Why does the rest of the world hate America?

My apologies to the weak of heart, or those who do not read the actual message.

Can we give rational people any more reasons to hate America? There's the image you get from television and movies of the ultra-rich and indifferent characters who live in giant houses, all have staff waiting on them, drive the best cars, and eat out at fancy restaurants every night. But many can reasonably understand that's all for show and not the norm of the American population. A vocal minority of Americans have to give the world real reason to think we're morons.

"Obama is a socialist!"

"This fascist Democratic party!"

"Don't let the government control my body!"

The nonsense goes on and on. There is no reason for any of this kind of talk. No reason at all.

What a slap in the face to the nations of the former U.S.S.R. who lived under communist rule. To the people who have truly been oppressed. To people who have no opportunity to build their own wealth. To those who cannot choose what they want to do with their lives. To nations who have struggled for their sovereignty.

Fuck you America!

Many are heading to town hall events carrying guns because they are afraid of having their rights taken away. In many other nations, that type of behavior would result in being imprisoned or executed on site. Is anyone trying to take away their rights? No! Never has President Obama said he seeks to eliminate the 2nd Amendment. He has stated that there needs to be controls to keep people safe. Is that horrible? That our leader wants people to live in safety? It must be, seeing that our President wanting people to not be ripped off by our multi-billion dollar private insurance industry that is responsible for thousands of deaths.

Fuck you America!

Is it any wonder why people in other nations look at America with disgust? We have people complain about things that aren't even real problems. We have right-wing politicians who grand-stand over issues that the rest of the world cannot fathom. And many of our citizens are too blind and ignorant to see the truth while they jump on board and show disrespect to the people who have truly suffered.

Our nation can be truly great, but to get there we need to stop acting like victims to problems that we have absolutely no idea about. If President Obama got his way in everything he wanted we would not be anywhere near fascism, we still wouldn't know what socialism really looked like, and we would still have more freedom and opportunity than any other nation on earth.

Does the entire world really hate America? No. Which shows there is a compassion among people that needs to exist in each and every one of us in the U.S.A. Stop mocking the pain that so many others have suffered.

Read a book America. Just try to put yourselves in the shoes (or lack thereof) of people who truly lived through oppressive government atrocities.

We're here to kill your grandmother, and Stephen Hawking

Is anyone listening to the real citizens of Canada, United Kingdom, France, and other nations who are being used as examples against healthcare reform in the U.S.? Yes, the real people who do not live in fear of bankruptcy if they get sick. The ones who only have the worry about getting better, and who have working hospitals and doctors that have all the technological advances and time to cure them.

Not the missionaries and other U.S. residents who have their tales of "when I was in X Country..."

People outside of America cannot fathom paying what we do for healthcare, and that all that money we pay in magically disappears when we are laid off without any notice. But that doesn't stop the GOP (with funding from the insurance companies) from spreading rumors about how horrible healthcare is outside of the U.S.

Twitter users in the UK have been criticizing America and the republicans for this nonsense. That's right, people in the UK are talking about how much they love their healthcare.

But what will you believe? The politically motivated, and lobbyist paid lies of the right-wingnuts? Or Stephen Hawking, who set the record straight? Wing-nuts have been claiming that government involvement in healthcare would kill people with severe handicaps, and those who are elderly and burdensome on the healthcare costs. Some even pointed to Stephen Hawking himself, who rebutted the notion, saying he is only alive today because of the UK's National Health Service.

Out of the 110,000 preventable deaths in the United States each year, that could have survived if they had access to proper healthcare, how many of those could be contributing members to the scientific community? How many could be entrepreneurs? More importantly, how many of them are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends to people that lost them before their time? Think about that, I'm sure there is someone in your family, amongst your friends, who cannot afford healthcare. Someone who cannot visit a doctor before things get too late, and their only choice is rushing into the emergency room at the last minutes of their life. How will it affect your family when someone is lost? Truth hurts. Ignoring it hurts even more.

Fear factors, & a simple response

Linda K. Brown wrote a nice, simple, and to the point rebuttal to the myths that are being spread about the proposed healthcare reforms.

Please send this to your local paper, your crazy GOP representative, or any other place where these myths are being published.

If you're really afraid of a giant government who does not represent your best interests, do nothing and let the crazies succeed. If you want your government to answer to you, then take real positive action. Allowing the insurance industry to win just makes us weaker, and ensures we will not get ahead of our financial crisis. Healthcare reform is the best way to ensure every American is doing their part to contribute to the economy.

Representative Chaffetz does not want to hear the truth

Had an interesting call with a staff member of Representative Chaffetz' office. If you call to share your views, you are ridiculed, told you are wrong, and told that everyone who calls the office opposes any public healthcare options.

Being me, I wasn't pleased with that reply and spent the next twenty minutes pointing out the facts about public healthcare. The kind that works in every other prosperous nation on earth. It was responded to with near screaming about how "the French don't look healthy. I've never seen a French person that looks good." She also told me that no insurance company gets into the business to make a profit, and that they don't make that much money. Then argued that "almost all hospitals are operating in the red."

I told her it was interesting that I could pull up the financial reports of every publicly traded insurance company and see their massive profit margins, excessive executive pay, and prove everything she said wrong. I told her about the internet, and how you can search each insurance company and examine their financial statements.

Then it was time for gloves off. I pointed out that Congressman Chaffetz has not represented anyone in his time in office, but simply just wants to vote against everything like a political puppet. She called me rude. To which I said, "you can tell me that I am out of touch with reality, insult an entire nation, and yell at me that my research, friends, and family are lies, then have the audacity to call my very true statement rude. What has the representative done to contribute to anything he has voted against, or provide reasonable alternatives?"

The conversation turned. Now the "I'm right because I have a script" turned into, let's discuss things that the representative believes would help. The basic solution was, having local chamber of commerce collectively negotiate lower insurance rates for small businesses and individuals. When I asked how that reduced insurance company overheads and reduced their profits, she asked if I would support rules that would make all the insurance companies non-profit.

Wait, can the U.S. Government force businesses to be non-profit? I suppose they could, but then is the aid to Rep. Chaffetz proposing government takeover of the insurance companies?

Hmm, semantics I suppose. It's okay for the government to force businesses to not make money, but we're afraid of giving our government the ability to provide affordable healthcare.

Trying to force the insurance companies to play by new rules will only result in rising costs. Public healthcare is not socialism, but the government telling private industry how they can operate does seem a bit totalitarian to me. Now who's fighting for freedom? Not Representative Chaffetz and the GOP.