Sunday, April 5, 2015
Go Fuck Yoursel...Wait...Thanks!
Tonight when I asked a dear, curmudgeonly friend what he thought of my blog since he had recently read it in its entirety, he told me that it all sounded to him like,"a teenage Andy Rooney wrote it." Which is funny, as many things he says are, but not exactly what I was going for. So I was a little bummed about it for a bit, and then it occurred to me that (although a sexist, racist, ornery old man) Andy Rooney was on TV for fifty years and incredibly famous for writing about what he thought about things in the world. So, thanks dear friend! (Even thought that was kind of a dick thing to say.)
Money Is Slavery
I always knew the health care system in this country was screwed, but I guess up until now I hadn't had to deal with it first hand because I was in school and had Medical Assistance. Now, since I graduated and have a real job, I make too much to qualify for MA or even MNCare, even though I make less than 30 grand a year. Maybe that seems like it should be enough, but there's rent, which is about 60% of my budget and I have one of the cheapest apartments there is. Then there are student loan payments (about 20% of what I make goes to them), a car payment (pretty cheap all things considered), car insurance, basic utilities, gas, personal needs, etc. All of that is a lot, but I could handle it, until recently when I was forced by the US government to purchase myself health insurance. With the dental that I also need, this ends up being about $250/mo. Which, working 29 days a month, I can handle. HOWEVER. This insurance covers next to nothing.
I had to go have my tooth pulled recently which was a little over $500. Delta is supposed to send a check to reimburse me for at least some of that which I had no choice but to charge on a credit card. I got the check from them yesterday, and they paid me a whopping $67. WHAT!? And then, for the emergency room visit I had to also make, I got a statement from Blue Cross telling me they would cover $50 of the $500 there.
Now, my question is, what the FUCK am I doing paying almost $250/mo for insurance that covers almost nothing!? If I wasn't paying Blue Cross and Delta every month, I could pay off the actual medical bills in about four months. But since I have to keep paying them while also trying to pay the medical bills and rent and student loans and a car payment and car insurance and everything else I need to pay for to keep myself from drowning and/or being completely miserable…it's hopeless!
Consider also, that I buy almost nothing new, so I pay less. I cut my own hair, do my own nails, change my own oil. I take other people's "trash" and sell it for supplemental income, I don't have cable, I don't drink very often, I have never upgraded my cell phone and only have the most basic plan (no data). Overall, I am not a frivolous spender and I use what I have or can find to create what I need/want. Yet still, in this "system," I am forced to work every single day just to get by.
You could say, well Sadie, why don't you get rid of your car? Why didn't you just buy a cheaper shitty one? Why did you go to school if you didn't want to pay loans? Why don't you just get a job that pays better and hate every single day of your life so that you can support big pharma and the rest of the corporations that are raping and enslaving everyone in this country who isn't a millionaire?
Good questions italic font, good questions. The reason is, that I am a human being with aspirations and goals. I am curious and I have a conscience and a mind and not only do I think I deserved to replace my 20 year old car with a ten year old car that actually starts every time I turn the key, but also I am required to have a vehicle for my job. I can't sell my soul for money. I just can't. And I won't.
What kind of a world do we live in, where we have to earnestly consider whether or not we can financially afford to be healthy and continue living? The food that's best for you costs the most and the stuff that makes you fat and sick is all we can afford. Yeah, I'm sure many of us would love to try a juice cleanse, but who can spend $150 a week on fresh produce? The food we are forced to eat then, inhibits brain function, affects activity levels, leads to sedentary lifestyles, leads to illness, leads to needing medical attention, which is exactly why pharmaceutical companies invest billions of dollars in fast food chains.
We Americans like to think we have choices and freedoms, and we do. We are allowed to choose between this powerless puppet or that powerless puppet when we vote, we are allowed to choose which billion dollar health care corporation will screw us out of our hard earned money every month, we are allowed to choose which over processed and/or genetically modified foods we'd like to eat, we are allowed to choose whether to be surveilled via street cameras or the ones in our smart phones and televisions, we are allowed to choose which clothing and electronics made by Asian children we will wear or own, we are allowed to choose between multimillion dollar companies with purposely awful customer service for our cell and internet service, and we are allowed to choose legal or illegal drugs to help us manage the depression that comes along with all of these choices.
