The votes are in

[abbey1227]

Nov 10, 2020 4:06:14 GMT Prometheus said:

No offense, Abs, but is your household "highly functioning" because of your opinions or because of the support your missus brings to the table?

I don't know all the "whyto's and wherefo's" but I get the impression from past conversations that the missus makes the most money. She has the insurance. Etc.

I think insurance might be a nice place to start to explain things.

Health care causes you little or no stress because it has been provided for you by a social collective being managed by a large corporation (two things which you dislike, IIRC) with the premiums paid for by another party.

Single payer UHC would eliminate one of the things you don't like: the insurance companies, while reducing out of pocket expenses even more, and possibly netting increased take-home pay to the household.

It's not socialism because the government would not own the means of production (leastways not any more than they already do) and there's a possibility that our government expenses might be lowered while our GDP increases. Most economists think that's a good thing.

Of course, not only will the insurance companies be mad about it, but so won't those communist microcosms known as trade unions, because they will have lost a bargaining chip and recruiting tool.

If you dislike corporations and unions, and you want to see the American economy get stronger, single payer UHC is probably something that you would want, especially since it will reduce the stress of others out there who make life outside your household stressful, and the extra money you'll probably have in your pocket can be used for more stress relief.

Giving the government the responsibility to pay our medical bills would also fuel medical research, since the government would want to find better ways to reduce payouts. It would force the government to do better with enforcing safety regulations. It might even lead to mandatory vacation time like so many other 1st world countries enjoy.

Those all seem like good things to me.

No offense taken at all. I get what you're saying about insurance.......but our household finances are strictly a 50/50 split.

Besides, let's say I was single with no insurance.  Why wouldn't I just do what millions of Americans and non-Americans do? Go get the care and then skip out on the bills.

My health and healthcare really haven't been the primary source of stress over my life......with very few exceptions. And I get how one costly incident could be a problem, but when I look around at what others are stressing over......it's usually financial or relationship based. Their choices in partners and how they spend their money are very controllable...... IF they wished it to be so.

I do not trust the economists that have been front and center for years. Krugman? Reich? These guys sold out the country along with their political pals. And only one of them had the guts to admit he might have been mistaken pushing the globalist agenda.

If the Govt insists on interfering in insurance........why not simply mandate the profit margins they're allowed? No need to get into the business themselves and operate at a loss like they do so many other things.

The extra money in my pocket? I've argued that same thing to people for years about the sheer amount of taxes.........but they don't want that money in their pockets, they want Govt assurances/security. But meanwhile, they could use that extra money to BUY Insurance, which they've skipped for years. I may not know much about it all, but I know insurance companies are monitored and licensed to operate by the the govt. So if they're not fulfilling their contracts, they'd get squashed just like a casino that didn't pay out when it's customers win.

We gave them the responsibility to fund retirements, too. How'd that work out with Social Security? And from what I've seen just about every large college campus has medical research and medical tech firms are on the dole, too.

In the last 30-40 years or so.........have you really seen govt for looking ways to save money or reduce payouts?

I'm  really chuckling about vacation time and forcing employers to provide this or that now. As I've been working less than 32 hours a week for well over a decade and still somehow managing to fund my 1/2 of household expenses, pitch in on insurance, buy a new car here and there, a few other toys AND take a vacation almost every year.

I'll point out that Illegals seem to do much better than many Americans at 'making ends meet'. Is it the fantastic schooling they received in their home country? Is it that they're so much smarter? Or could it just be that they're not nearly as spoiled and entitled as the typical American?

I look at you and see what you've done.......moving to another country and managing well enough. And what was the primary reason for leaving the US? Financial? Was the govt's involvement and handling of the economy back then something to be praised? I don't think so.

[Prometheus]

Nov 10, 2020 4:28:58 GMT abbey1227 said:

Nov 10, 2020 4:06:14 GMT Prometheus said:

No offense, Abs, but is your household "highly functioning" because of your opinions or because of the support your missus brings to the table?

I don't know all the "whyto's and wherefo's" but I get the impression from past conversations that the missus makes the most money. She has the insurance. Etc.

I think insurance might be a nice place to start to explain things.

Health care causes you little or no stress because it has been provided for you by a social collective being managed by a large corporation (two things which you dislike, IIRC) with the premiums paid for by another party.

Single payer UHC would eliminate one of the things you don't like: the insurance companies, while reducing out of pocket expenses even more, and possibly netting increased take-home pay to the household.

