• 2 Posts
  • 36 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: July 4th, 2023
  • loopedcandle@lemmynsfw.comtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•If you are a Libertarian and hold liberty as your core value, why do you not believe in universal healthcare? Nothing impacts liberty more than sickness and death.English
    76·
    1 month ago

    I am libertarian-ish, but generally don’t like all the loud libertarian nuts (I register Dem and vote Dem because the things I care about aren’t represented anywhere on the ballot anymore).

    For me, it comes to a very simple economics truism: Governments are pretty damn inefficient and tend to waste a lot of money because of the process and bureaucracy. Markets on the other hand, tend to be really efficient at allocating capital when left alone. The times a government should step in is when the market has created a form of externality that breaks things. The old economics example is the people downstream from a chemical plant are paying the price for the plant’s pollution.

    From a libertarian lens:

    • The government should negotiate SPH b.c. it’s obvious that markets failed and we’d all be better off (spend less money) if everyone had healthcare.
    • The government should stay out of people’s bedrooms and love lives, it has no business there.
    • The government should use UBI and then eliminate every other deduction, and tax break, and subsidy (Social Sec, . The office running UBI could be one guy sending checks out once a month (exaggerated obvi)

    Unfortunately the things I’d like to see from a libertarian don’t actually show up.

  • loopedcandle@lemmynsfw.comtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•I’ve just turned 40. What advice would you older lemmy users give me?English
    13·
    5 months ago

    My super secret tip: for every little ache and pain - get a doc to give you an Rx to a physical therapist. It might turn out to be nothing, might turn into something worse - either way PTs are awesome magic workers. I will elaborate:

    • Drs are mostly limited to two things, surgery or an Rx (ok maybe a few other things).
    • PTs can’t do those, but they can use stretching, massage, electro stimulation, exercise, and all sorts of practical, cheap methods to make you feel better.
    • (In the US at least) medical plan PT allocations are designed for the elderly when they break a hip. So there are usually a ton of free (or very subsidized) sessions in your plan. Way more than you’d need in a year, even if you do break something at 40.
    • They know the mechanics of the human body in a practical way that no doc has ever learned at school. I call it PT magic. Hey, your shoulder hurts, do this leg hammy stretch, voila and your shoulder feels better.
    • I can also share some of my other personal training goals (don’t be fat, don’t die early) and it’s like having a subsidized personal trainer. And one better than any you could get at the gym.
  • loopedcandle@lemmynsfw.comtoWorld News@lemmy.world•Austrian heiress giving away $36.6M because the government won't tax her inheritanceEnglish
    343·
    6 months ago

    There is a solid counter argument here (to play devil’s advocate). This is what a right wing American would say to this:

    See, we don’t have to tax the rich, they’re so generous. It’s more efficient to let them have their money and donate it directly to causes. The federal government is so bad at allocating wealth, reducing taxes so more people can be like her is the way to go.

    If the person above is not wealthy themselves, the following thought to this is Well, when I’m inevitably wealthy because of how great I am, I don’t want the government taxing me so I can be like her.

    Then they pat themselves on the back for being so ((in an impossible future)) generous.

    It’s worth thinking about how to counter this argument.