she longed for the life she already possessed.

hopeful realist. minister's wife. skeptic. feminist. ravenclaw. bookworm. introvert.

[quilavastudy]

I get really confused when americans, when talking about universal health care are like ‘yeh but it’s not free sweaty :) :) you have to pay it through taxes :) so gotcha!!’

and I’m like ….???? That’s the whole point??? Everyone pays their fair share so that no one has to be turned away because they don’t have insurance??? And no one has to set up a Fundraiser page just so that they DONT DIE???? So people don’t put off going to the doctor because they’re scared of going bankrupt?? Because healthcare is a RIGHT and should be free at the point of access?!?

[peccatopotpourri]

“So no one has to be turned away” she says hahaha go to a universal health care country and get a necessary operation in less than a few years and come back and talk shit.

Look at the cure rates compared to mortality rates in universal health care countries and compare them to ours, then talk shit.

Tear your ACL in a universal health care country and see what the people say if you should go to their hospitals or go to an American hospital, then talk shit.

[quilavastudy]

I do live in a universal health care country, actually. And I HAVE had a necessary operation here myself. I broke my arm years ago - the ambulance came within 5 minutes. I was seen in A&E by a doctor within 20 minutes. And I had the operation to put my arm back in place within hours - despite my condition not being life threatening. Hmm, don’t see what was so hard about that? And oh yeah, it was all free of charge.

You don’t seem to understand about how it works. Firstly, operations are prioritised. If someone comes in with an emergency, such as a ruptured aorta and bleeding out - of COURSE they will get an operation STRAIGHT AWAY. Like what do you think doctors do here, twiddle their thumbs while patients die? 

And if someone has something that is not quite an emergency, but is serious, such as a bowel cancer, they will have their surgery within 1-2 weeks of seeing a specialist. And it’s free. The poor patient who is already stressed and worried sick about their cancer, will NOT also have to worry about insurance and bills and going bankrupt.

Sure, some operations that are not quite as urgent will have waiting lists. My gran just had her cataract operation - this is something that isn’t life-threatening, not causing her pain at all, but of course is still affecting her life because she couldn’t see very well. She had to wait a few months, which of course in an inconvenience, but she still got her operation, and she definitely didn’t have to wait years (and I have never heard of anyone waiting years for an operation, and as a med student I have talked to a LOT of patients) so I don’t know where you got that from (probably some right-wing american media, I assume). And like, I’m sure most people would rather wait a bit longer than have to pay, or not ever get their operation because they can’t afford it?

And I’m not sure what you mean by your last bit. Are you really implying that countries other than the US couldn’t repair an ACL tear? Like, really? Do you think countries with universal healthcare have no resources or money? Sorry to burst your deluded bubble, but other countries can handle an ACL tear, and many other operations (even neurosurgery - shock horror!), just fine thanks. I’ve never seen a patient shipped off to America. 

[igeri96]

“I’ve never seen a patient shipped off to America” daamn, i love this post

[korvys]

Not to mention that in countries like Australia, there are *also* private hospitals. If you *want* to spend tens of thousands of dollars to avoid waiting, you can?

[cthulhucore]

As someone who would be dead, many times over, without universal health care, GET FUCKED.

[medschoolandthreequarters]

And for the record: the only private hospital in my hometown (apart from taking quick non urgent NMR because the ones in the public hospital have quite a long queue) really sucks. For every important/urgent/non-basic procedure you have to go to the public one, which is considered btw a national reference in certain departments. Years for an operation? Nop. Months, one year and a few months tops for non-necessary surgeries. Urgent and necessary? Hours.

Oh and about the talking shit thing…

But sure, the US wins it over in one thing: healthcare spending!

(Source here: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2015/oct/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective )

So yeah, tell me again why should i pack my things and move right away to the US where i’d die unless i’m shitting gold like a freaking Lannister.

[quilavastudy]

Reblogging because I love this reply

[rottenbrainstuff]

My favourite was that free health care would create death panels where people would judge if you were allowed to have the life saving operation that you needed.

Like

Dude

You guys have that there already, and it’s called fucking insurance companies.

[blacktithe7]

As an American, I fully support universal healthcare, and this post only goes to strengthen that stance. Thank you for helping to educate those who have not/cannot/will not do the research on their own.

