The real cost of empire - Ep 157

Don 00:00:08

This is Fortress On A Hill, with Henri, Danny, Kaygan,

Jo vonni, Shiloh, and Monisha

Welcome everyone to Fortress On A Hill, a podcast about U.

S.

foreign policy, anti imperialism, skepticism, and American way of war.

I'm Jovanni.

Thank you for joining us today.

Today we will be discussing something different.

We will be touching on how America's pathological obsession with maintaining

hegemony and empire abroad is having itself out with the people of the

United States paying the price.

There are deep contradictions happening in the U.

S.

that our leaders willfully continue to ignore and leave in neglect

because they are more concerned with dominating other peoples abroad.

This is manifesting in the current political crisis we are in.

The crisis in infrastructure, with crumbling bridges,

roads, tunnels, and dams.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, America

gets a C in infrastructure.

The report says that 43 percent of U.

S.

roads and highways, as well as tens of thousands of bridges, were

in poor or mediocre condition.

Public transit system earning a D minus.

Here in Texas, we had a collapse in the power grid back in 2021, creating

a blackout for days during a winter storm that affected 4 million homes and

killed an estimated amount of 200 Texans.

Turn out that our power grid is ran by a private company called Electric

Reliability, reliability Council of Texas or Ercot, and they had, they hadn't

upgraded the system since the 1980s.

There is also the healthcare crisis, which are taking many Americans into

bankruptcy, the healthcare insurance crisis that each year the cost keeps

rising while giving less coverage.

That is, if you have healthcare insurance at all.

A housing crisis.

Homelessness across America has risen 12%, yet there are more empty houses in

America than there are homeless people.

Indeed, less than 3 percent of the federal budget can end poverty in the U.

S., yet our leadership would rather see it fester and invest money elsewhere.

We are in an election year, which is pure spectacle and with no substance.

The duopoly aren't promising the American people nothing of value.

The Dems are saying both were made to keep Donald Trump out of office.

And the Reps are saying Dems are a bunch of crooks and will

make America great again 2.

0.

But They don't tell you, but I guess we'll just figure it out later.

But it sounds good though.

Both are promises to keep funding wars overseas and attacking other nations.

However, which is the only way Which is the only promise they will keep.

Meanwhile, the American people will keep working themselves to exhaustion with

little to show for, just a cycle of death.

So, I brought to, I brought in a friend to share her story of daily struggle.

Like most Americans, she continued to grind on a daily basis while

tackling challenges that could be made easier for her if, indeed,

we live in a democracy and had a government that attended to its people.

Here, here I am with my friend, who will use Mia to maintain her How are you today?

I am doing good.

Good morning.

Well, thank you for coming and, taking some of your

time, to share your story with us.

So, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Well, I am, going through a lot, but I am maintaining some way, somehow.

I'm in my mid thirties.

I used to do hair.

I was a hair stylist for many years.

And as of right now, since my diagnosis about three years ago, it's been a little

hard, so I'm having to do different side jobs here and there just to make

money, but under the table, so to speak.

But, I'm making some crafts, baking here and there, just

to get by and still maintain

My health coverage that I have.

can you share a little bit about that, about the

health coverage that you have?

And, why do you, have to go through all that?

Yeah, back in 2020, I had gotten diagnosed with lung cancer.

I didn't have insurance at the time.

My options were to get on Emergency Care Link just to get my diagnosis, see what

level I was at, they had found a tumor, so I got Emergency Care Link to get my biopsy

done and to get to my cancer doctor.

after Emergency Care Link ended, because I only had it for about a month, I was

told that I had to get Insurance, whether I pay out of pocket or I could apply

for disability Medicaid at the time.

I started calling around to different insurances, but since I was coming

in with a pre existing condition, the monthly rate was extremely high.

And I then tried to apply for Medicaid disability and I got approved for it,

but since I was approved for the Medicaid disability, I was forced to have to quit.

my career, I was working as a hairstylist for many, many years,

and, it was one or the other.

