Comments

1
Just give him a syringe of morphine and let him die.

It's the Libertarian thing to do.
2
Imagine how cheap the Obamacare-with-death-panels plan will be when we are all FORCED to submit to online exams and diagnoses by anonymous blog posters.

I actually feel a bit sorry for this kid. It's easy to be idealistic (even with bad ideals) when you're young and have never faced hardship. Perhaps he'll finally change his mind in a few years, when his credit is still busted because of his medical bills going into collections.
3
Either that, or he'll be dead. Problem solved.
4
The rugged individualists who favor various forms of Social Darwinism tend to change their tune real quick when it dawns on them that they may not be "the fittest" who get to survive. Unfortunately, this epiphany usually comes on the heels of bad news like this.
5
And, this is how young libertarians are turned into liberals - I've had several friends in similar positions. Because bad things happen to everyone, and they're not always your fault, and we have the power to make it not suck as much for each other, if only we get over ourselves first.
6
A twenty-one year old with a history of Ulcerative Colitis (whatever that is) will surely have trouble with insurance - at least until he turns old enough for Medicare - if the Republicans are successful at repealing health care reform. If he has to be on some sort of drug to keep him healthy, God help him.

And I can't help but chuckle that one of the comments is suggesting a class action lawsuit. Don't they realize that's what those evil trial lawyers do? Wouldn't that be something that would be severely curtailed if we had tort reform?
7
@1: Nice idea, but who's gonna pay for the morphine? Keep fishin'.
8
Obviously, his condition is caused by a curse from some local witch. Find her and burn her, and that "ulcerative colitis" should clear up in no time!
9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulcerative_…

Ulcerative colitis (Colitis ulcerosa, UC) is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Ulcerative colitis is a form of colitis, a disease of the intestine, specifically the large intestine or colon, that includes characteristic ulcers, or open sores, in the colon. The main symptom of active disease is usually constant diarrhea mixed with blood, of gradual onset. Because of the name, IBD is often confused with irritable bowel syndrome ("IBS"), a troublesome, but much less serious, condition. Ulcerative colitis has similarities to Crohn's disease, another form of IBD. Ulcerative colitis is an intermittent disease, with periods of exacerbated symptoms, and periods that are relatively symptom-free. Although the symptoms of ulcerative colitis can sometimes diminish on their own, the disease usually requires treatment to go into remission.
10
How can he be hospitalized and not have health care? Wouldn't hospitialization be health care by definition?
11
@7 we'll steal it from the oil wealth we got from Iraq.
12
@6,

It kind of depends. Many libertarians look to the courts as a remedy to malfeasance. They'd rather have courts clogged with endless lawsuits than the government enforcing regulations.
13
it seems as if many liberatarians also don't believe in western medicine - and i'm not surprised. dipshit Paultard, you need to get on insurance (or, more likely, medicaid) immediately. shit like silver nitrate won't fix this.

14
Fucking looter. Did he pay for the advice he received or the use of the blog?
15
Those commentors scare me.
16
This will never happen to most libertarians like Matt Luby. They were born into rich white families that can buy their way out of any problems.
17
No atheists in foxholes? No libertarians with serious conditions in ERs.
18
There are many inexpensive drugs that may fix his problem. Prednisone is often effective for this, and a monthly supply with no insurance runs about $50.
19
What is un-libertarian about running up to Canada to be a parasite on a system you never paid into? And then running on back when you're done with them? That's right there is the heart and soul of libertarianism.

The reason they still don't have their "free state" is that they can't all be free riders off each other.
20
All diseases are symptons displayed by the body communicating the necessity for some type of internal healing- the body is perfectly capable of healing any and all disease- you just have to give it the right tools- knowing what the right tool is is half the battle. We were made exquisitely perfectly sustainable. A raw diet- comprising all necessary vitamins, minerals, and nutrients will enable the body to heal in any way possible that is not growing back a limb--- and even then, there's wiggle room ;)
21
clearly the laws regulating the fatcat hospitals and community clinics & home health care services are far too burdensome, with their obsessive sanitation rules and whatnot... so what we should do is get rid of all this redundant and costly oversight and have a market based wiki-health consumer reports or yelp type page that will address this issue in a way that will let the consumer contract a nasty disease in a fiscally responsible way.

don't hate on my childish smugness, hate the game. pinko Seattle losers.
22
@20: You are being satirical, right?
23
@22: He's posting under the name "faun". Of COURSE he's being satyrical.
24
Is he fat? Does he smoke? If not, he obviously has no need for health care.
25
I feel for the guy with ulcerative colitis at 21. My wife developed the disease a few years ago, and it is a miserable and cruel affliction. The lining of her entire colon became ulcerated, and she nearly bled out, coming extremely close to needing a transfusion during her weeklong hospital stay.

