• hotcouchguy [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    77
    ·
    1 month ago

    I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.

  • CleverOleg [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    54
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    Remember back in 2019, when left-leaning folks in the UK were like “the tories want to turn the NHS in to American-style health system”? And then us Americans tried warning them too, explaining how shit our system is because people outside of the US and aren’t familiar with it simply can’t comprehend how bad it is? How we all said Corbyn was the only hope for saving the NHS? Only to have everyone else in the UK say “nahhhh they’d never actually do that”.

    How’s that working out for you, UK public?

  • mustGo [any]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    47
    ·
    1 month ago

    We are SO close to the Phlip K Dick door that won’t let you out without paying it and will argue with you if you try. Someone just needs to add an llm to the wheelchair. torment

  • Łumało [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    37
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    Remember the post where cops were stealing wheelchairs of homeless people? This will rollout soon I Amerikkka I just know it.

  • vovchik_ilich [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    34
    ·
    1 month ago

    This makes me think: there HAVE TO be open-source, affordable, easy to manufacture designs of mobility items, with either off-the-shelf parts or with salvaged materials. Anyone encountered anything like that?

    • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      26
      ·
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      I think the actual wheels on wheelchairs are… somewhat unique. Other parts might be more doable but you know, you need it to be comfortable and very durable and all these things. I don’t think freely available designs is really the issue here, though it would be cool

      easy to manufacture is relative to your capacity. Are we talking “build them in your garage with hand tools”, or “can be made for $40 a pop by a factory in china” because one of those is always gonna come out on top

      • because one of those is always gonna come out on top

        Yeah exactly, I’m all for DIY, but for medical equipment that is critical to care, there should be a big factory making them with strict quality standards and regulations, ideally owned by the state with an unionized workforce (if we’re still talking about capitalism at this point). Both costs and quality are much better at this point.

  • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    32
    ·
    1 month ago

    Put a card reader on all the exits. If patients can’t afford to leave, put them to work in the kitchens or changing bed pans.

  • bdonvrA
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    31
    ·
    1 month ago

    It’s an Israeli company too

    Just holy fuck how can people be this fucking cartoonishly evil.

  • umbrella@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    28
    ·
    1 month ago

    what if instead of paying for health insurance, usians saved that money for a trip to a place with actual healthcare

    • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      22
      ·
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      this is a thing actually lol. Although the individual mandate sorta screwed it up for a few years

      most commonly it’s people near-ish to the northern or southern border going to canada or mexico for prescriptions, dental work, etc. There’s also a lot of people travelling for surgeries that aren’t covered by insurance and are ludicrously expensive and hard to get in the states, often things like hair transplants or trans top/bottom surgeries, but probably other things as well.

      I mean shit people also order their medications from under-the-table overseas pharmacies pretty often.

    • bdonvrA
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 month ago

      There’s a huge market of Americans who pop down to Mexico to get their dental work done for a lot less. Get near the border you may see billboards about it. It’s insane.

      • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        There isn’t much “punk” outside of superficial aesthetics in the Cyberpunkerinos 2077, either, especially after doing story jobs for cops and the fucking president and getting a Swerve-style lecture from the main narrative that trying to improve society somewhat is actually stupid and bad because look at how too far Keanu Reeves went (and he actually did it for selfish reasons and now his digital phantasm wants to take over Original-V-Do-Not-Steal’s brain!). It’s a diluted concept and kind of a lost cause to try to keep within old margins.

        • UmbraVivi [he/him, she/her]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          1 month ago

          The main game was honestly not that bad (except for the side quest cop thing), the DLC was just pure bootlickery.

          Sure, it didn’t level any valuable critiques, but it wasn’t like Black Panther or Bioshock Infinite where attempting to improve society somewhat is framed as sinister and harmful, the tone of Cyberpunk was more that it’s impossible and anyone who tries will end up a jaded asshole like Johnny Silverhand. It’s not the position of diehard centrists who think the status quo is good, but that of liberals who are aware of flaws in the system and may even agree with you that certain aspects of capitalism are unjust, but instead of imagining a better world, they shrug and go “ah well, that’s just how it is, what can ya do”. I found the story inoffensive in that regard, my expectations were low and it met them. I enjoyed vibes-based stuff like the bright neon vending machine in V’s apartment.

          The DLC was fucking unbearable. I put over 70 hours into the Cyberpunkerinos but I could not get through the embarrassing story of the DLC where you literally save the president and join the FBI. I also liked how they made the president this tough lady who can fight for herself when the 2 most recent presidents have been bumbling geriatrics.

          tl;dr Johnny Silverhand is kinda like the-deserter if you play Disco Elysium at 20x speed while also playing Subway Surfers on your phone and huffing lead paint.

          • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            1 month ago

            I suppose my problem was that even the aesthetics fell flat for me. The whole “Japan is scary and its corporate octopus will take over the world” thing was an 80s propaganda product and seeing it presented ostensibly a century afterward felt like a boomer’s idea of what the future looks like.

          • KobaCumTribute [she/her]@hexbear.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            1 month ago

            I could not get through the embarrassing story of the DLC where you literally save the president and join the FBI.

            The thin act of humanity Myers and the FIA agents put on in the beginning steadily drops away, with your actual client (Songbird) even all but saying “Myers is actually ontologically evil” in part of the opening sequence, just in much more guarded words than that.

            spoilers

            It becomes increasingly obvious that the NUSA agents are in fact the bad guys as it sets up the moment of truth where you either keep working for Songbird or betray her and side with them instead, with Sol at one point breaking from the plan to just straight up murder two captive bystanders in front of you, and while I have no clue what side-with-the-FIA questline looks like the Songbird path ends with Myers ordering NUSA troops to No Russian the Night City spaceport and raving about wanting both V and Songbird dead.

            I also liked how they made the president this tough lady who can fight for herself when the 2 most recent presidents have been bumbling geriatrics.

            It’s a setting where wealth buys superpowers and nearly eternal youth, and Myers is basically Adam Smasher with a human mask.