Why do American conservatives and moderates think it’s ok for people to be too poor to go to a doctor?

[BAD]

Do they just not think about the health and dignity of others? Is there a bell curve of empathy synapse density and they fall on the wrong end? Do they enjoy policing people they think are beneath them until they are long gone?

Seems wild to vote for "Yes, you broke your hand and would incur a bill you can't pay from getting treated, and that's ok."

Like how is it possible that you can be mentally deteriorating but in America you can be priced out of therapy for it? So you just lose everything?

What do I do if I get a $6500 bill for surgery even with insurance? Literally have no idea, what do they expect people to do in that situation besides consider suffering or dying over having bills that ruin their finances and credit, which all their future spending and housing will be crippled by?

What am I missing? Why are people ok with anyone hurting and not feeling secure about going to a doctor for help?

 

[Cipherr]

They lack empathy for anyone that isn't themselves.

 

[MJForum Poster]

They lack empathy for anyone that isn't themselves.

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and done

 

[Mark]

Bootstraps

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

They mainly just don't want to pay for somebody else. Bottom line.

EDIT - I think lots of people feel bad for people who cannot get care, and they'd be fine with them getting care, as long as that money isn't coming out of their pockets.

 

[SilentPanda]

Because they believe it wont happen to them, they believe themselve to be rich or will be rich soon

 

[R0987]

Because free healthcare=socialism and socialism= communism and thats bad plus they are scared to shit for higher taxes.

 

[Saganator]

Because they think people should earn the right to go to the doctor.

 

[fanboi]

Egocentrism at maximum speed.

 

[Blah]

I have a coworker who says why should his taxes go up to pay for M4A when he only goes once every 8 years but he pays for insurance anyways.

They only care about themselves.

 

[PowerThroughLov]

The main arguments boil down to:
1. The emergency room is free and open to all. If your life is danger, you can get treatment even without insurance (it will put you in DEBT, but you wont die).
2. If we open up either a public option or switch to government run insurance (Medicare-4-all) it will result in a reduction in infrastructure development and technology, ultimately reducing the quality of care.

Dont @ me with rebuttals, im not saying I agree with them. Those are the two main points they will give you though.

 

[maxxpower]

America is selfish as fuck. Fuck you got mine, why should I pay for someone else, everybody for themselves, and this:

 

[Shake Appeal]

Market fundamentalism and false consciousness.

 

[kittens]

Liberal and neoliberal capitalists are okay with it too, let's not let them off the hook.

 

[Dr. Monkey]

They lack empathy for anyone that isn't themselves.

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They mainly just don't want to pay for somebody else. Bottom line.

EDIT - I think lots of people feel bad for people who cannot get care, and they'd be fine with them getting care, as long as that money isn't coming out of their pockets.

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Because they believe it wont happen to them, they believe themselve to be rich or will be rich soon

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All of these things are simultaneously true, because there's no one reason.

We have this whole stupid narrative about lazy people - that isn't true - and merit - that isn't true and even people who are struggling/failing and who know it is because of structural inequalities will somehow find a reason to make it uniquely them that's struggling while everyone else is lazy and undeserving. It's wild.

 

[DarthWoo]

It's kind of like that panel in One Piece where some noble-born child wonders unironically why poor people didn't just choose to be born a noble instead, except in real life.

 

[Darknight]

They mainly just don't want to pay for somebody else. Bottom line.

EDIT - I think lots of people feel bad for people who cannot get care, and they'd be fine with them getting care, as long as that money isn't coming out of their pockets.

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This is the real answer compared to some of the rest of the replies so far. If you're looking for a serious answer, this is it. They don't like the idea that they're paying for someone else.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

Well, Republicans actively want the poor people to die.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

they'd rather people die to treatable issues than see their taxes slightly increase.

 

[TechnicPuppet]

It's not the exact same but in the UK we have the NHS which is great. You always see though how right wing people are as they get on in life, everyone should stand on their own two feet, I worked hard for everything I got, going on about 'benefit scroungers' etc.