[md-admissions]

If it wasn’t obvious already that I support universal healthcare, let me just support it again with charts.

[wetwareproblem]

Gee, if only there were a way to fact-check that wait time claim.

[alchemistc]

Petition to have any more medical dramas set in a country with universal health care to really piss off those “BUT PEOPLE DIE UNDER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE” peeps.

[aunicorndumbass]

melissabenoist 💪 #womensmarchonwashington

[jaegerpilotmax]

France can have this back

[zoenightstars]

i can’t fucking believe yall hate women and minorities and immigrants this fucking much 

[spinningrims]

i’m seeing a lot of people reblogging suicide hotlines and this is just a reminder that this is a suicide help line that works like a text-based instant messenger for people who may need to talk to someone but have trouble/are uncomfortable making phone calls

[groovian-whovian]

Never don’t reblog this. There are so many people who have such bad anxiety about phone calls. This can save so many lives

[redshiftsinger]

Also helpful if someone is in a situation they may not feel like talking out loud about their problems is a viable option (for instance if they live with a douchecanoe who would mock them for seeking help)

[freerenata-deactivated20180915]

reblog if you are...disgusted

[askfallencas-archive-blog]

watching yourself being replaced by people better than you

[thefullnessofthefaith-deactivat]

If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also

Matt 5:39

This specifically refers to a hand striking the side of a person’s face, tells quite a different story when placed in it’s proper historical context. In Jesus’s time, striking someone of a lower class ( a servant) with the back of the hand was used to assert authority and dominance. If the persecuted person “turned the other cheek,” the discipliner was faced with a dilemma. The left hand was used for unclean purposes, so a back-hand strike on the opposite cheek would not be performed. Another alternative would be a slap with the open hand as a challenge or to punch the person, but this was seen as a statement of equality. Thus, by turning the other cheek the persecuted was in effect putting an end to the behavior or if the slapping continued the person would lawfully be deemed equal and have to be released as a servant/slave.   

(via thefullnessofthefaith)

THAT makes a lot more sense, now, thank you. 

(via guardianrock)

I can attest to the original poster’s comments. A few years back I took an intensive seminar on faith-based progressive activism, and we spent an entire unit discussing how many of Jesus’ instructions and stories were performative protests designed to shed light on and ridicule the oppressions of that time period as a way to emphasize the absurdity of the social hierarchy and give people the will and motivation to make changes for a more free and equal society.

For example, the next verse (Matthew 5:40) states “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” In that time period, men traditionally wore a shirt and a coat-like garment as their daily wear. To sue someone for their shirt was to put them in their place - suing was generally only performed to take care of outstanding debts, and to be sued for one’s shirt meant that the person was so destitute the only valuable thing they could repay with was their own clothing. However, many cultures at that time (including Hebrew peoples) had prohibitions bordering on taboo against public nudity, so for a sued man to surrender both his shirt and his coat was to turn the system on its head and symbolically state, in a very public forum, that “I have no money with which to repay this person, but they are so insistent on taking advantage of my poverty that I am leaving this hearing buck-ass naked. His greed is the cause of a shameful public spectacle.”

All of a sudden an action of power (suing someone for their shirt) becomes a powerful symbol of subversion and mockery, as the suing patron either accepts the coat (and therefore full responsibility as the cause of the other man’s shameful display) or desperately chases the protester around trying to return his clothes to him, making a fool of himself in front of his peers and the entire gathered community.

Additionally, the next verse (Matthew 5:41; “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”) was a big middle finger to the Romans who had taken over Judea and were not seen as legitimate authority by the majority of the population there. Roman law stated that a centurion on the march could require a Jew (and possibly other civilians as well, although I don’t remember explicitly) to carry his pack at any time and for any reason for one mile along the road (and because of the importance of the Roman highway system in maintaining rule over the expansive empire, the roads tended to be very well ordered and marked), however he could not require any service beyond the next mile marker. For a Jewish civilian to carry a centurion’s pack for an entire second mile was a way to subvert the authority of the occupying forces. If the civilian wouldn’t give the pack back at the end of the first mile, the centurion would either have to forcibly take it back or report the civilian to his commanding officer (both of which would result in discipline being taken against the soldier for breaking Roman law) or wait until the civilian volunteered to return the pack, giving the Judean native implicit power over the occupying Roman and completely subverting the power structure of the Empire. Can you imagine how demoralizing that must have been for the highly ordered Roman armies that patrolled the region?

