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Highest prison population in the world by both per capita and total number, and people get thrown in jail because they can't pay their medical bills. How much m

Highest prison population in the world by both per capita and total number, and people get thrown in jail because they can't pay their medical bills. How much more corrupt can this country get? What do we do when voting doesn't make a difference?

save_ferris 7y ago
Get involved. Support local and regional elected officials or candidates that share your views on healthcare, the progressive movement is growing rapidly in the US for this very reason. One of the biggest problems in American politics is that everyone is caught up in the blood sport that is Federal politics while not paying attention to what's going on in lower offices. Yes, healthcare is and will always be a Federal issue, but it's never too late to get involved in politics at any level.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- lonelappde 7y ago
  Sorry, but this is bullshit. When the government c disowns the basis for its legitimacy and starts teaming up with profiteers to imprison and kill people, the answer to fight back against violence with violence.
- bhupy 7y ago
  Why does healthcare have to be a federal issue?
  - _jal 7y ago
    It theoretically doesn't, but practically speaking, you're talking about risk pools. Those work better when they're larger.
    - bhupy 7y ago
      Risk pools in other countries work pretty well, and their populations are <= that of pretty much every state in the Union. Denmark’s population is that of Wisconsin. The least populated state (Wyoming) would have a larger risk pool than Iceland, which seems to be doing fine.
      - _jal 7y ago
        Sure. For that matter, some bigger corporations in the US choose to run their own. But it is just math - bigger pools have more resources over a larger population, and so are better positioned to survive shocks.
        bhupy 7y ago
        You’re not really refuting my point...by that logic the entire world should have one big shared risk pool, it’s just math! My point is that you can have adequate risk pools at a lower administrative level (the states), while not having to deal with having to build up political will among a large, heterogenous polity.
        _jal 7y ago
        That's because I'm not arguing with you. It is a complex topic, and the variety of "solutions" to the problem give us a lot to chew on. I don't personally think that's optimal - there are a number of problems US states have that nation-states don't. (Deficit financing, exclusion and latitude to make its own rules being larger ones.) Also, one cost of running "laboratories of democracy" is that some of them fail, and some of them are run incompetently or corruptly or cruelly. But if you like the idea of state level fixes, by all means pull for that. There is no single right answer.
        bhupy 7y ago
        > Also, one cost of running "laboratories of democracy" is that some of them fail, and some of them are run incompetently or corruptly or cruelly. That is true of nation states as well, and yet we trust them with sovereignty. In our Union, states have to abide by a baseline set of rules per the Federal Constitution (free speech, right to a fair trial, equal protection before the law, etc). US States aren’t run by Kings and Queens, they’re democracies with checks and balances, state Constitutions, judiciaries, legislatures, and executive agencies. Insofar as a state would be run corruptly or cruelly, it would be the will of the people of those states.
- mlevental 7y ago
  I agree with you but this isn't a local issue. famously healthcare is under the umbrella of the interstate commerce clause.
bjornsing 7y ago
As I read the OP they get thrown in jail for not appearing in court. Isn’t that very different?
- geggam 7y ago
  If you dont have the money to pay bills how do you afford to get to court ? Being poor is illegal ;)
  - true_religion 7y ago
    Court is just a building in town. If you are healthy, you can just walk there. The bigger problem in this case is that the people being sent to court probably cannot easily walk there, because they are unhealthy. It’s effectively criminalizing illness.
    - wbronitsky 7y ago
      This argument is preposterous. There are so many reasons poor people find it difficult to appear in court. A huge, and very easy to imagine, issue is that poor people tend not to have time flexibility; with everyone screaming at them to pick up another job, how could they possibly appear in court as well? Another very easy to imagine issue is getting healthcare outside of this “town” everyone seems to live in in the above argument, could make appearing in court difficult as well. The argument that “all poor people are fat and ill” is not just lazy, but outright ridiculous.
    - tbyehl 7y ago
      > Court is just a building in town. If you are healthy, you can just walk there. If you happen to live in town and that town happens to be where the State put the courthouse for that county. Plenty of counties in this country are bigger than Rhode Island -- not just in the middle of nowhere, either.
      - spc476 7y ago
        True. I live in a county that is twice the size of Rhode Island. I work in a county that is the size of Rhode Island. And both counties are far from what you would call "rural" [1]. [1] For the record, Palm Beach County, Fl (main city: West Palm Beach) and Broward County, Fl (main city: Ft. Lauderale), respectively.

save_ferris 7y ago

Get involved. Support local and regional elected officials or candidates that share your views on healthcare, the progressive movement is growing rapidly in the US for this very reason. One of the biggest problems in American politics is that everyone is caught up in the blood sport that is Federal politics while not paying attention to what's going on in lower offices. Yes, healthcare is and will always be a Federal issue, but it's never too late to get involved in politics at any level.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
lonelappde 7y ago
Sorry, but this is bullshit. When the government c disowns the basis for its legitimacy and starts teaming up with profiteers to imprison and kill people, the answer to fight back against violence with violence.
bhupy 7y ago
Why does healthcare have to be a federal issue?
- _jal 7y ago
  It theoretically doesn't, but practically speaking, you're talking about risk pools. Those work better when they're larger.
  - bhupy 7y ago
    Risk pools in other countries work pretty well, and their populations are <= that of pretty much every state in the Union. Denmark’s population is that of Wisconsin. The least populated state (Wyoming) would have a larger risk pool than Iceland, which seems to be doing fine.
    - _jal 7y ago
      Sure. For that matter, some bigger corporations in the US choose to run their own. But it is just math - bigger pools have more resources over a larger population, and so are better positioned to survive shocks.
      - bhupy 7y ago
        You’re not really refuting my point...by that logic the entire world should have one big shared risk pool, it’s just math! My point is that you can have adequate risk pools at a lower administrative level (the states), while not having to deal with having to build up political will among a large, heterogenous polity.
        _jal 7y ago
        That's because I'm not arguing with you. It is a complex topic, and the variety of "solutions" to the problem give us a lot to chew on. I don't personally think that's optimal - there are a number of problems US states have that nation-states don't. (Deficit financing, exclusion and latitude to make its own rules being larger ones.) Also, one cost of running "laboratories of democracy" is that some of them fail, and some of them are run incompetently or corruptly or cruelly. But if you like the idea of state level fixes, by all means pull for that. There is no single right answer.
        bhupy 7y ago
        > Also, one cost of running "laboratories of democracy" is that some of them fail, and some of them are run incompetently or corruptly or cruelly. That is true of nation states as well, and yet we trust them with sovereignty. In our Union, states have to abide by a baseline set of rules per the Federal Constitution (free speech, right to a fair trial, equal protection before the law, etc). US States aren’t run by Kings and Queens, they’re democracies with checks and balances, state Constitutions, judiciaries, legislatures, and executive agencies. Insofar as a state would be run corruptly or cruelly, it would be the will of the people of those states.
mlevental 7y ago
I agree with you but this isn't a local issue. famously healthcare is under the umbrella of the interstate commerce clause.

bjornsing 7y ago

As I read the OP they get thrown in jail for not appearing in court. Isn’t that very different?

geggam 7y ago
If you dont have the money to pay bills how do you afford to get to court ? Being poor is illegal ;)
- true_religion 7y ago
  Court is just a building in town. If you are healthy, you can just walk there. The bigger problem in this case is that the people being sent to court probably cannot easily walk there, because they are unhealthy. It’s effectively criminalizing illness.
  - wbronitsky 7y ago
    This argument is preposterous. There are so many reasons poor people find it difficult to appear in court. A huge, and very easy to imagine, issue is that poor people tend not to have time flexibility; with everyone screaming at them to pick up another job, how could they possibly appear in court as well? Another very easy to imagine issue is getting healthcare outside of this “town” everyone seems to live in in the above argument, could make appearing in court difficult as well. The argument that “all poor people are fat and ill” is not just lazy, but outright ridiculous.
  - tbyehl 7y ago
    > Court is just a building in town. If you are healthy, you can just walk there. If you happen to live in town and that town happens to be where the State put the courthouse for that county. Plenty of counties in this country are bigger than Rhode Island -- not just in the middle of nowhere, either.
    - spc476 7y ago
      True. I live in a county that is twice the size of Rhode Island. I work in a county that is the size of Rhode Island. And both counties are far from what you would call "rural" [1]. [1] For the record, Palm Beach County, Fl (main city: West Palm Beach) and Broward County, Fl (main city: Ft. Lauderale), respectively.