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50,000 people died by suicide in the USA in 2023. 12.8 million thought about it. 3.7 made a plan for it. 1.5 million attempted it. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/f

50,000 people died by suicide in the USA in 2023. 12.8 million thought about it. 3.7 made a plan for it. 1.5 million attempted it. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/data.html https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/data.html 105,000 people died by overdose in the USA in 2023. https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates#Fig1 https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overd... In 2023 the average daily incarceration population in the USA was 664,000. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/jail-inmates-2023-statistical-tables/web-report https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/jail-inmates-2023-s... Average daily homeless population for the USA in 2023 was 653,000. https://nlihc.org/resource/hud-releases-2023-annual-homeless-assessment-report https://nlihc.org/resource/hud-releases-2023-annual-homeless... In 2023 only 86% of US households were food secure. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/fo... The majority of US bankruptcies (58.5%) “very much” or “somewhat” agreed that medical expenses contributed, and 44.3% cited illness-related work loss; 66.5% cited at least one of these two medical contributors—equivalent to about 530,000 medical bankruptcies annually. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6366487/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6366487/ It doesn't look like the USA has a healthy ideology to me. It just spreads it out to 'death by 1000 cuts' and makes everyone's' suffering invisible.

ericmay 1y ago
What did Churchill say about Democracy? It's the worst except all the others? Yea. I'll take all this government mismanagement and markets over Communism and Socialism. The State is never good at managing the means of production.
- immibis 1y ago
  Socialism isn't when the state manages the means of production, it's when the workers do. What we have now, but without 80% of the value you create getting siphoned off to lazy bums who do nothing all day and collect a fat paycheck.
  - ericmay 1y ago
    There's nothing that stops you today from creating a business with your fellow workers and doing just that. That's the great thing about Democracy. You can do things like found a socialist business model and have it compete in the market and you can respect the rights of others to not do so. If your model is better, or if it works well for you and like-minded folks, then all is well. If they're just lazy bums siphoning away their fat paycheck, surely your method will be better and you will show the other workers a better way and you can all unite and create similar collective ownership models.
    - dragonwriter 1y ago
      > There's nothing that stops you today from creating a business with your fellow workers and doing just that. There are significant barriers to that, not least of which is access to capital. But that's also not socialism, socialism is the economic system where that is true across the whole economy. > That's the great thing about Democracy. You can do things like found a socialist business model and have it compete in the market and you can respect the rights of others to not do so. Aside from misunderstanding aocialism as a business model and not an economic system, what you describe (where you are superficially free to do this but obstructed by structural barriers and a politico-economic system geared to favor a different model) has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with capitalism, an economic system that,because political and economic power are fungible and capitalism is centered around around concentrating the latter in a narrow class, is in constant tension with and undermines political democracy.
      - ericmay 1y ago
        > There are significant barriers to that, not least of which is access to capital. That's a barrier to start any business. Life is tough. I'm not sympathetic. > But that's also not socialism, socialism is the economic system where that is true across the whole economy. > Aside from misunderstanding aocialism as a business model and not an economic system, what you describe (where you are superficially free to do this but obstructed by structural barriers and a politico-economic system geared to favor a different model) has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with capitalism, an economic system that,because political and economic power are fungible and capitalism is centered around around concentrating the latter in a narrow class, is in constant tension with and undermines political democracy. Just because it has various definitions and subcategories, can you just explain what Socialism means to you? What I'm hearing is you want to abolish capitalism and replace it with workers (not the government) owning the means of production. Is that right/fair? And then Communism we'd define as the government actually owning the means of production. Is that right/fair?
- _DeadFred_ 1y ago
  Churchill's democracy in Britain has social housing and social healthcare. Glad to know you'll take it though, because it looks like lot's of Americans are 'taking it', in a pretty brutal and ugly way. FYI American police kill more people than any other country at 1100 people a year. Guess that's also 'democracy' and not, you know, just America: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/06/05/policekillings/ https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/06/05/policekillings/
  - ericmay 1y ago
    Yea still better than Communism or Socialism. I don't care about criticisms about America. They're not interesting or relevant. Democracy and markets are superior to state owned means of production. > Churchill's democracy in Britain has social housing and social healthcare. Well it had those but in the case of housing it was primarily private (as it should be) and in the case of healthcare running a healthcare system is not Communism or Socialism any more than roads are.
    - _DeadFred_ 1y ago
      "better than state owned" "state owned is not communism or socialism" Ok then.
      - ericmay 1y ago
        Are you really going to sit here arguing that the United Kingdom is a Communist country because they build a few houses and have a taxpayer funded healthcare program?
        _DeadFred_ 1y ago
        Are you really doing to pretend you didn't say socialism in the upstream comment? This is you " I'll take all this government mismanagement and markets over Communism and Socialism."
deleted 1y ago
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ericmay 1y ago

