The American Dream is Alive & Well In China
By Thom Hartmann A...
As we are seeing millions of people in the streets in Hong Kong becoming politically active, we also learned that roughly 70% of Chinese millennials already own their own homes. This is because they have absolutely no student debt and don't have to worry about medical expenses, because China has free college and a single payer healthcare system very much like Canada's. The Chinese middle class has virtually no debt compared to the American working class, and yet conservatives will tell you that America is just too weak and pathetic to offer free college and free comprehensive medical care to its people. Every other developed country in the world, even China, can do it, but the GOP in the Blue Dogs will tell you that it's just not possible here in America.Maybe that's because in the years since Reagan's last months in office, the top one % has raked in $20 trillion while the bottom 50% has lost $900 billion in wealth. And conservatives think that's just fine.
-Thom
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So I watched Ice on Fire, and heard the same thing minus the elephant in the room. Factory farming was totally left out of the equation. Were the lobbyist too powerful? A really disappointing film with just regirgitation of old stories that we've known for decades. Maybe Decapprio will do a part II and take bring attention to the other half of the problem as well as bring attention to the cruelty that factory farms are. I sure hope so. Otherwise, I would say don't waste you time on Ice on Fire until you'be been living in a vacuum for the last few decades. Nothing new here. Peace, Just Sam
#4
#1:
Mmmm, tasty. What a huge plate of delectable road apples heaped high with a steaming pile of mushy manure that you are having for breakfast so early in the morning.
The aroma is thick in the air. Truckin' Granny must breathe Trump's butt-stench halitosis 24/7.
Eeew! Waiter! Bucket and mop! Vomit everywhere!
So, Trump's enduring corruption, 10,000 lies as fake president, and wide-ranging, lifelong criminal behavior is somehow always the fault of those pesky Democrats who dare point out the many lies of a congenital liar and the many crimes of an habitual criminal.
C'mon, get real, all you spiteful hypocrites out there in the Jesusland wastelands of racist Meerkkka -- what if Trump had a "D" behind his name? Hannity, Limbaugh, Ingraham, Pirro, Carlson, Cavuto, et al, would be in the coronary unit under intensive care by now, still quivering from vein-popping contempt and indignation.
Continually blaming others for one's own words and actions is the predictable reaction of a mentally unstable asshole who is guilty as hell. Continually defending such a degenerate perp is the predictable reaction of a blind fool who thinks an impious incubus is God's gift to the world.
Yes, good Christians in the real world, that's exactly what Truckin' Granny and her servile sidekick, Hot Stuff, actually believe as a central tenet of their false religion.
"Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!" --Ezekiel
Or at the very least, Trump's devoted disciples should just shut up, sit down, turn off FUX "News," and read the goddamn Mueller report while wolfing down their high-fat grits. Perhaps digestion will improve over time with a healthy dose of reality.
Don't hold out much hope though; consuming so many lies over so long may lead to incurable mind-rot, which ain't good for the ol' brain-stomach connection.
#5
#3:
I hear ya, bro, on factory farms.
Nevertheless, as important as that particular subject is, it's still just one aspect of the larger problem. Such a hugely politically tricky issue should be a film in its own right, adding to the growing body of knowledge. Although, the framers of the nuanced argument must surely be aware of being heartily dismissed as whining about "cow farts" by the stubborn deniers.
The producers of "Ice on Fire" couldn't cover everything, having their hands full (and budgets drained) attempting to reach out to the widest audience possible, just on the basic science of global warming, including to America's most intractable deniers (virtually all Republicans), who actually have "been living in a vacuum for the last few decades."
By the way, it's never "a waste of time" to point out a looming crisis of such magnitude. And, trying to comprehend all the complex causes as well as the full impact of ACD (anthropological climate disruption) is something that never grows old. At least it shouldn't!
Of course, the primary cause of climate catastrophe, from which all other causes derive, is the human mind. Now that would be the most eye-opening documentary of all!
#6
Thom,
I love your show and very much appreciate what you do, listen most days, and nearly always agree with you. However, you couldn't be more wrong regarding this post about China and what you said several times onair 6/17/19. I was totally taken aback when I tuned in and heard you talk about health care and home ownership in China. I honestly felt embarrassed for you because of your lack of knowledge on the topic, and the fact that you accepted Ellen Brown's article at face value without doing further research. Her article read like Chinese government propaganda.
