Horrible Relationships

Tireless universal health-insurance advocate Ezra Klein describes his "horrible relationship" with DVD rental service Netflix:

Matt Yglesias has a quick post on the Netflix movies he rented this weekend. I don't. Because I've had the same three sitting in my drawer for almost two years now. That's literally hundreds of dollars I've donated to Netflix to help subsidize the fees of people who actually use the service. Meanwhile, one of the movies is cracked and I can't find the envelopes for the other two. So I continue my philanthropic donations to the Netflix Fund for the Needy. And every month, I loathe myself just a little bit more.

That's too bad! But isn't this basically same relationship Klein wants lots of young, healthy people to have with health insurance?

Comments

[Zeb]

As a satisfied user of Netflix, I can say he is a retard. They are very good and fast about replacing broken discs (they will send one out before you even return the damaged one) and you can send back multiple disks in a single envelope.

[John]

Is it that hard to send the damn things back if you don't want to watch them? I have come to the conclusion that most left of center journalists are retards or at the very least have Aspergers' syndrome.

[WWJGD]

He has trouble with Netflix yet people still listen to his policy ideas?

It's like a doctor that can't figure out how to use a twisty-top pen. Maybe you should just go somewhere else.

[John]

Any guess on what the three movies this douschbag wanted to watch but couldn't?

[Fascitis Necrotizante]

Wow, as a daily Netflix consumer, fuck that re-re.

yet people still listen to his policy ideas?

I believe he's also an actual little boy. Like 23, no?

[WWWJGD]

[i]Any guess on what the three movies this douschbag wanted to watch but couldn't?[/i]

Happy Scrappy Hero Pup?

[ed]

I still have a VCR, which I guess means that I qualify for Soviet-era health insurance.
Or something. The Netflix-ObamaCare relationship escapes me.

[John]

WWWJGD,

That was my guess along with "Where it Doesn't Belong" and "Her Pipes Need Cleaning."

[hmm]

You mean some dipshit can't see the that he advocates relates to things that are totally fucked up in his life?

Hell, you could write a book on such a lack of perceptiveness with just the A-B section of the a Congressional role call. The morons are everywhere like dust mites. But not as cute at 10X magnification.

[jsh]

Can I be the first to demand a DVD Czar?

[Rhayader]

Wait, is this guy serious? Every single disc you get says "Lost an envelope? Mail two discs back in the same envelope".

This Netflix thing just isn't all that hard.

[a merkin idle]

Any guess on what the three movies this douschbag wanted to watch but couldn't?

Popeye (the musical)
Reds
Faces of Death V

[John]

"This Netflix thing just isn't all that hard."

Again, I have come to the conclusion that most left of center journalists are retards or at the very least have Aspergers' syndrome. Klein just isn't right. But he aims to tell us all how to live our lives.

[Xeones]

Ezra Klein: dumbest person on the planet, or just one of the dumbest people on the planet?

Can I be the first to demand a DVD Czar?

I refuse to read the article -- isn't that what Klein was going for?

[Fascitis Necrotizante]

I trust at least one of them was Billy Jack Goes to Washington.

What's also retarded is that he opted for the three disc at a time plan.

Really he could have returned the discs in the time it took him to blog about it.

[Fascitis Necrotizante]

that's right: at LEAST one.

[Invisible Finger]

He reads Yglesias, so he's obviously got shit for brains.

And of course one can't opt out of Netflix, they're like the North Korea of film rentals or something.

[John]

"Ezra Klein: dumbest person on the planet, or just one of the dumbest people on the planet?"

Not only is Klein too stupid to know how to use Netflix, but also he broadcasted this fact to the entire world. He is not just stupid, he is apparently proud of being stupid. But, this is what passes for our political and intellectual elite these days. I am sure Klein has nothing but distain for people who live in places like Kansas City and Boise and do things like fix cars for a living. He is just so much smarter and more sophisticated than they are. Fucking douschbag. I hate journalists.