What did Churchill say about Democracy? It's the worst except all the others? Yea. I'll take all this government mismanagement and markets over Communism and Socialism. The State is never good at managing the means of production.

immibis 1y ago
Socialism isn't when the state manages the means of production, it's when the workers do. What we have now, but without 80% of the value you create getting siphoned off to lazy bums who do nothing all day and collect a fat paycheck.
- ericmay 1y ago
  There's nothing that stops you today from creating a business with your fellow workers and doing just that. That's the great thing about Democracy. You can do things like found a socialist business model and have it compete in the market and you can respect the rights of others to not do so. If your model is better, or if it works well for you and like-minded folks, then all is well. If they're just lazy bums siphoning away their fat paycheck, surely your method will be better and you will show the other workers a better way and you can all unite and create similar collective ownership models.
  - dragonwriter 1y ago
    > There's nothing that stops you today from creating a business with your fellow workers and doing just that. There are significant barriers to that, not least of which is access to capital. But that's also not socialism, socialism is the economic system where that is true across the whole economy. > That's the great thing about Democracy. You can do things like found a socialist business model and have it compete in the market and you can respect the rights of others to not do so. Aside from misunderstanding aocialism as a business model and not an economic system, what you describe (where you are superficially free to do this but obstructed by structural barriers and a politico-economic system geared to favor a different model) has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with capitalism, an economic system that,because political and economic power are fungible and capitalism is centered around around concentrating the latter in a narrow class, is in constant tension with and undermines political democracy.
    - ericmay 1y ago
      > There are significant barriers to that, not least of which is access to capital. That's a barrier to start any business. Life is tough. I'm not sympathetic. > But that's also not socialism, socialism is the economic system where that is true across the whole economy. > Aside from misunderstanding aocialism as a business model and not an economic system, what you describe (where you are superficially free to do this but obstructed by structural barriers and a politico-economic system geared to favor a different model) has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with capitalism, an economic system that,because political and economic power are fungible and capitalism is centered around around concentrating the latter in a narrow class, is in constant tension with and undermines political democracy. Just because it has various definitions and subcategories, can you just explain what Socialism means to you? What I'm hearing is you want to abolish capitalism and replace it with workers (not the government) owning the means of production. Is that right/fair? And then Communism we'd define as the government actually owning the means of production. Is that right/fair?
_DeadFred_ 1y ago
Churchill's democracy in Britain has social housing and social healthcare. Glad to know you'll take it though, because it looks like lot's of Americans are 'taking it', in a pretty brutal and ugly way. FYI American police kill more people than any other country at 1100 people a year. Guess that's also 'democracy' and not, you know, just America: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/06/05/policekillings/ https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/06/05/policekillings/
- ericmay 1y ago
  Yea still better than Communism or Socialism. I don't care about criticisms about America. They're not interesting or relevant. Democracy and markets are superior to state owned means of production. > Churchill's democracy in Britain has social housing and social healthcare. Well it had those but in the case of housing it was primarily private (as it should be) and in the case of healthcare running a healthcare system is not Communism or Socialism any more than roads are.
  - _DeadFred_ 1y ago
    "better than state owned" "state owned is not communism or socialism" Ok then.
    - ericmay 1y ago
      Are you really going to sit here arguing that the United Kingdom is a Communist country because they build a few houses and have a taxpayer funded healthcare program?
      - _DeadFred_ 1y ago
        Are you really doing to pretend you didn't say socialism in the upstream comment? This is you " I'll take all this government mismanagement and markets over Communism and Socialism."

deleted 1y ago

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