That is until they reach the age they need personal care. At that point they all argue that it should be free for them, that they shouldn't need to sell their house to pay for it, that house is to leave to their kids.

 

[Kasumin]

Racism and then a bunch of bullshit on top of that. But I've come to the conclusion that racism is the root of it.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

This is the real answer compared to some of the rest of the replies so far. If you're looking for a serious answer, this is it. They don't like the idea that they're paying for someone else.

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It's functionally no different that lacking empathy for those other than themselves. Not wanting to help others is lacking empathy.

 

[Josh5890]

They are afraid their taxes will skyrocket because the media and politicians love to hammer that point home.

 

[P-MAC]

Because they're selfish unsympathetic assholes and it means less tax for them (or when it doesn't, they think so anyway)

 

[tsampikos]

Because rich white people used the rhetoric of "personal choice" as being the cause of and solution to all of societies problems to deflect attention away from themselves.

They teach that one is poor because they chose to be poor. Much like how people chose to be immigrants, chose the wrong religion, and how people choose their sexuality or gender identity.

Being white is, apparently, also a choice now according to conservative hispanic culture and is becoming more and more a thing for eastern europeans/ middle easterners.

Eat the rich.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Lack of empathy.

Poor people have also been conditioned for years to think socialism is bad because COMMUNISM, ignoring that they're two different political systems.

 

[Orb]

They tend to completely avoid the idea of whether everyone "deserves" free / affordable healthcare and just talk endlessly about how it would be impossible to pay for. For the people that actually attack the idea that healthcare is a right, in my experience many of them immediately jump to the idea that your health is mainly caused by personal choices. "Why should I have to pay for insulin for someone who is fat because they eat too much and don't exercise?"

Of course all of this immediately falls apart when you bring up unavoidable catastrophic illnesses, which I have never seen even an attempt at an answer for. No one can explain why anyone deserves to go bankrupt because they got cancer.

 

[Goddo Hando]

It's functionally no different that lacking empathy for those other than themselves. Not wanting to help others is lacking empathy.

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they dont want people they perceive "beneath them" (i.e. welfare) to have the same access to healthcare they have

 

[Gwenpoolshark]

Bruh you don't even have to be "poor" in the conventional sense to have your life utterly fucking derailed by medica bills in the country. Basically anyone who's not rich can get gutted if the wrong condition comes along.

 

[faceless]

they are racists that would rather die a horrible death than see minorities get healthcare too.

 

[Bio]

It's really as simple as a lack of empathy caused by a Fuck You, Got Mine mentality.

 

[TheRuralJuror]

They mainly just don't want to pay for somebody else. Bottom line.

EDIT - I think lots of people feel bad for people who cannot get care, and they'd be fine with them getting care, as long as that money isn't coming out of their pockets.

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This is generally the sentiment, yep. There's other variables too, but this is a lot of what I've heard.

 

[Bio]

Bruh you don't even have to be "poor" in the conventional sense to have your life utterly fucking derailed by medica bills in the country. Basically anyone who's not rich can get gutted if the wrong condition comes along.

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Yep. I make almost twice the median income in America and will almost certainly be filing for bankruptcy by the end of the year, caused entirely by medical bills.

 

[Strike]

They lack empathy for anyone that isn't themselves.

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Yup.

 

[entremet]

It's more complex.

Did you see that Jimmy Kimmel bit where he talked about the ACA versus Obamacare (it's the same thing). To summarize, white conservatives loved the ACA when it was framed as the ACA. When framed as Obamacare, it was the devil. Partisan politics is effective.

Unfortunately, the GOP has used tribalism to promote the party line measures, in this case, the status quo or employer-provided health insurance. They then use right-wing radio and Fox News to spew those talking points ad naseum.

America is widely racist, yes. However, tons of conservative white folk go bankrupt on medical debt. It's the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the US. So why do the spite themselves? Rugged individualism?

