Current Events Opinions

DuchessOfCambridge

I think there are quite a few of us who have strong feelings on sensitive subjects such as politics, gender equality, etc. This is a thread where we can come together and discuss those without disrupting other threads. We're all adults so I think we can handle it, but please remember this is not a place for arguments. It's fine to disagree with others, but please do so respectfully and keep the snark to a minimum.

Disclaimer: I think there was some interest in a board like this previously, but if no one likes this idea, we can turn it into a gif party!

av2323

I am a huge lover of the National Parks.  It makes my blood boil to see the shameless media plug of Trump giving his first check to the park services when his proposed budget cuts 1.5 billion from the Department of Interior's budget.

DuchessOfCambridge

I am so frustrated today. You care so much about Syrians to launch airstrikes but not enough to let those refugees come to this country to be safe? Seems a bit backwards, but maybe that's just me.

@av2323 I read a great comparison of the US vs Sweden written by an American living in both places. Swedish taxes are a lot higher, but their national parks are FREE for citizens and tourists alike. This guy has a lot of media plugs. Makes my blood boil too.

baker1jm2

Oo lord..In the interest in keeping my blood pressure in check I think I'll have to not check this thread haha

ArtificialRed

I don't even know where to start with things these days. I feel overwhelmed by the news and like there's nothing I can do. I live in a state with a notorious senator that you know doesn't give two sh*ts about his state and constituents. Calling him was absolutely worthless. Our governor is a POS too, but you know, he was "pro-life" and that's clearly the most important 

ElizabethSchuyler

I am still processing yesterday's actions. 

I knew the strike was coming. There was a report (not sure how far that report made it) that the press was told not to leave the Pentagon. I have a lot of feels and I just want a thoughtful plan. 

DuchessOfCambridge

@ArtificialRed the pro-life thing makes me crazy. How pro-life can you be if:
1) You don't care about any living being. You think poor people don't deserve healthcare because they have iPhones or microwaves and refrigerators, so if they can have those things, they can definitely afford healthcare that's hundreds of dollars a month. You want to cut budgets that help feed poor children after school because "feeding children has not shown to improve test scores". We're not feeding them for test scores, we're feeding them because they're children and they need to eat???
2) You care so so so much about a mother not having an abortion but don't care at all about what happens after that child is born. If it's born to a family that can't support it, you lump that baby in with poor people who have refrigerators. If it has medical complications, you won't be the one stepping up to offer help.
3) You don't even care about unborn children. You just care that a woman doesn't have an abortion. You sat in a room full of men and talked about taking prenatal benefits out of health care plans. Forcing families to pay out of pocket to ensure they have healthy babies. Screw. You.
4) You think women should be punished for having "late term abortions". Oh really? That woman who planned for her pregnancy and was excited about it and wanted her baby should be punished if something goes wrong and she can do nothing about it? You want to further torture her after that?

As a side note, I am pro-life. But I am ACTUALLY pro-life. There's a lot more to it than just abortion vs not.

TL;DR: men need to STFU about women's issues.

ArtificialRed

@DuchessOfCambridge so much yes. I'm pro-life in the sense that I wish abortions weren't such a common thing. But that's not going to happen by making it illegal, it's going to happen by providing legitimately affordable and thorough healthcare for pregnant women, mothers, and children, and when you offer legitimate sex ed and easy and affordable access to birth control. When safe, reliable childcare doesn't cost more per hour than a minimum wage-earning mother makes in that same hour. When every child is guaranteed to have enough food to eat and safe schools to attend. I don't understand why these concepts are so repulsive to our stupid reps?? (I just reiterated a lot of what you said. I just got on a roll there, my bad lol)

DuchessOfCambridge

@ArtificialRed no, you brought up better points and are so right. Politicians seem to be literally just against helping people in general. I have so many feelings about everything. How can someone be so cold and not care THAT much?

elsieisamoocow

I agree with you ladies SO much on this stuff. I really wish this administration was all just a bad dream. I've had to limit how much time I spend informing myself for my blood pressure and my own sanity lately. 

On the pro-life topic, no one is pro-abortion (well maybe serial killers). I'm pro-choice and definitely don't like abortion, but I know so many ladies in the loss community who have had to make the choice when their unborn baby was diagnosed with problems that would either mean they would not live outside the womb or would live for a very short and painful time. Under the mandates that these pro-lifers want to put in place, these women could even be punished for having to make the most difficult decision of their life when they're already grieving from losing their very wanted baby. It is infuriating that a bunch of old men are sitting in a room not even considering times like this. I really do believe that you can't even say what choice you would truly make in the situation of any abortion until you are faced with that decision, that's why having a choice, and a SAFE choice is so important. 

