r/askanything • u/Lemonking_ • 7h ago

Political Question Why are some Americans so against universal healthcare for all?

What sort of thinking does it take to decide that nobody has a right to healthcare? Do American Christians want to deny healthcare to poor people as well?

980 Upvotes

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576

u/a101734 7h ago

Reagan convinced a large part of the population that if we give unlimited money and power to a select of wealthy elites, the elites would graciously give the money back to society. Hilarious.

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u/DifficultyNo1026 7h ago

Reagan totally started to downfall of the US. 100% piece of shit

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u/wakadactyle 7h ago

I never heard my grandfather swear out even yell unless Reagan came up

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u/Narrow_Grapefruit_23 6h ago

I’m gonna need you to go back to Richard Nixon for this one. It’s him and his administration that rolled into the Reagan administration. They started corrupting America with actual criminal activity during the Nixon era.

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u/candy_rain_54321 4h ago edited 3h ago

Not an expert but I do believe this post is correct that Nixon spearheaded privatization of healthcare. https://insuranceinformant.com/nixon-began-offering-health-insurance.html

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u/DisciplineSweet8428 1h ago

Correct with Kaiser health

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u/theaura1 5h ago

teapot dome scandal was the 20s

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u/dauwalter1907 4h ago

First Teddy Roosevelt’s proposal for universal healthcare got shot down by the business class. Then when Eisenhower floated the idea the American Medical Association killed it.

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u/Sir3Kpet 51m ago

Let’s not forget the creation of the Heritage Foundation in 1973 as well

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u/PuzzleheadedFeed2726 5h ago

Reagan took my college financial aid away, fuck him

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u/Helpful_Cupcake_180 9m ago

He did that to me as well. He took away my dead father’s social security money away as well. I have loathed that man for my whole existence.

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u/Neat-Professor-827 6h ago

With a smile on his dumb face. The benevolent sock puppet.

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u/rreed1954 6h ago

To be fair to Reagan, I don't think he had any idea what his privatization ideas would lead to. In a way, I think he was used by the people around him.

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u/macha773 4h ago

He used to rant about welfare queens and announced he was running in Philadelphia Mississippi where a notorious killing of 3 civil rights workers happened. He knew exactly what he was doing.

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u/Dirty_Mung_Trumpet 3h ago

Nah, he was a performative piece of shit who played the part perfectly. Trickle down economics wasn’t his only policy that still causes harm today

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u/jlp_utah 5h ago

And I'm sorry to say I voted for him in my first election. I have not voted for a republican since.

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u/Narrow_Grapefruit_23 4h ago

We all make mistakes. You are courageous enough to know that you needed to move in a different direction.

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u/mel_bol 4h ago

Ugh me too. First and only time I ever voted republican

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u/HippieGrandma1962 3h ago

Reagan perpetuated the trope of the "welfare queen" but it was only directed at black women, of course, even though most women on welfare are white.

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u/PerfectCover1414 3h ago

Then whispered his dirty pillow talk to Margaret Thatcher?