DJ Calvert told BBC News NI: “I’ve been let down - and I’m not the only one.”

It was proof that Northern Ireland’s health and social care system had “crashed”, said the 49-year-old.

  • DontMakeMoreBabies@kbin.social
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    8 months ago

    Billionaires exist and this poor man can’t get a goddamn health care worker.

    At all levels of government we’re (worldwide) making due with less while these fucking parasites grow.

    Shit is going to get ugly in the next few decades…

    • Szymon@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Eat the rich, problem solves itself.

      I’ll argue that you only need to eat five rich. The first two will be shocking, the next two will be surprising that they were eaten despite all the security measures, the fifth being eaten is the reminder that the rich will be eaten.

      You’ve taken care of like, 50% of the billionaires parasite issue with those 5, the remaining few will suddenly decide that social welfare programs are a good idea and donate so much that they are no longer billionaires.

      • Zorque@kbin.social
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        8 months ago

        Eat the rich and more rich pop up. It takes more than just “let’s get rid of who we think the sole problem is and everything will turn out fine”. The rich didn’t just appear from a vacuum, they’ve accumulated power and wealth for centuries, if not millennia. “Eating the rich” would require vastly more fundamental changes than just grabbing goods from the nearest billionaire and tossing at “the poors”.

          • Skyline969@lemmy.ca
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            8 months ago

            No. Dine upon the flesh of the rich. Consume their nutrients so that you may absorb their power.

      • zerfuffle@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        The problem is that value is derived from property rather than from work. You earn substantially more by owning a machine than by operating that machine, which rewards people who have money more than people who have skills.

        • HumanPenguin@feddit.uk
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          8 months ago

          Yes but their is not real answer to that. Even comunism where people own the means of production. Turns into a state where the leaders of that state make more money owning the machines then the workers on those machines.

          Any system will always result in a cost to start the industry be it land in the past. Machines in the present or AI in the future. Those who have the resources to provide work for others will always have some form of power. And power will always lead to corruption.

          All differing political stratagies do is change the process for gaining that power.

          • OurToothbrush@lemmy.mlM
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            8 months ago

            Turns into a state where the leaders of that state make more money owning the machines then the workers on those machines.

            Except not really. Corruption is a problem but corruption happens in bourgeois democracy too, the overwhelmingly main source of wealth extraction that we can eliminate is surplus labor value extraction brought about by property relations. State socialism cuts away a massive problem while still retaining smaller ones.

          • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de
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            8 months ago

            Humanity would probably have to eliminate psycho/sociopathic behavior. Something like 1% of humanity (much higher rate in billionaire and CEO populations, like 25%+).

            Like you said, designing a system that prevents them from taking control without pretty draconian measures that are likely to catch many false positives (and still be evaded by skilled psycho/sociopaths) seems pretty difficult.

            Maybe AI will be able to filter them out of the population, but that’s full of moral and ethical pitfalls too.

      • interceder270@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Why do we keep saying ‘eat the rich’?

        Just take their wealth and give it to those who need it. It is literally that simple.

        Make them part of the working class. It’s a fate worse than death in their eyes.

          • Zorque@kbin.social
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            8 months ago

            The problem is it’s just a phrase. You can keep repeating it ad nauseam, but unless it comes with actual strategies to complete a goal… it’s as meaningless a phrase as all the rhetoric that right-wingers throw around. And they’re much better at it.

