The insurance model in the US implies one thing , one despicable thing

[UndertheOcean]

That thing is that you are worth something to the system , only if you are a productive cog in the machinery ... only then is it worth to maintain you and oil you from time to time to keep everything running .... that is why you get access to group insurance. Other than that you are a burden , scrap lying on the floor , waste they would rather get rid off.

The journey is long , and we are weary , but we surely will reach the shore someday , for unlike the cold machine that enslaves us , nothing can extinguish the embers of compassion within us .

[ShortnFiery]

1. Spot on!

[raccoon]

2. Just one thing wrong with your post.

"That thing is that you are worth something to the system , only if you are a productive cog in the machinery...

that is why you get access to group insurance."

Well, no, not everybody does.

50% of the employees at my workplace, a state agency, are very productive cogs, the institution couldn't go on without them, but we don't have access to group insurance.

Rec'd.

[UndertheOcean]

7. If you are replaceable by a pool of people begging for a living ... then sometimes it is cheaper to

replace you rather than fix you .

[Cal Carpenter]

3. And 'productive' means profitable

In economic terms, 'productive' means that you make money for the company, the shareholders.

That cold machine is capitalism, and while some may say your use of the term 'enslave' is hyperbole, I think there is more truth to it than many are willing to admit.

The terms of the health care reform debate make this painfully clear.

The question is - if we (American workers) go from being the major consumers to being the cheap labor, are there other consumers in the world ready to buy buy buy and keep the system afloat (because it is global)? Or does our transformation into cheap labor undermine the system?

time will tell.

[UndertheOcean]

8. Exactly , its a "profit" fetish ... ultimate alienation.

[NightWatcher]

4. if your coffee maker were such a horrible machine, you'd break it and throw it away

The Machine that chews us up and throws us away is broken, not for the rich who designed it, but to the masses that it no longer serves. When are we going to break this machine and save ourselves?

[dkf]

5. I guess productive small businesses don't count either.

[UndertheOcean]

9. Ants squashed by big giants

[sinkingfeeling]

6. You overlooked the 38.1 million Americans who receive care either through Medicaid or

State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=628

[UndertheOcean]

10. Yes , which shows that life cannot be reduced to a single principle , there is an element of

compassion fighting the machine , as resilient as dandelions that grow through the concrete pavement.

I just want the good guys to win already , soon , rather than ultimately

[Cal Carpenter]

11. Those programs are being undermined

Much like other public institutions like education and transportation, those programs aren't solid and appreciated the way they should be - it is a constant legislative struggle to keep them afloat - and they are being privatized piecemeal.

They should be strengthened and improved, not destroyed out of neglect or deliberate sabotage.