this post was submitted on 17 May 2026
859 points (93.8% liked)
Late Stage Capitalism
3283 readers
1093 users here now
A place for for news, discussion, memes, and links criticizing capitalism and advancing viewpoints that challenge liberal capitalist ideology. That means any support for any liberal capitalist political party (like the Democrats) is strictly prohibited.
A zero-tolerance policy for bigotry of any kind. Failure to respect this will result in a ban.
RULES:
1 Understand the left starts at anti-capitalism.
2 No Trolling
3 No capitalist apologia, anti-socialism, or liberalism, liberalism is in direct conflict with the left. Support for capitalism or for the parties or ideologies that uphold it are not welcome or tolerated.
4 No imperialism, conservatism, reactionism or Zionism, lessor evil rhetoric. Dismissing 3rd party votes or 'wasted votes on 3rd party' is lessor evil rhetoric.
5 No bigotry, no racism, sexism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or any type of prejudice.
6 Be civil in comments and no accusations of being a bot, 'paid by Putin,' Tankie, etc. This includes instance shaming.
Introduction to Socialism (external links)
Marxism-Leninism Study Guide: Advanced Course
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Obamacare forced every American to purchase private health insurance. It wasn't a victory for anyone but United and Aetna.
It's funny because that is basically the same argument people used when Social Security was established. A functional society can't have people just dying in the street. It costs money to fix this, so it is not unreasonable to ask people to pay for it. Everyone needs healthcare eventually whether or not they are insured. People without insurance still get care which raises the prices for everyone who does have insurance. The more people who pay in, the cheaper coverage is for everyone. Making everyone be covered is simply making people pay for what they use. It's simple economics.
Yeah, I agree private insurance companies suck, but that's an entirely different problem, i.e.capitslism as a whole.
Social security doesn't force people to purchase a product from an independent, for profit company.
It's a simple gift to the insurance industry.
So then argue against a for-profit healthcare system. Don't get pissed at the government for trying to fix a problem.
I will always get pissed at a government that pretends to be fixing a problem by forcing me to buy a product from a for-profit company.
You can just pay the fee for not having insurance (which hasn't existed in 7 years) so you aren't forced to buy from a for-profit company anyway.
That's what I ended up doing, around 2014 when my premiums rose to $800 a month.
And that's your choice. But you could still go to the ER for stuff, get treated, and then refuse to pay. Which leaves the state holding the bill. Which is why everyone needs to pay something.
Not paying an $800 a month bill that I couldn't afford isnt something I would consider "my choice". I had very little trouble paying for insurance before Obamacare.
I understand that, but that has nothing to do with Obamacare. If Obamacare wasn't passed those prices would have gone up exactly the same (actually more).
If it wasn't for Obamacare the insurance companies would have to compete on rates, because there wouldn't be a law that said everyone had to buy their product. They'd also be profiting off of more than the 20% of premiums that Obamacare set as the maximum so they'd have no reason to raise premiums by 91% in a single year.
How does everyone needing insurance prevent competing on rates? That doesn't make my sense. People still get to pick their insurer. You keep saying 91% and I have no idea where you pulled that number from.
I posted a link to the source earlier in this comment chain. If you want to see it, go find it. I'm not in the business of repeating myself for your benefit.
Sorry, your dishonest citing threw me off. That is for men under 27 in specific counties, not everyone. Also:
I didn't say it applied to everyone. I said it applied to me, a lower middle class person in his mid 20s. I said this in response to someone who claimed I was lying that my premiums doubled every year after Obamacare until they were $800 a month and I couldn't afford them anymore. Sorry, your disingenuous cherry picking of my argument threw me off.
Also: fuck off neolib
Shockingly, things that help other people besides you can still be important. Also, unless you were making 4x the federal poverty level, you got a subsidy to make the insurance more affordable. You probably just didn't apply for it.
Shockingly, things that strangle the middle class are not good for the middle class or the country as a whole.
Also, it's weird that you're treating "4x the poverty level" as if it's a decent living. The poverty level in 2014 was $11,000. So a person making slightly more than 4x that would be paying a quarter of their pre-tax income towards health insurance at $800/mo. You're as out of touch with reality as Obama was.
Health insurance for a 27 year old male now isn't $800. Either that was the price for multiple people, or you are lying.
Thank God you came along to tell me what my experience was. Fuck off.
Your "experience" didn't happen as you said. You are either lying or hiding details.
What part of fuck off are you having trouble understanding?
I'm having trouble understanding why you keep replying when you continue to embarrass yourself with your obvious lies.
Ok neolib
You just can't let me have the last word. It's so hilariously pathetic.
Ok neolib who's also still replying after being asked to fuck off