My partner is from China, has a PhD from Yale in Anthropology, and has published a number of scholarly books on China. She visits China for 4-6 weeks at least once every year. I also know many Chinese people living in the U.S., as well as in China (and keep in regular touch with a number of them).
Some of your claims:
Single-payer health care based on the Canadian system. No healthcare poverty. I found Ellen Brown’s article on Truthdig you were apparently referencing, which states: “Health care is also subsidized by the government, with a state-run health insurance program similar to Canada’s.” I’m shocked that anyone could say that, and am offended by her ignorance.
I hate the state of the U.S. health care system in many ways, and am appalled that we STILL don’t have healthcare for all (something that upsets me daily), but the reality is that China’s health care system is horrific! Comparing it to Canada's is a complete joke:
- Rather than not having to worry about costs as in Canada, Chinese people have to pay upfront before being treated (even in emergency situations). If you or your family doesn’t pay, you don't get treated.
- Everyone in China knows that doctors have to be given bribes if decent care is expected. It's the way the 3rd-world system works there.
- Many unnecessary treatments/surgeries are performed simply so doctors can make more money (e.g., the ridiculously high rate of caesarian section births, surgeries performed with little or no chance of survival, etc.).
- When a patient goes into the exam room to see a doctor, there are typically a number of other patients there, all vying for the doctor’s attention or waiting in line. So no patient privacy at all.
- Nurses often provide little care or attention in hospitals, as family members are expected to take care of their loved ones, including providing food for them.
- Bathrooms in hospitals are often unbelievably filthy and unsanitary, unless family members clean them.
I could go on. But it is so bad that when my partner or Chinese friends tell stories about healthcare in China, I can barely stand to listen and have been known to ask them to stop, as it was too painful for me to continue listening.
90% own homes. That’s just ridiculous on so many levels! My partner laughed when I told her you and the article said that.
70% of millennials own homes. Also ridiculous! (and do the math concerning the above claim). I know many Chinese millennials, and the only ones who own homes are the few whose parents could afford to buy apartments for them (expecting to live with them and be taken care of, in return, from an early retirement age for the rest of their lives). Of course there are also situations where a number of family members pool their resources and live in an apartment with several generations, which makes the comparison to the U.S. even more inaccurate. Additionally, credit, including mortgages, is much newer to China, and banks cannot be trusted.
The only thing you said that was accurate is that they aren’t burdened with student debt (though students have to sacrifice their childhoods to get into college, and parents often push them to the point of abuse to do so).
We all make mistakes, but keep up the good and important work you are doing!!
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Great morning HotCoffee. From the title to Thoms Blog above, it leaves me with the impression he is encouraging people to move out of "oppressed America" and move to China. I would strongly encourage any and all the leftie/socialists to follow his advice. I was very disappointed that all those Hollywood heroes that threatened and promised us they would leave if Donald Trump won the presidency. Instead, all they do is inject their politics into every one of their self aggrandizing "award presentations". Interestingly enough they are leaving NYC and CA as fast as they can for states that have no income tax. It took a year but following Trump's tax cut, most wealthy residents of blue states that could no longer deduct the exorbitant state and home (s) property tax from their federal returns, saw their total income tax shoot straight upwards, they opted out and heavily taxed blue states are now hurting for revenue.
Not to worry, mayor big bird of NYC will offer free healthcare to anybody on the street. Cost estimates are unknown but likely to exceed $1billion/yr in newly needed $ from working residents.
Your post on the conflict created is right on. Public education is a mess and I blame the teacher's unions as they promise support for the teacher but the administrators and their six figure salaries are really the culprits not to mention political correctness which is destroying America. Charter, private, and homeschooling are on the rise and in those venues, classroom discipline is the order of the day.
Cause of the conflict the lefties so seem to search for?
If you note since Trump was inaugurated, the leftie/socialists have done nothing but whine like petulant little children. That was what turned me off to Hatrmann. Following the election, every time I turned him on he was stammering, ranting and spouting hate. It must be a very unhealthy way to live.
Sorry for being long winded.
Later.