Also, Mike, mass disease bodes well for the billionaire classes.
As it is right now, the serf population is getting uppity, wanting housing, health care, decent roads, schools not addicted only to standardized testing.
Mumpism only partially describes the illiness that the US will have in its running. Unless we want to describe pregnant, swollen bellies of women as mumps too. Since reading Project 2025 in my Democrats Abroad book club group I have been saying it is a formula for turning the US into a third world country. Russia is claimed to be so great by the neofascists like Tucker Carlson, but I don't see him moving there. Somehow it is not great enough. So, I see it more like Mumpovia, the Sovietification of the US with no client states, although Trump would like to add Canada and Greenland.
If Kennedy or someone equally health clueless gets put into power over our health, and ends childhood vaccination, as well as other vaccinations, I recommend all parents of young children find another country to at least live in long enough to get your child vaccinated.
Secondly, all parents of girls in child bearing years should be getting them out of the USA. Staying and fighting is one thing, but risking your children's lives is another. I read that around 66 million women are between the ages of 15 and 44, considered the child bearing years. Now I know that many get their periods at 8, and some women can still bear children at 45 and beyond, but just going with that stat, that is a lot of lost citizens. Someone asked me where they can go. There are boarding schools all over the world that are cheaper than a US private school tuition. There should be a private fund like the one that helps women get abortions that helps them go to other countries to live.
Since one of the goals of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 is is to turn the US into a Christian Nationalist Theocracy, it is going to be a regime that is horrible for women. Women should prepare for an Iranlike existence.
Musk is not president, but he rules by proxy president Trump. Actually, he is ruling through his platform X. I would like to see an enterprising hacktivist shut down X, Space X, Starlink and Tesla ( since I have read that Musk can control each car from afar). Someone who can hack his businesses not to get thee data, but to change the algorithms, so that Musk cannot control them. It would make him a. big liability for his companies and the boards would get rid of him. Or do they dare?
And, it goes without saying all decent people should leave Twitter-X and help it to right wing oblivion.
Build a big wall between Canada and the US and heavily police it, so that Trump appreciates what a good neighbor Canada is. In fact, Canada should ask the US to fund it just as the US asked Mexico to fund Trump's border wall, the one that never was completed and was not paid for by Mexico.
IIRC, I saw a comment in one of the Canadian papers that Starlink provides cheaper service, at least in some of the more remote areas, than the big Canadian communication companies. I would respectfully suggest Canadians consider carefully where their communication dollars go and what their choices are.
Thank goodness the Constitutional requirements for a person to be President includes, importantly, that they be born in the United States. Musk was born in South Africa and became a naturalized citizen so he doesn't qualify to be an official President. But in these crazy days of the Trump Mob, the Constitution might very easily be ignored.
My personal opinion is that Musk will attempt to copy the basics of "State Capture", a crippling feature of South Africa's fairly recent history. It involved the assumption of political and economic power by three Indian conmen - the Guptas - who managed through bribery to take control of the SA government and also control the entire energy sector. They made politicians from the President on down extremely rich and themselves even richer.
It was poorly reported in our country but Musk knows all about State Capture and he appears determined to wield the levers of power and the economy as well. State Capture in America is indeed a possibility and deserves serious reporting.
The more we emphasize Musk’s role in government, the more we force a break between him and Trump. Assuming Trump is at all mentally able, he will only put up with second fiddle status for so long. There is an apparently undoctored photo of Musk and Trump in which Musk on the right, looking fit in sunglasses and a black John Travolta leather jacket, is twice the size of a sickly looking Trump on the left. It is the classic meme of the Trump regime. Too bad Substack doesn’t allow attachment of photos.
That's Jeff Tiedrich's idea. Refer to Elno Skum, aka the Space Nazi, as President Musk. Sooner or later the Orange Turd will go ballistic and we'll get to see the planet's greatest ever food fight.
Soon we'll have special prosecutor Jack Smith's final report. He'll conclude that the orange felon's disqualification from public office will be validated when Dems force a vote in the U.S. Senate. The Senate will not have the 2/3 needed under Article 14, Section Three to forgive his insurrection, thus legally keeping in place his disqualification from public office.
Everyone is concentrated on polio. But what about the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccine? Pertussis is still present. It is a horrible disease, especially for the very young and the elderly. I have see seen it, and it is unforgettable. And smallpox can come back, too, if we don’t maintain very high levels of vaccination rates.
I couldn't agree more. I'm old enough to have lived in the US before polio had a vaccine. My upstairs neighbor, a middle-aged man, wore those same kind of braces on his legs that Tom Hanks' character wore in Forrest Gump. He had contracted polio as an adult, perhaps by something as simple as changing his child's diaper.
I vividly recall how scared we were of contracting polio and how we rushed to our local schools to get the sugar cube with the vaccine drizzled over the top. Those were the days of the iron lung and armies of people sitting by the bedside keeping folks alive by manually bag-ventilating their lungs 24/7 (after their respiratory muscles had failed from the polio virus). Salk and Sabin were heroes back then (and still are for the legions of people who still believe in vaccination).
Beginning back in the 1980's, we started having an upsurge in the number of Pertussis cases here in the US. I've contracted it twice now through contact with sick patients. At the very beginning of the disease, it looks like a common cold. Then things get a lot worse. It's not called the Hundred Day Cough for no reason. All day, all night, a hacking unrelenting cough (without the whoop at the end of each one, since I was an adult when I got it) that wouldn't let me sleep, or anyone else either, within earshot of me. I had to move to a different part of the house, and within a week I was completely exhausted. Three months...
And now we know that unlike chickenpox, measles, and some other childhood illnesses, having the disease itself does not confer lifetime immunity for Pertussis. We may only stay protected for about five years or so after vaccination or even having the disease itself.
Yes, there is antibiotic therapy for Pertussis, which lessens the transmission of the disease if given within the right window of time. It does not stop the cough, though. And for the vast majority of people who never had these childhood diseases themselves, but received vaccination to prevent them, the effectiveness of the vaccine wanes over time (Measles) and a booster shot is needed.
And as you said, Phyllis, in little babies, whose airway is as big around as their little finger, the lining of the airway sloughs in Pertussis. The obstructing debris causes apnea, which would cause death if not relieved or prevented by intubation. Newborns are too young to receive the vaccine, so they are at high risk for severe disease. We adults and teens are the reservoir for the circulating cases. The number of active Pertussis cases is currently on the rise again.
I can't imagine anything worse for a parent than having their child suffer a severe, irreversible outcome or even death from a preventable cause. The guilt they must feel and carry with them for the rest of their lives is heartbreaking to see. And I understand that any medical treatment carries risks, too. We are obligated to inform our patients of those risks and decide together whether the risks might outweigh the benefits in a particular person.
The years and years of building our medical infrastructure, as flawed as it may currently be, deserves a careful and thoughtful redesign and not the wrecking ball promised.
I know what you mean about those who want to keep vaccines away from the people. If someone chooses not to vaccinate, after careful consideration of their situation, it's their decision. There are valid reasons not to take a particular vaccine for some people. But a blanket halt to vaccinations and even the efforts they have been sponsoring to undermine safety, etc., are criminal, imo. Just like abortion care. People with no training and no depth of knowledge about the consequences are making life-and-death decisions affecting hundreds of millions of people.
I'm not saying bodies-in-the-street doesn't have a place in our future, but based on the speed of AI, etc. (i.e. Technology), it seems to me that unity-of-intellect (solidarity), reflected in massive online communication systems (such as this here), will be an easily measured and measurable stat, aka; "numbers" for the Mump-subordinate often used term. Something in me tells me this will be the best way to beat him, or at least a very important campaign to add to the overall effort. Can you imagine if there were 50 million of us, all basically unified in calling this the "Mump Regime" adding something short and thoughtful about a local or personal thing which has occurred as a result of the spread of this Mump virus? Now that would be a tough enforcement effort to control don't you think? Sure wouldn't be a target for widespread violence and bloodshed. Maybe this is where the natural movement to organization will take us? I might find myself ponderin' this a bit more now...hehe.
I hope so. But think about Musk's hold on ex-twitter and his share in AI, and whatever they are learning from current dictators (e.g. Putin and Un and Chi, Orban, Erdogan, all have quite a strong hold on their population and the information the population receives and how they communicate -- remember China during Covid and what happened to the people who criticized the government's response?). So hopefully we'll have continued access, but we'll have to fight right off the bat (now!) to keep it, I think.
You are exactly correct I fear, and when I read your words I realized why I think this now. The oligarchical "lords" of the internet control the "fiefs" where their "vassals" (app creators, amazon store owners, etc.) sell us serfs the goods and pay rent to those fiefdom lords for the privilege of operating in their cloud zone. The lords are fully in control and our moves and private data are trackable, at no additional cost, due to the algorithms in their operation. And we can be excluded from entering the fief to do the work sowing and harvesting our information and communication which tell of our intent to go up against the very lords we wish to take down! Of course we'll be expelled if we do that. So yes, it will not be so easy to use the internet to correct the internet's inequality engendering problems.
This is along the lines of the scenario described by Yanis Varoufakis in his new book Techno Feudalism - What Killed Capitalism. He calls the oligarchical lords "Cloudalists". The gist is that Capitalism overcame Fuedalism beginning with the First Industrial Revolution (steam power) and continued with the second (Electricity) and now Techno Feudalism is overtaking Capitalism in a modern return to the same type of social system, i.e. feudalism. This time however, there is proportionally greater inequality between the lords separately from the vassals and serfs. And it's gaining momentum. And we now understand, through Professor Snyder and others, this inequality is near the root of the political problem with which we are struggling.
In this modern iteration of feudalism, the Cloudalists gain wealth at a proportionally higher and faster rate from renting their "land" (i.e. Cloud space) at what amounts to a higher effective rate than ancient feudalism simply because the algorithms take care of the work of doing that for free. It used to be the work of the vassals and their collectors to manage and tax the serfs and those collectors needed to be paid for that work. Now, there is no work for the vassals like that to do because the algorithm does it all automatically. Maybe the products we buy sell cheaper than they would if there were higher processing costs, we'll never know. But its far more efficient regardless due to the algorithms and no middle man involved in collection. It only makes sense the lords realize the opportunity to collect every cent they can without killing the golden geese who function within their fiefs. But if we learn to suffer slowly over time, we won't notice a thing.
And we serfs, have no choice. In the old days it was either work on the fief and pay your rent, or die of starvation. Now, either buy from Amazon, communicate through the cloud on smart phone, etc, etc. or have no way to function. That's definitely a kind of starvation or at least a kind of serfdom slavery that is close to just as bad.
We in for it. Yes, organizing is the key. Planning to decentralize from Substack in case this platform gets acquired by the Mump Regime, would certainly be worth considering along the way for example. These kinds of things are as important as organized protests in the streets I think. But finally, it might have to be in the streets I think. Damn it. There are a lot of guns out there.
Yes, I've been thinking we're heading back to feudalism too. Thank you for that deep dive. Bluesky has become important now along with Substack and other cracks in the corporate mediasphere.
Completely agreed. I've read about the diphtheria and how it ravaged communities, often killing entire families. And I've lived overseas, in Africa, where diseases we no longer worry about in the U.S., killed plenty.
Smallpox has been eradicated. I believe there are still stores in the US, possibly Russia. It would have to be released to return. Vaccination against smallpox stopped some years ago.
There is a closely related virus called mpox. It is far less serious. Mostly in certain countries and gay men.
Mpox is similar enough to smallpox that you are immune if you were vaccinated against smallpox. Thus it not appear until recently,
Gay men can get the mpox vaccine (an old smallpox vaccine).
And, unfortunately, drug-resistant tuberculosis is on the radar, too. It's a huge problem overseas, and there are strengthening efforts to combat it (along with malaria) before it spreads all over the world.
When the USSR dissolved, its highly-effective tuberculosis program went with it, and TB cases skyrocketed in the aftermath of their public health collapse. A lesson for all of us...
So, unfortunately, we're still fighting some of the old diseases, too. It's not the time to allow a dismantling or weakening of our Public Health infrastructure
RFK Jr. scares me to death. I grew up in the 1940s and 1950s when polio was truly scary. My generation, the Silent Generation, still talks about the terror the threat of polio invoked in all of us. Of all The Bloated Yam's cabinet nominations, this is the one I pray will be defeated. I'm not saying the nominations of Gabbard, Hepseth, or Patel deserve passage; I'm just saying RFK terrifies me.
Perhaps we should call the four of them the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelations in the Bible. The Four Horsemen represent Conquest, War, Famine and Death. Gabbard, Hepseth, Patel and RFK! Actually fits pretty well!
I remember my parents being worried in the summers because that was "polio season." I received my first vaccine in elementary school. My good friendʻs mother was striken with polio and has one damaged leg so sheʻs been on crutches her whole life and is frail.
In the early 50s, two young boys on my block got polio, in a shared hospital room in their iron lungs. As an adult, one still lived with the disease: a withered leg, and leg brace.
I will be 70 years old next month and I had the mumps when I was a child. I think I had at least one other disease, but today I am healthy and fully vaccinated although I do need to get a new tetanus vaccine. Thank you for accurately pointing out that the lack of a national health service makes us more fearful of being sick and more likely to get sick than people in other nations.
Of course other nations are suffering, as is the whole world. And the suffering I am referring to is a global mental health crisis … which I define as the product of many decades in which there was no vision of anything for humanity beyond that there will be another war and then another war, and then another war. If democracy is going to survive, there must be a global recognition that it is the only pathway to a world beyond war. Because democracy includes an opening for human innovation to get us to futures that are not just an extension of the past. I will do my part and invite others to do their part as well … in waking people up to the solution to the global mental health crisis that has people throwing democracy away. Democracy can ultimately give us World Peace Through Innovation, if we preserve it and also seek out the innovators, who know how to get us there. (See Buckminster Fuller’s “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth” for one of the first innovators to offer a pathway to that aspirational goal.)