No one is sure yet what causes it (though diet doesn't seem to be a factor) and there is no cure, other than a complete colectomy. Some of the luckier colitis sufferers are able to achieve remission via various immunosuppressant drugs, others respond well to mesalamine, an anti-inflammatory sulfa drug, taken during flareups in milder cases. Prednisone can also reduce inflammation, but has some drastic side effects, like leaching calcium from your bones. The immunosuppresants have their own downsides - my sixty year old aunt with chronic colitis recently was diagnosed with leukemia, skin cancer and lung cancer all at once, possibly at least partly due to having her immune system practically shut off for half her life. Colitis also puts the sufferer at risk for colon cancer for obvious reasons, even with treatment.

My wife has medical insurance, thank God, but we are still drowning in bills. She hasn't responded to any tried treatment (the immunosuppresants made her violently ill) and has been basically on a cycle of trying for remission with mesalamine and tapered prednisone over many months until the disease flares and she has to increase her dosage again. The prednisone makes her fragile, injury prone, nervous, imsomniac, depressed and achy -- I've seen her weight fluctuate scarily over short periods of time, seen her moods become unstable, watched her be unable to eat without pain, watched her take fistfuls of pills every day; things like calcium supplements and antidepressants that she has to take to deal with the prednisone side effects. Her doctor keeps urging the colectomy surgery, which she does not want to go through.

Say what you want about "Obamacare", but at least my poor wife doesn't have to be terrified about leaving or losing her current job, because she doesn't have to be afraid of her preexisting condition keeping her from being covered.
26
@10, the problem isn't that he isn't getting health care. The problem is that when you're hospitalized, you suddenly have a lot more time to think about how the crazy impact of health care costs, especially to an unprepared individual. If he'd had insurance, even individual catastrophic, he wouldn't be worrying now. Luckily, Obamacare will make that mandatory soon, even for young fools who think they are invincible.

@22, No, he's being Christian Science. Literally, and possibly satirically, but probably earnestly, since he joined just to say that. Satirists just don't have the motivation earnest people do, or pictures of their beautiful selves next to rocky waterfalls (no offense, Faun, love ya, and you're extremely pretty).

Love @17.
27
The libertarian solution is buy health insurance or fuck you and die. Sorry 21 yo dude. You lose.
28
Loved SRJ's line @17 too. No atheists in foxholes. No libertarians in ERs.

Also nice comment by Fox in Socks @19 about how sponging off Canada isn't contradictory to the libertarian spirit. Libertarianism is as much a governing philosophy as Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme was an investment strategy and starvation is a diet.
29
i'm convinced there is no such thing as a "disease," only temporary conditions


Life is a temporary condition. In the case of "healthcare libertarians" not nearly temporary enough.
30
Mister Nobody, I have ulcerative colitis and have been treating it with a variety of natural remedies. Have your wife get in touch with me if she wants to talk.
31
Good one, venomlash!!

Libertarians wouldn't want to come to Canada for medical treatment: We insert a Socialist chip into everyone during surgery, much like gay people do when they're recruiting on God-fearing campuses nationwide...beware.
32
The libertarian agreement is pretty strong up and until the point where we deny people's existence. Then, why shouldn't the government step in and protect the life of someone living in it? Isn't that their job? We're not trying to give free MRI's away to anyone with a pulse, most people just want to live.
33
80% of libertarianism can be summed up as "fuck you, I got mine". The other 20% is "Whatever keeps the darkies from getting there's, I'm in favor of, even if it fucks me in the process".
34
Totally with you, DavidG.