And at this point, my hands are tied, you know, my health is where it's at.

And if I'm needing to do treatments and visits and scans every couple of

months and treatments every month, doctor visits every other month.

You know, money wise, it's how am I going to make it?

So I went with having to quit my job, my main career.

And yeah, it's been a journey.

It's definitely been a journey.

so what is the emergency care link?

So I didn't have insurance at the time.

Right.

And when I was paying, I had paid out of pocket initially

to get a visit with the doctor.

I think that one was like 300 just to see, I believe it was a nurse practitioner.

Cause I went in on a weekend and, they just checked my vitals Checked my lungs,

told me to breathe in and out, heard some fluid in there, and they just assumed

that I had pneumonia, so they gave me antibiotics for two weeks, and then I went

back and had to pay again for the checkup, Yeah, it definitely adds up, you know.

So then after that, they were like, no, you still have fluid.

So then I had to do a CT scan, had to charge that on my credit card.

That was about seven to eight hundred dollars.

CT scan showed that I had a mass.

So then from there, they were like, no, you know, we need

to get you in for a biopsy.

So emergency care link, you had to go in, fill out paperwork, you had to show them.

How much you're paying for all your bills.

You have to, you know, give them proof of employment.

I went in with the information from the two doctor visits that I was

currently going through health issues.

They found a mass.

So with them finding the mass and me having that on paperwork, It allowed me

to get the emergency care link because it showed like, Hey, something's going on.

And it wasn't just like, Oh, she needs to go in for like a small visit.

Like, it was like, No, there's something there.

I didn't have insurance.

So they granted me the emergency care link.

yeah.

Had it only for 30 days.

So within the 30 days, it was stressful.

I had to keep calling, calling, calling just to get in to a primary care doctor.

From that primary care doctor, I had to explain my whole situation again.

And I was like, look, this is what's going on.

Last month, I had went in for this.

My symptoms started with this.

Here's my CT images.

Once he saw my CT images, he was like, oh no, next day they called

me, they're like, no, we're going to get you in with the lung specialist.

So then I went in with the lung specialist, they saw my CT images,

they were like, no, we need to get you in with the biopsy.

after about three and a half weeks, I finally was able to get into the hospital

and they were able to do my biopsy.

But it was just very stressful because it's like, I found something,

you know, they found something and it's just, who's going to help me?

How fast can I get seen?

And the stress of not having the money to pay for the insurance and

only having 30 days with CareLink.

it's only for 30 days.

no, it's not only for 30 days, but the emergency Care Link,

they only grant it for 30 days.

you can have Care Link and, you'll get seen.

They have their primary doctors and specialty doctors within

their network, but they bill you and go based off of your income.

So then you just have to pay a monthly payment until you pay all of that off.

if you stay on CareLink, You can get seen, but appointments take longer to

get in, you only have a select range of specialty doctors, in my situation,

since my diagnosis was a little bit more severe, they told me It wasn't

recommended to stay on Carelink because I was going to be on a journey with

treatments and doctors and scans

And those scans are pricey.

I mean, one of my scans that I do every few months are about 18, 000 and 19, 000.

My treatments alone are about 18, 000 a month.

So they didn't recommend Carelink because it was just going to

be way too much for me to pay.

Right.

And then I couldn't pay if I, you know, how was I going to be working

and having to pay that and then just trying to survive and pay

bills and keep a roof over my head.

Yeah, and my understanding is that CareLake is a program that's only

available for residents in the city you're in, or in the county you're in.

yeah.

Available for people outside of the county and like I

said, It's not a universal program.

It's a program that's in your county.

And like you said, they only have a selective range of doctors

that will accept Care Link.

and, yeah, you know, and like, you know, that just manifests, just, just go to show

that the healthcare system that we live in is a healthcare system that is for profit.

healthcare system that is to treat people it's not a healthcare system

to prevent illness, it's a healthcare system to extract wealth, you know,

Yeah, you

know, from people.

so how does that, affect the, you know, this, your conditions, how does

it affect you, like your aspiration?

