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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums7-year-old girl sells lemonade to help pay for brain surgeries, but Medicare for All is 'radical'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/3/1/2018738/-7-year-old-girl-sells-lemonade-to-help-pay-for-brain-surgeries-but-Medicare-for-All-is-radical7-year-old girl sells lemonade to help pay for brain surgeries, but Medicare for All is 'radical'
Aldous J Pennyfarthing
Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)
Monday March 01, 2021 · 2:00 PM EST
These kinds of stories drive me up the wall.
Theres nothing heartwarming or cute about this, but its the kind of thing people in this country slurp up like syrup.
Nothing against the journalist who brought this grotesquerie to light, but my takeaway from this tragic tale is that we live in a barbaric, backwards country, not that Americans have hearts of gold. Perhaps they do, but those full hearts could be far more effectively channeled toward fighting for Medicare for All than tossing crumbs to sick kids like theyre gimpy pigeons.
WIAT-TV in Birmingham, Alabama, recently caught up 7-year-old Liza Scott, whose family owns a bakery in Homewood, Alabama. They set up a lemonade stand inside the shop to help pay for a series of brain surgeries Liza needs to correct three cerebral malformations have have been causing her to suffer grand mal seizures.
WIAT:
As a single mom and the financial supporter of both of my children, this is not something you can budget for, Scott said.
So in addition to selling the tastiest lemonade around, the Scotts are also looking for donations. As of Thursday afternoon, they have reached nearly $6,000. If you would like to help donate to Lizas fund, click here.
And look how cute she is!
Link to tweet
Naturally, Im pulling for young Liza. How can you not? She needs major surgery, and its nice that people are chipping in to help her in her time of need. But what about the kids who arent as cute, dont have a parent who owns a bakery, dont have enough friends and supporters for a successful GoFundMe campaign, or whose bills are simply too astronomical to chip away at with a pop-up lemonade stand?
Are the social Darwinists in this country really prepared to argue that some people deserve to see a doctor while others are just shit out of luck?
Obamacare and CHIP were big steps forward, but we obviously still have huge gaps in our social safety net. Its long past time we close them with true universal health coverage and let sick kids be kids instead of beggars and forced laborers.
Ohiogal
(32,118 posts)Ask Canadians or Brits if they hold spaghetti dinners or bake sales to help pay for medical care. Its absurd! We are so used to this kind of thing most people dont even think twice about it. These stories drive me up the wall, too, babylonsister.
Bleacher Creature
(11,258 posts)It's completely barbaric for this kind of thing to be happening in 2021.
speak easy
(9,336 posts)Biden won. Medicare for All lost.
The idea that the President would renounce the platform he run on in the primaries, and GE, is lunacy,
It would be 'read my lips, no new taxes' on steroids
Want to argue for single payer? Fine. 2024 is the area, not Joe Biden's first term.
Haggard Celine
(16,860 posts)is because some people are afraid that people they hate will be able to use it. They want to be able to pick and choose who they support for medical treatment. And the people they support are usually just like them. It's a disgrace that we let that minority of assholes decide whether we can have healthcare.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,484 posts)Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)Here's some hints, Democratic Leaders, if you're reading:
It's NOT: Medicare for All
It's: Medicare Early Buy-In
It's NOT: Free College, or Student Loan Forgiveness
It's: The Education Freedom Act
Free of charge, and you're welcome.
That all said, I hope this young lady gets all the help she needs. I shouldn't have to 'hope', but ... that's where we are.
canetoad
(17,197 posts)I can't get my head around an even marginally educated population accepting or rejecting such a momentous societal change over the use of 'spin words'.
I often compare and contrast the cultures and history of our two countries - both of which are youngish in the general scheme of countries. Oz has a reputation for cutting down tall poppies - "Ye'r up yerself...!"
The US deifies them. Maybe it's an anti-authoritarian quirk wrought by our convict past versus an admiration of entrepreneurship engendered by your first immigrants.
Maybe its our adherence to Brit roots and culture versus your total rejection of everything representative of the 'old enemy'.
Hey, I'm also glad you didn't change the second part of your username to JASS.
BigMin28
(1,184 posts)"Are the social Darwinists in this country really prepared to argue that some people deserve to see a doctor while others are just shit out of luck?"
I live in Texas, and I can say unequivocally yes, alot of the population here are just fine with some people not receiving medical care, or even dying. Even children. It is heartbreaking, but true.
area51
(11,929 posts)that some people deserve to see a doctor while others are just shit out of luck?"
Yes, yes they are. They argue this every day. And this govt. doesn't give a sh*t whether we live or die, hence, no right to healthcare. I'm surprised we haven't already had a real life John Q event. Healthcare is a right, not a luxury.
Irish_Dem
(47,518 posts)There are so many things that disgust me about the US.
msongs
(67,462 posts)canetoad
(17,197 posts)I'm watching a (bootleg) live stream of Rachel Maddow and at some stage will catch the repeats of Lawrence O'Donnell and Brian Williams.
I will never, ever get used to seeing the ads for drugs that are aired in the US. All modified by, "Ask your doctor for ...." and a gabbled stream of disclaimers that only a speed listener with bat-ears could decode.
It seems that any degree of 'wellness' in the US belongs to only those who can pay for it.
One, of many reasons the GOP opposes any form of universal health care is that it will limit 'medical entrepreneurship'. Another reason is that it's almost impossible to take health care away once it has been won.
Fight on, sister.
lindysalsagal
(20,747 posts)Most states would cover her. But there's a church on every corner....
ChoppinBroccoli
(3,784 posts)Better yet, tell her parents when her lemonade stand doesn't even come close to raising enough money.
MasonDreams
(756 posts)GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)But there are many other ways to achieve that than Medicare for all. Especially with the nature of our politics.
MFA is better than what we have now. But a French style system will be easier to achieve.
Regardless, we are on the same team.
Have a nice evening.
XanaDUer2
(10,774 posts)Ron Green
(9,823 posts)We have enough investment schemes in this country; we need a health care system.
hatrack
(59,594 posts)For the rest of us, there's the pickle jar at the local convenience store.
You've likely seen the pickle jar. Typically it has a picture of a cute 9-year-old with leukemia, or the teenager busted up in a car wreck, and a dollar or three at the bottom of the jar.