America Needs Healthcare a Helluva Lot More than It Needs Greenland!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Republican politician with limited access to Donald Trump, appears to be trying to cool talk of a US military invasion of Greenland and is instead trying to direct the press toward the notion that Trump is more likely to try and buy the world's largest island.

Here's an interesting factoid, something this college history major did not know:  the United States made a tentative offer to buy Greenland from Denmark eighty years ago.  In 1946, shortly after the end of World War II, our country offered the Danes $100 million in gold for their big frozen piece of North American real estate.   We had bought the US Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million in gold in 1917, and probably figured that the Danes, in their rush to recover from World War II, would jump at the chance to offload Greenland for four times that amount.  But it was a "no sale."

Now Donald Trump, who is far more interested in building a personal legacy than he is in governing, has Greenland in his sights for some sort of annexation to the United States.  His two primary options for acquiring that big chunk of land are: 1. to "trump" up some sort of goofy justification and take it by military force, or, 2. to purchase it outright.  A purchase would be easier and undoubtedly cheaper than going to war with Greenland, Denmark, and NATO, and it would pose much less interference with Trump's weekly golf outings on the taxpayer's dime.

But what would it cost?

Our last offer was $100 million in gold eighty years ago.   Inflate that to modern times and the old bid would increase to around $1.3 billion.  That used to be a lot of money, but not so much anymore.  The Trump family has reportedly made about that amount just selling imaginary money (crypto).  With billionaires popping up like zits on a teenager, a billion dollars just doesn't have the heft that it once did, and Denmark would likely not be impressed.

Or Elon, whose wealth is reportedly in the hundreds of billions of dollars, could easily buy, call it something clever like "Trumptasia," and turn it over to Piggy and his family, making Trump the largest single landowner in the world.  That would probably suit his ego.  Elon could do it.  By early 2025 he and his companies had pocketed over $38 billion in US government contracts.

Some estimates are that one in five American children lack a consistent, nutritious source of food and often go to bed hungry at night.  (That's around 14 million kids.). Our country can't afford teachers for our classrooms, childcare for working parents, adequate and safe housing, mass transportation, or affordable healthcare for our citizens, yet we are talking about buying Greenland, a territory for which we have no national need and whose purchase or seizure would only serve to stoke the ego of an elderly politician.

It's absurd.  It's an insult to people who pay taxes and work hard to make better lives for themselves and their children.

Tax people like Elon - for a change - and use the revenue to improve the lives and futures of all Americans.  

If we can afford baubles like Greenland, we can damned sure afford healthcare for all!