Earlier on a post about abortion in the USA, I saw a short commentary between California989 (pro-choice) and Chris_Epps72 (anti-abortion). This was what was exchanged between the two of them:
California989: “George Carlin said it best conservatives care about you while you while you’re in the womb. But once you pop out they don’t give two fucks about you!”
Chris_Epp72: “Go back and do better research!”
Basically, the sentiment is the people against abortion call themselves pro-life, because they believe the destruction of a fetus still inside a woman’s body is the same as murdering a child that has already been born. So I jumped in and responded to Chris_Epp72 with the following:
SincerelyFroggy: “better research? Do conservatives want universal health care? How about better funded mental health care? Tighter gun laws? Reasonable minimum wage? Rehabilitation care for prison inmates? If yes to all of that, then conservatives are truly pro-life. If no to all of those, then conservatives are only anti-abortion. Conservatives either value life as a complete package or cherry pick at their convenience.”
Some hours later, I got a notification that a lady responded to me. She tried to rebuttal my points stating the following:
jaimee_nash: “@SincerelyFroggy conservatives want LESS government… Everything you have listed, conservatives wouldn’t support, because it is more money spent, more taxes, more regulations. Conservatives DO want change, but it’s not done with more regulations. 1) free market insurance 2) criminals don’t follow laws, so gun laws only affect lawful citizens. 3) If people want more money, they should go somewhere that pays more. It is as simple as that. Most places don’t pay $7.25 (legal min wage) because they know no one would stay. What is really hurting us rn is inflation. That is due to raising our debt ceiling… Probably to pay for some on the programs you support. 4) Biden and Kamala were BOTH know to support very strict laws regarding drug cases, yet democrats support them. 5) democrats don’t even support school choice, which helps children get a better education. Everyone sees the problem, it is just a matter of HOW they would deal with it that is different.”
I read her comment twice and already know those are the common talking points of conservatives that want ‘less government’. However, instead of doing an endless back-and-forth with large walls of texts inside a tiny viewable window, I again pointed out that none of what she said addressed my earlier comment on how conservatives consider themselves pro-life, when they don’t support all of the things I mentioned.
SincerelyFroggy: “@jaimee_nash I understand what you’re saying about the government, but the people saying they are pro-life has so far demonstrated they are anti-abortion/pro-birth. Nothing they’re doing/saying demonstrates they are pro-life.”
Since I hate making large responses in small windows such as on Instagram and Facebook, I can directly answer her points here.
1) free market insurance
Doesn’t work very well for the majority of the people. In the USA, people are paying way more for health care, than we do in Canada. Also, in the USA, medical care will only be paid if the insurance company deems the treatment worthy of their bottom line. In Canada, the medical industry bills the government and through our combined taxes, the government pays the medical industry accordingly. That means under normal circumstances, no one is ever turned away from getting medical aid in Canada. In the USA, a lot of people can’t afford medical aid and opt out of getting necessary medical aid, which translates to being sick and unable to work properly.
2) criminals don’t follow laws, so gun laws only affect lawful citizens.
Criminals are everywhere, in every country. Gun laws affect ALL citizens including criminals. It’s how the laws are universally implemented across all jurisdictions and ports-of-entry that matter. Jaimee mentioned that criminals don’t respect gun laws. Neither do criminals in the rest of the world. However, why is it that the USA is the only first world country in the world that has the most gun murders per capita?
- Brazil — 49,436
- United States — 37,038
- Venezuela — 28,515
- Mexico — 22,116
- India — 14,710
- Colombia — 13,169
- Philippines — 9,267
- Guatemala — 5,980
The two teenagers that killed a bunch of students and one teacher bought their guns legally from a trade show. Jaimee could argue these two teenagers were criminals, but they got their guns legally. That’s the point: the “legally” part. In Canada, we have a lot of gun nuts. Yet, our firearm murder rate per capita is a lot less than in the USA.
In 2020, the firearm related deaths per 100,000 people:
- Canada: 1.95
- Australia: Less than 1
- USA: 29
The USA was nearly 15 times worst in gun related crimes than Canada and more than 29 times worst than Australia. By Jaimee’s logic, Canada and Australia should have the same or similar number of firearm crimes per capita since criminals don’t respect gun laws. Yet it has been proven time and again that is not the case.
3) If people want more money, they should go somewhere that pays more. It is as simple as that. Most places don’t pay $7.25 (legal min wage) because they know no one would stay. What is really hurting us rn is inflation. That is due to raising our debt ceiling… Probably to pay for some on the programs you support.