      • Ms. ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        I’d like to propose for maximum psychological impact they should be literally eaten using whatever gold plated dishware and diamond knives they’ve got laying around.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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      Not everywhere…

      The real (inflation-adjusted) incomes of the poorest half of the Chinese population increased by more than four hundred percent from 1978 to 2015, while real incomes of the poorest half of the US population actually declined during the same time period. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w23119/w23119.pdf

      From 1978 to 2000, the number of people in China living on under $1/day fell by 300 million, reversing a global trend of rising poverty that had lasted half a century (i.e. if China were excluded, the world’s total poverty population would have risen) https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/China’s-Economic-Growth-and-Poverty-Reduction-Angang-Linlin/c883fc7496aa1b920b05dc2546b880f54b9c77a4

      From 2010 to 2019 (the most recent period for which uninterrupted data is available), the income of the poorest 20% in China increased even as a share of total income. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.DST.FRST.20?end=2019&locations=CN&start=2008

      By the end of 2020, extreme poverty, defined as living on under a threshold of around $2 per day, had been eliminated in China. According to the World Bank, the Chinese government had spent $700 billion on poverty alleviation since 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/world/asia/china-poverty-xi-jinping.html

      https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/04/01/lifting-800-million-people-out-of-poverty-new-report-looks-at-lessons-from-china-s-experience

      • KᑌᔕᕼIᗩ@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        This is why the Chinese people are very supportive of their government. You would be too in this situation.

            • zerfuffle@lemmy.ml
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              8 months ago

              How many times are people going to face this claim?

              China’s pretty much popped their real estate bubble already, yet consumer spending is already recovering.

            • REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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              8 months ago

              I’d not repeat the Pooh meme if I’d were you. It implies Obama being a N-word. But libs and racism go hand in hand, so there you go.

            • Ronin_5@lemmygrad.ml
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              The answer is no, because of the fundamental differences in how Japan and China are run.

              Japan is modeled off of a capitalist imperialist economy, similar to the US. And as such, it will stagnate and requires imperialism and increasing levels of exploitation to maintain its economy. It does not have the tools or methodology to develop further without imperialism. And thus, it stagnates.

              Meanwhile, China is socialist. It uses dialectical materialism to solve social issues and promote cohesion. And instead of profit, it will seek to optimize material conditions, and identify the barriers to doing so, creating a strategy for development. Through Marxian economics, it understands that productivity comes through cooperation and labour, and not profit. Optimization can be performed throughout the supply chain through central planning.

              China runs under C—>M—>C, while Japan runs under M—>C—>M.

              China does have problems but it also has the tools to solve them, instead of just sweeping it under the rug.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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              It’s pretty hilarious how I posted sourced information that made you really mad, but since you had no actual counter point to make you just proceeded to expose yourself as a clown by regurgitating personal attacks you’ve memorized. A great way to tell us all that you’re really mad, but too dumb to say anything intelligible on the subject. 😂

              • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
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                Oh you got me. I’m so mad and dumb.

                Dude, you endlessly post about how awesome China is. I don’t have to love everything about the west to realize that that’s fucking weird.

                Every time anyone calls you out on anything you use your “seethe and cope” catchphrase.

                It’s either your job or you’re a nut. It’s not worth debating you.

                • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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                  The fact that you took the time to write this drivel is pretty hilarious. It’s nice to know that my posts really get under the skin of people like you.

                • Valbrandur@lemmygrad.ml
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                  Seriously. How much do you get paid for shilling China so hard?

                  Dude, you endlessly post about how awesome China is.

                  When a communist with a politically-oriented account who posts on communist communities of communist instances makes primarily posts in support of communism and communist countries (any explanation for his motives is beyond the comprehension of the limited and finite human mind, he must have been paid by someone to post that comment):

                • QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml
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                  8 months ago

                  Every time anyone calls you out on anything

                  There’s nothing to call him out on. All that you dronie losers say is “how dare you say a country that I don’t like is good with sources, you’re not allowed to do that!”

        • zerfuffle@lemmy.ml
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          “why are we talking about the communist party of china under an article about how the bourgeoisie continues to accumulate wealth to the detriment of the proletariat?”

          • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
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            8 months ago

            This thread is about a dude in Ireland. It has nothing to do with China.

            Say what you want about the west, but China isn’t what the world should be either.

