Courtney Milan: I was just thinking about this because we live in a world where nobody has to have HIV in the future and we can regrow teeth and have tons of renewable energy and could really transform into a post-scarcity society, but "maybe we can take care of people" is still the most left of left positions.

I was just thinking about this because we live in a world where nobody has to have HIV in the future and we can regrow teeth and have tons of renewable energy and could really transform into a post-scarcity society, but "maybe we can take care of people" is still the most left of left positions.

it blows me away that saying “housing is a right” is an extreme position. “people should be fed.” also, given pride month: “trans people have a right to thrive” the centrist POV on all of these issues is “well be reasonable! not everyone deserves a place to stay” which is wild to me

Really having problems with this, ngl. "People should have clean water" shouldn't be controversial.

Clean water should continue to exist somewhere on earth is apparently too much to ask according to my governor

"Do not become addicted to water..."

"Easy access to clean water will destroy people's motivation to work..."

Last week I was thinking about the teeth thing and how it will inevitably be priced out of the range of most everyone and be considered elective even though it could change lives. I got pre-depressed.

To be fair, most of the existing options if you’re congenitally missing teeth are not remotely cheap, even now. It’s braces or an implant or a giant gap in your mouth, when the last baby tooth falls out. I’m really hoping that insurance views it as a necessity one day.

Exactly. But this is so simple (A SHOT!) and should finally be an easy fix for so many people. But it will be labeled cosmetic or be so expensive that even after insurance, it will be unaffordable.

If the outcomes in humans are as funky as in animals, the teeth will need ortho and crowns. Probably not enough of an improvement to favor it over current methods. Med insurance will sometimes cover congenitally missing teeth, so good to have another approach in the arsenal.

Thanks for the pro opinion! It helps to know what people in the field think of it.

It's interesting stuff, but probably pretty far out. Less exciting, but I think a lot of newer therapies and restorative materials are keeping teeth from needing extraction. Cost is always a factor for people, and I wish we had true insurance that made it easier for people.

We’d better study UBI some more, too. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Another 700 studies I think?

We need a study big enough to cover everyone. It's the only way to get good data.

Oooh good idea! And maybe run it for a century to be sure.

We should also try universal housing to see how effective that is.

Oooh and universal SNAP could definitely use some studying.

Not sure there’s enough data yet…

We can regrow teeth???

newatlas.com/medical/toot...

World-first tooth-regrowing drug will be given to humans in Septembernewatlas.com The world's first human trial of a drug that can regenerate teeth will begin in a few months, less than a year on from news of its success in animals. This paves the way for the medicine to be commerc...

😮😮😮

let's do a whole-population study. i think that would be fun.

this means *checks notes* more economic security instead? that can’t be right

make line go down, therefore bad

Economic security go up? Not THAT line, that line is meaningless!

oh c'mon, we don't even _track_ that line. That's just anecdotes... a series of isolated points. No line there at all, stop looking

Why advocate for a solution when you can make a lot of money by profiting off the problem?

I remember saying to a family member, “Who are we, existentially, as a society, if we do not care for our young, old and vulnerable? Like… what are we doing here? On this earth? If we allow this suffering?” And he looked at me like I had sprouted a new, terrible head.

I have a simple rule of thumb about issues like this. If an enemy did this to us, would it be considered a warlike act? - starving people = bad - fouling people's water = bad - making people sick = bad - depriving people of housing = bad But if our own government does it, it's okay? HELL NO.

Overheard people complaining about shoplifting in the grocery store today. Like a six pack is worth getting angry over when the CEO of Albertsons probably makes more money than the Vatican.

I worked as a cashier and holy fuck people's attitude towards shoplifting. People usually shoplift *food*. Hot food that SNAP won't cover. And that then gets thrown away. Even my ex keeps saying that she can understand it but that it drives up costs. But it doesn't!

I would not be surprised if the big stores spend more money on security than is lost to shrink. Price raises usually come from supply chain issues and simply never go back down. And none of that money goes to anyone along the way who does any *actual* work.

It's one of the things that raises my blood pressure, given how spoiled I was across the pond by a society that literally gives homeless people housing and even foreigners who get sick get treatment way cheaper than people here in the US with health insurance

we can regrow teeth ???

In human trials this fall!

There was a news story about that being into development with some success that made the rounds a couple weeks ago!

Because people want The Rapture and Mad Max, which from some points of view might be the same.

The “My Teacher Is An Alien” series was first published some thirty years ago, and the final book was basically a condemnation of the fact the world had more than enough food to feed everyone, enough resources to house them, and we just don’t. Because money.

We should be in a post scarcity society now. We can 3d print homes, for goodness sakes!

The guinea worm has been teetering on the edge of extinction for years as well. Only 14 people infected last year. We could see it go extinct in our lifetimes

If I ran America we'd have a holiday where we would burn John Calvin, Ayn Rand, and Ronald Reagan in effigy.

With the insulation of privilege it can feel a lot nicer to assume that everyone already has all the rights they could possibly deserve or need than to admit how far we are from that.

"iT's JuSt NoT rEaLiStIc" Meanwhile they're over there wholeheartedly believing in systems that assume infinite growth on a world with finite resources while spewing garbage-assed malthusian propaganda.

1000%. also now i'm stuck on "we can regrow teeth" and i need to look this up bc i have the worst teeth (thanks genetics)

Yup. "Don't fuck with the money" is the rule of our society, and seeing to basic needs would undercut the ability of the wealthy to exploit the vulnerable, thus fucking with the money.

Many people are convinced that if someone else has something, it means they won't. That, in turn, leads to the notion that if everyone has a thing, no one does.

but how can me succeed if no one failing

All the things you just mentioned will only be available to the rich

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