You Go, JK! "I didn't build this on my own."

[pepperbear]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/jk-rowling-says-no-she-couldnt-have-built-it-without-government-aid-and-health-care/2012/09/27/3e2930aa-08bd-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_blog.html


“I worked extremely hard... I take credit for the work. But I received a free education. I received free health care... I’m unapologetic about saying this,” she added. “I had pneumonia when my daughter was under one year old. If we hadn’t had free health care in this country, God only knows what would have happened to either of us. I am proud of having done what I’ve done. Very proud. But. I do take issue – and this does go to the heart of this book, which is why I have to say it—with anyone who truly feels it’s a 100 percent down to them.”

[SunSeeker]

1. Sounds like if she had that pneumonia in this country, there'd be no Harry Potter. nt

[pepperbear]

2. Exactly right.

[jsmirman]

5. That's it. God Bless Her

That is the God's honest truth.

That seventh book was a masterpiece.

Think of what we would have lost if JKR didn't have a safety net of support while she was creating the next big thing.

You think Harry Potter has created a job or two? Uh, yeah, I would say it's created a fuckload of jobs and revenues. It's practically its own economy.

All because JKR wasn't discarded with some mythical 47%, but was supported, and thus, was able to create. Like a motherfucking job creating wizard.

I'm so glad she mentioned this, because it's so patently true. Good on her.

[Selatius]

9. Now imagine the sheer amount of dreams and potential lost because of how our system operates.

How many Einsteins died because they were short out of luck when it came to simply using the ER as a health care solution because they couldn't afford preventive care?

[jsmirman]

10. You mean "that's why we have ERs" isn't a healthcare system?

[ldf]

27. a few years ago i attended a luncheon

that was given yearly by the donors of a low interest educational loan to medical students.

each school was supposed to bring a loan recipient who would share what they were doing, and their goals in life.

there were a couple of students, man and wife, from another school who, during their comments about medical education, and student debt, etc. they included a comment that they didn't understand why there was such an outcry for universal health care. according to them, we already had it. it was called the emergency room.

these were soon to be doctors.

i was speechless.

edit for grammar

[jsmirman]

29. oof

[emmadoggy]

26. I love your post and

completely agree.

With regard to the books, I found each one to be better than the last and the seventh one is just...well, like you said, a masterpiece. LOVED. IT.

The rest of what you said is spot on, as well.

[jsmirman]

30. Thanks

her story is such a perfect example of how a society that believes in at least a level of responsibility to one's fellow men and women expands its pool of potential innovators - at that point, it's just simple statistics to see how that benefits a society.

The idea of restricting the hopes of a nation to that nonsensical restricted Olympus of "the job creators" is either a transparent money grab by the rich or the height of irresponsible stupidity.

As to the books, as a writer, I found that there was always that question as to just *how great* she was as an author. Her crowd-pleasing chops were without question, and I was surely within that crowd. But the seventh book answered all questions as to the extent of her talent. She closed the show in style, reaching an entirely new level at the close.

[smokey nj]

11. Chances are, if she had pneumonia in this country, there'd be know JK Rowling.

[Cha]

3. Little help from our friend

across the Pond!

JK Rowling

[pepperbear]

4. And her NEW BOOK is out!

[longship]

6. JK == John Kerry has changed his... Er her looks.

Sorry! Just expected one thread, and got another.


Happy to R&K the post I got, rather than the post I expected.

[eShirl]

28. I was wondering who the woman was at the end of John Kerry's quote.

[Surya Gayatri]

7. JK Rowling isn't just a brilliant and creative genius,

she's also an exemplary philanthropist who's paying it forward.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042257/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-receives-philanthropy-award-10m-donation.html

[tavalon]

8. Whoot!

Thanks J.K.Rowling!

[DirkGently]

12. She's brilliant.

[suffragette]

35. Yes, absolutely sparkling.

I love that she has been so outspoken about how crucial having social services and a safety net has been to her life and to others.
Deeply admire her.

[Bigredhunk]

13. Pretty Sure

She's admitted to writing the book in cafes while she was on public assistance too, hasn't she?

[Posteritatis]

24. The first one or two, I think.

After that she was obviously alright.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. I often find myself being an abject fan and admirer of Ms Rowling

She's the best.

[DissidentVoice]

15. Anywhere but here...

Virtually anywhere but here in the industrialised world does a person not have to worry about health care.

I live within walking distance of the Canadian border. I was over there last week. I've talked to quite a few Canadians about their care and while they admit it's not perfect, there is no way they would trade their system for our non-system.

It's much the same for the Britons and Aussies I've talked to.

[SunSeeker]

16. Yup. The Aussies, Brits and Canadians I've talk to are equally dumbfounded.

They just can't understand why the richest country on earth lets their sick people die without healthcare. Me neither.

[SemperEadem]

18. that's because when the Puritans were kicked out of England

with their Presbyterian attitudes, they set up shop in America and not Australia or Canada.

[SunSeeker]

21. Yes. It's ironic that a former penal colony like Aus. is more humane to its people. nt

[DissidentVoice]

42. Not necessarily

My grandfather was a Presbyterian deacon, and a rock-ribbed FDR New Dealer.