You’re welcome. Because capitalism as it currently functions is all about making profit (no matter who or what gets hurt), America doesn’t have a health insurance industry. It has a “maximize profit by providing the minimal amount of care needed to prevent a revolution against us” industry. As can been seen from the killing of that CEO, the industry way overshot its profit sweet spot.
May I suggest that you consider getting an update on your Pertussis protection when you get your tetanus booster? We don't know whether vaccine supplies will be disrupted once the new regime begins. Tdap will help protect you from Pertussis, which is on the rise again, if you haven't had this vaccine already. Many folks only get dT for their booster shot, which doesn't protect against Pertussis, so you can ask your doc or pharmacist about it when you go. Stay healthy and wise, Friend!
Musk considers himself above all others (except maybe Putin) He fancies himself the ruler of the planet. There is a reason why Musk chose DOGE for his fake “advisory” department. From Wikipedia: The Doge of Venice acted as both the head of state and head of the Venetian oligarchy. DOGE It’s not a coincidence. It’s a giggling inside joke from the billionaire bros. It’s a way to laugh at us plebes and serfs. Trump is simply a lesser “noble” who serves a purpose.
Timothy, throughout your undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as your teaching at Yale, did you ever imagine that you'd be inventing new terms for a time when all four wheels might come off the bus?
I have to wonder if the dictators will still have access to vaccinations while us peasants are wiped out with biological warfare? Also, think of biological warfare used on our unvaccinated soldiers.
Except many of them only work with so-called herd immunity, so even if they get them but most of us don't, they'd have to be in a private bubble to be protected. Maybe they just plan to live on Mars or underground while the rest of us suffer their apocalypse. There has to be a mass, international uprising (that is based in local actions) to save the planet and imagine a flourishing future.
Well, in order to be really effective they do -- vaccines are not 100 percent effective (there are duds) plus some people cannot take the vaccine, so then the disease spreads (and then can mutate). "Widespread vaccination builds herd immunity that protects against polio
If enough people are vaccinated, the occasional traveler with wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus doesn't cause a problem. Herd immunity is the term used to describe how vaccination protects people: if enough people are protected by vaccination, it's hard for the illness to spread — which protects people who aren't vaccinated.
The percentage of people who need to be vaccinated in order to stop spread varies from infection to infection; for polio, the number is about 80% to 85%. While most children in the US are vaccinated against polio, vaccine hesitancy remains a problem, especially when unvaccinated children live in clusters where infections can spread. You can't always count on herd immunity to protect unvaccinated children these days."
Actually it's a kakistocracy. That's a government ruled by the worst, most unqualified and most unscrupulous citizens. It's become my favorite word. And, The Economist named it the word of the year!
I also like oligarchic kleptocratic kakistocracy. OKK for short although it would be more apropos if the acronym could be KKK. Unscrupulous billionaires stealing from the rest of us.
'Public policies that favor white Americans and the very wealthy have perpetuated both the extreme concentration of wealth and an extreme racial wealth divide. According to the Federal Reserve, white households held 84.5 percent of all U.S. wealth as of the fourth quarter of 2023, while making up only 77 percent of households. By contrast, Black households held only 3.4 percent and Latinos held only 2.3 percent of national wealth. These wealth figures include the value of consumer durable goods, such as vehicles.' (Inequality.org)
'The rich don’t just have more wealth than everyone else. The bulk of their wealth comes from different — and more lucrative — asset sources, as the Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts data shows. America’s top 1 percent, for instance, holds more than half the national wealth invested in stocks and mutual funds. Most of the wealth of Americans in the bottom 90 percent comes from their homes — the asset category that took the biggest hit during the Great Recession. These Americans also hold just around three-quarters of America’s debt.'
'The collective net worth of America’s top 12 billionaires now surpasses $2 trillion. Their combined wealth increased by more than $1.3 trillion, or 193 percent, between March 18, 2020 and December 3, 2024, according to Institute for Policy Studies analysis of Forbes Real Time Billionaire Data. (Inequality.org) See link below.
‘President-elect Donald Trump has assembled the wealthiest presidential administration in modern history, with at least 13 billionaires set to take on government posts.’ (ABCNEWS, excerpts)
‘In total, the combined net worth of the wealthiest members of his administration could surpass $460 billion, including Department of Government Efficiency co-head Elon Musk -- whose net worth of more than $400 billion exceeds the GDP of mid-sized countries.’
‘Even discounting Musk, Trump's cabinet is still expected to be the wealthiest in history, with reported billionaires Howard Lutnick nominated as commerce secretary, Linda McMahon nominated as education secretary, and Scott Bessent nominated as treasury secretary. Together, Trump's expected cabinet is worth at least $7 billion.’
'Trump's ambassador picks also include several billionaires, including financier Warren Stephens, who has been tapped to serve as the ambassador to the United Kingdom, Conair executive Leandro Rizzuto Jr., tapped to serve as the ambassador to the Organization of American States, Charles Kushner, named the ambassador to France, and Tom Barrack, named the ambassador to Turkey.'
"It's not a surprise that [Trump] surrounds himself with people who come from the same world that he does," said Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "The billionaire class of businessmen is who he is and who he wants to be seen as, and who he wants to be seen with."
'The wealth of Trump's current cabinet rivals only that of his first-term cabinet -- which had a combined net worth of $3.2 billion -- and dwarfs the $118 million combined net worth of President Joe Biden's cabinet.' (ABCNEWS) See link below.
James Quinn, the US may be headed for oligarchy with the election of Trump and billionaires influencing the cost of living, taxes and other important factors impacting the lives of the American people. While the country is not precisely there, it is getting closer.
'a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
There are of course formally, usually self-chosen oligarchies throughout history. Ours, should it come, will, I suspect, be of a more informal kind in the sense that while regular elections still occur, the intense influence that the modern wealthy can direct through the media will direct enough of the outcome to narrow the choices to the pre-chosen. This past election was certainly a victory of the potential if not the fact.
The roots, of course were already in evidence in 2016 when the Republican party, many of whose members knew the threat Trump posed essentially caved to the voters who were listening directly to Trump. When a legislator is more interested in retaining a seat ‘in the room’ than in fulfilling the responsibilities of governing and preserving the Constitution, the result is plain. Musk just re-proved that in trashing the debt business.
What? Are you sure T is a billionaire? In addition, he's not a successful businessman. Are only these "businesspeople" as unsuccessful as he has been? We're in trouble, if that's true.
Timothy Snyder's creativity is exquisite! All the gripes about Trumpomuskovia being too complicated and hard to say come to mind. So what does he do next with the key names? What a beautiful example of; "The great artist is the simplifier." The Mump Regime. Ah yes, hang that in the White House Foyer.
