Predatory Capitalism vs "Socialism"
John Oliver talks about the absurdity of America’s for-profit colleges and crushing student loan debt.
In Europe, and most other countries around the world, going to college is free. In Germany, anyone - even you, yes you - can study for free. You read that right. For free.
Any American can hop on a plane and study in Germany to become a brain surgeon and make a shit ton of money. For free.
Think about how much better your life would be if you could have a high paying job and no student loan debt.
That’s what people like Bernie Sanders talk about, when ignorant MAGA dumbfucks accuse him of being a crazy “socialist.”
Bernie isn’t crazy. He’s talking about things that are perfectly normal in other countries for decades already, and they’re better.
He only seems crazy to you because you’re dumb as a rock and you have no idea that things could be so much better, if you stopped believing the billionaires who exploit you.
Republicans represent only the interests of the billionaires, the 1%. They use propaganda outlets like Fox News, to brainwash working class peasants to vote against their own best interest, and vote for making the billionaires even richer, by making it even easier for them to exploit you.
Republicans call that scam “deregulation.” What they mean by that is they eliminate the laws that hold corrupt scumbags like Trump accountable for their crimes.
And they drive you deeper and deeper into debt and make you work harder and harder for less and less money. They call that “raising productivity.”
And then these motherfuckers have the nerve to blame immigrants for it.
Billionaire robber barons managed to convince you that everything that would make your life better is “socialism.”
Higher taxes for billionaires? Socialism!
A living wage? Socialism!
Unions that fight for workers’ rights? Socialism!
A year of paid maternity leave? Socialism!
6 weeks of paid vacation? Socialism!
Near-unlimited paid sick days? Socialism!
4 day work weeks? Socialism!
Free healthcare? Socialism!
Free college? Socialism!
Free childcare? Socialism!
Man, I wish you were smart enough to realize how fucking dumb you MAGA dumbfucks sound to the rest of the world.
Sorry America, Norway ranks No. 1 for ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ The U.S. doesn’t rank among the Top 10 on a list of 155 countries
Norwegians tell Trump: We don't want to come to your shithole country
MAGA dumbfucks in red states think all their life’s problems are the Democrats’ fault. Even when not a single Democrat holds any position of power in their state.
Your life could be so much better, if you’d stop voting for Republican robber barons who exploit you.
But they keep you dumb, by cutting funding for the public education of working class peasants, so you probably won’t ever figure out who’s really fucking you over.
Orange Hitler accuses Kamala of being a Marxist, because all Nazis hate Marxists.
Nazi was short for ‘Nazional Sozialist’ but the first people they put into concentration camps were communists and socialists. ‘National socialism’ was an entirely different animal, about as far removed from socialism as it's possible to get.
As for free education and health care, unfortunately here in the UK we've been increasingly influenced by the US model. I graduated in 1996 as a mature student and was among the last to enjoy free secondary education. The following year tuition fees were introduced and student grants were replaced by student loans. The far right don't want an educated population because they won't vote for them. Having a well educated population actually increases a country's wealth, productivity and wellbeing as it fosters a more equal society. Personally I think it's just a good thing even without the numerous benefits.
Which brings me in to our National Health Service (NHS). This was the crowning achievement of Nye Bevan (Aneurin Bevan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneurin_Bevan?wprov=sfla1), Minister for Health under Clement Atlee's postwar Labour government. Unfortunately, the Tories (Conservative Party, commonly called the Tory Party) have been steadily privatising it by the back door and on the quiet over the last 13 years of their rule. They actually want a US health system! As you said, the US health system is one of the most expensive and least effective in the developed world. The NHS is ‘’comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery, a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay”. Apart from the steady increase of outsourcing to private healthcare providers, Brexit has caused a huge number of vacancies as EU citizens left the UK in droves, leaving the NHS severely understaffed. I'm convinced that this was all a ploy by the Tories to undermine the NHS. Waiting lists have increased massively giving the Tories an excuse for more and more privatisation. Despite their claims of ‘record’ funding, it's actually also been severely underfunded – of course they've put ‘record’ funding into the NHS, healthcare gets more expensive every year, not cheaper. NHS staff have endured a 25% pay cut in real terms over the last 13 years. Before the Tories came to power the NHS was ranked in the top three healthcare providers in the world. It's dropped to well below the top 15. The fact that it still ranks as highly as it does is due to the sheer dedication of its severely overworked and underpaid staff. Unsurprisingly the last two years have seen the biggest strikes by nurses and doctors in its history. During the pandemic the British public showed its appreciation of the selfless work by its staff by applauding them every Wednesday at 20:00. Yet now the shameless Tories are blaming NHS workers for all its woes. What's more, the Tories' deliberate sabotaging of the NHS has barely been mentioned in the press. Even the BBC has hardly mentioned it (the BBC is an independent, publicly funded broadcaster, financed through a licence fee. Every household that has equipment capable of receiving terrestrial broadcasts must purchase a TV licence. So while it is independent, the Tories keep threatening to revoke the licence, which is reviewed every five years. They've also appointed several of their cronies to the BBC's directorship. They frequently complain of left-wing bias when, if anything, the opposite is true. For example, UKIP, now called Reform, a right-wing pro Brexit party are invariably invited for comment & participation in political debate programmes, yet they have just one MP (member of parliament) yet the Green Party, who also have one MP almost never). There can be only one reason the Tories want a US type healthcare service: corruption and greed. The number of MPs that have interests in private healthcare providers is shocking and, unfortunately, isn't limited to Tories. The opposition spokesperson for health is also advocating more privatisation to solve the backlog. The NHS was something the British were justly proud of. The politicians who are dismantling it will go down in infamy, but I fear it'll be too late, the damage will have been done and, to our shame, we will have a two tier health system. To profit from the misfortune of people suffering from illness is just plain wrong, morally bankrupt. We should judge a society by the way it treats its most vulnerable and disadvantaged. The way the UK is has been going under a venal Tory party is deplorable.
It's a shame MAGAts will never read this, but even if they did,it would just result in their calling the author a communist.