that cost pennies.
The U.S. spends more on health care per person, and as a percentage of gross domestic product, than any other advanced nation in the world, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. You would think because we spend more money we'd have the best healthcare in the world. But we don't. We rank last among high income nations. We pay more and get less.
We pay insurance companies to make money off our misfortunes, while we already have a government system in place for healthcare, Medicare. I've had private insurance, I've had medicare. I can tell you from personal experience not only is medicare more affordable, but it is a lot easier to use, because almost everyone accepts it.
I've heard the argument when people say "I don't want my tax dollars going to pay for someone else's insurance." That just doesn't fly with me. There's a whole lot of spending in Washington that I don't want. From tax cut outs to the rich, to wars overseas building nations while we have a depleted infrastructure right here in our state.
I've also heard the argument that people don't think healthcare is a right. Our rights start with life, liberty and happiness. It's hard to be happy when you're begging for money to pay for your chemo. It's hard to be happy when you don't have a choice in doctors because of your insurance. It's hard to be happy when you have to skip taking medication because you can't afford it.
If we believe in life, liberty and happiness, we need to put our money where our mouth is and enact a single payer system!
Here's my proof https://twitter.com/Dion_IN05/status/986322049965723656
You can find my website at http://diondouglasforcongress.com
I'm on facebook at http://facebook.com/diondouglasforcongress
And follow me on twitter @Dion_IN05
Ask me anything starting at 1pm! :)
edit 3pm EST: kids are arriving home from school. I will still answer questions throughout the evening, but my responses will be slower.
Edit 7pm: eating dinner with family. Will return to answer afterward.
Edit 9pm. Time for kids to bed. Fatherly duties to do! I will answer questions if anyone has any more later or tomorrow
Maybe this is just an insecure post from someone wanting validation, but I've basically been squirrelling away my paycheques to my investments and savings for the past 4 years.
I recently got my master's (all paid off) and have only been working for two years. So far, my net worth is about $103K (mostly in stocks and a little in crypto). I save a lot of money by living at home with parents, working from home, taking public transit, and cooking most of my meals. I also don't have a mortgage, car, partner, kids and other "huge" responsibilities...As a single 27 y/o, I feel really lonely pursuing the FIRE/Freedom 45 life...but it's what I want. I don't want to be working my ass off 'til 65. I'm getting my first investment property in a few months. My FIRE number is 1 mil by 39, and I'm on track.
I live in a big city, but find that most folks my age just care about status, looking fly, shopping and dating. Example? The folks in Queen West and Liberty Village in downtown Toronto (no offense). Delayed gratification is like a foreign topic it seems. Or maybe I just need new friends, ha. I suppose I don't have many folks to talk about my FIRE goals, struggles and ideas with...And when I do, they usually respond with jealousy or feeling intimated/threatened.
Any other young millennials out there whom feel this way? Hopefully I'm not the only one. How do you keep motivated on a daily basis? How do you keep accountable and stay on track?
EDIT - I'm Indian-born. Living at home with parents and other extended family relatives is normal where I'm from. Most of us don't move out until we are married or move out for school.
On moving out - I've lived entirely on my own and with roommates for 6 years of my life (undergrad, masters).
On hobbies/interests? Yes - hiking, films, collecting antiques and interior design.
On "dating" - I meant more on the casual hook-up side, which is what I see a lot of here in Ontario. Nothing wrong with that, just not interested in that and one-night stands.
Please don't automatically make negative assumptions about my life and experiences when you didn't even bother to clarifying questions. Not gonna write my entire life story on one post. For those that actually gave useful advice, thank you! I'm working on myself everyday - small goals.
I'm still astonished by Jeff Bezos' net worth. Trying to understand how it works.
Hello!
I’m a dancer for the Brooklyn Nets and I got hit in the head with an air ball by Jevon Carter at the Nets vs Pacers game. I was walking off the court after a halftime performance. I’m looking for a video of it. Mainly for laughs. Anyone have one??
App to invest in people called PeopleBank
For those who aren't aware, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) works as follows: There are 5 Commissioners. These 5 people basically, on their own, determine the regulations that dictate how our media system works, including things like how many media companies own the American media, as well as whether or not we will preserve net neutrality. Whenever the FCC votes on new regulations, the majority vote wins.
Each new president essentially gets to determine who will take 3 of those positions, which means that each new president virtually has all of the power to decide the regulations that decide how our media system works for several years thereafter. In effect, if the President is a Republican then the Republicans on the FCC decide our media regulations. If a Democrat is the President, the Democrats on the FCC decide our media regulations.
Over the past 30 or so years, it has always been the Commissioners appointed by Democrats who have fought to do things like stop increases in media ownership concentration and preserve net neutrality. And it has always been the Republicans who have fought against Democrats on these issues.
Right now, the only FCC Commissioner who is truly committed to standing up to save Net Neutrality is the Democrat. There are currently 2 vacancies on the FCC, waiting for appointments, so for the time being there are two Republican Commissioners and one Democrat. Once the appointments go through, there will be 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats. But as long as the Republicans have the presidency, the Republicans will hold power in the FCC.
Just thought you'd all like to know.
CNN, ABC, Fox News, ... they all want to assume the ideology of their target demographics because that equals $$$. With ~20% of the country being in the "none" camp, this means atheism doesn't have a chance on TV. But it always has on the internet: there's a clear correlation between the rise of residential internet access and the decline in religious adherence. Most of us have our own stories of how the internet helped us access information that led to the disabuse of religious beliefs and other woo ideas.
The internet really does seem to be "the last bastion" for the free and equal exchange of ideas (if you'll pardon the cliché). I know this is the 203909230902393th Reddit post on net neutrality, but I can't help but think about its implications for atheism, skepticism, humanism, free and critical thinking.
I apologize if there's already been a post like this.
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Total budget and country of purchase: No hard limit but $2K range in the United States.
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Do you prefer a 2 in 1 form factor, good battery life or best specifications for the money? Pick or include any that apply. Want a good balance between specs and portability, leaning more on the specs side of things. I should be able to find power in most situations so that's not top priority. Open to 2 in 1 but not required.
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How important is weight and thinness to you? Primary purpose is portable workstation so weight and thinness are nice unless it takes too much from the previous response.
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Which OS do you require? Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, Linux. Windows 10 only, no desire to use the others
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Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. Haven't used a laptop in years. Feel like bigger is better but probably 15" (is 17" just too big to travel with?)
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Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. This is mostly a portable .NET dev station but as a PC enthusiast (Overclocked Ryzen, ultrawide monitor, 1080ti, gamer, etc) I want a high spec and capable laptop.
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If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? While not the primary purpose of the laptop, my most recent games are PUBG, Witcher 3, PoE, Dying Light and so on. I prefer graphics over FPS generally. But I may want to game from time to time so the capability would be nice.
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Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Currently use a Ducky Shine 5 at home so I would prefer a nice keyboard. The others don't matter too much but are nice to have.
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Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. As a corporate enterprise .NET developer of over 20 years, I'm taking a risk to start a business with a partner. I need to be mobile but not limited. I may work at his place, coffee shops, temp offices, etc. I will be running service fabric and lots of processes locally so I want 16GB of ram minimum and fast recompile times (quad+ core). I want a m.2 drive (512GB) only, no optical, no hdd, etc. Some laptops that have been on my radar are the Lenovo X1E/Carbon, P1, P52 and Dell XPS 15. Also very about a Microsoft Surface (pro, book, laptop, whichever). I am not i
