• themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    Obamacare fixed some of the more egregious and indefensible practices, like refusing to cover pre-existing conditions, but it maintained and fortified the stranglehold insurers have on the healthcare industry. In many ways it was good, but on balance we are not better off.

    And yes, Kamala was able to drink from the same fountains as Trump, but those victories came at great expense and over long time periods. Dr. King didn’t get to see the promised land before he was assassinated in 1968, and in 2025 we’re sending brown people to death camps.

    Things seem better than they were, because we like to pat ourselves on the back for all the small victories. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, progress comes at the point of the spear. Nobody wants to keep pushing forever, keep boring those hard boards their whole life, so we notch the wall where we stand and call that the goal line.

    But the oppressors never tire, never waiver, because they are the predators. When the old oligarchy tires, they’re eaten by the younger, hungrier oligarchs. And each generation will curry favor by granting small victories. You can have some marriages recognized, as long as the birth rates stay high enough. You can have some healthcare, but costs will skyrocket while wages stagnate.

    Rapist Donald J Trump, convicted felon, racist, won two national elections. United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson murdered hundreds of thousands of sick Americans before he was killed in the street. Private companies are leaking top secret information to foreign dictators. And it’s still legal for the police to murder a black person.

    We need to stop accepting “good enough” as good enough. Patrick Henry didn’t say “give me liberty or make me an offer.” Ελευθερία ι συμβιβασμός? Fuck that. We’re not better until we’re all better.