US man stages $1 bank robbery to get state healthcare (2011)
US man stages $1 bank robbery to get state healthcare (2011)
Unemployed and without health insurance, man in North Carolina has himself arrested in order to receive treatment
What he did was hand the clerk a note that said: "This is a bank robbery, please only give me one dollar." Then, as he later told the local NBC news station, he calmly sat in the corner of the bank having told the clerk: "I'll be sitting right over there in the chair waiting for the police."
...
He invited the paper to send a reporter to interview him in Gaston county jail, where he is now in custody facing charges of stealing from a person (for just $1 the prosecutors didn't think they could hold up a bank robbery charge).
He told the paper he had lost his job after 17 years as a Coca-Cola delivery man, and with it his health insurance. He was in increasing pain from slipped discs, arthritic joints, a gammy foot and a growth on his chest.
Since being in the jail he has attained his goal: he has been seen by nurses and an appointment with a doctor is booked.
Gaston County jail
So strange to see my home county mentioned on the Internet, had to double-take.
Greatest country on earth!!!!
*terms and conditions apply
**must be rich, white, straight and a man to have a chance to win
mostly rich though.
Spoken in a sped-up voice
Healthcare is such a basic human right. Single payer for all (Medicare) should be our priority. The wealthy look at everything as theirs. Anything that needs to be done in society is "why should I pay for that?" I have a friend who makes a lot of money and he said that people who work hard should be rewarded and I asked him if he meant people who work hard or if he meant people who earn a lot of money and he didn't know what to say.
Why should the poor subsidize their income with our labor?
Edit for clarity: If the rich do not want to subsidize basic human rights then the poor should not subsidize the bank accounts of the wealthy.
I’m fucking poor bro. I’m not gonna ever be on team money.
I think we should be subsidizing people's poor reading comprehension.
Why should the poor subsidize their income with our labor?
the poor ... our = us
their = the richThis commenter was asking for someone to try and justify why we (the working class) should have our labor contribute to the income of people whose existence is based on exploiting others. A perfectly reasonable question.
their income
whose income? the rich friend's income? or the people needing healthcare?
Sadly about 40-50% of the population are MAGA, which believe they are all temporarily inconvenienced billionaires. Any day now that MAGA person is going to get lots of money (probably the lottery) and they dont want the pay all those taxes ... so they sit in their trailer park with their MAGA hat and "Let's Go Brandon" bumper sticker just waiting to go vote how the billionaires of "team money" tell them to.
With a few notable exceptions (such as medicine), the more financially rewarding the job, the less hard you have to work. In fact, that’s the whole point of getting a career! By cultivating some rare skillset, you can do less work for more money. People don’t go into finance or consulting to “work hard.”
yup. that's why people can be CEO of multiple companies. They don't do anything.
again?
(2011)
... oh. um, ok
The US treats its people worse than its prisoners. And I bet some idiots out there think it means they should start treating their prisoners worse.
I get your point, but the US prison system is also really horrible. Healthcare is terrible and prisoners have a very high chance of dying from lack of proper treatment. Every year in prison lowers your life expectancy by two years (source).
Tbf that happens out of jail, too.
Yep, and that applies even without any existing health concerns going in. Better hope you don't develop any while living under those conditions.
I'm T1 diabetic, and have an unfortunately reasonable expectation that even a week spent in jail back in the US could very easily turn into a death sentence. It does happen with depressing regularity. That's just looking at one very straightforward (and easily treatable) chronic condition, and a couple of fairly recent examples which have gotten more publicity than most such cases ever will. It's a mess.
Years ago, I have read that Mongolian street children in the capital, Ulan Bataar, would intentionally steal to get arrested so that they would have a warm place to stay during the cold nights in Mongolia.
America has now stooped this low.
Creative debt bondage
That must be a good State.
Most State prisons will torture and starve you until you die. You can buy food and soap at outrageous surcharges.
This weirdly feels like it'd be a good movie, sort of like Dog Day Afternoon. "The One Dollar Bank Heist"
Jail is basically my retirement plan if all else fails (and it probably will)