We are allowed to choose between one shitty thing and another shitty thing because it gives us the illusion that we are in fact free. Which we are not. Each and every one of us is enslaved by the monetary system. And sure, you can choose to live outside of that system, off the grid, or just not allow these things to enter your consciousness. But, they are still there. Money is still there; sucking the joy from our lives and convincing us that it is the important thing. When it isn't even a thing at all. Think about it. What does money do? What is it good for? Nothing. At. All. It's just meaningless numbers on a screen or paper in a hand. However, I think it's important to remember that every time we spend money, it's like placing a vote for the kind of world we want. So next time you go for that upgrade or run to Wal-Mart for something or other that will fall apart in a week, remember that with your bucks you're communicating that you have no problem being a slave and will choose to support the system which enslaves you.
I had to go have my tooth pulled recently which was a little over $500. Delta is supposed to send a check to reimburse me for at least some of that which I had no choice but to charge on a credit card. I got the check from them yesterday, and they paid me a whopping $67. WHAT!? And then, for the emergency room visit I had to also make, I got a statement from Blue Cross telling me they would cover $50 of the $500 there.
Now, my question is, what the FUCK am I doing paying almost $250/mo for insurance that covers almost nothing!? If I wasn't paying Blue Cross and Delta every month, I could pay off the actual medical bills in about four months. But since I have to keep paying them while also trying to pay the medical bills and rent and student loans and a car payment and car insurance and everything else I need to pay for to keep myself from drowning and/or being completely miserable…it's hopeless!
Consider also, that I buy almost nothing new, so I pay less. I cut my own hair, do my own nails, change my own oil. I take other people's "trash" and sell it for supplemental income, I don't have cable, I don't drink very often, I have never upgraded my cell phone and only have the most basic plan (no data). Overall, I am not a frivolous spender and I use what I have or can find to create what I need/want. Yet still, in this "system," I am forced to work every single day just to get by.
You could say, well Sadie, why don't you get rid of your car? Why didn't you just buy a cheaper shitty one? Why did you go to school if you didn't want to pay loans? Why don't you just get a job that pays better and hate every single day of your life so that you can support big pharma and the rest of the corporations that are raping and enslaving everyone in this country who isn't a millionaire?
Good questions italic font, good questions. The reason is, that I am a human being with aspirations and goals. I am curious and I have a conscience and a mind and not only do I think I deserved to replace my 20 year old car with a ten year old car that actually starts every time I turn the key, but also I am required to have a vehicle for my job. I can't sell my soul for money. I just can't. And I won't.
What kind of a world do we live in, where we have to earnestly consider whether or not we can financially afford to be healthy and continue living? The food that's best for you costs the most and the stuff that makes you fat and sick is all we can afford. Yeah, I'm sure many of us would love to try a juice cleanse, but who can spend $150 a week on fresh produce? The food we are forced to eat then, inhibits brain function, affects activity levels, leads to sedentary lifestyles, leads to illness, leads to needing medical attention, which is exactly why pharmaceutical companies invest billions of dollars in fast food chains.
We Americans like to think we have choices and freedoms, and we do. We are allowed to choose between this powerless puppet or that powerless puppet when we vote, we are allowed to choose which billion dollar health care corporation will screw us out of our hard earned money every month, we are allowed to choose which over processed and/or genetically modified foods we'd like to eat, we are allowed to choose whether to be surveilled via street cameras or the ones in our smart phones and televisions, we are allowed to choose which clothing and electronics made by Asian children we will wear or own, we are allowed to choose between multimillion dollar companies with purposely awful customer service for our cell and internet service, and we are allowed to choose legal or illegal drugs to help us manage the depression that comes along with all of these choices.
We are allowed to choose between one shitty thing and another shitty thing because it gives us the illusion that we are in fact free. Which we are not. Each and every one of us is enslaved by the monetary system. And sure, you can choose to live outside of that system, off the grid, or just not allow these things to enter your consciousness. But, they are still there. Money is still there; sucking the joy from our lives and convincing us that it is the important thing. When it isn't even a thing at all. Think about it. What does money do? What is it good for? Nothing. At. All. It's just meaningless numbers on a screen or paper in a hand. However, I think it's important to remember that every time we spend money, it's like placing a vote for the kind of world we want. So next time you go for that upgrade or run to Wal-Mart for something or other that will fall apart in a week, remember that with your bucks you're communicating that you have no problem being a slave and will choose to support the system which enslaves you.
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