Should America have free health care?

posted by Spock

lack of education where schools dont teach finance and life skills classes where you learned to budget and the value of a dollar was taught.

Don't act like this shit isn't taught.  It is.  A school can only do so much.  True teaching and learning is done at home.  Should I blame a gym teacher because america is fat as f*ck?  Should I say, "If only they taught these kids physical fitness and health in schools!!!1!"  

Kids don't make solid financial decisions because their parents don't make solid financial decisions.  We live in an "I want" and "I must have" society, and marketers are geniuses.  

posted by ernest_t_bass

FatHobbit, per your point, I think inflation in general is out of hand.  I understand that inflation is a thing in the free market, and in order for our standard of living to rise, inflation must exist.  But I feel inflation exists mostly just because inflation.  I feel that prices often rise just because prices should rise.  And you can blame idiot fucking consumers for that.  Millennials, in my opinion, are a lot to blame for stupid costs of something.  "Yes, I need to spend $50 on this T-shirt, b/c the quality is just that good!"  I mean... come on!?  It's an isolated incident (T-shirt), but I see inflated costs on a TON of things with little to no reasoning for inflated costs other than "the suckers will buy it!"  I think the american consumer has gotten incredibly stupid with their buying decisions, and don't vote with their dollars like they should.  Producers react accordingly.  

tl;dr - Blame everything on the consumer, not the business

Lol. That is one of the dumbest posts I’ve ever read on here. And that’s saying something. 

posted by SportsAndLady

Lol. That is one of the dumbest posts I’ve ever read on here. And that’s saying something. 

You did a terrific job of pointing out what you disagree with, and pointing out what makes it the "dumbest post you've ever read."  

Well, for one, you said “I think inflation exists because inflation”

Second, you are blaming millennials for inflation. Inflation is an economic fact of life that has always been around, but because ETB thinks the costs of shirts are too high (aka, you’re a cheap fuck), it must be because of millennials. 

Perhaps I should rephrase - Our current  hyperinflation (as I see it) exists because "inflation."  Meaning, prices aren't necessarily rising b/c the cost of production is drastically increasing, rather, they are increasing b/c consumers are so stupid with their dollars.  "Shit, I can't believe consumers are still buying this stuff after we increased the price so much."  Look at Justin's link example from a couple weeks ago with the Payless Shoes example.  That is a perfect example of how completely stupid consumers can be with their dollars, only because someone on Instagram hyped up Palessi, or whatever it was called.  In 2018, dollars are spent on perception and status so much more than they ever have been.  

I'm not saying that I'm innocent, either.  I can be very stupid and impractical, and impulsive with my spending.  

The estimated rate of inflation for 2018 is 2.2%. "Hyper"?

posted by ernest_t_bass

Perhaps I should rephrase - Our current hyperinflation (as I see it) exists because "inflation."  Meaning, prices aren't necessarily rising b/c the cost of production is drastically increasing, rather, they are increasing b/c consumers are so stupid with their dollars.  "Shit, I can't believe consumers are still buying this stuff after we increased the price so much."  Look at Justin's link example from a couple weeks ago with the Payless Shoes example.  That is a perfect example of how completely stupid consumers can be with their dollars, only because someone on Instagram hyped up Palessi, or whatever it was called.  In 2018, dollars are spent on perception and status so much more than they ever have been.  

I'm not saying that I'm innocent, either.  I can be very stupid and impractical, and impulsive with my spending.  

Free markets are the best allocator of resources in the history of humankind.

posted by queencitybuckeye

The estimated rate of inflation for 2018 is 2.2%. "Hyper"?

I assume if you look at particular sectors of retail, your numbers will be all over the board.  If it is not hyper by definition, my point still stands on how uniformed (most) consumers are when they spend their dollars.

Being forced by a government to spend $19,000 for terrible insurance with an $8,000 deductible, all of which dramatically increases costs (more dollars chasing same or fewer services) is the most absurd and despicable matter in our economy today.  Government involvement in health insurance and health care is a complete disaster, any way you look at it.

posted by QuakerOats

Free markets are the best allocator of resources in the history of humankind.

I don't disagree.  That doesn't mean that consumers are smart in a free market and that businesses are nice.  

posted by ernest_t_bass

I don't disagree.  That doesn't mean that consumers are smart in a free market and that businesses are nice.  

Didn't you buy a couple horses?

posted by like_that

Didn't you buy a couple horses?

posted by ernest_t_bass

I'm not saying that I'm innocent, either.  I can be very stupid and impractical, and impulsive with my spending.  

For budgeting purposes, the expenses for all of my wife's stupid animals come from a separate discretionary income account.  A "Farm Account" if you will.  Freelance work, coaching, etc. go into this account.  Salaries are used for necessities.

posted by ernest_t_bass

 

posted by ernest_t_bass

I'm not saying that I'm innocent, either.  I can be very stupid and impractical, and impulsive with my spending.  

For budgeting purposes, the expenses for all of my wife's stupid animals come from a separate discretionary income account.  A "Farm Account" if you will.  Freelance work, coaching, etc. go into this account.  Salaries are used for necessities.

 

You can't go on a old man yells at cloud rant about millennials, and then add that disclaimer at the end to justify your rant lol.

Your rant had some points, but I don't really see how its related to healthcare costs. 

posted by like_that

You can't go on a old man yells at cloud rant about millennials, and then add that disclaimer at the end to justify your rant lol.

You're right.

Your rant had some points, but I don't really see how its related to healthcare costs. 

Blame the consumer is the point I was making in regards to this (rising costs in general)

posted by ernest_t_bass

... and marketers are geniuses.  

Honestly, no.  They just know how to read data and get enough capital behind testing.

The world is our guinea pig.
 

posted by ernest_t_bass

Blame the consumer is the point I was making in regards to this (rising costs in general)

To a degree, though regulation plays a bigger role, both with regard to operating cost and curbing competition within markets.

posted by ernest_t_bass

Don't act like this shit isn't taught.  It is.  A school can only do so much.  True teaching and learning is done at home.  Should I blame a gym teacher because america is fat as f*ck?  Should I say, "If only they taught these kids physical fitness and health in schools!!!1!"  

Kids don't make solid financial decisions because their parents don't make solid financial decisions.  We live in an "I want" and "I must have" society, and marketers are geniuses.  

1.  No its not being taught. Life skills and other things gone.

2.  Hell yea on the PE.  Hold me accountable but first let me fail kids for failing PE fitness tests.  PE and health have zero accountability (required testing like other subjects) because the state legislatures are scared shitless.

You do realize that the state of Ohio has never adopted health standards?  Only 2 states in the US dont and we are one of them

posted by ernest_t_bass

I don't disagree.  That doesn't mean that consumers are smart in a free market and that businesses are nice.  

Caveat emptor

posted by QuakerOats

Caveat emptor

I know.  Well aware of "Buyer beware."  But the American consumer is getting dumber and dumber.

To expand on that last statement, I will say, rather than the consumer getting dumber, I think consumers are getting stronger/weaker in both directions.  I think you have very smart consumers who make overly informed decisions with the technology and resources we have.  But many other consumers (majority, IMO) are headed the other direction and just make incredibly stupid, uniformed buying decisions, all because "I want, I want, I want!  Take my money!"  And they do not care the cost, rather the status.