MiscallACEneous things :)

Chapter 8: Hello :)

Hi!! It has been very long, and since I barely see people now, I'm sort of in a bubble where sex or ignorance doesn't come up, so I don't have much stuff ace-related to rant about. HOWEVER, I do have other things to talk about, so buckle up.

So first off, misconceptions and stuff and all that (this is going to be about America because I'm American)

1. I've seen at least three things criticizing the US government for trying to overthrow Maduro (Venezuela's president) in Venezuela. 

Yes, the US is trying to do that! Which is good! Before the US had imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2017, inflation had skyrocketed, imports of food and medical equipment had gone down, and infant mortality also increased a lot (according to Reuters and the Brooking Institute). Maduro and his government were and still are very corrupt and have done a lot of unjust and unethical practices (ex. arresting and possibly torturing/killing journalists and not holding fair elections). A poll by Meganalisis last November found that more than 80% of Venezuelans want Maduro out of office.

The situation isn't black and white of course, and Guaido, the person that the US and most of the world wants to replace Maduro, doesn't have a ton of support because Venezuelans have lost faith in the hope that he'll actually become president. The US and other countries are using sanctions to try and pressure Maduro to step down and let Guaido take his place.

So bottom line is that 

a.) the problems in Venezuela stem from the Venezuelan government and will continue with or without sanctions (although I'm not denying that sanctions do make it worse in the short term)

b.) no one's perfect here, but one is much worse than the other

c.) imposing sanctions on Venezuela is good and not the US needlessly abusing their power

2. Biden isn't the same as Trump. I agree that he's certainly not good, and we won't be perfect by the end of his presidency, but Trump has continually incited violence hate crimes, and a literal attempted coup, so Biden is still very much better. 

Also, the statements that "Biden is homophobic because of his stances on LGBTQ+ rights years ago" and "It is normal and good for peoples' opinions to grow and change" can't both be true. Biden's not anti-LGBTQ+; he's already extended equality protections under the law to everyone in the community. 

I agree that he still has many problematic things that we should continue to criticize and try to change, but calling him equal to Trump is wrong.

Also Bernie wasn't nominated because he wouldn't have gotten enough votes, not because the Democratic Party is horrible. The Democratic Party does suck on many fronts, but one of them is not choosing to not nominate Bernie because they're all secretly Republican. Biden barely got enough votes as a super centrist Democrat, so imagine what would have happened if the Democratic candidate was an actual socialist.

3. I've already mentioned this one before, but pleaasseeee do research before deciding Israel is the worst country in the world. The situation with Palestine and Israel is complicated, but not so complicated that a bit of research and critical thinking won't be enough to give you a basic understanding of what's going on. 

If you have any questions you want to ask but don't know if you should, comment them, and I'll try to answer the best I can (this goes for everything I said, and feel free to fact-check or disagree with me too).

4. Expanding healthcare is good for everyone. This is definitely a conservative misconception, so I assume most of you already agree with me, but I learned something really interesting a few weeks ago that I think is good for everyone to know. Expanding public healthcare doesn't just help people access care, but it helps healthcare providers a ton too.

When people don't have insurance, instead of going into debt, they just don't go to the hospital, so when people have insurance they'll go to the hospital, and hospitals will be able to stay open.

Which is really good and important because in 2019, 47 hospitals closed (Healthcare Financial Management Association).

And we know that this isn't just theory because we already see the benefits of expanded health insurance. Rural hospitals (rural hospitals are most at risk of closing) in states with expanded medicaid (it was expanded to cover a greater percentage of the federal poverty line) are 62% less likely to close according to Vox, and the Kaiser Family Fund has found that this expanded medicaid has had positive benefits going all the way up to improving state economies. 

So if we allow people to afford healthcare by hmm I don't know, having a public option, then we're going to help everyone. 

Other things!!

How are all of you? It's been half a year or so since I've posted, so what is going on in your lives and stuff?

I got a therapist, so that's good, and I also got an undercut. Aaaaaand I got cool platform doc Martens and learned how to use eyeliner. Also, do you remember the girl I mentioned liking very much in the first book? Well as it turns out, she liked me back AT THE SAME TIME, but we were both very stupid and oblivious and did not realize. 

Anyway, come talk to me because I miss interacting with y'all, and I have no idea at all when the next time I post will be, but I will answer comments and stuff.