Oh, Lordy, it affects it a lot.

And I would have never known, you know, I've always heard, you know, that this is

some, It's not right, or it's messed up, or it's rigged, and I never understood

it until now currently going through it.

So now, because of my condition, and because I'm relying on the state's

Medicaid slash Medicare to cover my scans, cover my treatment, help cover

my doctor visits, I can no longer work.

And if I do work, then I'm afraid of them taking my insurance away.

What would they do?

I'm sorry?

Why would they do that?

Because according to them, if I work, then they see me as like, Oh, she's fine.

Oh, she doesn't need the help.

She, she can work.

She can pay for her own insurance.

And it's like, not fully, you know, I have side effects from my treatments, fatigue.

it's been hard because before my diagnosis.

Yeah, I had plans to open up a business.

I had bigger goals in mind.

And now since my diagnosis and I'm relying on the Medicaid or Medicare

to get me by, I can't do nothing.

I feel like my life is on hold.

I can't apply for Apartments that I would like to live in on a better side of

town, I'm restricted to where I can live, basically, because I can't, I can't work.

I can't show that I make two to three times the rent because

I'm depending on this insurance to help me get my treatment.

So it's like, what do I do, you know?

Try to work two, three jobs just to make insurance so I can live on the side of

town that I want, or put my health first.

But if I put my health first, you know, then my life is on hold.

So, yeah, it's, it's a bummer.

I mean, I would love to work.

I would love to pursue school.

I would love to pursue my, open up my business.

But everything, I feel stuck.

And that's the hard part.

Yeah, I mean, you're not alone.

like I said, in this country, there's more priority is given to overseas adventures.

Both parties, which they have a monopoly on a political system.

would rather spend, squander money abroad to control other people.

, uh, overseas to control other people, to dictate to other people

how, what systems they should have, how they should live, et cetera.

Um, to destroy the nations and then then spend money to rebuild them again.

you know?

Yeah.

Um, this, um, and I'm bringing this up 'cause this is a, this

is a, uh, uh, a veteran podcast.

So it's relevant to what you're, to what you're sharing with us here

because, um, you know, just to throw some numbers around, uh, most of the

people who listens to us are veterans.

In this podcast, most, um, many of them are veterans of the, of the

Iraq war, Afghan war, or some older veterans from back in the Vietnam era.

Um, you know, and there's, there's still money being spent on, on those

overseas ventures that weren't necessary.

They weren't, they weren't, they weren't needed, you know, just because, just

to expand American power abroad, um, at the, at the, uh, the cost or at

the, uh, of the American people here.

You know, um, just like in the Iraq war, the, uh, just throw some numbers

around the Iraq war and, and the Afghanistan war cost, uh, 46 trillion.

And it's still, and it's still counting.

Um, and the Syrian war, the war in Syria, which is more recent, um, and

the Iraq war part three, it cost 2.

8 trillion.

Um, it's still, it's still counting.

The Ukraine war, um, up to this point, they have sent over a

hundred billion dollars to Ukraine to maintain that war over there.

Um, and, and now with the, the slaughter and the genocides happening in, in

Israel, uh, the United States government is spending, uh, 17 billion dollars,

uh, to keep that going, you know.

Um, there's a huge contradiction, there's a huge contradiction.

Meanwhile, you know, average Americans like yourself, you

know, they're on a grind.

They have to struggle every day, you know, working six, seven days a week,

you know, just to make ends meet.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Now, when you're, you're Now with your conditions kind of kneecapped

you, kneecapped you to, um, to, to get ahead and, and you still have

responsibilities apart from that.

You still have family responsibilities that you still got to attend to that,

you know, that, uh, that, yeah, you know, you're being, you're being stretched thin.