He had a portrait of FDR in his living room until the day he died.

[SemperEadem]

44. was your grandfather on the Mayflower?

I'm talking about the John Knox strain of that sec, not mid last century people.

[DissidentVoice]

45. No

My mother's side of my ancestry came from Ulster in the mid-1800s. My grandfather was born in 1890.

[SemperEadem]

17. she's got a new book out that I want to read

I didn't read the Potter books, but I loved the movies. I'm curious to read this book which is outside the Potter franchise.

[Egalitarian Thug]

40. The books are so much better. The Chris Columbus films were pretty good,

then the next three really sucked, then the last two got back to the soul of the stories. But almost no films ever really convey a story as well as the book they're based on.

[Honeycombe8]

19. K&R. nt

[Lizzie Poppet]

20. She has a similar attitude about tax shelters.

I'm too lazy to look up the exact quote, but when asked why she still lives in the UK and doesn't employ offshore tax shelters, her response was basically, "this country was there for me when I was down; to do that would seem to me to be profoundly disloyal."

Can't wait to read her new book...

[beac]

23. I hadn't heard that about Rowling and you inspired me to hunt up the quote:

Rowling has eloquently described why she feels compelled to pay her full taxes as a UK resident. "I chose to remain a domiciled taxpayer for a couple of reasons," she said.

"The main one was that I wanted my children to grow up where I grew up, to have proper roots in a culture as old and magnificent as Britain's; to be citizens, with everything that implies, of a real country, not free-floating expats, living in the limbo of some tax haven and associating only with the children of similarly greedy tax exiles.

"A second reason was that I am indebted to the welfare state... When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major, was there to break the fall." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-billionaires-who-do-pay-their-bills-including-james-dyson-and-jk-rowling-7873607.html

A truly noble lady and honorable person.

[WillyT]

22. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[emmadoggy]

25. I'm a big fan of hers.

I just like her so much in all her interviews that I have seen or heard. She comes across and very real, down-to-earth, witty and thoughtful. I love this quote from her.

Not to mention that I LOVE the Harry Potter books. Can't wait to read "The Casual Vacancy".

BTW, love the "Republicans for Voldemort" pic!!

[pepperbear]

31. same here.

[KevTucky]

32. Not bad for a welfare mother.

She is the bomb. How much enjoyment my girls and I have had with the books I could never tabulate.
Had she inherited her immense wealth, she would be more to their liking.

[awoke_in_2003]

33. I am 44...

so I have read none of her stuff. I may try the first one now. Who knows- I enjoyed the Lord of the rings series growing up.

[FailureToCommunicate]

34. You should! She was also a fan of Tolkien...

I highly recommend getting the marvelous books-on-tape- edition of the Harry Potter series (as read by award winning Jim Dale)
You will be swept up in a world you'll live in for enthralling hours (just be careful if you are driving)

By the way, I went back and read LOTR again and if was far better then I had remembered

[awoke_in_2003]

38. I will give it a shot...

though I am a traditionalist and enjoy the feel of real books. Might need to re-read LOTR, too.

[emmadoggy]

41. Do it!

You won't regret it. I am 45 and I just read the books 2 years ago. My son had received the entire set that Spring and started reading them. We had never seen any of the movies (only snippets here and there). After he read the first book or two, we watched the first movie. I enjoyed it much more than I expected to (as did my husband). At that point, I decided to read the books too. Figured it would be something fun for my son and I to share together.

Wow, was I blown away! I got so wrapped up in the story, I read the entire series in about 6 weeks. We continued to watch each of the movies as my son finished the books. My husband, who NEVER reads books, even read the first book and part of the second.

Needless to say, our daughter also got into it. All four of us are now huge Potterheads - love the books, love the movies, have the legos, wii games, board games, and the kids even have some of the replica wands. We have listened to the audiobooks, as well, which are wonderful.

I hope you read them and enjoy them as much and my family and I have!

P.S. The first few books are definitely geared younger, but stick with it!! Once you get to book 4 things get much darker and more intense and the story really kicks into high gear.

[reformist2]

36. Republicans *hate* when people who have clearly worked hard and succeeded espouse liberal ideas!

Not to demean anyone else's point of view, but people like JK Rowling really get under their skin, because they can't resort to their usual bashing.

[nxylas]

43. Nah, they have a script for successful liberals.

This article checks all the boxes, asking how much she gives to charity (implying that she doesn't, even though her charitable work is well-documented) and pouring scorn on her tales of her impoverished upbringing. The latter is a version of the "no true Scot" fallacy, since in Republican mythology, if she'd really clawed her way up from nothing, she'd be on their side, ergo she must have had a privileged upbringing obviously.

[Wheezy]

37. I love her.

Would love to meet her one day.

[Are_grits_groceries]

39. All Republicans are muggles!

It heartens me that so many people have read her books. If they glean anything from them, we will be blessed.
Here is her commencement address at Harvard. Worth the listen. Interesting to think many of those listening had read her books.

Part one:

Part two: