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I'm grateful for the focus on counties here. Health discussions commonly assume that medical services are within reach. But for much (often most) of the US tha

I'm grateful for the focus on counties here. Health discussions commonly assume that medical services are within reach. But for much (often most) of the US that isn't the case. Most counties do not have sufficient mental health services, few have medical specialists and an ER can be several counties away. People who live in underserved areas matter. Overwhelmingly, they are people who are trapped there by poverty. And while poor urban Americans get occasional lip service (if little else), poor rural Americans (inc brown, white, indigenous) don't even get that. No one is more invisible than the rural poor.

throwawaysleep 2y ago
The rural parts consistently prefer a tax cut over anything else. Rural people elected the current federal government.
- WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
  > The rural parts consistently prefer a tax cut over anything else. No. They do not prefer tax cuts over eating, for example. > Rural people elected the current federal government. When the entire country acts as if you and your problems don't exist (for several generations), burning it all down doesn't feel like much of a catastrophe. I've heard from Indigenous Americans who aren't overly bothered by our massive ongoing crises. Their position is something like 'you might experience a tiny sliver of what we've had for centuries'. And they have a point.
  - throwawaysleep 2y ago
    > No. They do not prefer tax cuts over eating, for example. They turned out in droves to cut food stamps to fund large tax cuts. So yes, they do.
    - WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
      > They turned out in droves to cut food stamps to fund large tax cuts. They can't get SNAP so, again, burning down SNAP doesn't feel like a catastrophe. When calls to aid the poor and vulnerable consistently omit most counties, we ought to be not stupid; we ought to expect those counties to become estranged. Estranged, vulnerable people are more likely to be susceptible to manipulation because that's how people work. If this -> We Need To Help The Rural Poor In A Consistent And Meaningful Way <- will never be on the table, that's a decision. Own it.

throwawaysleep 2y ago

The rural parts consistently prefer a tax cut over anything else. Rural people elected the current federal government.

WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
> The rural parts consistently prefer a tax cut over anything else. No. They do not prefer tax cuts over eating, for example. > Rural people elected the current federal government. When the entire country acts as if you and your problems don't exist (for several generations), burning it all down doesn't feel like much of a catastrophe. I've heard from Indigenous Americans who aren't overly bothered by our massive ongoing crises. Their position is something like 'you might experience a tiny sliver of what we've had for centuries'. And they have a point.
- throwawaysleep 2y ago
  > No. They do not prefer tax cuts over eating, for example. They turned out in droves to cut food stamps to fund large tax cuts. So yes, they do.
  - WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
    > They turned out in droves to cut food stamps to fund large tax cuts. They can't get SNAP so, again, burning down SNAP doesn't feel like a catastrophe. When calls to aid the poor and vulnerable consistently omit most counties, we ought to be not stupid; we ought to expect those counties to become estranged. Estranged, vulnerable people are more likely to be susceptible to manipulation because that's how people work. If this -> We Need To Help The Rural Poor In A Consistent And Meaningful Way <- will never be on the table, that's a decision. Own it.