{"id":203135,"date":"2015-11-24T23:24:12","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T23:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=203135"},"modified":"2016-11-30T01:43:32","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T00:43:32","slug":"gallup-finds-americans-are-ideological-suckers-about-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/latest-news\/gallup-finds-americans-are-ideological-suckers-about-healthcare\/","title":{"rendered":"Gallup Finds Americans Are Ideological Suckers About Healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>Eric Zuesse<\/span><\/p>\n

Gallup headlined on November 23rd,\u00a0\u201cIn U.S., 51% Say Government Should Ensure Healthcare Coverage,\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and reported that, when asked \u201cDo you think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage, or is that not the responsibility of the federal government?\u201d 51% choose \u201cYes, government responsibility,\u201d and 47% choose \u201cNo, not government responsibility.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words: more Americans are socialists than are not socialists.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to core socialist belief, basic healthcare is a human right that applies equally to all citizens; all socialists believe that though some dermatological and other treatments should be available only on the basis of an individual\u2019s ability-to-pay, healthcare that\u2019s essential for living a pain-free and economically productive life should be available to everyone equally, no matter how little income they have.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, by contrast, capitalists believe that if you get into a traffic accident or get a dread disease and need medicines that cost $300,000 per year, and maybe expensive surgery, etc., and you can\u2019t afford that, you should just die \u2013 tough luck, you\u2019re not \u2018worth\u2019 the cost, but any billionaire automatically would be<\/i> worth it.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, here were the results of the most extensive ideological survey of Americans, and it showed that Americans overwhelmingly reject<\/i> \u201csocialism\u201d; they are \u201ccapitalists\u201d instead:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.people-press.org\/2011\/12\/28\/little-change-in-publics-response-to-capitalism-socialism\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

DECEMBER 28, 2011<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA Political Rhetoric Test\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

[1,521 scientifically randomly selected Americans]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Negative\/Positive<\/span><\/p>\n

Socialism: 60\/31<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertarian: 37\/38<\/span><\/p>\n

Capitalism: 40\/50<\/span><\/p>\n

Liberal: 39\/50<\/span><\/p>\n

Conservative: 30\/62<\/span><\/p>\n

Progressive: 22\/67<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Selecting between the two economic systems \u201cCapitalism\u201d v. \u201cSocialism,\u201d Americans overwhelmingly chose capitalism: 50% favorable to that, versus only 31% favorable to socialism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Selecting between the four political systems \u201cLibertarian\u201d v. \u201cLiberal\u201d v. \u201cConservative v. \u201cProgressive,\u201d Americans chose progressive first, and then conservative second, as if those two political ideologies \u2013 progressivism and conservatism \u2013 aren\u2019t actually opposites<\/i>, with progressives seeking progress, and conservatives seeking stability (if not re<\/i>gress).<\/span><\/p>\n

Pew reported: \u201cAs many Democratic strategists have argued, the term progressive receives a far\u00a0more\u00a0positive reaction from the American public than the term liberal (67% vs 50%),\u00a0though\u00a0the difference is primarily among Republicans.\u201d In other words: so many Republicans were so illogical as to think that a person can be both \u201cprogressive\u201d and \u201cconservative\u201d at the same time; and these \u2018progressive\u2019 \u201cconservative\u201d people were the Republicans who constituted the reason why \u201cprogressive\u201d had the highest overall rating of all four political ideologies. (What about \u201cfalse truth\u201d then? Or: \u201cGive me that white black item.\u201d Or: \u201cI want both good and bad, black and white. I can\u2019t decide.\u201d A person who wants truth mixed with falsity, doesn\u2019t really want truth, but instead myth. And, polls show, they\u2019re mainly<\/i> Republicans.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Back at the start of 2011, the ratio of Gallup\u2019s respondents who on healthcare favored \u201cYes, government responsibility\u201d was 50%, and the \u201cNo, not government responsibility\u201d respondents were 46%; so, that (50% to 46%, versus today\u2019s 51% to 47% figures) was essentially the same as today. However, because of the millions of dollars in Republican propaganda during 2011 about \u201cdeath panels\u201d in Obamacare, which flood of sucker-baits swamped America\u2019s airwaves and newsstands during that year, this percentage reversed during that year, and so at the end of the year only 44% said \u201cYes,\u201d and the \u201cNo\u201ds were now 54%. Obviously, a huge proportion of Americans were suckers about \u201cdeath panels\u201d and other such propaganda. A switch from 50% that went down to 44%, and from 46% that went up to 54%, constituted a sea-change in the public\u2019s perceptions, which was generated by huge propaganda to suckered fools about \u201cdeath panels\u201d etc. Almost all of those people were Republicans. Very few Democrats swallowed the line about \u201cdeath panels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, many Democrats too were suckers, in their own way. On 4 March 2015 I headlined,\u00a0“Obama\u2019s Biggest Lie About Obamacare\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and I reported:<\/span><\/p>\n