It’s just that simple eh?
- How does someone making minimum wage simply just move to another state or city?
- How much money would this person who is making minimum wage need to have saved to find and move to that state and city?
- How will this person making minimum wage bring their children with them to this other state and city?
Last time I checked, most people making minimum wage don’t have savings and can barely make ends meet. If it was really that simple to just pack up and go, one would think more people under the poverty line would do it. Do you know how much rent is for a 400ft apartment in Vancouver? It’s $1,200/mo. Minimum wage here is $15.25/hr. Not bad, but most minimum wage earners cannot afford to live here. Relocating costs and registrations for your children is also another thing. However, let’s say the minimum wage earner found a nice place to live at an affordable rate, but it’s out in the boonies – how will that person get there? How will that person get the medical treatment required of them? How will that person find a job that pays well enough for the standards of living costs in that region?
I feel people like Jaimee is living in a first world middle class fantasy, thinking it’s really just that ‘simple’ for a minimum wage earner living under the poverty line to just simply move.
Also, she mentioned “That is due to raising our debt ceiling… Probably to pay for some on the programs you support.”
Unfortunately, there is a lot to unwind speaking about the national debt. It’s funny that Jaimee pins it on Democratic spending, yet it was President Trump that increased the national debt from $21.5 trillion in 2018 to $29 trillion in 2021. That’s $8.5 trillion in four years from Trump, versus the $11.9 trillion in 2009 to $20.3 trillion in 2017 under President Obama which translates to about $8.4 trillion in eight years or about $4.1 trillion in his first four years in office.
Basically, Trump added double the amount to the debt, to what Obama had.
4) Biden and Kamala were BOTH know to support very strict laws regarding drug cases, yet democrats support them.
I’m not a fan of the Democratic Party of the USA, in the sense that they are a Right-Wing party by all global standards of what government is about. Only Republicans and conservatives in the USA think that the Democratic Party are far-leftists.
On a scale of 20 points: -10 being far left, -5 being left wing, -1 being middle-left, +1 being middle-right, +5 being right wing, and +10 being far-right, the Democratic Party is about a +4. The Republican Party of today is about a +8.
To give this perspective, the Conservative Party of Canada is +4, the Liberal Party of Canada is +1, the New Democratic Party of Canada is -4, the Green Party of Canada is -8.
As a side note, right-wing gay people do exist, sex-positive right wingers do exist, sex-negative left-wingers do exist, and left-wing gun nuts also exist. It all comes down to party policy and how those policies affect specific groups, rather than whether individuals who adhere to a certain type of politics support everything a party does.
So with all of this out of the way, to answer Jaimee’s comment here: So what? I don’t love the Democratic Party of the USA. I only barely support them because they are the lesser of two evils. In essence, they are one side of the same coin with a different face, and different spending habits. However, both Republicans and Democratics spend big on the things they both want. The whole small government / big government is an illusion for the masses.
5) democrats don’t even support school choice, which helps children get a better education. Everyone sees the problem, it is just a matter of HOW they would deal with it that is different.
Okay, let’s for the sake of this argument say Democrats are a bag of dumb fucks.
Republicans support private schools. How will a minimum wage worker afford to bring their children to a private school AND relocate AND make ends meet?
The point of my original statement to Chris_Epp72 came down to one thing: how do conservatives consider themselves pro-life, when they don’t support policies that are pro-life? None of what I said had anything to do with the Democratic Party. For all I care, the Democratic Party can jump off a high cliff alongside their Republican colleagues. My statement solely applies to people who call themselves “pro-life”. How are they pro-life?
It’s mostly interesting to see the different perspectives on what it means to be ‘pro-life’, but at the end of the day, it’s clear that most right wingers are pro-birth and anti-choice, while most left wingers are pro-life and pro-choice at the same time. The conversation between you and jaimee_nash highlights the complexities of the issue and the various factors that come into play. While it’s important to have these discussions to better understand each other’s viewpoints, ultimately, we know it’s all foolhardy to assume anything meaningful will ever come out from any of this. Most people will never receive the light-bulb of insight when they read each others’ thoughts. Most people already made up their minds and will ultimately side with the rhetoric that suits their emotions. In this case, jaimee looks at fetuses as adorable children, but will rarely lift a finger to help actual living breathing children, because they see it as a burden on society to do so. So really, people like jaimee only say the things she says because it makes them feel good for being the verbal champions for the helpless, but will help no one but themselves when it comes time to help hungry homeless children. They are in fact the social justice warriors of the right wing.