And like you, millions of Americans are going through the same thing.

Um, you know, you have, you have your, you're fortunate that you

have a family network that, that supports you, but other people don't.

You know, you found, you found a system, uh, you found somethings that, that can

help you, but what would have happened if you wouldn't, uh, qualify for Medicaid?

Um, you know.

Yeah, if I didn't, if I didn't qualify, oh lord, I would really

have to work, I would say at least three jobs to pay the insurance

costs on top of my living expenses because there would just be no way.

I mean, they were quoting me.

Man, seven, eight hundred dollars a month on some insurances because every

insurance I caught and I was telling them my situation, they're like, oh no, you

have a pre existing condition and then the type of pre existing condition and it was

just so heartbreaking because I'm like, man, you know, I'm already going through

a lot to hear about my diagnosis and then I'm calling to get help and it's like,

oh, well you have this, oh no, well we can help you but at this price and if I'm.

You know, living by myself, I'm the only one providing for myself, paying

all the bills, all the expenses that go in just living and surviving, and

then to have an additional payment, and then to not even be able to work fully

because you're tired, because you have the side effects from my treatment.

It's very discouraging, it's very hard, but I would have to

find a way to work at least three jobs to make that extra income.

Because the income prior that I was, that I was doing my, my hairstylist

career, it was enough to, to live.

But now to pay extra expenses or pay out of pocket at doctor visits, like,

where would I be getting that money?

You know, that, and me having to work at least three jobs.

I'm estimating just to cover all that, like, that would take away time from my

family, take away time from, you know, raising my nieces, and I feel like I

would just lose all the way around.

Have you, have you, um, have you looked into, um, Um, the

Affordable Care Act, you know, do you, do you qualify for that or anything?

You

know, I did, and um, I didn't qualify for that.

You

didn't qualify for that?

No.

Why?

Because, um, I, my, my pre existing condition, I didn't qualify.

Like, you could get it if you didn't have nothing wrong with you.

Hmm.

Yeah.

I

was so upset because I was just like, man, like, I thought I was here to help.

Exactly, they marketed it as like, it was like the best

thing since sliced bread, right?

But there was so Yeah.

And then

I was hearing from other friends that those that did try to get

the Affordable Care Act, a lot of doctors didn't accept the insurance.

So it's like they, them too, were also left with like a few.

A small range of doctors to choose from, or a small range of specialty

doctors, so it's like, it only helped them to a certain extent.

Yeah, so that was a bummer, a big bummer.

Yeah, I mean, I mean, other nations, I mean, the United States is the,

the, the wealthiest country in the world.

Americans are, are roughly 5% of the global population.

Right.

Uh, but we dominate at least over 25% of, uh, we consume over

25% of the world's resources.

Right.

So we, so we consume more resource, you know, we, we generate

more, more wealth, uh, than any country in the world of our size.

Right.

You know?

Mm-Hmm.

. Yet, yet the wealth, uh, that we generate, which comes to which,

which wealth is wealth, is.

It's transferable, it's transferred, right?

And wealth comes from, from, from labor.

That's where wealth comes from, right?

You know, we talk about Jeff Bezos and all these people, right?

But, you know, he owns Amazon, but Amazon wouldn't be able to do anything

if it wasn't for people laboring, moving around and stuff like that.

So that's where, that's where Jeff Bezos wealth comes from.

It comes from the people that are down in the warehouses, that are

moving stuff around for him, that are delivering packages and stuff.

That's where wealth comes from.

It comes from labor.

You know, not just because this person had a big, great idea, right?

Labor comes, that's what, that's where it comes from.

So we have all this wealth.

This country generates all this wealth.

Yet, uh, the priority, um, in, in every election is to cut taxes, right?

Now taxes, when you cut taxes, like Donald Trump, for example,

his last administration, right, he, he did the largest, um, uh,

tax cut, you know, in, in history.

Right.