[Peter]

You guys don't understand his problem. First of all, the three movies are Godfather I, II, and III. He broke the disk for part II while watching part I, and the only envelope he has left is for part III. He can't send part I or the broken part II back with part III in the same envelope because he hasn't been able to watch part III yet due to lacking the middle story in part II. He is forever locked in a conundrum much more perplexing than any societal problems you can try to draw a likeness to.

[John]

That is right Peter. He will be watching Part II and wondering "Where the hell is Fredo?" the whole movie.

[John]

Part III I mean.

[KC Resident]

I am sure Klein has nothing but distain for people who live in places like Kansas City and Boise...

Boise=Kansas City? Ouch, dude.

[Russ 2000]

Popeye (the musical)
Reds
Faces of Death V

I was going to go with:

Dances With Wolves
Thank You For Smoking
Panic In The Streets

[John]

I grew up in Kansas City. For the record I like the place. And I like Boise to.

[Fascitis Necrotizante]

At least he's probably not the reason Sudden Impact has been on "Very Long Wait" for me for the last three months...

[John]

I didn't know netflix rented gay porn.

[hmm]

Does net flix rent porn? If so I'm going to call goat porn.

[John]

"Does net flix rent porn? If so I'm going to call goat porn."

I don't think so. Just Euro Porn. You know "art films" with a lot of hot chicks naked.

[Xeones]

If so I'm going to call goat porn.

You think Ezra Klein is secretly Episiarch? Weird!

[Michael B Sullivan]

For god's sake, people, he's not too stupid to use NetFlix, he's just not bothering to deal with it, but also keeps telling himself he will deal with it, so he doesn't cancel. It's hardly a horrible personal flaw.

I suspect that the differences that Klein sees between his relationship with NetFlix and the relationship he'd like to see in public healthcare are twofold:

1. While the "NetFlix Fund For The Needy" is obviously something that he regards (correctly!) as of dubious public value, he probably thinks that "Older Folks Getting Healthcare" has some real value.

2. While most young people who would be paying in to public healthcare would not end up needing the health insurance, some unpredictable population of them will, and will need it badly, and will presumably get it. In contrast, there is zero chance that Klein will get any benefit from the money he's wasted on NetFlix, and even if there were a chance that he'd get some benefit from it, it wouldn't be a benefit that he badly needs.

Klein has a world full of bad arguments for public healthcare (including repeated, infuriating dismissals of any kind of moral hazard argument on the sole basis that "I don't want to go to the hospital, so clearly nobody ever tries to get more care than is a good idea"). We can attack those arguments without calling him a "douschbag" [sic] based on him sharing a personal foible with no relevance to health insurance.

[Invisible Finger]

Ezra and i have something in common. Every month, I too loathe Ezra Klein just a little bit more.

[mark]

Matt Yglesias has a quick post on the Netflix movies he rented this weekend. [I'm too busy blogging to use Netflix.] [But my behavior, while irrational, helps subsidize a valuable service. This is market economics at work, but I shall willfully ignore that and try to pretend that someone is hurting me, which satisfies my leftist mind.] [I'm way too busy to even begin thinking of how to use Netflix. If only they sent me to a training camp first!] So I continue my philanthropic donations to the Netflix Fund for the Needy. And every month, I loathe myself just a little bit more. [Charity is loathsome. Public entitlements are, like, the exact opposite.]

FTFY

[Alan Vanneman]

"But isn't this basically same relationship Klein wants lots of young, healthy people to have with health insurance?"

So if a young, healthy person with no health insurance loses a leg in a traffic accident, should he be denied care if can't come up a 10% deposit? Or if he's in an accident that leaves him a paraplegic, should he be denied health insurance in the future (pre-existing condition?

[John]

"For god's sake, people, he's not too stupid to use NetFlix, he's just not bothering to deal with it, but also keeps telling himself he will deal with it, so he doesn't cancel. It's hardly a horrible personal flaw."

So instead of being too stupid to use Netflix, he was too lazy. And yet somehow thinks it is his "awful relationship" with the product that is the problem. My opinion of him is somehow not improved.