I've never understood that fake Winston Churchill quote -- you know, the one about liberals before and after age 30. Do people really lose compassion for the rest of the human race just because they buy a house and have kids? Hell, my grandfather is 90 years old, and he still thinks that single-payer healthcare is the way to go.

If there is any correlation between political views and aging, it's simply that age makes you less idealistic. But you don't have to be a dyed-in-the-wool "-ist" to think that we could be doing healthcare better. Hell, Brazil has universal healthcare, and their per capita GDP is 20% of ours. If they can afford it, then goddamnit, so can we.
35
i am a widowed, unemployed mother of an 18 yr. old heart patient. He was born with a congenital heart defect & had to have his first surgery when he was 7. i was homeless, & his father had died a few months prior effectively eliminating all health care for him. He has had to have several surgeries throughout his life, but one of the last ones destroyed his heart. He had to have a pacemaker put in to keep him alive. It keeps him alive to this day. What has always kept me panic stricken is the reality that when he turns 18, he will lose all health coverage. He needs to see a cardiologist & he needs to have the battery in his pacemaker changed. How is an 18 yr. old boy with a heart condition supposed to afford this? i have already had to file for bankruptcy due to my own medical bills ( a compound fracture of my leg ). So, without medical insurance, my son will die. Is he to look to the benevolent, cost conscious corporations for help? And have we really become such a disconnected, compassionless society that people would rather have their fellow humans die than give a few dollars? i'm terrified for my son, & it makes me sad that humans have come to this empty, selfish lonely place.
36
And by the way, so many people seem to have dehumanized the issue into mere political rhetoric & smearing. i think that the real issue, that of humans dying because they can't afford to pay doctor's, surgeon's & hospital's, gets lost. It isn't about politics, it's about life or death for real human beings.
37
@35 - where do you live? Many children's hospitals have charity care available, and often treat at least until 21 years old.

@26 - Not Christian Science. Nothing about that says Christian Science. None of the buzz words, and I've never once heard anything about eating raw foods.
38
=====================
Ayn Rand, born "Alisa Rosenbaum"
------------------------------
"Rand" Paul... a truly dizzy, disconnected non-senator, who ran an absurd campaign, promising impossible things ("Let's make 'Pi' = 3.00!"), determined to get what he wants regardless of his inanity, named after someone who used an alias to conceal her true identity.

"Rand" Paul's namesake is Alisa Rosenbaum -- her REAL name, that is.

I'll bet if "Rand" Paul knew, he would be really P.O.'d since he and his dad are on the record as being rabidly anti-Semitic.
=====================
Incidentally, it pleases him no end that you label Charles Y. Farley with the nasty epithet "Lib" -- but he prefers that you capitalize it: "LIB". It signifies that he cares at least as much about other people as he does about himself. He long ago swore off being a mean-spirited, zero-sum greed machine.
As for your other insults, Chas says, "Your mommy is calling you, so go home now, wash your mouth out with soap, then wait for the men in white coats to take you away for a little 'time-out.' "
39
Theinfinite's story would break even a Libertarian's heart. Wouldn't it?
40
god, the paultards have no shame whatsoever. the only solutions they offer are quack insta-cures.
41
I feel terrible for the writer with ulcerative colitis. I have empathy for all humans, even those kinda trying to be my enemy. We non-Libertarians will try to help the young man.
42
You can't move to Canada with a pre-existing condition...
43
As a Canadian with great healthcare I've often thought about allowing someone to marry me for my Healthcard. I almost never participate in charitable causes financially, always looking for ways to extend the reach of what I already have, from tins of tuna or soup to warm clothes to my time and skills - and the more I think about it - and the more years go by without a 'normal' proposal, I say, "why the fuck not!?"

Peter in Toronto, 38yo empliyed gay man with a health credit card that never expires and has no limit - but it could be fun to try!!!

ptroyer@gmail.com
44
Faun may have a point, but until the raw vegetables can be replaced, let's just stick with the conventions of medicine.