12/21 edit: Now I understand The Mump Regime is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trumpomuskovia. GOFA.
The tyranny of Trump-Musk (or Musk-Trump) will wreak everlasting misery upon our country until morphing into Vance-Thiel. The exact pairing matters much less than that they all mean darkness.
As I understand, the main argument against universal single payer coverage is "slackers/low earners will get care costing way more than they contribute to the system". Which is true.
But numbers suggest that this "freeloading" WILL NOT harm those who do pay into the system.Savings obtained by ditching the COST of having for-profit health insurance companies in the system will pay for those freeloaders. Look:
Germany per capita (2021) health system expense was $7,383, in US this was $12,318. So Germany spends 60% (exactly) of what US does. By switching to universal single payer, US can save 40%. You do not have 40% of "freeloaders", so even with "give care free to lowlifes" EVERYBODY saves.And, BTW, EVERYBODY lives 5 years longer (Germany life expectancy is 5 years higher than US).
For people who do not know the rules of "them commie EU welfare states", you HAVE to work to have coverage in those "commie states". There ARE tons of exceptions (kids, disabled etc). If you are unemployed, for about half a year you still get coverage, subject to the onerous requirement to actually seek employment. So slackers can squeeze into the system, but not too much.
TLDR - The American model of healthcare DOES NOT protect those who pay. They pay PREMIUM (money itself and 5 years of their own life lost), so that those who do not pay get their lives reliably ruined. Which is maybe what people in the US want.
I thought this after reading "On Freedom" book by Prof Snyder. The book is VERY "dense" in the amount and depth of issues it discusses, took me 2+ months to read and I am normally a voracious reader.
One of dilemmas Prof Snyder tangentially points to, is the balance between (my understanding) "motivating to shape up" and helping/charity to those who stay behind. His book does not go deep into this particular balance issue, but names it. Not an easy issue to balance out.
Prof Snyder points out that American politics sometimes veers from "I want policies to benefit me" into "I want policies to make others more miserable than me".
Sadly, sociology pretty much established that "punishing freeloaders" is necessary for the society to function. So that American ethos "you make your own bed" is not to be wholesale condemned. But there is always a question of fine-tuning.
Again, thank you, Mr Szafranski, for these additional observations.
Prof Snyder, I believe, is correct in his estimate of human capacity for accepting responsibility, for seeing one's own agency, and for putting forth the conscious effort to express and challenge the pathological situations and actors and lead the effort to constitute and work toward reform that is on par with our common capacity to be mutual, be reasonable, be caring, be optimistic, be cooperative.
I am grateful to Prof Snyder for the kinds of organizing he has been doing. He has genuinely given many many ways to choose to be involved in working toward goals that serve all people well.
From a 'how to' perspective on social collective action, providing not just cover for reform action together but also by being consciously aware and in support of the thinking through, considering the lessons of past actions, and of proposing and giving real legislative form -- or normative expression -- or agreement form to everyone's sense of need for reform and rebuilding IS the antidote to despair and to apathy and the only invitation needed to get people to involve themselves in public interest action.
We do have to acknowledge the broad, almost unthinkably broad range of willing engagement in public life, in society and in public or political affairs and actions that are honestly evidenced among people, whether or own society or in others. This is valid from the experience of people throughout our remembered history. For example, from the remembrances of ancient Greece, when democratic forms were consciously experimented with, people who were less inclined to full and vigorous participation in public life were identified, without derogatory intent, without negative bias, as idiots. Just as we use the term 'idiosyncratic' to signify an obvious personal twist to a person's conscious relationship choices.
So, perhaps we can dispense with terms like freeloaders and work to understand different fitness for direct engagement and different personal mixes of strengths and weaknesses or capacities as we would perceive these capacities for any specific need fulfillment. Rather than categorized ourselves and others in a way that seems to mean we come up short, let's invite participation with a sincere respect for present capacity and at the same time aim our collective cooperative effort toward providing a social environment that benefits, in basic and shared ways, most the most.
This is the tone of our Constitution. This is the tone of constructive engagement and of very active achievement in most group settings and endeavors. WE need to engage this way now, as a democratic constitutional society. There isn't yet a handbook for this; there isn't a Madisonian or Hamiltonian or Lincolnonian handbook on how to get along and get it done well for everyone. If there was such, it would be minimalist in subject and maximalist in emphasizing full participation and only moving forward together, not anyone left out or behind. That might constrain size of group involved or it might suggest personal constraints or personal and conscious restraint on just how much any one person or group needs to feel fulfilled.
Oh boy, my narrowly (though extensively) trained STEM mind got thrown on it's knees by the expanse of your comment (take it as a positive appreciation). I never did much of contemporary humanities reading, I sense you did. I should have taken some theory of literature classes instead of one of QFT ones :-) The good thing is, apparently mutual communication is still possible. Sorry, I had to remark on this, my perception of two nearly-as-alien worlds here.
I will need to read your comment several times before it's meaning will take shape in my mind. I will write more then. But thank you, CLEARLY something has to be done. We STEM people hate provably false things, which seem to infest us recently. Nothing against unprovable things (meaning things which cannot be proved or disproved) - those, and discussing/living those makes us perhaps human, but we STEMs are trained to avoid them, at least in professional life.
The Mump regime and the pro polio party. Has a nice ring to it!
Also, Mike, mass disease bodes well for the billionaire classes.
As it is right now, the serf population is getting uppity, wanting housing, health care, decent roads, schools not addicted only to standardized testing.
Mass deaths due to disease might quiet them.
Yes. Remember cholera and the epidemic that killed many of the wealthy from getting it from their servants.
... presided over by PRESIDENT Musk!
And administered by the corrupt clown cabinet and the cowardly Congress
Mumpism
Mumpism only partially describes the illiness that the US will have in its running. Unless we want to describe pregnant, swollen bellies of women as mumps too. Since reading Project 2025 in my Democrats Abroad book club group I have been saying it is a formula for turning the US into a third world country. Russia is claimed to be so great by the neofascists like Tucker Carlson, but I don't see him moving there. Somehow it is not great enough. So, I see it more like Mumpovia, the Sovietification of the US with no client states, although Trump would like to add Canada and Greenland.
If Kennedy or someone equally health clueless gets put into power over our health, and ends childhood vaccination, as well as other vaccinations, I recommend all parents of young children find another country to at least live in long enough to get your child vaccinated.
Secondly, all parents of girls in child bearing years should be getting them out of the USA. Staying and fighting is one thing, but risking your children's lives is another. I read that around 66 million women are between the ages of 15 and 44, considered the child bearing years. Now I know that many get their periods at 8, and some women can still bear children at 45 and beyond, but just going with that stat, that is a lot of lost citizens. Someone asked me where they can go. There are boarding schools all over the world that are cheaper than a US private school tuition. There should be a private fund like the one that helps women get abortions that helps them go to other countries to live.