It's not socialism because the government would not own the means of production (leastways not any more than they already do) and there's a possibility that our government expenses might be lowered while our GDP increases. Most economists think that's a good thing.

Of course, not only will the insurance companies be mad about it, but so won't those communist microcosms known as trade unions, because they will have lost a bargaining chip and recruiting tool.

If you dislike corporations and unions, and you want to see the American economy get stronger, single payer UHC is probably something that you would want, especially since it will reduce the stress of others out there who make life outside your household stressful, and the extra money you'll probably have in your pocket can be used for more stress relief.

Giving the government the responsibility to pay our medical bills would also fuel medical research, since the government would want to find better ways to reduce payouts. It would force the government to do better with enforcing safety regulations. It might even lead to mandatory vacation time like so many other 1st world countries enjoy.

Those all seem like good things to me.

No offense taken at all. I get what you're saying about insurance.......but our household finances are strictly a 50/50 split.

Besides, let's say I was single with no insurance.  Why wouldn't I just do what millions of Americans and non-Americans do? Go get the care and then skip out on the bills.

It's the people who skip out on the bills that cost the US money since it's the federal government that insures the hospitals and insurance companies. UHC fixes that.

And I'm not going to talk about illegals, since that's a semi-separate conversation

My health and healthcare really haven't been the primary source of stress over my life......with very few exceptions. And I get how one costly incident could be a problem, but when I look around at what others are stressing over......it's usually financial or relationship based. Their choices in partners and how they spend their money are very controllable...... IF they wished it to be so.

"financial"? Like paying their medical bills, maybe?

I do not trust the economists that have been front and center for years. Krugman? Reich? These guys sold out the country along with their political pals. And only one of them had the guts to admit he might have been mistaken pushing the globalist agenda.Reducing expenses seems to be straight up von Mises to me....

If the Govt insists on interfering in insurance........why not simply mandate the profit margins they're allowed? No need to get into the business themselves and operate at a loss like they do so many other things.

You don't want the government to reduce its dependency on corporate lobbyists? That seems out of character for you, Abs.

As for operating, at a loss... reducing the per capita cost the US government pays by about 50% seems like we'd probably have money to pay down our debt.

As for mandating margins, there wouldn't be a need. With a single payer, the bargaining power of the corporations is automatically reduced.

The extra money in my pocket? I've argued that same thing to people for years about the sheer amount of taxes.........but they don't want that money in their pockets, they want Govt assurances/security. But meanwhile, they could use that extra money to BUY Insurance, which they've skipped for years. I may not know much about it all, but I know insurance companies are monitored and licensed to operate by the the govt. So if they're not fulfilling their contracts, they'd get squashed just like a casino that didn't pay out when it's customers win.

If people are skipping out on bills because they can't afford it and they aren't paying insurance premiums already, then there is no extra money in their pockets at all... just yours. Is that a problem for you?

We gave them the responsibility to fund retirements, too. How'd that work out with Social Security? And from what I've seen just about every large college campus has medical research and medical tech firms are on the dole, too.

No you didn't. You gave them the responsibility to SUPPLEMENT retirement, not fund it. Then the voters elected people who then fucked over the plan. And let's face it, SSI is essentially a ponzi scheme from the word go. Too bad those boomers didn't have enough kids to keep the scam going....

In the last 30-40 years or so.........have you really seen govt for looking ways to save money or reduce payouts?

Yes, actually, but it never comes to fruition because they are only robbing Peter to pay Paul (see SSI above) depending on whichever party's pet cause is.

I'm  really chuckling about vacation time and forcing employers to provide this or that now. As I've been working less than 32 hours a week for well over a decade and still somehow managing to fund my 1/2 of household expenses, pitch in on insurance, buy a new car here and there, a few other toys AND take a vacation almost every year.

And yet, not everyone else is so lucky. How many hours does the missus work? How many hours do your neighbors work? How many hours did your parents, step-parents, and overly friendly uncles work?

I'll point out that Illegals seem to do much better than many Americans at 'making ends meet'. Is it the fantastic schooling they received in their home country? Is it that they're so much smarter? Or could it just be that they're not nearly as spoiled and entitled as the typical American?

I look at you and see what you've done.......moving to another country and managing well enough. And what was the primary reason for leaving the US? Financial? Was the govt's involvement and handling of the economy back then something to be praised? I don't think so.

Yes. I'm doing well enough. Yes the government fucked up.