            • loathesome dongeater@lemmygrad.ml
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              8 months ago

              The comment it is in reply to says:

              At all levels of government we’re (worldwide) making due with less while these fucking parasites grow.

              So Yogthos provides a counterpoint where a government is investing in the lower rungs of the society instead of squeezing them. If you want to dispute the mentioned facts it’s one thing but the comment is still relevant and not out-of-nowhere China shilling.

            • Aria@lemmygrad.ml
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              This thread is about a dude in Ireland. It has nothing to do with China.

              “why are we talking about the communist party of china under an article about how the bourgeoisie continues to accumulate wealth to the detriment of the proletariat?”

              The thing is that the comment rings true about the other AES countries also. OP (of the thread, not the post) has identified a problem, and the commies are suggesting a solution to the problem, with statistics that prove it to be viable. You’re dismissing the solution as off-topic, but it’s very relevant. The thread is directly relevant to the article, and the reply is directly relevant to the thread.

              Say what you want about the west, but China isn’t what the world should be either.

              But it is. In lieu of something better, we should all be like China.

  • davidgro@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I read the headline thinking ‘so what else is new’ and then realized they weren’t talking about the US. Here it wouldn’t be news at all.

    • Arrakis@lemmy.worldOP
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      Over the past while, our government has essentially turned our welfare system into a parody of the US’s. This guy makes the most amazing Lego sculptures, and it’s so fucking sad he’s going through this.

          • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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            I dunno’, I still hear far too many people simping for the rich believing they all personally earned their riches and I hear far too many people still believing “capitalism” is just using money to buy things.

            Ignorance is alive and well.

            • The Bard in Green@lemmy.starlightkel.xyz
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              Yep.

              I had a construction worker try to explain to me how Elon Musk is a genius who makes it possible for me to do my job (I work in the Space Industry, NOT for SpaceX) and I should be grateful he’s creating those opportunities for me instead of hating on him. He got really mad about it when I didn’t agree.

              He got even angrier when I asked him why someone like him, on the lowest rung of the labor ladder, was simping like that. He had no answer though.

      • GeneralEmergency@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        This is Northern Ireland. We don’t have a government at the moment. not saying the Tories haven’t fucked it over. But there is more to it.

  • michaelrose@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    The sad thing is in the US its extremely likely the fellow would have already been dead after years living on the streets with a cardboard sign.

      • Marxism-Fennekinism@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        You can survive easy out here if you can stay sober enough to make a few phone calls and show up to appointments. Most of the homeless crisis is really just a drug crisis.

        I trust that in order to make such such a generalizing and dismissive statement you have some form of qualification or primary experience?

        • THCDenton@lemmy.world
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          Yes. I get free healthcare, and I qualify for free food and low income housing. Many of my friends have been homeless and they have had an easy time finding a shelter.

            • MycoBro@lemmy.world
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              You sure were getting geared up to put him in his place though, huh? I’m going to just start telling people like you “thank you for your service “

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    A man born without hands or legs has been told he will soon no longer get a daily visit from a care worker to help him shower and get dressed.

    It added that it understood “the worry it is causing”, and would “seek an alternative provider” that would “support him to continue living independently in his own home”.

    His care is provided by Connected Health but that is due to end on 1 December, with the company telling BBC News NI that it was “increasingly stretched in ever more demanding circumstances”.

    Mr Calvert’s friend Vicky has been making additional visits to help four days a week but now that looks to be the only assistance he will get.

    Mr Calvert’s mother, Heather, said she “just couldn’t believe it” when she heard that her son was losing his care package.

    She told Evening Extra that over the past seven months the situation surrounding DJ’s care has been “a rollercoaster”.


    The original article contains 776 words, the summary contains 158 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • whoisearth@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      My dad in his 79 years of wisdom told me a few years back about brexit ( we have been in Canada since the 70s)

      “It’s just a roundabout way to say we don’t like brown people”

      I still stick by that. Succinct.