Since one of the goals of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 is is to turn the US into a Christian Nationalist Theocracy, it is going to be a regime that is horrible for women. Women should prepare for an Iranlike existence.
The younger women in their late teens and early 20’s have been setting records to get their tubes tied. Young men are getting vasectomies. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/more-men-are-getting-vasectomies-since-roe-was-overturned/
Musk is not president, but he rules by proxy president Trump. Actually, he is ruling through his platform X. I would like to see an enterprising hacktivist shut down X, Space X, Starlink and Tesla ( since I have read that Musk can control each car from afar). Someone who can hack his businesses not to get thee data, but to change the algorithms, so that Musk cannot control them. It would make him a. big liability for his companies and the boards would get rid of him. Or do they dare?
And, it goes without saying all decent people should leave Twitter-X and help it to right wing oblivion.
And what should Canadians do?
Build a big wall between Canada and the US and heavily police it, so that Trump appreciates what a good neighbor Canada is. In fact, Canada should ask the US to fund it just as the US asked Mexico to fund Trump's border wall, the one that never was completed and was not paid for by Mexico.
IIRC, I saw a comment in one of the Canadian papers that Starlink provides cheaper service, at least in some of the more remote areas, than the big Canadian communication companies. I would respectfully suggest Canadians consider carefully where their communication dollars go and what their choices are.
Thank goodness the Constitutional requirements for a person to be President includes, importantly, that they be born in the United States. Musk was born in South Africa and became a naturalized citizen so he doesn't qualify to be an official President. But in these crazy days of the Trump Mob, the Constitution might very easily be ignored.
My personal opinion is that Musk will attempt to copy the basics of "State Capture", a crippling feature of South Africa's fairly recent history. It involved the assumption of political and economic power by three Indian conmen - the Guptas - who managed through bribery to take control of the SA government and also control the entire energy sector. They made politicians from the President on down extremely rich and themselves even richer.
It was poorly reported in our country but Musk knows all about State Capture and he appears determined to wield the levers of power and the economy as well. State Capture in America is indeed a possibility and deserves serious reporting.
The more we emphasize Musk’s role in government, the more we force a break between him and Trump. Assuming Trump is at all mentally able, he will only put up with second fiddle status for so long. There is an apparently undoctored photo of Musk and Trump in which Musk on the right, looking fit in sunglasses and a black John Travolta leather jacket, is twice the size of a sickly looking Trump on the left. It is the classic meme of the Trump regime. Too bad Substack doesn’t allow attachment of photos.
That's Jeff Tiedrich's idea. Refer to Elno Skum, aka the Space Nazi, as President Musk. Sooner or later the Orange Turd will go ballistic and we'll get to see the planet's greatest ever food fight.
No break necessary, Barry.
Soon we'll have special prosecutor Jack Smith's final report. He'll conclude that the orange felon's disqualification from public office will be validated when Dems force a vote in the U.S. Senate. The Senate will not have the 2/3 needed under Article 14, Section Three to forgive his insurrection, thus legally keeping in place his disqualification from public office.
I hadn't heard this was still a possibility, Phil. Thanks for posting! I needed this 💜
Here’s a link to one of the scores of articles that included the Musk/Trump photo: https://open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/elon-musk-a-new-and-sinister-force?r=198jm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
And thank you for introducing me to Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s Substack, Lucid!
Everyone is concentrated on polio. But what about the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccine? Pertussis is still present. It is a horrible disease, especially for the very young and the elderly. I have see seen it, and it is unforgettable. And smallpox can come back, too, if we don’t maintain very high levels of vaccination rates.
Hi, Phyllis,
I couldn't agree more. I'm old enough to have lived in the US before polio had a vaccine. My upstairs neighbor, a middle-aged man, wore those same kind of braces on his legs that Tom Hanks' character wore in Forrest Gump. He had contracted polio as an adult, perhaps by something as simple as changing his child's diaper.
I vividly recall how scared we were of contracting polio and how we rushed to our local schools to get the sugar cube with the vaccine drizzled over the top. Those were the days of the iron lung and armies of people sitting by the bedside keeping folks alive by manually bag-ventilating their lungs 24/7 (after their respiratory muscles had failed from the polio virus). Salk and Sabin were heroes back then (and still are for the legions of people who still believe in vaccination).
Beginning back in the 1980's, we started having an upsurge in the number of Pertussis cases here in the US. I've contracted it twice now through contact with sick patients. At the very beginning of the disease, it looks like a common cold. Then things get a lot worse. It's not called the Hundred Day Cough for no reason. All day, all night, a hacking unrelenting cough (without the whoop at the end of each one, since I was an adult when I got it) that wouldn't let me sleep, or anyone else either, within earshot of me. I had to move to a different part of the house, and within a week I was completely exhausted. Three months...
And now we know that unlike chickenpox, measles, and some other childhood illnesses, having the disease itself does not confer lifetime immunity for Pertussis. We may only stay protected for about five years or so after vaccination or even having the disease itself.
Yes, there is antibiotic therapy for Pertussis, which lessens the transmission of the disease if given within the right window of time. It does not stop the cough, though. And for the vast majority of people who never had these childhood diseases themselves, but received vaccination to prevent them, the effectiveness of the vaccine wanes over time (Measles) and a booster shot is needed.
And as you said, Phyllis, in little babies, whose airway is as big around as their little finger, the lining of the airway sloughs in Pertussis. The obstructing debris causes apnea, which would cause death if not relieved or prevented by intubation. Newborns are too young to receive the vaccine, so they are at high risk for severe disease. We adults and teens are the reservoir for the circulating cases. The number of active Pertussis cases is currently on the rise again.
I can't imagine anything worse for a parent than having their child suffer a severe, irreversible outcome or even death from a preventable cause. The guilt they must feel and carry with them for the rest of their lives is heartbreaking to see. And I understand that any medical treatment carries risks, too. We are obligated to inform our patients of those risks and decide together whether the risks might outweigh the benefits in a particular person.
The years and years of building our medical infrastructure, as flawed as it may currently be, deserves a careful and thoughtful redesign and not the wrecking ball promised.
Thanks, Greta. Nice to hear from you.
I know what you mean about those who want to keep vaccines away from the people. If someone chooses not to vaccinate, after careful consideration of their situation, it's their decision. There are valid reasons not to take a particular vaccine for some people. But a blanket halt to vaccinations and even the efforts they have been sponsoring to undermine safety, etc., are criminal, imo. Just like abortion care. People with no training and no depth of knowledge about the consequences are making life-and-death decisions affecting hundreds of millions of people.
I'm not saying bodies-in-the-street doesn't have a place in our future, but based on the speed of AI, etc. (i.e. Technology), it seems to me that unity-of-intellect (solidarity), reflected in massive online communication systems (such as this here), will be an easily measured and measurable stat, aka; "numbers" for the Mump-subordinate often used term. Something in me tells me this will be the best way to beat him, or at least a very important campaign to add to the overall effort. Can you imagine if there were 50 million of us, all basically unified in calling this the "Mump Regime" adding something short and thoughtful about a local or personal thing which has occurred as a result of the spread of this Mump virus? Now that would be a tough enforcement effort to control don't you think? Sure wouldn't be a target for widespread violence and bloodshed. Maybe this is where the natural movement to organization will take us? I might find myself ponderin' this a bit more now...hehe.