And isn't it 'wriggle' room?
45
correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I've read that libertarianism is actually a pretty broad spectrum, with Civil Libertarianism on one end accommodating a common-sense approach to limits on corporations, forced desegregation (gasp!), and moderate level of social programs such as health care (this would be like the atheist pragmatist, Penn and Teller, South Park brand of libertarianism) and Authoritarian Libertarianism on the other end being confusingly un-libertarianism like in its' embracement of social restrictions (this being the basically-conservatism-masquerading-as-libertarianism that we see in the the modern day Tea Party).
46
augh. ironically I just jumped on slog after waking up having breathing problems and being unable to sleep. I've had this problem for months and been stupidly afraid to go to a doctor because I am uninsured. I also have an unfilled cavity, basically a gaping hole in my tooth, because I just don't want to incur any more debt. I have fallen in life from the middle class and have been struggling for years learning the ropes of poverty. It's pretty easy for an upper middle class kid to get family to float them through college and set them up with good work even if they're lazy or crazy or dumb, yet these same kids (in college, not working) seem to constantly criticize poor black people , recent immigrants, and homeless people as somehow being at fault for their situation by virtue of being too lazy and stupid to work as hard as them. Not that some poor people aren't lazy or dumb, they're human; but many if not most work very hard and are just as square and decent as the upper class folks who criticize them.
That being said, I'm really tired of hearing my fellow liberals, those to the left of me, criticizing, bitching, about right-wingers without even bothering to attempt to see where they're coming. I'm not referring to the rampant racist-sexist-homophob spectrum here, the lies and hate and fear, but the central edges, the saner criticisms- the things that draw reasonable independents into the party. The government is huge and ridiculous and powerful and scary and in need of drastic reform (what's to stop another Bush from happening?). Taxes on the middle class are a big burden on people. Utopia is not possible and we can't fix crazy, stupid, or poor no matter how hard the government tries. Socialism in its' extreme forms is crazy. We are putting people in jail for things that should not be crimes, and our military continues to commit atrocities in our name. Yet now that Obama's in charge, more and more liberals seem to be totally content with the government the way it is, which I find deeply desturbing and hypocritical. Just as I can't take the critics of Obama seriously if they are also pro-Bush, just a I can't take a "libertarian" seriously if he is anti-choice, I can't take a liberal seriously if she does not think we need a real, radical change in this country.
47
@35- stop being such a victim. your son is an adult. he either needs to sign up for Medicaid, which any hospital will help him do (and then care is FREE, yes FREE for him) or find a job like the rest of us that has health insurance. McDonalds and Starbucks both offer health insurance to full-time employees. If you get coverage through your employer, pre-existing conditions are not held against you. As an adult, he needs to take responsibility for himself at this point.
48
hey all you idiots who think that all diseases are just "temporary" or are just a fixable sign that the body "needs something" that you aren't giving it (and therefore don't need fancy medical care): some diseases are genetic, and the problem is stuck there in your DNA, and your body CAN'T MAKE WHAT YOU NEED, no matter what you stuff in it. then medical care is absolutely necessary. no amount of raw food or eliminating wheat or meditation or whatever is gonna fix you.
49
::snicker:: DP.
50
Okay, fuck you.

My best friend told me he can't sleep at night because the pain in his legs never stops. He has a degenerative disease that'll have him in a wheelchair in ten years. And he has no insurance to treat it.

You might be surprised to learn that his insurance provider stopped covering his condition immediately when Obamacare went into effect. If you outlaw discriminating against people with preexisting conditions, what do you think insurers are going to do? Reduce coverage and raise prices, that's right! Thanks to the new law, my friend is in unbearable pain, every day.

Policies can hurt real people. The lack of universal health care hurts people in tragic ways. So does universal health care. When libertarians like me oppose universal health care, it's not because we're cruel freaks who want to see people suffer. It's because we think it's the way to minimize suffering, to make medical care cheaper and more easily available. You might want to consider that not everybody agrees on the best strategy for increasing access to medical care.

Some of us are silly and blindly ideological, sure. Some of us are poorly educated and can be fooled into believing quack remedies. (That's more sad than funny, guys.) But most of us are interested in helping people.
51
". It's because we think it's the way to minimize suffering, to make medical care cheaper and more easily available."

The question is how? I think you've got a point about whether national health or insurance based, systems fail the most needy.

Maybe that means the system of medicine itself needs reform, over and above how you finance it.
52
#50: The pre-existing condition ban doesn't take effect until 2014. Are you posting this from the future? A future where a libertarian cares about reality and "helping people"?

Please wait...

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