But I think I'd still prefer to not die from a cut going gangrenous simply because I couldn't afford the ER bill.

You know why hospitals and doctors charge so much for stuff? To make up for the "losses" they suffer at the hands of "skippers" and insurance companies.

How much does it cost to get an MRI in the US these days? I can get one for about $50 here in China. Maybe less. Hospitals and doctors work for a profit here too. Why can they charge so little?

Know how much I paid for my last Covid test? $0.00. Not because of UHC (China doesn't have it), but because the government decided that it was the right thing to do. Even if I had to pay for it, it would have cost about $17. I think I saw sth about it costing nigh on to $1,000 in the US in some cases. With UHC, it probably would just cost the government $17 per.... maybe $15. $5 billion seems like a small price to pay to test everyone then isolate the people that test positive to stop the spread of a disease that has already killed nearly a quarter of a million Americans.

Wait.

I know your response: If people had just washed their hands, worn masks, and kept their distance, it wouldn't have to cost the $5 billion in the first place.

Sometimes people need to be saved from themselves... especially when they are putting the lives of others at risk at the same time.

The government already pays out over $3.5 trillion for health care in the US. If UHC can knock that back to $2 trillion, I think it's a good thing. They aren't intruding. They're just paying the bill.

[abbey1227]

Nov 10, 2020 5:27:29 GMT Prometheus said:

It's the people who skip out on the bills that cost the US money since it's the federal government that insures the hospitals and insurance companies. UHC fixes that.
And I'm not going to talk about illegals, since that's a semi-separate conversation

"financial"? Like paying their medical bills, maybe?

You don't want the government to reduce its dependency on corporate lobbyists? That seems out of character for you, Abs.

As for operating, at a loss... reducing the per capita cost the US government pays by about 50% seems like we'd probably have money to pay down our debt.

As for mandating margins, there wouldn't be a need. With a single payer, the bargaining power of the corporations is automatically reduced.

If people are skipping out on bills because they can't afford it and they aren't paying insurance premiums already, then there is no extra money in their pockets at all... just yours. Is that a problem for you?

No you didn't. You gave them the responsibility to SUPPLEMENT retirement, not fund it. Then the voters elected people who then fucked over the plan. And let's face it, SSI is essentially a ponzi scheme from the word go. Too bad those boomers didn't have enough kids to keep the scam going....

Yes, actually, but it never comes to fruition because they are only robbing Peter to pay Paul (see SSI above) depending on whichever party's pet cause is.

And yet, not everyone else is so lucky. How many hours does the missus work? How many hours do your neighbors work? How many hours did your parents, step-parents, and overly friendly uncles work?

Yes. I'm doing well enough. Yes the government fucked up.

But I think I'd still prefer to not die from a cut going gangrenous simply because I couldn't afford the ER bill.

You know why hospitals and doctors charge so much for stuff? To make up for the "losses" they suffer at the hands of "skippers" and insurance companies.

How much does it cost to get an MRI in the US these days? I can get one for about $50 here in China. Maybe less. Hospitals and doctors work for a profit here too. Why can they charge so little?

Know how much I paid for my last Covid test? $0.00. Not because of UHC (China doesn't have it), but because the government decided that it was the right thing to do. Even if I had to pay for it, it would have cost about $17. I think I saw sth about it costing nigh on to $1,000 in the US in some cases. With UHC, it probably would just cost the government $17 per.... maybe $15. $5 billion seems like a small price to pay to test everyone then isolate the people that test positive to stop the spread of a disease that has already killed nearly a quarter of a million Americans.

Wait.

I know your response: If people had just washed their hands, worn masks, and kept their distance, it wouldn't have to cost the $5 billion in the first place.

Sometimes people need to be saved from themselves... especially when they are putting the lives of others at risk at the same time.

The government already pays out over $3.5 trillion for health care in the US. If UHC can knock that back to $2 trillion, I think it's a good thing. They aren't intruding. They're just paying the bill.

it's also the govt mandate that forces hospitals and clinics to provide service for people they know won't pay. Might as well force shops to serve known shoplifters.

Like merh says so often......EVERYONE will get sick sooner olater. So whoever skips out on getting insurance is risking their own financial stability eventually.

I'd ban lobbying 100% tomorrow if was left up to me.

I'm still waiting for the govt to show me it even knows how to save a dollar.