 

[Thordinson]

This is the real answer compared to some of the rest of the replies so far. If you're looking for a serious answer, this is it. They don't like the idea that they're paying for someone else.

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It does go beyond that. It is a lack of overall empathy. I've asked many Conservatives if poor people should starve if they don't work while on Food Stamps and they said...yes. Many of them also believe these things are a choice. It's a choice to be poor or homeless or unable to feed oneself without assistance.

 

[Gigglepoo]

They lack empathy for anyone that isn't themselves.

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This + racism answers every "Why do conservatives..." question.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

they dont want people they perceive "beneath them" (i.e. welfare) to have the same access to healthcare they have

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Right, and they are fine with those people dying.

 

[Deleted member 13798]

Fuck you, got mine. It's been said here repeatedly but many people don't care about something until it affects them. And since this doesn't really affect them, it doesn't matter. But they will be the first to cry about injustice when it does.

 

[thewienke]

American work ethic that demands people have jobs that typically provide insurance.

A lot of folks are simply too out of touch likely due to age and think that the world is still the same as it was when they were younger when benefits and wages were better. You hear the same argument with paying for college and somehow many still think you can pay for it all with just a summer part time job.

 

[Enduin]

People see things like access to healthcare, use of taxes, etc as a Zero Sum game. They not only lack empathy for others, especially others not "like" them, but they view any kind of charity to any who hasn't contributed as much as they have as actively harming themselves for a lesser deserving person. And this is in large part due to Republicans, and Dems too, working for well over a half a century to create this mentality and image in the minds of American workers. And that's on top of the centuries of racial suppression, segregation and abuse that was fostered and perpetuated throughout our nation.

 

[Fushichou187]

This is the real answer compared to some of the rest of the replies so far. If you're looking for a serious answer, this is it. They don't like the idea that they're paying for someone else.

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The astounding cognitive dissonance in that thinking (not yours, but what you say is theirs) is that they all want their social security benefits when they retire, or are injured and go on disability, etc.. which is 1000% "people paying for someone else".

They also lack empathy.

 

[Bgamer90]

An absolutely disgusting lack of empathy (until something hits them personally).

 

[Cipherr]

This is the real answer compared to some of the rest of the replies so far. If you're looking for a serious answer, this is it. They don't like the idea that they're paying for someone else.

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I don't believe it. I don't believe that at all. Explain then why countries with mostly homogenous populations have a much easier time with welfare systems, taxpayer paid healthcare and safety nets then?

If the issue was really an aversion to paying for something someone else gets use of, then we should see those same problems. But the more homogenous the population, the less issues we see with any sort of welfare system. Norway isn't having the problem America has with advancing healthcare last I checked.

But last I checked Norway is upwards of 92% white. People start to buck the less the recipients look like them. It's too consistent to be a coincidence all over the planet at once.

 

[Takuhi]

For most people, if an issue doesn't affect them, they just don't think about it. I think the vast majority of people would agree with the statement that "affordable health care should be available to all," but if it's not their family that's affected, they're not going to let that determine how they vote, and they're going to tune out when politicians talk about it.

 

[Eros]

People don't care about others. You could even say they hate them.

 

[entremet]

This is the real answer compared to some of the rest of the replies so far. If you're looking for a serious answer, this is it. They don't like the idea that they're paying for someone else.

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I wonder if they know they are already doing that for the poor (Medicaid) and the aged (Medicare)

 

[DrForester]

Republicans have no morals. They think dead poor people is totally the fault of those people.

 

[DickGrayson]

To be a bit more fair, as much as I can be, some people are incorrectly afraid that providing healthcare to everyone will increase the cost for THEIR healthcare. They've simply been misinformed.

So if it's a zero sum game, they don't want to have their health threatened.

Also some are just "fuck you got mine" all the way to the grave.

 

[Thordinson]

I wonder if they know they are already doing that for the poor (Medicaid) and the aged (Medicare)

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Usually, the argument I hear for Medicare is that "people paid in so they are getting the benefit from it". They see it as more of a retirement benefit than a social program for some reason.