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David Megginson

@Smalltofeds asked

Any ideas on treating our ailment without violence?

I don't know, but I can guarantee that trying to treat it with violence will just kill thousands or millions of people and then entrench a new powerful and exploitative elite even more firmly than the old one, as has happened in every violent revolution in history that I can think of. 😢

#nonViolence

@selzero

5 comments
David Megginson

@Smalltofeds Every other rich country (and most middle-income countries) managed to achieve universal healthcare through incrementalism rather than revolution, and found it entirely compatible with capitalism — after all, universal healthcare saves employers bundles of money compared to paying for expensive private health insurance in the U.S.

In the U.S. unfortunately, the bureaucracy behind private health insurance became a major industry in its own right, so it's hard to displace.

@selzero

David Megginson

@Smalltofeds Capitalists should also love universal healthcare because it promotes entrepreneurship.

When I decided to quit my job and try my hand at a consulting business in 1998, I had zero concerns about health coverage for my young family because of Canadian medicare.

And students in Canada aren't afraid to graduate from university and lose their health insurance, because they're still covered when they step outside the academy into the working or business world.

@selzero

Ken Larson

@david_megginson @selzero

The Military Industrial Complex is driven by many of the similar factors you have noted.

As Eisenhower put it, "The problem with
Defense is how far your can go without destroying from within that which you are trying to defend from without."

As Eisenhower put it, "The problem with 
Defense is how far your can go without destroying from within that which you are trying to defend from without."
David Megginson

@Smalltofeds Fully agreed, and I think it's telling that it's the former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Western Europe who coined the phrase.

American business profited massively from the Second World War, and was unable to wean itself off the government spending afterwards. They may talk capitalism, but is really a very toxic variant of socialism (since arms makers rely primarily on government funding rather than the free market).

@selzero

Ken Larson

@david_megginson @selzero

A concept for your consideration. Wars exist at all levels , as we are learning at lightning speed. It would appear we are not evolving quickly enough as a species to understand that all of them are settled by communication and negotiation.

The sliding scale must favor TALK Not SHOT.

The sliding scale must favor TALK Not SHOT.
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