And that's usually marketed to us as a good thing because we got less

taxes coming on and stuff like that.

But what happens is, right, that, that it hollows.

It puts the country at a deficit and it hollows the country out.

So the country still needs funds to function.

Where do they get the funds from, right?

They will start, they cut services to get the funds to maintain the, uh, the,

the, how the government, how the, uh, the country operates to pay salaries,

et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, right?

That means that poor people or working class people, right,

get less of the services, right?

Every time there, every time tax get cut to the, to the most wealthiest among us.

That's just one example, right?

And there are countries that are less wealthier than the Americans,

the United States, right?

But yet they have a health care system that covers everybody, you know?

People are less sicker than we are.

Um, so yeah, it's a big, huge contradictions that we're living in,

and yep, most people aren't aware, most people are still captivated by the

two party system, you know, they argue against each other because, you know,

I support, um, the Dems and I support the Reps, you know, but when it comes

down to it, both All these parties are working against their constituents,

working against their own people.

Definitely, I agree with that.

And I just don't understand why so much money is getting sent for here, for that,

for wars when we have so many people here in the United States that just need help.

Exactly.

They simply just need a little help.

And it's like, how are we getting turned down?

How are we having to live so restricted?

And yet there's so much money going elsewhere.

It's sad.

So Mia, so how do, um, what do you see yourself now?

How do we, how do we go from there?

How do I see myself now?

I'm just hoping to get over this, over this diagnosis so I don't have

to be handicapped by the system.

I want to get back to working.

I want to be able to go open my business.

and just live without feeling afraid of like losing something that I so need.

So yeah, I'm just, I'm hoping and I'm praying to get over this one day.

Yeah, well, and I mean, and, and what you're, what you're

needing, what you're asking is not something, um, astronomical.

It's something basic, you know.

Yeah.

Right to live, right?

Yes.

You're, you're,

you're, you're, you're.

You're born and raised a citizen of this country, right?

You deserve to, to, to be, um, you know, to be franchised, to be put,

to be a part of this, you know, this country, and, you know, and the people

that you put up there, they're supposed to be there to represent you, right?

They're supposed to take care of you.

Um, to, to, to not necessarily take care of you, that has a negative connotation

in the United States, but to pretty much attend the, uh, to represent you.

Represent your, represent your needs and represent your, um,

um, you know, your well being.

Yes.

Um, yeah, thank you, um, for sharing.

Thank

you for having me.

Um, any, any last comments, um, that you would

like to share before we depart?

You know, I would just like to say to anybody who's in my

situation to not give up and just stay positive, even when it's hard.

Exactly.

Even when

it's hard there, there will be a way to get out of it.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mia.

Stay positive.

Thank you.

You'll get through this.

Um, I'm very, you know, very, um, you know, um, yeah, yeah, I am very,

um, know that you'll, that you'll, you'll get through this and, uh,

yeah, look forward to, uh, talking to you again, um, seeing you again.

Definitely.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Money is tight these days for everyone, penny pinching to

make it through the month often doesn't give people the funds to

contribute to a creator they support.

So we consider it the highest honor that folks help us fund the podcast

in any dollar amount they're able.

Patreon is the main place to do that.

In addition, any support we receive makes sure we can continue to provide

our main episodes free for everyone.

And for supporters who can donate $10 a month or more, they will be listed

right here as an honorary producer.

Like these fine folks.

Fahim's Everyone Dream, Eric Phillips, Paul Appel, Julie Dupree, Thomas Benson,

Janet Hanson, Ren jacob, and Helge Berg.

However, if Patreon isn't your style, you can contribute directly through PayPal

at PayPal dot me forward slash Fortress on hill, or please check out our store on

Spreadshirt for some great Fortress merch.

We're on Twitter and @facebook.com at Fortress On A Hill.

You can find our full collection of episodes at www dot

Fortress On A Hill dot com.

Skepticism is one's best armor.

Never forget it.

We'll see you next time.