Jesus was a pacifist, but his teachings were in no way passive. There’s a reason he was practically considered a terrorist by the reigning powers, and it wasn’t because he healed the sick and fed the hungry.

(via central-avenue)

In other words, Jesus was executed by the State because he challenged the State’s power.

(via rindle-spikes)

Yes, and isn’t it telling that the state ultimately adopted Christianity and started teaching everyone that Jesus said to obey your parents and to just do what you’re told…else he’d send you to hell?

(via iandsharman)

This is why context is important, folks.

(via beahbeah)

[on-the-nightshift-deactivated20]

HOW THE ECHO CAVES SHOULD HAVE GONE.

[bookwormactivist]

Srsly.

[thingstolovefor]

Jon Stewart had a few words for the people who cry about wanting their country back

I’ve missed Jon Stewart so dang much. The daily Show just isn’t the same without him.

I’m glad he once again called out Fox News for their BS and those “I’m from Real America” people who act like they are the only “real” Americans. #Love it!

[theconcealedweapon]

Conservatives: I hate Muslim people. Look at what that Muslim person did at that Orlando LGBT bar.

LGBT people: So, does that mean you care about LGBT people?

Conservatives: No! Gay people are pedophiles, and transgender women are just men who want to invade women’s restrooms and harass women! WE NEED TO PROTECT WOMEN!

Women: So, does that mean you care about women?

Conservatives: Shut up, feminazi! Women in the United States are not oppressed! If you want to talk about women’s oppression, you should be focusing on how women in other countries are treated!

Refugees: So, does that mean you care about people from other countries?

Conservatives: Stay out of our country! Why should we care about refugees when we have people here who need help?

Homeless People: So, does that mean you care about people who need help?

Conservatives: No! Get a job, freeloader!

[theringofwords]

Many years ago, when I first started reading the book of Genesis, it was very upsetting to me. Because here’s all these spiritual heroes: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. These are your spiritual heroes. And look how they treat women. It’s pretty awful. Have you read the book of Genesis lately? They all engage in polygamy, they all have multiple wives, which puts the husband, the man, absolutely in the power seat. They buy and sell their wives; they pay the fathers of the wives to get them. There’s bride prices, and all that. And there’s all these patriarchal institutions. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. These are our exemplars; these are our heroes. How do we handle that? It was very upsetting to me. Then, many years ago, a book came out called The Art of Biblical Narrative, written by Robert Alter, who is a Jewish scholar and an expert in ancient Jewish literature who teaches at Berkeley. And in that book, he said something astounding to me. He says, there are two institutions you see in the book of Genesis that were universal in ancient cultures. One was polygamy, one was primogeniture. Polygamy, obviously, a husband has multiple wives. Primogeniture was that the oldest son got everything. Got all the power, got all the money, and basically ruled over everyone else in the family. So it’s very patriarchal: polygamy and primogeniture. He says, however, when you actually read the text of Genesis, you’ll see two things. First of all, in every generation polygamy wreaks havoc. In every generation, having multiple wives is an absolute disaster. Socially, culturally, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, relationally, familially. Every way. And secondly, when it comes to primogeniture, in every single generation, God always favors the younger son over the older. It’s always Abel not Cain. It’s always Isaac not Ishmael. It’s always Jacob not Esau. And Robert Alter says, if you actually realize what Genesis is doing, it is subverting, not supporting — it is overturning those ancient patriarchal institutions at every spot.

Tim Keller, “Literalism”, 11/5/2006 (via blakebaggott)

[micdotcom]

Watch: Biden takes on the whole system with his words.

[mrskingbing]

Sam is really inspired by Sharon’s speech 

[bookwormactivist]

Fuck you, Rumple.

- Pretty much everyone this season, honestly: Regina, Emma, Killian, Milah, Belle, Moe, Hades, the Dragon, Henry.

[ceeyoutea]

[bookwormactivist]

So after a traumatic season of Emma doing everything to get Killian back, he is finally returned to her side, and we get a whole finale focused on Regina dealing with her dark side instead of CS. Thanks, OUAT.