In New Zealand, abortion was legal, but there was a shortage of doctors. Rapkin was going to help lead a training program in the country’s capital, much like the one she’d built here, but with less red tape. This time, she would be paid by the government for her work, not singled out for it.

  • Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    Watching what is happening in the states is genuinely horrifying, I didn’t realise just what was lurking below the surface of their politics.

    I really hope there will be a political backlash to this.

    • magnetosphere @beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      The more I learn about the politics of my country, the scarier it gets. There are a lot of cruel, powerful, greedy bigots out there who want to tell everyone how to live their lives.

    • PRUSSIA_x86@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The United States is not one country, it is an amalgamation of 50 mini countries, which themselves are grouped together into a handful of unrecognized stateless nations. Regions such as Appalachia, New England, and Cascadia can all be thought of as independent nations defined by geography and the backgrounds of their original settlers. They are bound by a single border and federal government. The interplay between these groups can explain much of the turmoil of American politics. For example, the South has a strong authoritarian streak, while the great lakes region has deep trade union roots. This actually extends to Canada and Mexico as well, with the great plains and Sonora desert both commanding their own trans-national cultures. I have a feeling we are going to see some of these nations try and establish themselves in the coming years, which is fascinating to watch but horrific to live through (dear god why was I born in Ohio).

      • spider@lemmy.nzOP
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        1 year ago

        On the other hand, some western states such as such as Arizona, Idaho, Montana, etc. have a mindset similar to that of the former confederate states.

      • BalpeenHammer@lemmy.nz
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        1 year ago

        I have heard the USA is not divided amongst states but urban/rural boundries. Even within a state you can leave a city and find yourself in the middle of a religious fundamentalist haven run by the english speaking taliban of the district.

        • spider@lemmy.nzOP
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          1 year ago

          Even within a state you can leave a city and find yourself in the middle of a religious fundamentalist haven run by the english speaking taliban of the district.

          Can confirm; I am in Florida.

          • BalpeenHammer@lemmy.nz
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            1 year ago

            Where does that map come from? What is the granularity of it? I find it astonishing to believe that not one city in those red regions didn’t vote for Biden.

              • BalpeenHammer@lemmy.nz
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                1 year ago

                It’s not only not a perfect representation it’s actually deceiving because it hides the urban/rural divide. It’s also not measuring the number of people voting, it’s looking at acreage which is a useless metric.

                • PRUSSIA_x86@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  It doesn’t show the urban/rural split because that’s not the focus of the map. There are many layers to American politics, one of them happens to be regional. If you believe that anything other than red v blue or urban v rural, is “deceptive” and irrelevant, then you’re either an extremely sheltered American or an uninformed foreigner. As someone who has lived their entire life on the border between two of the highlighted regions, I can assure you they are very real and relevant. The reduction down to an urban/rural dichotomy is the result of fifty years of polarization in the two-party system, which ignores 500 years history.

    • BalpeenHammer@lemmy.nz
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      1 year ago

      It’s coming to NZ. It started with the brexit boys setting up shop at the invite of Winston and never left. Trump flags are already flying and David Seymour himself urged attendees at a talk to wear MAGA hats even though he was too cowardly to get himself photographed wearing one.

      Every day on lemmy and /r/nz I see people parroting the same talking points are the MAGA turds in the US do and now that I notice your name you are one of those people.

  • magnetosphere @beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I really don’t want to see pregnant women struggle to get the care they need, but if that’s what it takes to wake people up, at least future generations won’t have the same struggles.

    • spider@lemmy.nzOP
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      but if that’s what it takes to wake people up, at least future generations won’t have the same struggles.

      I don’t know; so far they seem relatively indifferent to income inequality, which has persisted for decades and is more or less related to this.

      • magnetosphere @beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        I don’t know, either. Hopefully it’ll become enough of an issue that politicians actually pay attention, but maybe people will just say “oh well” and take it. We’ll see.

  • liv@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    Beach chairs, a cooler, a sun umbrella. All relics of the Florida life she was leaving behind.

    They should have come to Northland!