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Thread: Bad news from the Homeland.......

  1. #41
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post
    I guess that’s one of those “if you have to ask you’ll never know” questions.

    My belief, and I could well be wrong, is that a meaningful life is more about the responsibilities you accept than the benefits you demand from others.
    Here you have in one sentence neatly summed up why this country is such a bad fit for me.....and it's the kind of thing that I believe that though we have never met, so I don't know you, that you will not understand. Here goes an effort at explaining that which is blatantly obvious to me, anyway.

    In a better country with extensive social welfare, it's not seen as "demanding benefits from others" - it's seen as reaping that which you have been into the pot for and that all are eligible for. Very different thinking - radically different thinking from how America would prefer you think - and to me common sense which I have understood well before the age of 14......it's just basic common sense to me. So no, I will never get it or understand Kennedy's quote in your context. To do so would be disrespectful to the collective and I don't want to be like that or think like that. To do so is to be complicit with the insane degree of inequality in this country and I won't be guilty of being complicit with such. Rob

  2. #42
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    Do you mean the liver infection that landed you in the hospital for two weeks? The infection that created a hospital bill probably around a quarter of a million dollars? The hospital bill that the taxpayers picked up because the socialzed medicine system here, the one you constantly disparage, actually worked for you?

    Is that the liver infection you are talking about?

    If so, oh, okay—carry on.
    Yes, the liver infection that Medicaid picked up all costs for. Why this should so rile you I don't understand....in Austria YOU TOO would qualify for taxpayer subsidized care at this level and everyone, repeat everyone, would consider this perfectly normal and acceptable regardless of your assets and income. If you were to honestly look around the world, America really is an outlier as to access to health care for all. Sorry, I can't support this........I just can't. Rob

  3. #43
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    That is quite intolerant of The Homeland to require that she choose a country.

    The United States does not demand that unconscionable choice. My cold blooded view is that Austria’s requirement about citizenship is immoral.
    I'm not entirely in disagreement with you here. Much of my life would have been less stressful and of a higher quality had I been able to immigrate to Austria and I'm not fond of the fact that Austria does not allow for dual citizenship. I can't fault you on this one, IL.

    That said, I do have one issue with the US (though once again I do appreciate that the US allows for dual citizenship) - the US is very nasty to those with dual citizenship who travel on passports from whatever other citizenship they hold.......I have a hard time understanding this/not resenting this - but OTOH this country does allow you to retain citizenship in a country with socialized medicine to mitigate the downside risk of this citizenship so here I'd say maybe it's better to suck up the insanity and play the game. I'll give you that much. Rob

  4. #44
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife View Post
    Yes, the liver infection that Medicaid picked up all costs for. Why this should so rile you I don't understand....at

    Nice try avoiding the real point.

    What “riles” me is your constant bashing of social welfare programs in the U.S. while sucking them down.
    The program we have for socialied medicine saved your life. You admit it in the above post.

    To spell it out, you are a hypocrite. You cant have it both ways as in
    1) there is not socialized medicine to take care of me
    2) I used a quarter of a million dollars worth of health care services, paid by taxpayers

    You are ungrateful.

  5. #45
    Yppej
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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    That is quite intolerant of The Homeland to require that she choose a country.

    The United States does not demand that unconscionable choice. My cold blooded view is that Austria’s requirement about citizenship is immoral.
    The US has demanded this choice, both of my mother and of me. The law has since changed.

  6. #46
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yppej View Post
    The US has demanded this choice, both of my mother and of me. The law has since changed.
    Ah, I stand corrected Mr wikki did not serve me well. I guess we are, afterall, living in an immoral place!

    edited to add: scanning hits from the Google machine, there are a L
    OT of articles that give the erroneous fact that dual,citizenship is allowed in the U.S. but maybe it is one of those things where details matter, like perhaps the specific country is important. (?)

    Now it is coming back to me, we did talk about this issue in the past, but I forgot the outcome other than it has some complexity.

    what country are we talking about here, and how recently did the dual thing change?

  7. #47
    Yppej
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    They actually gave me a workaround. Although they had me sign the front of my certificate of citizenship application that I renounced all other citizenships "without mental reservation" they told me to write on the back that I did have a mental reservation in that I did not want to renounce my Canadian citizenship. They took pity on me because it was not my fault my uninformed and hapless parents failed to register my birth abroad.

    My mother became a citizen during the Cold War and having been born in what had after she left become East Germany did not want that citizenship anyways. Little did she know one day Germany would reunite as a free country. But she forgot all her German and is thoroughly and happily Americanized.

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife View Post
    Here you have in one sentence neatly summed up why this country is such a bad fit for me.....and it's the kind of thing that I believe that though we have never met, so I don't know you, that you will not understand. Here goes an effort at explaining that which is blatantly obvious to me, anyway.

    In a better country with extensive social welfare, it's not seen as "demanding benefits from others" - it's seen as reaping that which you have been into the pot for and that all are eligible for. Very different thinking - radically different thinking from how America would prefer you think - and to me common sense which I have understood well before the age of 14......it's just basic common sense to me. So no, I will never get it or understand Kennedy's quote in your context. To do so would be disrespectful to the collective and I don't want to be like that or think like that. To do so is to be complicit with the insane degree of inequality in this country and I won't be guilty of being complicit with such. Rob
    America has no preferences as to what you think. America is not a person.

    I’m not especially worried about being disrespectful of the collective because the collective is not a person either.

    The problem I see with a collectivist, entitlement worldview is that it seems to create such envy, resentment and anger in people. You essentially place yourself at the mercy of larger forces. That can’t be pleasant.

  9. #49
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    My DIL became a citizen a few years ago but also kept her Polish citizenship. Yes she has went back home to visit her parents and use their free medical. However, a year ago she had a tennis ball sized brain tumor that needed a top neurologist to remove it in San Francisco. It was a 14 hour / million dollar surgery. The ACA saved her life. This surgery can’t be performed in Poland.

  10. #50
    Yppej
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post

    My belief, and I could well be wrong, is that a meaningful life is more about the responsibilities you accept than the benefits you demand from others.
    Rob is not alone in his viewpoint. I had several people criticize me for saying that responsibilities (for debts voluntarily incurred - not being rushed to the ER while unconscious or anything but 100% voluntary debts) should not be accepted, and that individuals should be entitled to benefits in the form of public subsidies for numerous degrees of limited market value. Personally I would rather pay for other people's healthcare which is a matter of life and death.

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