Political Memes

This is the "public vs private healthcare" debate all over again. You can draw a diagram with crayons proving without a doubt that free public healthcare is cheaper than having to pay higher premiums because poor people use the ER as their primary care and then skip out on the bills, and they still won't get it, because they've been so propagandized by late-stage Capitalism that they actually believe "what's good for the billionaire is good for me."

I've had these arguments countless times with people. Here's how it goes every single time:

Them: "Why should I have to pay an extra $X a year to provide [SERVICE] for other people?"
Me: "Because the data shows that this will lead to better outcomes overall, which in turn leads to fewer people on public assistance, saving you far more than $X a year, resulting in a net gain on your part. Here's the data, look for yourself."
Them: "Fuck that. I don't want poor people getting free shit!"

As long as half of the working class has billionaire Stockholm syndrome, this will not change.

I always try to remind people of that fact of life

Whenever you see people in need in society .... everyone pays for their misfortune no matter what you do or what you believe

You can be a cold hearted conservative and you'll pay for what happens to these people in the form of higher taxes that go on to pay for increased policing, emergency medical, judiciary, general lawlessness and devaluing of your community as crime increases

You could be a liberal or socially minded and you'll pay for taxes that go on to help these unfortunate people in the form of social programs to try to help or mitigate their lives

However, the long term results of both these mentalities are what make the difference

Cold hearted conservatism to poverty only makes poverty much much worse and eventually leads to a break down of society as people's lives becomes worse and worse and civilization just becomes an expensive police state governed by violence

Socially minded supports foster young people and give them a chance to make a better future for themselves and go on to build a better society. Once you do that for a few generations, the benefits only increase with time not just for the individual but everyone in general.