Social Issues

When future historians look back at the beginning of the 21st century, they’ll note that we grappled with many big issues. They’ll write about the battle between nationalism and globalism, soaring global debt, a dysfunctional healthcare system, societal concerns around automation and AI, and pushback on immigration. They will also note the growing number of populist leaders in Western democracies, ranging from Marine Le Pen to Donald Trump.

Representative Dave Brat (R-Va), a Freedom Caucus member who voted against the first TrumpCare bill, appeared on CNN earlier this morning to suggest that he may be ready to support a new version of the bill that allows individual states to opt out of certain components of Obamacare that require minimum coverage levels and restrict insurers from charging more to patients with pre-existing conditions.  Per The Hill:

Authored by Narjas Zatat via Indy100.com,

People in Greece can’t afford to have more than one child, and many are opting to have none at all.

Fertility doctor Minas Mastrominas tells the New York Times that some women have decided not to conceive, and single-child parents have been asking him to destroy their remaining embryos.

He said:

After eight years of economic stagnation, they’re giving up on their dreams.

While tens of thousands of angry Venezuelans turned out for the 'mother of all protests' yesterday, facing an increasingly hostile military/police state, the numbers could have been significantly larger but for the fact that legions of poor Venezuelans are simply too frail from starvation to protest.

Some say they are intimidated by armed pro-government militias who scour the slums for signs of dissent. Others say they are afraid to lose the few food handouts the cash-strapped government still provides.

Authored by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

When "socialist" states have to impose finance-capital extremes that even exceed the financialization of nominally capitalist economies, it gives the lie to their claims of "socialism."