Tomasino writes on his phlog about the recent terror attack in
Virginia [0]. I have the same visceral reaction to these events, and
I'm saddened to see hatred for race or political beliefs reach such
a point that someone feels they have to kill for it.

But I'd like to talk about a more serious issue that has been facing
the US since the 1970s, one that has arguably killed more Americans
than domestic terror attacks.

First, let me say that we did not leave the US for political
reasons, nor was Trump even a serious contender for the white house
when we started planning our move to Canada [1]. But every day I am
grateful we made the move when we did. I consider myself lucky to
have been Canadian by accident of birth - if that had not been true,
we also would be stuck in the US. We would still be contending with
skyrocketing insurance premiums and college tuitions. Tuitions
loading college graduates down with massive debt.

The big US banks learned nothing from 2008 except that their losses
would forever more be socialized while they were allowed to keep
more and more of their profits. If the clowns who supposedly
represent their electorate have their way, tax rates for
corporations and the wealthy will fall even further. And no one can
convince me that one of a democrat or republican congressional
majority is better for the US. Their votes are all bought and paid
for by the same wealthy interests. The swing in control from one
party to the other with each election cycle only provides cover for
the 'opposing' party to vote against measures they would normally
find a way to vote for, thus seeming to be 'with the people',
ensuring they regain control in four or eight years, only to start
over again.

Voters see this, and realize it, and in the end want a change to the
status-quo so badly that they fall for someone like Trump. Michael
Moore's infamous and prescient 'fuck you' video [2] describes this
sentiment perfectly (that segment of Trumpland, by the way, was
routinely cut at about four minutes to make it seem as if Michael
Moore was endorsing Trump, when it was just the opposite. Since this
is gopher, I have a text transcript of the unedited segment [3] so
you don't have to bother with YouTube).

Corporate control of congress is of far more importance than, say
Russia mucking about in US elections. The fact is that that big
business and the uber-wealthy have been mucking about in US
elections since the 1970s, with far more damaging effects. Think
about the current state of affairs. Bills are written by
corporate-sponsored lobbyists to favor their sponsors. Politicians
vote for these bills, sometimes without even reading them, because
they too receive large donations from these very same
corporations. Donations that are essential for their re-election,
since above all else money buys media coverage (generally negative
ads about their opponents, no one discusses real issues
anymore). Unions are weak, federal minimum wage and real worker
wages are stagnant and not increasing with inflation.

Big media is owned by these very same corporations, who suspiciously
never provide equal coverage to 'boring' candidates who might
discuss these very issues (hint - these candidates are rarely from
one of the two major parties, and if they are, they never make it
into debates or past the primaries).

Look at the state of healthcare. The very poor or the elderly can
receive medicaid or medicare, and the very rich can pay for
healthcare out-of-pocket. That leaves a large swath of American
families who make too much money to receive any help, but might
struggle to be paying $670/month for a family insurance policy with
a $5k deductible and $50 dollar per-visit co-pays. And that is if
they are lucky enough to have a job that pays for 50% of their
premiums (real numbers from when we lived in the US). Many small
businesses can't afford to provide even this level of benefit for
their employees. And let's not even go into the games the health
insurance companies play to avoid paying claims. They are, after
all, for-profit enterprises, something at odds with providing
healthcare in a fair and just manner. It's common sense that any
middle-man will drive up prices. Nor can you shop around for
healthcare. Your insurance company either locks you into a specific
doctor, or covers far less for 'out-of-network' care. Call your
local hospital sometime and try to figure out just what that surgery
will cost you, before you have it. You can't.

All that said, if I may be an optimist, I hope that the reaction to
the Trump presidency will shake voters from their apathy and slowly
move mainstream policies in a progressive direction. Medicare for
all would be a great start. Subsidized higher education would be a
great start. Investing in renewable energy would be a great
start. Even enforcing existing corporate and income tax rates would
be a good start. Here in Canada and in many other countries they do
these things, and it is a pretty nice way to live.

[0] gopher://sdf.org/0/users/tomasino/phlog/2017-08-12.txt
[1] gopher://sdf.org/0/users/slugmax/phlog_archives/canada
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hsi-qvFE4M
[3] gopher://sdf.org/0/users/slugmax/docs/misc/michael-moore-trumpland