*deep breath*

mariposa_767s

I'm anti-"unnecessary fetus killing" but I understand that everyone has different morals, values, and reasons.  I don't believe it's my place to infringe on other people.  I'm one of those people that falls between pro-life and pro-choice.  I don't believe it's a clear, black and white issue.

Politics...I'm a moderate so I can't win these days.  I'm too conservative for liberals and too liberal for conservatives.  While I can't stand our president, I understand what he did last night.  He took out an airbase that they utilized as well as the aircraft, fuel, etc.  I think he used too many missiles though if he's worried about cutting unnecessary spending...which is a joke in itself because he spends quite a bit.  Things just don't add up.  At the same time, I don't think we would've been any further with Hillary.  We needed a change but we were stuck with terrible options.  This guy is so impulsive and inconsistent.  Like...dude...this isn't a business venture.

I hate that spending is being cut on things that aren't expensive that people use and appreciate.  Young people and older people shouldn't suffer because of the greed of those people in the middle.

I wish we helped in humanitarian efforts more, domestically and internationally.  I wish we had a culture of helping people instead of being afraid of what they might do.  I wish people practiced understanding better.

I hate that social media spreads so much anxiety and fear.  Most of all, I hate that people aren't working together.  I can't believe the Senate rules have been changed because people can't agree.  That's not how this is supposed to work.

I also don't always believe what the government tells us to believe.  There are many things we don't know.

CubsFan7

@DuchessOfCambridge I said the same thing this morning. How are you not going to let those suffering in Syria not come into the U.S. but you want to bomb the country because you need to now save them? How about saving them by letting some come into our country? 

And don't get me started on cutting money to feed poor children. My sister works for the cafeteria at our local jr high. She said 94% of the kids at the school get free or reduced meals (breakfast and lunch). If Trump took the money for their meals away, those kids wouldn't be able to eat and the employees would be out of a job. 

Also, how does having an iPhone mean you even have money? No matter what phone you get, you have to pay for it monthly. Granted, you can probably choose a cheaper phone but saving ten or fifteen bucks a month on the phone you choose isn't going to magically put a months worth of meals on the table. Not everyone can have money like he does. ugh. 

mariposa_767s

@cubsfan7 Our school district is a poor district as well, so we don't have a lot of funding.  However, the community tries to do what we can to help.  It's nice seeing how we pull together.  All of Kindergarten and 1st grade get free breakfast. Most get free or reduced lunch.  The city here (next to us) has a drug problem.  Many kids don't get food at home as a result.  There's a program that sends kids home with a backpack full of food each weekend for these children.  My heart would break if they had to take away the things that help these kids so much.  None of their circumstances are their fault.

JAGClark

I very rarely post, but I really feel the need to chime in on this.

I agree with EVERY single one of you. So much. I am sad, I am angry and I am at a loss as to just how we've gotten to this point. 

I have a lot of questions, too. Why are certain members of congress just now speaking out? Where is the select committee to investigate Russian ties just as they did for Bengahzi? How far is POTUS willing to go to "help" (and I say this LOOSELY) Syria? 

elsieisamoocow

One more thing. Trump, who complained about how much Obama went golfing, has now spent HOW much of our taxpayer money by staying at Mar-a-Lago? And has golfed nearly every single weekend of his short presidency? Fucking. Hypocrite.

ElizabethSchuyler

elsieisamoocow said:

One more thing. Trump, who complained about how much Obama went golfing, has now spent HOW much of our taxpayer money by staying at Mar-a-Lago? And has golfed nearly every single weekend of his short presidency? Fucking. Hypocrite.

He'd never take a vacation day.

k. 

DuchessOfCambridge

@elsieisamoocow so agree with you on medical complications and parents having to make the hardest decision of their lives. I feel very similarly to you and am probably somewhere in the middle of reasonable pro-life/conservative pro-choice. RE: Trump vacations. Can we cut the budget for that instead of feeding poor children afterschool? 

@mariposa_767s I honestly don't think in this instance specifically, that Hillary would have been much better. As @CubsFan7 said, it's the hypocrisy of oh I feel so bad I should help them be safe, but they can't come here and be safe that makes me so angry. People are dying and we won't help them. This literally happened in the 1940s. When the eff will we learn?

@CubsFan7 regardless of all of that, an iPhone specifically is a one time expense. $500 savings in one month is not going to magically allow them to pay hundreds of dollars in healthcare costs every month after that. Plus, my family has always gotten free iPhones with upgrades. Sure they're always two models behind the current, but they're still iPhones. A phone is not a sign of wealth anymore, they're so ubiquitous. 