I hope so. But think about Musk's hold on ex-twitter and his share in AI, and whatever they are learning from current dictators (e.g. Putin and Un and Chi, Orban, Erdogan, all have quite a strong hold on their population and the information the population receives and how they communicate -- remember China during Covid and what happened to the people who criticized the government's response?). So hopefully we'll have continued access, but we'll have to fight right off the bat (now!) to keep it, I think.
You are exactly correct I fear, and when I read your words I realized why I think this now. The oligarchical "lords" of the internet control the "fiefs" where their "vassals" (app creators, amazon store owners, etc.) sell us serfs the goods and pay rent to those fiefdom lords for the privilege of operating in their cloud zone. The lords are fully in control and our moves and private data are trackable, at no additional cost, due to the algorithms in their operation. And we can be excluded from entering the fief to do the work sowing and harvesting our information and communication which tell of our intent to go up against the very lords we wish to take down! Of course we'll be expelled if we do that. So yes, it will not be so easy to use the internet to correct the internet's inequality engendering problems.
This is along the lines of the scenario described by Yanis Varoufakis in his new book Techno Feudalism - What Killed Capitalism. He calls the oligarchical lords "Cloudalists". The gist is that Capitalism overcame Fuedalism beginning with the First Industrial Revolution (steam power) and continued with the second (Electricity) and now Techno Feudalism is overtaking Capitalism in a modern return to the same type of social system, i.e. feudalism. This time however, there is proportionally greater inequality between the lords separately from the vassals and serfs. And it's gaining momentum. And we now understand, through Professor Snyder and others, this inequality is near the root of the political problem with which we are struggling.
In this modern iteration of feudalism, the Cloudalists gain wealth at a proportionally higher and faster rate from renting their "land" (i.e. Cloud space) at what amounts to a higher effective rate than ancient feudalism simply because the algorithms take care of the work of doing that for free. It used to be the work of the vassals and their collectors to manage and tax the serfs and those collectors needed to be paid for that work. Now, there is no work for the vassals like that to do because the algorithm does it all automatically. Maybe the products we buy sell cheaper than they would if there were higher processing costs, we'll never know. But its far more efficient regardless due to the algorithms and no middle man involved in collection. It only makes sense the lords realize the opportunity to collect every cent they can without killing the golden geese who function within their fiefs. But if we learn to suffer slowly over time, we won't notice a thing.
And we serfs, have no choice. In the old days it was either work on the fief and pay your rent, or die of starvation. Now, either buy from Amazon, communicate through the cloud on smart phone, etc, etc. or have no way to function. That's definitely a kind of starvation or at least a kind of serfdom slavery that is close to just as bad.
We in for it. Yes, organizing is the key. Planning to decentralize from Substack in case this platform gets acquired by the Mump Regime, would certainly be worth considering along the way for example. These kinds of things are as important as organized protests in the streets I think. But finally, it might have to be in the streets I think. Damn it. There are a lot of guns out there.
Yes, I've been thinking we're heading back to feudalism too. Thank you for that deep dive. Bluesky has become important now along with Substack and other cracks in the corporate mediasphere.
Completely agreed. I've read about the diphtheria and how it ravaged communities, often killing entire families. And I've lived overseas, in Africa, where diseases we no longer worry about in the U.S., killed plenty.
Smallpox has been eradicated. I believe there are still stores in the US, possibly Russia. It would have to be released to return. Vaccination against smallpox stopped some years ago.
There is a closely related virus called mpox. It is far less serious. Mostly in certain countries and gay men.
Mpox is similar enough to smallpox that you are immune if you were vaccinated against smallpox. Thus it not appear until recently,
Gay men can get the mpox vaccine (an old smallpox vaccine).
And, unfortunately, drug-resistant tuberculosis is on the radar, too. It's a huge problem overseas, and there are strengthening efforts to combat it (along with malaria) before it spreads all over the world.
When the USSR dissolved, its highly-effective tuberculosis program went with it, and TB cases skyrocketed in the aftermath of their public health collapse. A lesson for all of us...
So, unfortunately, we're still fighting some of the old diseases, too. It's not the time to allow a dismantling or weakening of our Public Health infrastructure
That's a big fear.
RFK Jr. scares me to death. I grew up in the 1940s and 1950s when polio was truly scary. My generation, the Silent Generation, still talks about the terror the threat of polio invoked in all of us. Of all The Bloated Yam's cabinet nominations, this is the one I pray will be defeated. I'm not saying the nominations of Gabbard, Hepseth, or Patel deserve passage; I'm just saying RFK terrifies me.
Perhaps we should call the four of them the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelations in the Bible. The Four Horsemen represent Conquest, War, Famine and Death. Gabbard, Hepseth, Patel and RFK! Actually fits pretty well!
I thought it was Pestilence, War, Famine and Death. Fits even better.
I like that better too!
So Here's one way to assign the four horsemen. There are several variations that work.
RFK, Jr = Pestilence
Hegseth = War
Patel = Death
Gabbard = Famine
Pestilence - a fatal epidemic disease return of diseases like polio
War - lack of intelligence, lack of competence spreads war
Death - death of the FBI and the Rule of Law
Famine - famine of information with no intelligence coming from other nations
I remember my parents being worried in the summers because that was "polio season." I received my first vaccine in elementary school. My good friendʻs mother was striken with polio and has one damaged leg so sheʻs been on crutches her whole life and is frail.
In the early 50s, two young boys on my block got polio, in a shared hospital room in their iron lungs. As an adult, one still lived with the disease: a withered leg, and leg brace.
Yes, me too. My Mother was terrified of polio with her 3 very young children.
I will be 70 years old next month and I had the mumps when I was a child. I think I had at least one other disease, but today I am healthy and fully vaccinated although I do need to get a new tetanus vaccine. Thank you for accurately pointing out that the lack of a national health service makes us more fearful of being sick and more likely to get sick than people in other nations.
Of course other nations are suffering, as is the whole world. And the suffering I am referring to is a global mental health crisis … which I define as the product of many decades in which there was no vision of anything for humanity beyond that there will be another war and then another war, and then another war. If democracy is going to survive, there must be a global recognition that it is the only pathway to a world beyond war. Because democracy includes an opening for human innovation to get us to futures that are not just an extension of the past. I will do my part and invite others to do their part as well … in waking people up to the solution to the global mental health crisis that has people throwing democracy away. Democracy can ultimately give us World Peace Through Innovation, if we preserve it and also seek out the innovators, who know how to get us there. (See Buckminster Fuller’s “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth” for one of the first innovators to offer a pathway to that aspirational goal.)
