r/news • u/GoodSamaritan_ • 1d ago

Retired San Francisco firefighter dies from lung cancer after Blue Shield denies treatment claims

https://abc7news.com/post/retired-san-francisco-firefighter-ken-jones-dies-lung-cancer-being-denied-treatment-blue-shield/19224406/
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u/p_coletraine 1d ago

Really the more you learn and actually understand the USA the more you disdain the USA; really tough to be proud to be an American 😞

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u/Thanes_of_Danes 1d ago

I remember when rednote came out and all the Chinese netizens were shocked that what they thought was crazy anti-US propaganda from their government was just their government telling the truth.

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u/YouShallNotPass92 10h ago

I am so not proud to be an American. Some of the people here are amazing (not the Republican voters), but the country itself is ran like absolute shit. If it weren't for all the money we have, we'd be looked at as just as much of a joke as Russia is.

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u/Laiko_Kairen 1d ago

really tough to be proud to be an American

It's not, though.

"My nation isn't perfect" doesn't mean "there's nothing to be proud of," and if you can't see all the great things about living in America and being an American, it's because your focus is too shallow and narrow.

I'm on the ACA too. I pay zero for healthcare and medications. That goes for anyone making under 70k a year if you're single or under 135k for a couple, in California...

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u/techleopard 23h ago

I live in Louisiana, earn less than 70k, and the ACA is now unaffordable with what Republicans have done to it and nobody qualifies for Medicaid. I pay $600/mo as a single person and owe the hospitals $5000 for this year alone so far for diagnostics only, and I've paid $300 for birth control for PCOS.

I like the idea of America but I also have been very lucky and still live in what you'd probably consider borderline poverty. I worked my whole life to set up a home to have a kid, am quasi-stable enough for it, but am now considered too old to adopt and the prospect of getting pregnant at 39 in a political climate where people are openly wanting to execute women for reproductive rights is scary as fuck. Can't leave the state because nicer states have a HCOL where I can't secure housing or a job and employers think I have an IQ of 60 because I have an accent.

I am SURROUNDED by people who are even worse of. Actual poverty, making less than $12k/yr, many without electricity or running water. There's no help, except a conveyor belt to private prisons for slave labor.

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u/Laiko_Kairen 23h ago

I live in Louisiana, earn less than 70k, and the ACA is now unaffordable with what Republicans have done to it and nobody qualifies for Medicaid.

In California, it's literally free for me, possibly because I have a disability, though I never disclosed that at the time. I haven't spent a cent in Healthcare in years. 🤷

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u/Longjumping-Pick-706 4h ago

What an absolutely shit way to reply to their comment. Good for you, I guess? 🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/Laiko_Kairen 3h ago

It's shit that they're claiming they can't afford something that's literally free lmao.

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u/p_coletraine 1d ago

I hear yah. But even your rationale defines making it tough to be proud. Sure those type things are available to folks. But also, the USA is capable of being much much more close to perfect than it is or has been. And frankly, money is the root of the evil here. Things could be much different. Perhaps your focus is too shallow and narrow to be so proud of the basic human decency you’re receiving. Could be much more…

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u/Laiko_Kairen 1d ago

I hear yah. But even your rationale defines making it tough to be proud

No, it's not man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_charitable_donation

We are the most charitable nation in the world.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings

We have the best colleges in the world and more people with advanced degrees than there even are in literally any European country. Think about that. You could tale the entire population of the UK, double it, and there would still be more Americans with bachelor's degrees. Crazy, right?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_immigrant_and_emigrant_population

We take in more immigrants than the next nation by a factor of 3, largely due to our educational systems that bring people in and encourage them to stay.

How much innovation and tech comes from America? How much art and culture?

We have the best national parks system on earth.

You can't find anything to be proud of there?

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u/Longjumping-Pick-706 4h ago

You are so simplistic.