@ElizabethSchuyler your delivery, so on point.

bklynchica

@DuchessOfCambridge That article comparing life and taxes in the US and Sweden left a big impact on me, too. It made me so sad that there is another way, that there are other systems that work, and I feel so helpless. What really gets me is that none of those amazing benefits they have in Sweden are "handouts", as republicans like to call them. When you pay high taxes and you get ALOT back for it, that's not a handout. 

DuchessOfCambridge

@bklynchica America is just really, exceptionally selfish. That's the problem. So selfish that it's not willing to look beyond the fact that in helping others, we ourselves are helped.

elsieisamoocow

@bklynchica *sarcasm* but noooooo that's socialism and socialism is the devil!!!11!1

bklynchica

in the US socialism is only acceptable for the police and the military.

Tourmalily

You guys can't see me but I'm over here waving my hands shouting THIS. ALL OF THIS. to every post. 

jess0211

DuchessOfCambridge said:

@ArtificialRed the pro-life thing makes me crazy. How pro-life can you be if:
1) You don't care about any living being. You think poor people don't deserve healthcare because they have iPhones or microwaves and refrigerators, so if they can have those things, they can definitely afford healthcare that's hundreds of dollars a month. You want to cut budgets that help feed poor children after school because "feeding children has not shown to improve test scores". We're not feeding them for test scores, we're feeding them because they're children and they need to eat???
2) You care so so so much about a mother not having an abortion but don't care at all about what happens after that child is born. If it's born to a family that can't support it, you lump that baby in with poor people who have refrigerators. If it has medical complications, you won't be the one stepping up to offer help.
3) You don't even care about unborn children. You just care that a woman doesn't have an abortion. You sat in a room full of men and talked about taking prenatal benefits out of health care plans. Forcing families to pay out of pocket to ensure they have healthy babies. Screw. You.
4) You think women should be punished for having "late term abortions". Oh really? That woman who planned for her pregnancy and was excited about it and wanted her baby should be punished if something goes wrong and she can do nothing about it? You want to further torture her after that?

As a side note, I am pro-life. But I am ACTUALLY pro-life. There's a lot more to it than just abortion vs not.

TL;DR: men need to STFU about women's issues.

All of this. All of it. 

I am personally very upset about the proposed budget cuts to NIH. NIH funds so much incredibly important biomedical and social research.  With such a hit to the funding don't expect new treatments or health interventions to be available any time soon. For the sake of my BP I am not going to go into long tirade with statistics etc. But I have worked in research for 10+ years now,  this funding cut is going to have a major impact on public health. 

fiddleRN79

I have no idea where I fall politically. I'm a bit of a socialist/anarchist if that makes any sense at all. The one thing that I 100% believe should be socialized is medicine. My main reason for this is because I believe that no one should go bankrupt trying to pay for treatments for a child underdoing chemotherapy. No one should have to choose life saving therapies over buying food. We can afford it here, they just need to figure it out. I have health insurance with a decent deductible and I still avoid the doctor at all costs. I won't take my kids in until they are sick sick. It costs too much money. My daughter broke her collar bone 3 years ago at daycare and the initial x-ray was over $800! Insane. I know there are major downsides to socialized medicine, but there are also advantages. I also like that health promotion is huge with socialized medicine. We really don't focus on prevention in this country. With the ACA they do cover certain screenings and that is great. We could build off of that initial step and stop illnesses before they manifest.  

theearlymajority

@DuchessOfCambridge  Thanks for starting this. I was hoping a thread like this might pop up. I think it is so relevant to discuss especially as expectant moms. Our babies are going to be born into all of this craziness and depravity. I'm not a pessimist and actually have quite a bit of hope for the future, but it's hard not to look around and be depressed sometimes. 

I consider myself staunchly pro-choice from a political perspective.  I've never understood how the federal/state governments largely made up of men should have any say or influence whatsoever when it comes to women making highly personal and difficult decisions about their reproductive health and future. ????? Does. Not. Compute. I completely agree with @ArtificialRed that positive change will come from improved sex education, access to BC, and affordable healthcare and childcare.

It also disgusts me that funding is being cut for nearly everything except our military, like vital public welfare programs and the arts and the EPA and foreign aid and the state department.  My brother is in the Navy and I 100% support our military, but military involvement is sort of a last resort in many ways. You'd think diplomacy would be a first line of defense. 

On a bit of a lighter note I guess, anyone have any unique thoughts on the Pepsi commercial? I'm in marketing so I'm always interested in advertising as an expression of sociopolitical attitudes. I found it just plain idiotic--lets get Kendall Jenner to be our social justice warrior!---she is a rich, white cis model who has been wholly uninvolved and tightlipped in the face of social unrest. 