Thank you, Mr Brant, for these observations.
The potential for a focused public health services agency could be of significant benefit, as Prof Snyder and others have pointed out.
You’re welcome. Because capitalism as it currently functions is all about making profit (no matter who or what gets hurt), America doesn’t have a health insurance industry. It has a “maximize profit by providing the minimal amount of care needed to prevent a revolution against us” industry. As can been seen from the killing of that CEO, the industry way overshot its profit sweet spot.
And the GOP will privatize all the government functions it can. Postal service will be first or NASA!
Hi, Steve,
May I suggest that you consider getting an update on your Pertussis protection when you get your tetanus booster? We don't know whether vaccine supplies will be disrupted once the new regime begins. Tdap will help protect you from Pertussis, which is on the rise again, if you haven't had this vaccine already. Many folks only get dT for their booster shot, which doesn't protect against Pertussis, so you can ask your doc or pharmacist about it when you go. Stay healthy and wise, Friend!
Thanks for the suggestion, Dee. I’ll talk to my doctor about this.
Awesome! 😀
"The Mump Regime." You're killing me!
Musk considers himself above all others (except maybe Putin) He fancies himself the ruler of the planet. There is a reason why Musk chose DOGE for his fake “advisory” department. From Wikipedia: The Doge of Venice acted as both the head of state and head of the Venetian oligarchy. DOGE It’s not a coincidence. It’s a giggling inside joke from the billionaire bros. It’s a way to laugh at us plebes and serfs. Trump is simply a lesser “noble” who serves a purpose.
Bravo for calling it exactly what this is
Spot on!!
Timothy, throughout your undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as your teaching at Yale, did you ever imagine that you'd be inventing new terms for a time when all four wheels might come off the bus?
I have to wonder if the dictators will still have access to vaccinations while us peasants are wiped out with biological warfare? Also, think of biological warfare used on our unvaccinated soldiers.
Except many of them only work with so-called herd immunity, so even if they get them but most of us don't, they'd have to be in a private bubble to be protected. Maybe they just plan to live on Mars or underground while the rest of us suffer their apocalypse. There has to be a mass, international uprising (that is based in local actions) to save the planet and imagine a flourishing future.
No. Vaccinations do not require herd immunity.
Well, in order to be really effective they do -- vaccines are not 100 percent effective (there are duds) plus some people cannot take the vaccine, so then the disease spreads (and then can mutate). "Widespread vaccination builds herd immunity that protects against polio
If enough people are vaccinated, the occasional traveler with wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus doesn't cause a problem. Herd immunity is the term used to describe how vaccination protects people: if enough people are protected by vaccination, it's hard for the illness to spread — which protects people who aren't vaccinated.
The percentage of people who need to be vaccinated in order to stop spread varies from infection to infection; for polio, the number is about 80% to 85%. While most children in the US are vaccinated against polio, vaccine hesitancy remains a problem, especially when unvaccinated children live in clusters where infections can spread. You can't always count on herd immunity to protect unvaccinated children these days."
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/polio-what-parents-need-to-know-now-202208102798
A Mumpocracy staffed, by McKinsey, with Mumpocrats.
Actually it's a kakistocracy. That's a government ruled by the worst, most unqualified and most unscrupulous citizens. It's become my favorite word. And, The Economist named it the word of the year!
It's a mumpocratic kakistocracy, the very worst kind.
I also like oligarchic kleptocratic kakistocracy. OKK for short although it would be more apropos if the acronym could be KKK. Unscrupulous billionaires stealing from the rest of us.
You’re hired.
I also admire the term sadoplutocracy.
Never heard of this term, You ladies are blowing my mind with your knowledge of various words!
Ah, classical Greek hits the the headlines again!
I know the term well and find the root “Kukky” perfectly appropriate.
Thanks for the definition. I had not gotten that far. Damn!
I have a degree in Classical Greek. Kakos is one of the first words you learn.
We anticipate the endless Mump Dumps.
Of screeds, I mean. Not the golden toilet type
Why not both?
With apologies to Dr Snyder, I prefer ‘the reign of Donald the First and his High Priest, Elon the Wholly Mad’.
I've been calling them King Don the Last and Robber Baron Musk. I do like the Mump Regime and will use that as well.
'Public policies that favor white Americans and the very wealthy have perpetuated both the extreme concentration of wealth and an extreme racial wealth divide. According to the Federal Reserve, white households held 84.5 percent of all U.S. wealth as of the fourth quarter of 2023, while making up only 77 percent of households. By contrast, Black households held only 3.4 percent and Latinos held only 2.3 percent of national wealth. These wealth figures include the value of consumer durable goods, such as vehicles.' (Inequality.org)
'The rich don’t just have more wealth than everyone else. The bulk of their wealth comes from different — and more lucrative — asset sources, as the Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts data shows. America’s top 1 percent, for instance, holds more than half the national wealth invested in stocks and mutual funds. Most of the wealth of Americans in the bottom 90 percent comes from their homes — the asset category that took the biggest hit during the Great Recession. These Americans also hold just around three-quarters of America’s debt.'
'The collective net worth of America’s top 12 billionaires now surpasses $2 trillion. Their combined wealth increased by more than $1.3 trillion, or 193 percent, between March 18, 2020 and December 3, 2024, according to Institute for Policy Studies analysis of Forbes Real Time Billionaire Data. (Inequality.org) See link below.
https://inequality.org/facts/wealth-inequality/
‘President-elect Donald Trump has assembled the wealthiest presidential administration in modern history, with at least 13 billionaires set to take on government posts.’ (ABCNEWS, excerpts)
‘In total, the combined net worth of the wealthiest members of his administration could surpass $460 billion, including Department of Government Efficiency co-head Elon Musk -- whose net worth of more than $400 billion exceeds the GDP of mid-sized countries.’
‘Even discounting Musk, Trump's cabinet is still expected to be the wealthiest in history, with reported billionaires Howard Lutnick nominated as commerce secretary, Linda McMahon nominated as education secretary, and Scott Bessent nominated as treasury secretary. Together, Trump's expected cabinet is worth at least $7 billion.’
'Trump's ambassador picks also include several billionaires, including financier Warren Stephens, who has been tapped to serve as the ambassador to the United Kingdom, Conair executive Leandro Rizzuto Jr., tapped to serve as the ambassador to the Organization of American States, Charles Kushner, named the ambassador to France, and Tom Barrack, named the ambassador to Turkey.'
"It's not a surprise that [Trump] surrounds himself with people who come from the same world that he does," said Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "The billionaire class of businessmen is who he is and who he wants to be seen as, and who he wants to be seen with."
'The wealth of Trump's current cabinet rivals only that of his first-term cabinet -- which had a combined net worth of $3.2 billion -- and dwarfs the $118 million combined net worth of President Joe Biden's cabinet.' (ABCNEWS) See link below.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-tapped-unprecedented-13-billionaires-top-administration-roles/story?id=116872968
I think the term is oligarchy.