[BakedPenguin]

Fuck, invisible finger beat me to the "what we can agree with Ezra on" joke. Bastard.

You know "art films" with a lot of hot chicks naked.

I don't think anyone is going to call Tinto Brass an "art film" maker or call the "Emmanuelle" series art films. Catherine Breillat, maybe.

[John]

"So if a young, healthy person with no health insurance loses a leg in a traffic accident, should he be denied care if can't come up a 10% deposit? Or if he's in an accident that leaves him a paraplegic, should he be denied health insurance in the future (pre-existing condition?"

No and they are not by law. They will be billed for those services. Then if the person can't pay, the cost will be written off and passed on to the rest of us, just like it would be in a publicly run system.

Venneman, is there a reason why you just occasionally drop in to say stupid things?

[John]

"I don't think anyone is going to call Tinto Brass an "art film" maker or call the "Emmanuelle" series art films."

Says you/.

[Isaac Bartram]

He has trouble with Netflix yet people still listen to his policy ideas?

No shit.

And, yes, Mr Sullivan, paying for a service that you are not using for nearly two years may not be a horrible personal flaw.

But I'm certainly not going to remember it when it comes time to consider whether anything he says is worth listening to.

[alan]

I get the impression Ezra Klein is kinda dumb.

[alan]

If one of those movies is Things To Do In Denver When You Are Dead I'm going to be so pissed. That has been on my que for over a year and is still not available. Return the copy, motherfucker.

[Michael B Sullivan]

So instead of being too stupid to use Netflix, he was too lazy.

Yes. And "too lazy" to use NetFlix isn't some incredible failing. If half of the commenters on this thread don't have some monthly bill that they aren't getting much out of but haven't gotten around to cancelling, I'll eat my hat.

And yet somehow thinks it is his "awful relationship" with the product that is the problem.

The hell? Where do you get some kind of dodge of personal responsibility out of this? He doesn't blame NetFlix, or his relationship with NetFlix (what would that even mean?). To the extent that he blames anyone, he blames himself ("Each month, I loathe myself just a little bit more").

It's a basically light-hearted admission of a (totally minor) personal flaw.

My opinion of him is somehow not improved.

Look, here it is, straight up. Between these two people:

Peron A has a NetFlix subscription that he doesn't use but hasn't cancelled.

Person B humorlessly and repeatedly insults a person for having a NetFlix subscription that they don't use, and then tries to somehow justify that as appropriate behavior.

Only one of them is acting like a douche, and it ain't Person A.

[ed]

Ezra is Arze backward. Coincidence?

[alan]

So if a young, healthy person with no health insurance loses a leg in a traffic accident, should he be denied care if can't come up a 10% deposit? Or if he's in an accident that leaves him a paraplegic, should he be denied health insurance in the future (pre-existing condition?

A lot of should there. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, whatever be the case, you are still at the mercy of someone elses means. Perhaps you should see a legislator or, maybe, a lawyer to treat that nasty cough.

[highnumber]

I don't really know who Ezra Klein is, but I applaud him for his proud incompetence. Not only is a NetFlix account beyond his abilities, but he publicizes it, and not only does he publicize it, he writes a blog entry for no reason other than to publicize it. If you did not click through to the see the article, don't bother - the entire piece was reproduced up above. That's all of it: "I can't handle NetFlix and I hate myself for it."
A-freaking-mazing.

[hmm]

And "too lazy" to use NetFlix isn't some incredible failing. And neither is being to lazy to get up to use the shitter and just shitting yourself. No failing there.

I don't let a single monthly ACH pass without scrutiny. Not a single itty bitty one in all the time I have used ACH. Break out the salt, pepper, and tabasco. Hat, it's what's for dinner.

It should be noted he is getting charged more than just a regular servicing fee if he still has disks, that could be easily returned, and not kept like a retard. A little different than just your regular ACH nicking $18.34 every month. He's actively fucking up. Like a retard.

You can have the hat for breakfast if you want. I expect pictures.

[hmm]

I failed at italics and blockquote. FAil squared.

