I was shocked...

 

to read this post by an American man who is 95 years old, and who 40% of the American voting public (MAGAs) probably agrees with:

"When I was born in 1928 we had a true democracy. 

As I’ve previously mentioned, the erosion of that democracy began when FDR introduced Social Security around 1935 during the Great Depression. Initially it was voluntary and tax deductible, but those gradually disappeared, too. 

The final blow was inflicted by LBJ in 1965 with the introduction of Medicare and has gone downhill ever since. Ergo, we no longer are totally free. 

Like the woman visiting from Russia seated next to me a a plane around 1990 said: “What Americans don’t understand is not everyone wants freedom.” Her words still ring in my ears."

S.K:

In 1928, even though women had gained the right to vote with the 19th Amendment that was ratified in August of 1920 (which American women had been fighting for since 1878), several states passed laws that prevented or made it extremely difficult for Black American women (and even Black men who won the right to vote with the 14th Amendment)  to be able to exercise that newly won right. 

As a privileged white male, the man quoted above, has no idea of how this continued to be an anti-democratic scandal in our history until LBJ passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, so that those states that still practiced discrimination and prevented people of color from voting, could no longer do so.

But for the man who wrote the above quote, ours was a true democracy for HIM -- a white privileged American male. He was able to vote either because of his birthright or because it was bestowed upon him as soon as he became a US citizen. He had the right to representation, unlike the women who worked and paid taxes but were NOT allowed to vote and enjoy representation.  Man Born in 1928 had his rights, and the fact that some Americans did not enjoy those same rights matters not a whit to him. 

True Democracy?

Male Born in 1928:  "As I’ve previously mentioned, the erosion of that democracy began when FDR introduced Social Security around 1935 during the Great Depression."

S.K:

He believes that keeping American seniors, the disabled, widows, widowers, and children out of poverty through Social Security is somehow an erosion of our democracy. Yes, that's what he wrote. Now, he may have worked hard all his life and made plenty of money for his retirement and resents that he had to pay into the OASDI program (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance), because he probably believes that everyone has had the same privilege, luck, opportunities, good health, good education, and good income throughout their lives as perhaps he has, so why should he have to pay into a fund that secures benefits for those who were not as fortunate as he was? That's good ole Republican thinking: "I got mine; the hell with you!"

Or, as John Kenneth Galbraith once said:  "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

Apparently "Male Born in 1928" doesn't believe in being his "brother's keeper."

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” —Followers of Biblical teachings often interpret this story as a reminder that they are, indeed, responsible for the welfare of other people. Someone who is his brother’s keeper looks out for and cares for others, even if they are not actually related to him or her. For example, a person who tries to be a “brother’s keeper” might donate his or her time or resources to help others and will place the needs of others before his or her own.

Man Born in 1928:  "The final blow was inflicted by LBJ in 1965 with the introduction of Medicare and has gone downhill ever since. Ergo, we no longer are totally free."

S.K:

MBin1928 has no idea of how many American lives have been saved through the Medicare and Medicaid programs or how disastrous life would be or would have been without Medicare and Medicaid for millions of Americans. I don't know if he uses Medicare for his health insurance, but I'll guess that without it and its supplemental insurance, reaching the grand old age of 95 would have been unsustainable and costly unless he (and maybe his wife if he has/had one) had perfect health up to now.  

Why he thinks securing health coverage for those who paid into the plan their entire life is somehow enslavement is a mystery. Perhaps he believes allowing millions and millions of Americans to become impoverished, homeless, and to die because of the outrageous costs of health care in this country is what true democracy is about?  This is what happens in many third world countries. Is this his vision for America, the richest country on the planet?  

Does he or any of his fellow MAGAs understand what "...promote the general welfare..." in our Constitution means? I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean to let our less fortunate fellow Americans die from being uninsured and needing health care or having little to no money to live in dignity in their old age. 

Man Born in 1928:  "Like the woman visiting from Russia seated next to me a a plane around 1990 said: “What Americans don’t understand is not everyone wants freedom.” Her words still ring in my ears."

S.K:

MBin1928 admits the words of a Russian national still resonate with him. Those words:  "What Americans don't understand is not everyone wants freedom." MBin1928 doesn't explain why those words "ring in his ears." Does it mean he found them to be profoundly truthful? That those words mean many people are happy to live under oppression? That they don't want freedom?

What is more oppressive than facing old age in abject poverty and chronic illness, or having the widow unable to feed her children and herself? Who believes that our fellow Americans choose that instead of freedom? 

Freedom is not having to worry that if one becomes sick, one doesn't lose all he or she has worked for in his/her life. Right now, that is what happens to many Americans who do not have Medicare/Medicaid and are subject to the arbitrary whims of an insurance company whose only interest are the profits from Americans who pay for insurance that often does not cover them when they are catastrophically sick or injured.

Does MBin1928 really believe that contributing to the general welfare so that other Americans (or even he and his loved ones) can live in dignity is a surrender of one's freedoms?

Does MBin1928 really believe that social programs that help the helpless, feed the hungry, and save the lives of the sick and injured is a threat to our democracy and not the guy who has promised to throw anyone in prison who opposed him in the last election and denied that he won in 2020; the same guy with 91 felony indictments and who was found liable for rape?

Does MBin1928 or other MAGAs like him think at all?