It works in other countries because they ARE other countries. I'd compare our public schools to their UHC, if you'd like. That's pretty much got the vast majority of education, right? How are the costs compared to other countries? We're still the most expensive, right? And how are our test scores these days? Middle of the pack? Lower? Why not use Mike Bloomberg's idea and simply raise the taxes on the poor since they just waste their money anyway? And use those funds to purchase insurance for them. It's always using other peoples' money......which always leads to waste and complacency on everyone's part.

Agreed. It's a ponzi scheme and the Govt runs a fraud.....and THEN they stole the money out of the account making it even worse. I don't know why I'd ever have a problem giving them more say in that department. We could import the world's poor and they'd have kids......and it still won't change it from anything but a ponzi scheme that the govt is handling the funds. So doomed to failure. I know, I know. Places like Canada seem to have politicians much more trustworthy.....but not in the US.

Agreed again, our representatives are just like the public...........putting it all on credit and paying the bare minimum. Interest be damned. Debt be  ignored.

Luck? LUCK? Did the NE Patriots get to 9 Superbowls with pure luck? Or did planning and proper execution maybe have something to do with it? While many others simply showed up to collect their checks?

My Mrs works full time. Though she's keen on retiring early.......earlier than I anyway. My current neighbors seem to work very hard as they're all in bed by 8 with the lights out every night and off to work early in the morn. I suspect most of them didn't count on luck either. My parent worked her whole life, my step-parent stopped working in his 30s with a mental condition. And neither one has ever been able to break their bad habits with money and planning. My extended family is larger and seems to mostly be broken into 2 camps, as well. The work harder and smarter types.......and the plod along doing the same mistakes over and over types.

The govt fucked up? 

cynicaldreamer seems to think it's the fault of pharmaceuticals and insurance companies. I blame the non-payers and the govt mostly. I know those companies make good cake, too though.

We should let China open up hospitals and clinics in the US then.  MRIs are crazy expensive, I know. But boob jobs and botox? Fairly reasonable.....because insurance and govt isn't nearly as involved?

I got Covid........and the test was 'free' too. But I know it got paid with tax dollars. This pandemic is far more political than actually dangerous to most, imo.

Not my response at all. Doesn't matter if it's a natural mutation or Chinese invented......it's a virus and will float around the world like they all do. And people will continue to do what they do as well. So expecting Americans to behave better than even the Chinese or others? That's a laughable expectation. We've got people in prison for drugs, doing drugs in prison. Heck, once they started releasing prisoners for fear of lawsuits/covid.......prisoners started trying to give each other covid! 

There's that same caring, but almost fascistic response I keep seeing. Save them from themselves........even if force is necessary? The ends justify the means? So much for the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. The masses are more important! Might as well turn it all over to AOC & Co now.

Paying the bill? Like they've done so well the last few decades? I get the argument that the Govt taking over might reduce costs by reducing spending on prescription drugs and administrative overhead. But I do not trust for one second that THAT would actually come to fruition either. The ACA was yet another example of how they can F up a wet dream.

But I realize your heart is in the right spot. And mine doesn't even enter into that discussion.

[abbey1227]

not that I wanna go on and on about healthcare......but it strikes me that it's been years...... so many Americans claim to want to help and al;leviate the problems......but waiting on Govt?

Couldn't they have handled it sorta like the Peace Corps of olde? Mostly volunteer? Charitable people? We already raise more money for charity than anyone else.

Why haven't colleges donated medical training in exchange for volunteer service in the future? Why don't we have a surplus of doctors and nurses donating a portion of their time right now? Drug companies and medical suppliers getting good PR donating their products?

And where's the exemption to lawsuits to anyone providing that free service?


So many missed opportunities.....and yet another decade goes by.....and people still look to the US Govt for salvation?

[Prometheus]

Nov 10, 2020 6:10:06 GMT abbey1227 said:

Nov 10, 2020 5:27:29 GMT Prometheus said:

It's the people who skip out on the bills that cost the US money since it's the federal government that insures the hospitals and insurance companies. UHC fixes that.
And I'm not going to talk about illegals, since that's a semi-separate conversation

"financial"? Like paying their medical bills, maybe?

You don't want the government to reduce its dependency on corporate lobbyists? That seems out of character for you, Abs.

As for operating, at a loss... reducing the per capita cost the US government pays by about 50% seems like we'd probably have money to pay down our debt.

As for mandating margins, there wouldn't be a need. With a single payer, the bargaining power of the corporations is automatically reduced.

