And there was a time a few years ago- no, always- that the stock market went up and went down even though it was predicted to go up. And it went up.

Global average temperatures have been predicted to go up. They've gone up, then the rate of increase, of "going up" slowed, but the global average went up anyway.

No long term record of anything that's predicted to go up or go down does it in a steady, smooth increase or decrease. It's a mixture of ups and of downs with the overall direction remaining the same.

"Global warming" is ne thing that is happening as the climate changes, hence "Climate change" but just picking one effect of climate change to represent the whole does not mean anyone is changing the terms, what something is called; it simply better addresses the subject in question.

And, no, a totally unregulated market, what you call "s free market" doesn't drive up costs- it protects the very people whom those businesses serve.

Colonoscopies are not MANDATED BY GOVERNMENT REGULATION. Their a great thing to do but that's between you and your doctor (and the hope your unregulated insurance will pay for it).

And I'm absolutely certain I want a surgeon who can do whatever he or she feels is right for themselves , financially, regardless of the cost to me.

Living paycheck to paycheck is the fault of living above your means? Maybe you haven't noticed just how much it costs to pay rent or, for the fortunate, mortgage payments? To buy food AND have basic medical care? To buy clothing for yourself, let alone a child or more, too?

Apparently not.

You don' want to be "locked in"? Businesses closed, most temporarily, because so many people are wise enough to avoid contracting a highly contagious and sometimes fatal or at least with a great deal of suffering, virus for which there is no cure or good treatment. Why would anyone keep their business open when no one was buying from them? And knowing you could get infected but possibly not sick but would infect others, many of whom probably wouldn't survive, people such as parents, grandparents, people you know or come in contact with who may be older or have an underlying problem that makes them susceptible, diabetes, MS, HIV, cancer, and so many more conditions, but you care about their health, if not your own then caring people would/are far more likely to stay home more often. Especially seeing that there are many uncaring people who refuse to take the most basic of precaution of not wearing a mask and keeping their infections from others.

If $1,200 wasn't enough for you (and it really wasn't enough for most people since the cheapest rent you can find in even a mid-size city is $1,000 or more a month), then why don't you take one of those ,"essential" jobs, the low-paying but necessary, the cashiers, retail workers of all types, fast food employees, or maybe you should've just taken an essential job that requires no collage degree and years of training, become a trash collector.

That's what you could've done if you're in such a hurry to "open up"; put your own life and families' health on the line. But, you didn't so, by your logic, you have no reason to complain.

I didn't " suggest that the rich guy should subsidize the other guys poor decisions.". With you, it's always the "poor" who don't make more money because of their "poor decisions".

Jeff Bezos gets lauded for increasing the pay of the workers who enable him to have an income, to $15 an our.

Bezos cut of all the his employees work? A measly $150,000 a minute.

Of course, even though Amazon doesn't pay tax to the IRS, Bezos does pay tax on his salary- a generous $86,500 a year. The same it's been for several decades.

And what he pays on his dividends from Amazon? Less than 10% overall. You know, the poverty level tax rate.

But, yeah, those poor people made poor decisions. Can you believe they have the nerve of someone not growing up in a neighborhood that isn't crime-ridden, of not being able to afford or being educated enough to go to college, of not even being born into a middle class family.

Such arrogance to expect to be treated fairly!

But I guess you're right: poor people are poor because they want to be, which makes them really stupid people!