This morning I woke up and puttered around as usual for a Saturday. I settled down for my morning read and came across this little gem right there in my morning feed, placed there by an old friend who thought they were being witty. I thought WTF?
I let this go with a shake of my head this morning. This is a typical thing I get from friends and family every day. I ended up coming back to it. This has nagged me all day.
This "story" is worth picking apart.
But you have to read the "story" before I go further. It starts like this:
WANT A FREE HOUSE ?First off, ....I'm not sure where to begin. Is it the obvious red meat sure to appeal to any conservative where these "young" people (synonymous with fools in this case) refer to President Obama as Jesus like? That's a sure fire way to get the religious to go for the false god meme. Or, maybe it's supposed to trigger the Obama is the anti-christ meme? Moving on to the intentional misuse of the term, free market which plays up the young people's "ignorance" in this story. Maybe the mistaken belief that libruls think that Republicans want to "inherit all the power" when the real issue is the economic damage income inequality is doing to our country.I was in my neighborhood restaurant this morning and was seated behind a group of jubilant individuals celebrating the coming implementation of the health care bill. I could not finish my breakfast. This is what ensued:
They were a diverse group of several races and both sexes. I heard a young man exclaim, “Isn’t Obama like Jesus Christ? I mean, after all, he is healing the sick.”A young woman enthusiastically proclaimed, “Yeah, and he does it for free. I cannot believe anyone would think that a free market wouldn't work for health care.”
Another said, "The stupid Republicans want us all to starve to death so they can inherit all of the power. Obama should be made a Saint for what he did for those of us less fortunate.”
At this, I had more than enough. I arose from my seat, mustering all the restraint I could find, and approached their table. “Please excuse me; may I impose upon you for one moment?”
They smiled and welcomed me to the conversation. I stood at the end of their table, smiled as best I could and began an experiment.
“I would like to give one of you my house. It will cost you no money and I will pay all of the expenses and taxes for as long as you live there. Anyone interested?”They looked at each other in astonishment. “Why would you do something like that?” asked a young man, “There isn’t anything for free in this world.”
They began to laugh at me, as they did not realize this man had just made my point.“I am serious, I will give you my house for free, no money whatsoever. Anyone interested?”
In unison, a resounding “Yeah” fills the room.
“Since there are too many of you, I will have to make a choice as to who receives this money-free bargain.”I noticed an elderly couple was paying attention to the spectacle unfolding before their eyes, the old man shaking his head in apparent disgust.
“I tell you what; I will give it to the one of you most willing to obey my rules.”
Again, they looked at one another, an expression of bewilderment on their faces.
The perky young woman asked, “What are the rules?”
I smiled and said, “I don’t know. I have not yet defined them. However, it is a free home that I offer you.”
They giggled amongst themselves, the youngest of which said, “What an old coot. He must be crazy to give away his home. Go take your meds, old man.”
I smiled and leaned into the table a bit further. “I am serious, this is a legitimate offer.”
They gaped at me for a moment.
“I’ll take it you old fool. Where are the keys?” boasted the youngest among them.“Then I presume you accept ALL of my terms then?” I asked.
The elderly couple seemed amused and entertained as they watched from the privacy of their table. “Oh yeah! Where do I sign up?”
Maybe it was how the disrespect the "young" people gave the older man read like a bad script where it is implied that I was supposed to envision disrespectful gang members or maybe jocks. The cliche of implied racism of dumb minorities or dumb athletes being set up by the "wise" white guy plays well with fearful whites. Maybe the old guy isn't white. I'm just biased enough to think so. Anyway, I could see how my old friend who lives in a very white segregated area of America could fall for this story. It was created to play to her fears, memes and bias.
Zeroing in on Health Care
The supposed point of the story was to point out the open ended result of Obamacare, but it doesn't hold up. Healthcare in the United States isn't "free". You pay for it. You either pay cash at the time of service or you purchase an insurance policy to pay for it. You might "qualify" for a public assistance insurance policy that pays for it (then you have to find someone who will accept that public insurance policy - another diary). Your taxes and government fees help pay for those who have government insurance. Healthcare in the United States isn't "free" and it won't be after Obamacare is fully implemented either.
The "free" part of this story may simply relate to the appeal of birth control being designated as preventive medicine. The mistaken belief that preventive measures are "free" is rampant. They aren't free, they simply don't have a copay over and above the premium payment and cannot be subject to deductible calculations. Maybe the "free" part refers to the Medicaid expansion. Where the people who qualify for it are highly likely to be in minimum wage jobs that don't allow them to participate in their employer's insurance plan.
Although the story doesn't explicitly talk about premarital sex, the implication is there. Perhaps the idea that these young people are happy to have "free" birth control so they can enjoy their bodies is too much. I'm not sure what "free" part the young woman in the story refers to but it is a red flag to any conservative. Free is bad unless it's some free subsidy given to a multi-billion dollar corporation or a member of the top 1%. Why don't my "friends" see through this bullcrap? I can only surmise it's because they want to be misguided.
The set up of relating a "free" house to the "free" healthcare offered under Obamacare doesn't bear scrutiny, but that doesn't stop this fiction writer from continuing with the story below the orange squiggle.