If people are skipping out on bills because they can't afford it and they aren't paying insurance premiums already, then there is no extra money in their pockets at all... just yours. Is that a problem for you?

No you didn't. You gave them the responsibility to SUPPLEMENT retirement, not fund it. Then the voters elected people who then fucked over the plan. And let's face it, SSI is essentially a ponzi scheme from the word go. Too bad those boomers didn't have enough kids to keep the scam going....

Yes, actually, but it never comes to fruition because they are only robbing Peter to pay Paul (see SSI above) depending on whichever party's pet cause is.

And yet, not everyone else is so lucky. How many hours does the missus work? How many hours do your neighbors work? How many hours did your parents, step-parents, and overly friendly uncles work?

Yes. I'm doing well enough. Yes the government fucked up.

But I think I'd still prefer to not die from a cut going gangrenous simply because I couldn't afford the ER bill.

You know why hospitals and doctors charge so much for stuff? To make up for the "losses" they suffer at the hands of "skippers" and insurance companies.

How much does it cost to get an MRI in the US these days? I can get one for about $50 here in China. Maybe less. Hospitals and doctors work for a profit here too. Why can they charge so little?

Know how much I paid for my last Covid test? $0.00. Not because of UHC (China doesn't have it), but because the government decided that it was the right thing to do. Even if I had to pay for it, it would have cost about $17. I think I saw sth about it costing nigh on to $1,000 in the US in some cases. With UHC, it probably would just cost the government $17 per.... maybe $15. $5 billion seems like a small price to pay to test everyone then isolate the people that test positive to stop the spread of a disease that has already killed nearly a quarter of a million Americans.

Wait.

I know your response: If people had just washed their hands, worn masks, and kept their distance, it wouldn't have to cost the $5 billion in the first place.

Sometimes people need to be saved from themselves... especially when they are putting the lives of others at risk at the same time.

The government already pays out over $3.5 trillion for health care in the US. If UHC can knock that back to $2 trillion, I think it's a good thing. They aren't intruding. They're just paying the bill.

it's also the govt mandate that forces hospitals and clinics to provide service for people they know won't pay. Might as well force shops to serve known shoplifters.

Like merh says so often......EVERYONE will get sick sooner olater. So whoever skips out on getting insurance is risking their own financial stability eventually.

I'm talking about UHC, NOT insurance. You won't have to worry about people skipping out because the bill is going to get paid for no matter what.

I'd ban lobbying 100% tomorrow if was left up to me.

Good

I'm still waiting for the govt to show me it even knows how to save a dollar.

I'm waiting for "We the People" to start voting out all the fuckers who don't do what we want.

It works in other countries because they ARE other countries. I'd compare our public schools to their UHC, if you'd like. That's pretty much got the vast majority of education, right? How are the costs compared to other countries? We're still the most expensive, right? And how are our test scores these days? Middle of the pack? Lower? Why not use Mike Bloomberg's idea and simply raise the taxes on the poor since they just waste their money anyway? And use those funds to purchase insurance for them. It's always using other peoples' money......which always leads to waste and complacency on everyone's part.

I think it's important to point out that one of the reasons our education is so expensive is because of the amount the local governments are forced to pay for private insurance premiums for worker health care and the demand for higher wages so that teachers and other school workers can afford deductibles etc.

Workers with less stress are known to perform better.

I also suspect that students will perform better when they aren't worried about mom and dad getting divorced over financial problems caused by the inability to pay mounting medical bills, or other such health care related issues.

That is not to say that UHC will resolve all of the failings of our educational system, but the money saved on premiums might go a long way to saving certain educational programs or building a new chemistry lab or whatever. There's more to deal with, but that's for a different post... or two....

Agreed. It's a ponzi scheme and the Govt runs a fraud.....and THEN they stole the money out of the account making it even worse. I don't know why I'd ever have a problem giving them more say in that department. We could import the world's poor and they'd have kids......and it still won't change it from anything but a ponzi scheme that the govt is handling the funds. So doomed to failure. I know, I know. Places like Canada seem to have politicians much more trustworthy.....but not in the US.

And who voted for these less-than-trustworthy politicians? Who voted for the politicians that fucked up SSI? How many of those fuckers are still getting re-elected term after term?

Agreed again, our representatives are just like the public...........putting it all on credit and paying the bare minimum. Interest be damned. Debt be  ignored.

