So, we don't know Harris's entire platform yet, but there's been talk of Harris moderating on a lot of issues relative to the past in order to win over voters. And while some changes don't matter a ton to me, the one that does is healthcare.
Look, we need medicare for all. it's the only way to actually FIX healthcare. As long as healthcare remains primarily a private thing, it's gonna suck, because the corporations are just gonna take people for all they got. The medical industry is OBSCENE. The profits are obscene, the prices are obscene, and fixes around the edges won't fix this crap.
And I admit, I tend to have a pretty radical view of decoupling healthcare from employment, because let's face it, tying the two is just a way to reinforce wage slavery. Don't work? Don't deserve to live. Basically what you're saying. Even if you do work, you pay large portions of your paycheck for insurance that does screw all because these companies will look to limit their own liability as much as possible. Even if they cover 80-90% of costs, the costs are still obscene for the end user. It's ridiculous.
Honestly, medicare for all is the best fix.
HOWEVER, I myself have moderated on this issue a bit where I can compromise with a public option. This would at least ensure that everyone is covered and financial burden scales with the means to pay for it. It does the same thing, just in a less efficient way. I would classify Harris's old healthcare plan not as single payer medicare for all, but a public option "medicare for all" style plan. It was okay. In 2020 I wasn't for it since I was single payer or bust, but having done a lot of work on the financial aspect of my policy proposals, I'm willing to compromise on this one, since single payer may be so expensive it compromises our ability to pay for UBI. So...centrists, you won this one. I can back off of single payer to a public option.
But now the centrists are claiming that harris's public option is some radical bernie sanders-esque single payer plan and it's not. It's the reasonable compromise if you want the effects of single payer but only want to spend 10-20% as much on it. Heck, BIDEN claimed to be for a public option with universal opt in, and he never acted on it. It's actually the biggest disappointment of his presidency. Everything else the dude at least TRIED on. He TRIED on the minimum wage. He TRIED on build back better. He TRIED on student loans. He got shot down on a lot, but the dude TRIED. That public option? He never tried. He basically abandoned it, and it was probably what I consider the biggest broken campaign promise from the Biden administration.
And I'm going to be honest, THIS IS WHY I WAS SO STUBBORN ON MEDICARE FOR ALL in 2020. because I KNOW the financial interests are going to oppose it, but you know what? THEYRE EVIL! SCREW THEM. But, they're powerful, they lobby every time any plan is put forward going back to Harry Truman, and the dems are too spineless to pick a fight with them. So they abandoned it. And we KNEW they would. This is why I didn't even like Kamala Harris in 2020. I said she was like trying to bait and switch us, take us from medicare for all to a public option, and then when they get in office do some weasel words aaaaand it's gone.
This is why we progressives have trust issues with the democrats. That and actively screwing us over. But you know, democrats have done a lot of good stuff on a lot of issues, but yeah, this one they're a complete failure on. A COMPLETE failure. Like, if I had to grade them, we're talking D- to an F. Yes yes yes, they wanna lower the price of medications. Cool. That's only one tiny part of this huge broken system.
Here's the thing. The economy exists for people, people don't exist for the economy. or put another way. It exists for the CONSUMER, not the PRODUCER. Producers just need sufficient motivation to produce. I dont care about their profit margins, as long as enough financial incentive remains for them to work. We need to stop putting producers first. Hospitals, insurance companies, doctors, they're servants of the people. They do this stuff, for the people. The profit motive is only supposed to incentivize them to do that. We shouldnt hold back progress so they can continue to make obscene profits while screwing over the rest of us.
And you know what? I'm gonna punch left too on this. I feel betrayed by the progressive movement too. They were all medicare for all and crap and now it's like they don't care. They literally went full single issue over freaking Palestine, and Harris IS moving on that issue to appease their tantrums, but healthcare? Nope, palestinian lives matter more. A conflict half way across the world matters more.
Honestly, I hate the left sometimes. They're dysfunctional too. They get distracted, get obsessed with "side issues", and yeah, they cared more about voting uncommitted than voting for a candidate who openly embraced medicare for all like marianne williamson or dean phillips. And they're STILL obsessed with it. And everywhere i go in their spaces, they're still talking about how they need to pull the dems left on palestine and make them appease their voters. Which, dont get me wrong, I kinda like that strategy, i mean, I've been saying the dem voters need to hold the party to account for years, but WRONG ISSUE!
Again, we're not getting any concessions on healthcare, because none of these guys seem to care. Because they abandoned it too. So get on board, check your privilege, and start caring more about people in the third world than about your own priorities!
Really, it's easy. I found like a few issues I'm really passionate about and I'm very dogmatic on, and honestly? These guys just abandon them it seems like. Sure they still believe them in theory, but are they really applying pressure at all? No. They just care about freaking Palestine.
Ugh. I mean, I probably am voting for Harris. Trump is so dangerous he NEEDS to be stopped, it's kind of a non negotiable this election cycle. And the GOP too. But I really am feeling disappointed in Harris on this. She's probably gonna have a lot of ok proposals, but nothing we didnt have with Biden. This kinda feels like Yang's trajectory with healthcare where he was for medicare for all, then a public option, and then some nonsense plan to lower costs. Same thing here. Harris has the same trajectory.It actually makes me sick.
Anyway, i cant complain too much. A month ago it looked like we were doomed and now Harris has kinda brought things back up to roughly 50-50 where we actually have a shot, and winning is the top priority so...I guess do what you have to do, but I can't help but feel betrayed on this one. If the stakes were lower, I might even third party vote over this crap, but given the nature of 2024, I feel like such a move is ill advised and wouldnt even send a clear message. After all, the only people voting for Jill Stein this time are the crazy leftists obsessed with palestine. And many of them are shifting back to harris, so its like...what's the point?
I find this disappointing. This isn't even a losing issue with voters. Sure, maybe single payer is a bit divisive, I mean, support for that is like 45% or something, but isn't a public option like 65-70% or something? It's all the fricking donors. Putting the minority over the majority. Again, this is why progressives have trust issues with democrats. Push comes to shove they'll take the health insurance industry's blood money and sell out the people. And then people wonder why enthusiasm wavers with democrats.
Maybe this really is a honeymoon period. it kind of is with me. We'll see how things turn out when a more concrete platform is published though.
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