Bitch-slapped by the Invisible Hand

[bellatrys]

If you follow dKos as your first newsfeed aggregator of choice, you've already been aware of these cases, and the syncretic whole they are parts of. If not, you might have missed the story that Chico Dave RN and Robin NWLC posted about yesterday, in which it is revealed that having been raped and sought medical care afterwards is grounds for denial

Comments

[fledgist]

That hand is about as invisible as the noonday sun.

And yet--

[bellatrys]

how many people ever *notice* the sun at any given hour of any given day? I was considered exceptionally eccentric, above and beyond all my other eccentricities, at college because I was given to pointing out the state of the sky to whomever happened to be handy - we had a notable skyline at my alma m, with particularly dramatic sunsets thanks to (alas) the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo when I was there - and yet nobody ever lifted their gaze to the atmosphere, except to complain if it were raining or snowing.

"It's the SKY, [P@L], what am I supposed to be LOOKING at?" as if our atmosphere and a great deal of what made life possible weren't more interesting than the dining hall doors or what the people in front of them were wearing ... so metaphorically, one might say, that our society's atmosphere and fiery engines of destruction and construction are invisible to those whose gaze remains firmly earthbound.

--No, I'm not drunk, just ranting. I have to go to work tomorrow still...

Re: And yet--

[fledgist]

Lots of obvious things are invisible, it turns out. Until they hit you between the eyes.

What's that saying,

[bellatrys]

about "staring into the sun, if the sun were made of stupid"--? Seems fitting, somehow >8D

[interactiveleaf]

Oh, it's not about the children. They won't insure the children, either, at least not if they're too fat. Or too skinny.

It's *never* "for the children," even when they say it is

[bellatrys]

"Think of the Children!" is one of the biggest scams perpetrated on the gullible American public since irradiated water as a cure-all. The proof positive of this is how many denunciations of things that actually save childrens' lives and health you can find without even trying on any given conservative pundit-warren: denunciations of bike helmets, anti-bullying initiatives, and toy safety recalls tend to top the list, along with laments for the banning of unregulated sales of explosives to small [male] children and lead-containing toys.

You'd almost think that they *wanted* the offspring of peasants to die young, or failing that, to be permanently handicapped in various ways...

Re: It's *never* "for the children," even when they say it is

[interactiveleaf]

The funny thing is, neglecting the proles is a poor strategy for long term power. There's a couple of very practical reasons for supporting good nutrition, education and health care for everyone: sickly, malnourished, ignorant peasants make lousy soldiers and lousy workers in a high tech economy. One of the classic poverty studies "A Third of a Nation" got its title from the proportion of men who failed to meet standards for military services. Bismarck understood this - I'm amazed so many of our learned solons don't. Maybe they just read too much Ayn Rand. Really, this should be on the Evil Overlord list.

- DW

Likewise sound public education...

[bellatrys]

I only learned via blogs that the reason for food stamps/gummint cheese was that the children of the Depression were so rickety and generally 4-E that it was hard to fill the ranks of conscripts in WWII, but it didn't surprise me since I had discovered on my own, by reading early 1940s newspapers and magazines, that the vaunted "wonderful American education of the past" (before it was corrupted by godless liberals you know) was so far from universally great that the Army was having to create crash adult remedial reading programs because the literacy level among the working classes was so low...that there weren't enough recruits who could manage the high-tech training manuals and weapons of the day.