Imagine if they didn't have to pay their medical bills with credit cards charging 18% interest....

Luck? LUCK? Did the NE Patriots get to 9 Superbowls with pure luck? Or did planning and proper execution maybe have something to do with it? While many others simply showed up to collect their checks?

I'm betting that the families of pro athletes struggled very hard to produce "winners". I'm sure that many of them went into debt on the gamble.

My Mrs works full time. Though she's keen on retiring early.......earlier than I anyway. My current neighbors seem to work very hard as they're all in bed by 8 with the lights out every night and off to work early in the morn. I suspect most of them didn't count on luck either. My parent worked her whole life, my step-parent stopped working in his 30s with a mental condition. And neither one has ever been able to break their bad habits with money and planning. My extended family is larger and seems to mostly be broken into 2 camps, as well. The work harder and smarter types.......and the plod along doing the same mistakes over and over types.

So... "If they can't be like me, fuck 'em!"?

I'm a great fan of bootstrapping too, Abs, as you well know, but I know that you can't do it without boots.

The govt fucked up? 

cynicaldreamer seems to think it's the fault of pharmaceuticals and insurance companies. I blame the non-payers and the govt mostly. I know those companies make good cake, too though.

She's right to a certain extent. And so are you.

UHC would go a long way to straightening out some of those problems due to what I have already mentioned.

We should let China open up hospitals and clinics in the US then.  MRIs are crazy expensive, I know. But boob jobs and botox? Fairly reasonable.....because insurance and govt isn't nearly as involved?

China opening up clinics and hospitals here wouldn't reduce costs of a damn thing and you know it. You're just trying to deflect from talking about how outrageously high the margins are in the US.

I got Covid........and the test was 'free' too. But I know it got paid with tax dollars. This pandemic is far more political than actually dangerous to most, imo.

the ~246,000 dead people in the US and their families might disagree with you about how dangerous the virus is. The ~10,000,000 Americans who survived but may have life-long complications may also disagree with you.

The only reason that it's political at all is because people are stupid.

Not my response at all. Doesn't matter if it's a natural mutation or Chinese invented......it's a virus and will float around the world like they all do. And people will continue to do what they do as well. So expecting Americans to behave better than even the Chinese or others? That's a laughable expectation. We've got people in prison for drugs, doing drugs in prison. Heck, once they started releasing prisoners for fear of lawsuits/covid.......prisoners started trying to give each other covid! 

You're on the cusp of realizing that it's cultural rather than purely political. Go ahead. One more step....

There's that same caring, but almost fascistic response I keep seeing. Save them from themselves........even if force is necessary? The ends justify the means? So much for the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. The masses are more important! Might as well turn it all over to AOC & Co now.

Aaaaannnd you stepped back.

I'm not sure what rights are in danger or what liberties, Abs. Can you tell me? Is it the right to kill your neighbor with impunity? I don't recall seeing that in the Constitution. Is it right next to the section that gives people the right to drive drunk at high speeds?

Paying the bill? Like they've done so well the last few decades? I get the argument that the Govt taking over might reduce costs by reducing spending on prescription drugs and administrative overhead. But I do not trust for one second that THAT would actually come to fruition either. The ACA was yet another example of how they can F up a wet dream.

Obamacare is nothing close to single payer UHC. Bringing it up is deflection.

And the government isn't going to "take over." It's just going to get stuck with the bill. And the bill is going to be a lot lower since the government is going to be able to get the best price.

But I realize your heart is in the right spot. And mine doesn't even enter into that discussion.

Actually, YOUR heart is exactly the point. You got what you have by working harder and smarter, and probably by being LUCKY enough to not to have to deal with any major diseases or other life-threatening medical problems.

This is the part where you expound on one and where I expound on the confluence of other factors (which many call "luck") which led to your positive outcome, so let's skip that tedium.

An old saying has been rolling around in my head while writing this response:
"I wept because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."

I can't help but get the feeling that you would have passed by that footless man thinking, "Lazy fucker should get a wheelchair and a job." without it ever entering your mind to at least do your part to provide him with the wheelchair. I doubt you'd even drop a coin in his beggar's bowl to help him pay for one.

I'll go a step further.

You don't want him to ever get a wheelchair and a job because you're worried that he'll someday he'll "be in charge" and YOU might end up holding the bowl. Heaven forbid that you might have to work 36 hours a week just to stay ahead in the race.

Yes. That's what I think of your heart, Abs.

I still like you, though.