He promised \u201cuniversal coverage\u201d but delivered a plan in which that was impossible.\u00a0Consequently, whereas 85.4% of Americans had coverage in 2008, only 87.7% have coverage\u00a0today, far short of the promised 100% \u2013 though 100% coverage <\/i>[universal coverage] is the norm in industrialized\u00a0countries. The reason: Universal coverage requires that healthcare be treated as a right not a\u00a0privilege, but doing that would cut billions from profits to healthcare stockholders, who\u00a0include most of the aristocracy \u2013 and America is run for the aristocracy\u2019s benefit, not for the\u00a0public\u2019s \u2013 and the aristocracy\u2019s ads and PR controls what the public know and what the public prefer.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

So: Democrats are supporting the healthcare system from the \u2018Democrat\u2019 Barack Obama, even though Obama promised \u201cuniversal coverage\u201d and lied to them; and even though he could have rallied the public to support universal healthcare \u2013 healthcare as a right not a privilege \u2013 and he chose not to do so (because his financial backers didn\u2019t want him to \u2013 he\u2019s corrupt, and so his Obamacare does nothing to the corruption that makes America\u2019s dysfuntional health care system also the world\u2019s costliest).<\/span><\/p>\n

Further insight regarding whether the public are \u201csocialists\u201d in all but name, is:<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Social Security and Medicare \u2013 two socialist<\/i> government programs \u2013 are among the most popular government programs, and they compete for top preference, with two other socialist government programs: veterans\u2019 benefits, and public education. In order from the top down, the most popular to the least popular government programs, as of 2013 (the latest pollings on that), are:<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaiser Poll:<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

1: \u00a0Public education (which is mainly a local function).<\/span><\/p>\n

2: \u00a0Medicare.<\/span><\/p>\n

3: \u00a0Social Security.<\/span><\/p>\n

4: \u00a0Medicaid.<\/span><\/p>\n

5: \u00a0Health insurance subsidies.<\/span><\/p>\n

6: \u00a0Aid to farmers.<\/span><\/p>\n

7: \u00a0National defense.<\/span><\/p>\n

8: \u00a0Food stamps.<\/span><\/p>\n

9: \u00a0Unemployment insurance (a local function).<\/span><\/p>\n

10: \u00a0Salaries and benefits for federal government workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

11: \u00a0The conflict in Afghanistan.<\/span><\/p>\n

12: \u00a0Foreign aid.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pew Poll:<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

1: \u00a0Veterans\u2019 benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

2: \u00a0Social Security.<\/span><\/p>\n

3: \u00a0Education (a local function).<\/span><\/p>\n

4: \u00a0Natural disaster relief.<\/span><\/p>\n

5: \u00a0Food and drug inspection.<\/span><\/p>\n

6: \u00a0Combating crime (a local function).<\/span><\/p>\n

7: \u00a0Medicare. (Medicaid wasn\u2019t even listed.)<\/span><\/p>\n

8: \u00a0Roads and infrastructure (mainly local).<\/span><\/p>\n

9: \u00a0Anti-terrorism defenses.<\/span><\/p>\n

10: \u00a0Agriculture.<\/span><\/p>\n

11: \u00a0Scientific research.<\/span><\/p>\n

12: \u00a0Energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

13: \u00a0Environmental protection.<\/span><\/p>\n

14: \u00a0Health care.<\/span><\/p>\n

15: \u00a0Aid to needy in U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n

16: \u00a0Military defense.<\/span><\/p>\n

17: \u00a0Unemployment aid (a local function).<\/span><\/p>\n

18: \u00a0State Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

19: \u00a0Aid to world\u2019s needy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Republicans are socialists, too. They\u2019re just the ones who call themselves \u2018rugged individualists.\u2019 They are the \u2018rugged individualist\u2019 socialists. Sure. Sure.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it serves the aristocracy, because it\u2019s the aristocrats who (own the drug and hospital companies etc. and so) reap the profits from this system of extracting wealth from the many to go to the few. And that\u2019s why the masses need to be made to believe themselves to be \u2018rugged individualists.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The American people are conned royally.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They\u2019re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010<\/i><\/span><\/a>,<\/i> and of \u00a0<\/i>CHRIST\u2019S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse Gallup headlined on November 23rd,\u00a0\u201cIn U.S., 51% Say Government Should Ensure Healthcare Coverage,\u201d\u00a0and reported that, when asked \u201cDo you think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage, or is that not the responsibility of the federal government?\u201d 51% choose \u201cYes, government responsibility,\u201d and 47% […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1254,"featured_media":231803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,461,1622,18],"tags":[115,9809,9807,9805,9804,6084,533,804,9806,9808,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-203135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"category-editorials","9":"category-featured","10":"category-latest-news","11":"tag-barack-obama","12":"tag-capitalist","13":"tag-conservative","14":"tag-drug-companies","15":"tag-healthcare","16":"tag-insurance","17":"tag-liberal","18":"tag-politics-2","19":"tag-progressive","20":"tag-socialist","21":"tag-usa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}