DuchessOfCambridge

 @ebelknap O.M.G. that commercial. It was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. Why didn't MLK think of just giving the cops a Pepsi, everything would have been ok! Maybe this is a different perspective but I was pretty upset with all the actors in the commercial as well. So many people of different colors and religions all joining in on the "white savior" nonsense. It made my blood boil, especially as a POC myself (I'm Southeast Asian). I understand people have to work but if I had been told the premise of that ad, I absolutely would have walked away. It was disgusting.

ElizabethSchuyler

Has anyone tried handing Congress a Pepsi? 

DuchessOfCambridge

Can we give out awards to Nov 17? @ElizabethSchuyler would get the award for best one liners. You crack me up literally every time.

ElizabethSchuyler

I didn't watch the commercial. The clips looked more like a street festival. Have you ever been to a protest? That isn't it. 

ElizabethSchuyler

@DuchessOfCambridge I'm a hoot. I'll take my award. Does TB still do "awards" at the end of the year?

ArtificialRed

I didn't watch the commercial either. Was afraid my eyes would get stuck rolling too far back into my head. 

mariposa_767s

fiddleRN79 said:

I have no idea where I fall politically. I'm a bit of a socialist/anarchist if that makes any sense at all. The one thing that I 100% believe should be socialized is medicine. My main reason for this is because I believe that no one should go bankrupt trying to pay for treatments for a child underdoing chemotherapy. No one should have to choose life saving therapies over buying food. We can afford it here, they just need to figure it out. I have health insurance with a decent deductible and I still avoid the doctor at all costs. I won't take my kids in until they are sick sick. It costs too much money. My daughter broke her collar bone 3 years ago at daycare and the initial x-ray was over $800! Insane. I know there are major downsides to socialized medicine, but there are also advantages. I also like that health promotion is huge with socialized medicine. We really don't focus on prevention in this country. With the ACA they do cover certain screenings and that is great. We could build off of that initial step and stop illnesses before they manifest.  

I planned this pregnancy all in the same deductible year since it's so high.  It sucks. It really does.

elsieisamoocow

fiddleRN79 said:

I have no idea where I fall politically. I'm a bit of a socialist/anarchist if that makes any sense at all. The one thing that I 100% believe should be socialized is medicine. My main reason for this is because I believe that no one should go bankrupt trying to pay for treatments for a child underdoing chemotherapy. No one should have to choose life saving therapies over buying food. We can afford it here, they just need to figure it out. I have health insurance with a decent deductible and I still avoid the doctor at all costs. I won't take my kids in until they are sick sick. It costs too much money. My daughter broke her collar bone 3 years ago at daycare and the initial x-ray was over $800! Insane. I know there are major downsides to socialized medicine, but there are also advantages. I also like that health promotion is huge with socialized medicine. We really don't focus on prevention in this country. With the ACA they do cover certain screenings and that is great. We could build off of that initial step and stop illnesses before they manifest.  

Yes. This. My MIL has/had basically every health problem you can imagine at the tender age of 55 - multiple heart attacks, strokes, 5 different types of cancer, now diabetes, the list goes on. She's a medical marvel. Problem is, so many of these things are preexisting conditions. When the government allows insurance companies to deny you coverage because of preexisting conditions, people who are super sick don't get the help they need, and either die, go bankrupt trying to pay their bills, or depend on the state to help. It's insane. Preventative care and universal healthcare will help everyone, and I don't understand why they can't see it. Same with how the abortion rate goes way down in places where there is good sex education and free contraceptives. As my high school English teacher used to say: predictable is preventable. 

DuchessOfCambridge

On the topic of preexisting conditions, thank goodness the ACA wasn't repealed. Spineless POS Paul Ryan trying to make maternity care a "preexisting condition". Go far far away, PR, no one likes you.

bklynchica

BF's mom used to say that Paul Ryan's face made her want to punch it. I wish more than anything that she was still with us, and she'd have some choice commentary on current events. 

colorwheel

Paul Ryan creeps me TF out 

JDW0325

jess0211

 He's such a creepy guy.  Ugh.  

DuchessOfCambridge

EW. He looks like the guy at a college frat party that you don't let your drunk friend be alone with. 

jess0211

@DuchessOfCambridge yes!!! Exactly!

ArtificialRed

Somehow I don't find Paul Ryan that creepy?? I actually always kind of thought he looked pretty trustworthy. Now my senators are creepy af. One of them is "old white guy who hates women" personified.