[Michael B Sullivan]

I failed at italics and blockquote. FAil squared.

And reading comprehension. Cubed, I guess.

[Fascitis Necrotizante]

This is really more like being charged twenty dollars a month for two years because you're unwilling to mail an envelope. Count me among the folks on this thread who are responsible enough not to fail something like that.

[Warty]

Just Euro Porn. You know "art films" with a lot of hot chicks naked.

Dude, I never have the patience to watch Andrew Blake movies.

[Russ 2000]

It's hardly a horrible personal flaw."

It is when you write about how bad Netflix is.

[Russ 2000]

Sullivan,

Since your'e a little incapable of reading the meaning of the post, Klein wants people to loathe themselves for having a universal health plan.

[ed]

I don't really know who Ezra Klein is

Relax, highnumber. Nobody does. But let's focus. Netflix must be very competent and successful, if the number of their popup ads I encounter daily is any indication.*

*Yeah, yeah, I know: Ad Blocker. I might as well wear a burka.

[John Thacker]

he probably thinks that "Older Folks Getting Healthcare" has some real value.

2. While most young people who would be paying in to public healthcare would not end up needing the health insurance, some unpredictable population of them will, and will need it badly, and will presumably get it.

But on the whole, the plan has young folks subsidizing old folks. That's incredibly unfair. All old folks were young once. Some young folks will die without being old (and many will die in accidents where having insurance or not won't matter). For people who definitely will live to be old to be subsidized by people who may not live to be old is on its face unfair.

[Brandybuck]

I'm going to go with:

Gigli
An Inconsiderate Truth
Bedtime For Bonzo

[Gimpy]

Some Dem Strategist guy on MSNBC's The Ed Show just said that insurance companies add no value. All they do is make hundreds of millions for no reason at all.

[luther blissett]

isn't this basically same relationship Klein wants lots of young, healthy people to have with health insurance?

No. Thanks for playing.

[juris imprudent]

Things To Do In Denver When You Are Dead

Buckwheats.

It ain't that great a flick - though it is better then anything Michael Bay has done.

[hmm]

I failed at italics and blockquote. FAil squared.

And reading comprehension. Cubed, I guess.

You don't get to add to my fail. Anyone who can't see how simple that article is, the point trying to be conveyed, and how retarded it is must first learn to polish their helmet, and wax their drool bib before even thinking of adding to my fail.

my vitriolic response > your vitriolic response

neener neener

[JB]

Ezra Klein is a waste of oxygen. The sooner that is remedied, the better.

[R C Dean]

So if a young, healthy person with no health insurance loses a leg in a traffic accident, should he be denied care if can't come up a 10% deposit?

The alternatives are

(a) A physician and hospital choose voluntarily to treat him without pay.

(b) A physician and hospital are forced by the government to treat him without pay.

(c) His fellow citizens are forced to pay for his treatment.

I think you can probably tell which of those is the preferred libertarian alternative.

[Fluffy]

Just thought I'd pop in and note that if you lose a leg in a traffic accident, it's covered by auto insurance. Not health insurance. So you might want to tweak your hypothetical.

[Isaac Bartram]

Fluffy

Doesn't it depend on the state?

Also, Florida only requires $10K in Personal Injury Protection. Peple carry the minimum if they have medical insurance because they know it'll kick in after the PIP.

And, then a lot of young people only carry the $10K also, to keep expenses down. But an amputated leg'll run a lot more than ten grand.

But then if it's the other guy's fault in some states you'll make out like you've won the Lotto.

[Isaac Bartram]

That last sentence needed a tongue-in-cheek emoticon with it.

[Craig]

Netflix is a joke. Every movie that made over two or three million at the box office is on a "long wait" as soon as it is released. When it finally gets to a "short wait", they ship you something from the 15th or 16th spot on your queue instead of waiting a day or two.

If you're a new customer, the movies fly to your mailbox. If you've been a customer for a long time and rent a lot, they slow down your service to impress the newbies, instead of just buying more inventory.

I switched to Blockbuster, and new releases show up right away. Of course, I'm a new customer to them....