James Quinn, the US may be headed for oligarchy with the election of Trump and billionaires influencing the cost of living, taxes and other important factors impacting the lives of the American people. While the country is not precisely there, it is getting closer.
'a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
'a country governed by an oligarchy.'
There are of course formally, usually self-chosen oligarchies throughout history. Ours, should it come, will, I suspect, be of a more informal kind in the sense that while regular elections still occur, the intense influence that the modern wealthy can direct through the media will direct enough of the outcome to narrow the choices to the pre-chosen. This past election was certainly a victory of the potential if not the fact.
The roots, of course were already in evidence in 2016 when the Republican party, many of whose members knew the threat Trump posed essentially caved to the voters who were listening directly to Trump. When a legislator is more interested in retaining a seat ‘in the room’ than in fulfilling the responsibilities of governing and preserving the Constitution, the result is plain. Musk just re-proved that in trashing the debt business.
Good to hear from you here, Fern!
Hello Emily. It is good to see you. Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you a good year.
Salud!
What? Are you sure T is a billionaire? In addition, he's not a successful businessman. Are only these "businesspeople" as unsuccessful as he has been? We're in trouble, if that's true.
But Mump works even better!
Timothy Snyder's creativity is exquisite! All the gripes about Trumpomuskovia being too complicated and hard to say come to mind. So what does he do next with the key names? What a beautiful example of; "The great artist is the simplifier." The Mump Regime. Ah yes, hang that in the White House Foyer.
12/21 edit: Now I understand The Mump Regime is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trumpomuskovia. GOFA.
The tyranny of Trump-Musk (or Musk-Trump) will wreak everlasting misery upon our country until morphing into Vance-Thiel. The exact pairing matters much less than that they all mean darkness.
I copy here from another thread:
A "numbers" note on health care:
As I understand, the main argument against universal single payer coverage is "slackers/low earners will get care costing way more than they contribute to the system". Which is true.
But numbers suggest that this "freeloading" WILL NOT harm those who do pay into the system.Savings obtained by ditching the COST of having for-profit health insurance companies in the system will pay for those freeloaders. Look:
Germany per capita (2021) health system expense was $7,383, in US this was $12,318. So Germany spends 60% (exactly) of what US does. By switching to universal single payer, US can save 40%. You do not have 40% of "freeloaders", so even with "give care free to lowlifes" EVERYBODY saves.And, BTW, EVERYBODY lives 5 years longer (Germany life expectancy is 5 years higher than US).
For people who do not know the rules of "them commie EU welfare states", you HAVE to work to have coverage in those "commie states". There ARE tons of exceptions (kids, disabled etc). If you are unemployed, for about half a year you still get coverage, subject to the onerous requirement to actually seek employment. So slackers can squeeze into the system, but not too much.
TLDR - The American model of healthcare DOES NOT protect those who pay. They pay PREMIUM (money itself and 5 years of their own life lost), so that those who do not pay get their lives reliably ruined. Which is maybe what people in the US want.
Thank you, Mr Szafranski, for this useful information.
I thought this after reading "On Freedom" book by Prof Snyder. The book is VERY "dense" in the amount and depth of issues it discusses, took me 2+ months to read and I am normally a voracious reader.
One of dilemmas Prof Snyder tangentially points to, is the balance between (my understanding) "motivating to shape up" and helping/charity to those who stay behind. His book does not go deep into this particular balance issue, but names it. Not an easy issue to balance out.
Prof Snyder points out that American politics sometimes veers from "I want policies to benefit me" into "I want policies to make others more miserable than me".
Sadly, sociology pretty much established that "punishing freeloaders" is necessary for the society to function. So that American ethos "you make your own bed" is not to be wholesale condemned. But there is always a question of fine-tuning.
Again, thank you, Mr Szafranski, for these additional observations.
Prof Snyder, I believe, is correct in his estimate of human capacity for accepting responsibility, for seeing one's own agency, and for putting forth the conscious effort to express and challenge the pathological situations and actors and lead the effort to constitute and work toward reform that is on par with our common capacity to be mutual, be reasonable, be caring, be optimistic, be cooperative.
I am grateful to Prof Snyder for the kinds of organizing he has been doing. He has genuinely given many many ways to choose to be involved in working toward goals that serve all people well.
From a 'how to' perspective on social collective action, providing not just cover for reform action together but also by being consciously aware and in support of the thinking through, considering the lessons of past actions, and of proposing and giving real legislative form -- or normative expression -- or agreement form to everyone's sense of need for reform and rebuilding IS the antidote to despair and to apathy and the only invitation needed to get people to involve themselves in public interest action.
We do have to acknowledge the broad, almost unthinkably broad range of willing engagement in public life, in society and in public or political affairs and actions that are honestly evidenced among people, whether or own society or in others. This is valid from the experience of people throughout our remembered history. For example, from the remembrances of ancient Greece, when democratic forms were consciously experimented with, people who were less inclined to full and vigorous participation in public life were identified, without derogatory intent, without negative bias, as idiots. Just as we use the term 'idiosyncratic' to signify an obvious personal twist to a person's conscious relationship choices.
So, perhaps we can dispense with terms like freeloaders and work to understand different fitness for direct engagement and different personal mixes of strengths and weaknesses or capacities as we would perceive these capacities for any specific need fulfillment. Rather than categorized ourselves and others in a way that seems to mean we come up short, let's invite participation with a sincere respect for present capacity and at the same time aim our collective cooperative effort toward providing a social environment that benefits, in basic and shared ways, most the most.
This is the tone of our Constitution. This is the tone of constructive engagement and of very active achievement in most group settings and endeavors. WE need to engage this way now, as a democratic constitutional society. There isn't yet a handbook for this; there isn't a Madisonian or Hamiltonian or Lincolnonian handbook on how to get along and get it done well for everyone. If there was such, it would be minimalist in subject and maximalist in emphasizing full participation and only moving forward together, not anyone left out or behind. That might constrain size of group involved or it might suggest personal constraints or personal and conscious restraint on just how much any one person or group needs to feel fulfilled.
Oh boy, my narrowly (though extensively) trained STEM mind got thrown on it's knees by the expanse of your comment (take it as a positive appreciation). I never did much of contemporary humanities reading, I sense you did. I should have taken some theory of literature classes instead of one of QFT ones :-) The good thing is, apparently mutual communication is still possible. Sorry, I had to remark on this, my perception of two nearly-as-alien worlds here.
I will need to read your comment several times before it's meaning will take shape in my mind. I will write more then. But thank you, CLEARLY something has to be done. We STEM people hate provably false things, which seem to infest us recently. Nothing against unprovable things (meaning things which cannot be proved or disproved) - those, and discussing/living those makes us perhaps human, but we STEMs are trained to avoid them, at least in professional life.
Just one suggestion as an edit to your prescient piece:
"The rest of oligarchical cabinet will weaken government by law through incompetence, spite, or avarice." I would say ALL THREE!