No Fan Of Obamacare, But About That Job Search, Ashley Dionne Got A Degree In Film
A 26-year-old woman's post on a website -- about how Obamacare "has raped my future" -- went viral. Ashley Dionne says her insurance premium under Obamacare will jump from $75 to $319 per month. From CampusReform.org:
"My name is Ashley Dionne and I'm a 26-year-old recent graduate from Michigan.The phony Obamacare signup poster boy made me want to send a message about how Obamacare is really affecting people.
I graduated from The University of Michigan in 2009. In my state, this used to mean something, but even with a bachelor's I was told I was too educated and wouldn't stay. I watched as kids with GEDs and high school diploma's took the low-paying jobs for which I applied.
I went back to school and got a second degree and finally found work at a gym. I work nights and only get 32 hours a week for eight dollars an hour. I'm unable to find a second job at this time.
I have asthma, ulcers, and mild cerebral palsy. Obamacare takes my monthly rate from $75 a month for full coverage on my "Young Adult Plan," to $319 a month. After $6,000 in deductibles, of course.
Liberals claimed this law would help the poor. I am the poor, the working poor, and I can't afford to support myself, let alone older generations and people not willing to work at all.
This law has raped my future.
It will keep me and kids my age from having a future at all.
This is the real face of Obamacare and it isn't pretty."
I wondered what she'd gotten her degree in: Turned out it was Film, 2009, from the University of Michigan. Here's her YouTube channel. 35 views of one of the videos as of a week ago; 32 of another. Oh, and wait -- they aren't videos she's made; the three I looked at are just songs with a still shot, and the rest look to be that as well.
She'd later gotten another degree from Baker College in 2012, it says on CampusReform.org below the letter. I wasn't able to find out what it was in.
I am sympathetic about her not being able to get a job in what she studied but also, come on. I studied film (graduating after one year at NYU after three years at the University of Michigan) but I was mindful that it would be hard to get a job with simply a film degree -- and that was back before the economy got tough. So, I had worked my ass off getting myself multiple professional internships and jobs starting in high school, working as an intern at Detroit's WDIV Channel 4, working for a PR agency, working as an assistant producer for a summer at W.B. Doner advertising.
I got good enough at advertising that, in my junior year, I won a $3,000 scholarship (a lot in those days), presented by Edsel Ford, for writing and producing the winning ad for Dodge Daytona Turbo Z in a college advertising competition.
I also had a reel of stuff I'd worked on -- professionally -- by the time I was 21, and ability as a producer beyond that of people who'd worked in the industry for a year.
That's why *I* got a job as an assistant producer at Ogilvy & Mather New York, the ad agency with the best production department in the industry. Oh, and before that, I'd gotten a job for a very short time at Geer Dubois Advertising, a smaller but good ad agency in New York, as a copywriter. Right out of college. Because I'd prepared and not just expected the sky to open up and rain jobs for me without any sort of qualification.
And presumably you made that reel without the advantages of iPhones or relatively inexpensive movie quality consumer video cameras and without distribution channels like YouTube or Vimeo.
Hell maybe you even made that reel using relatively costly 'film' that had to be developed and could be damaged or not even exposed correctly in the first place.
That's one reason I don't understand newly graduated lawyers complaining they can't get a job. I'm not saying all law graduates can do this, but if I were a law graduate without a job, I'd find some consumer action thing or civil rights incident that needed legal protection and go forward.
When lawyers can't find work, you know who benefits? Everybody. (Yesterday's joke.)
jerry at October 18, 2013 8:11 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/10/18/no_fan_of_obama.html#comment-3987757">comment from jerryI made, for example, a super-8 stop-motion film to advertise the Ann Arbor film festival. It took me weeks and weeks moving jelly beans around. And yes, the film had to be developed. At an actual lab. And later transferred to 16 millimeter to be shown.
Amy Alkon at October 18, 2013 8:42 AM
Wait - I thought the main complaint on Obamacare was that it was a giveaway. Now this woman who has asthma and cerebral palsy is expected to pay $319 a month for insurance and she's complaining? I pay more than that on the private market and have for years. For her, with the unfortunate hand she's been dealt, this still seems like a bargain.
I have serious reservations about Obamacare, but I'll be switched if I can figure out why this story has gone viral among those who are foursquare against it. It seems to me a perfect example of making someone pay her own freight.
Kevin at October 18, 2013 8:42 AM
I have a film degree. I work in theatre. But the job that pays my bills is working in a healthcare company (which makes me laugh heartily at those who argue ObamaCare with me, and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about until I tell them what I do for a living) I don't kid myself that I'm entitled to a "job" because I went to "Major New York University".
While I whole-heartedly agree with her sentiments on ObamaCare, her sense of reality about her "education" and how it should have helped her become employed is making me want to throat-punch her. You're $30,000 in debt over a boutique, practically worthless degree and you think that makes you special?! No. It makes you a dumbass.
Sabrina at October 18, 2013 8:45 AM
@Kevin: "It seems to me a perfect example of making someone pay her own freight."
And possibly other people's. At least she can rest easy knowing she's finally kicking in her fair share.
File this under "What did you think was gonna happen?"
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at October 18, 2013 9:24 AM
Does anyone rememer this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q
It was made in 2006, and caused a stir mixed with some skepticism about how exponentially fast the world, especially Asia, is developing. When they mention social media, it's all myspace, facebook isn't even metioned.
I think it's unfair to denigrate well meaning people who were told to pursue their dreams through hard work and education only to find the world suddenly changed around them. People aren't meant to evolve this quickly. Here's Shift Happens 2013:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdvo5FlRqmM
I was reading that the three leading factors concerning a yong persons success nowdays is interpersonal connections (family and friends networking), access to capital, and finally education, which depends more and more on the first two.
Eric at October 18, 2013 9:28 AM
Please disregard the second link I posted. It's a rehash of the first link.
Eric at October 18, 2013 9:31 AM
Sabrina writes: "I have a film degree. I work in theatre. But the job that pays my bills is working in a healthcare company"
Exactly, this is reality. Art makes a great hobby. Very few people can live off of it, and no one should go to school, get an art-related degree, and expect to be able to live off of it.
Creative writing, film, painting, music, acting - all of these and more.
a_random_guy at October 18, 2013 10:04 AM
By the way, it's worth reading the comments at the link. For example, her mother writes: "She does qualify for Medicaid. Why should an intelligent, able bodied person want to have to accept unwanted help from the government? She wasn't raised that way. I should know, I raised her. She wants to work, would love to have a full time job. The point is she paid her insurance was told in the beginning that she could keep her insurance. Maybe President Obama was being MENDACIOUS."
a_random_guy at October 18, 2013 10:18 AM
The days of "working your ass off" with some moxy and no credentials (and no family money to work unpaid internships in pricey cities) are pretty much over. The educational arms race, which promised more equality but ended up just making class more important, has seen to that.
Brian at October 18, 2013 10:22 AM
The phrase "raped my future" is silly and melodramatic. Clearly she was going for shock value, but it just makes her sound like a drama queen and will likely cause her to lose support among groups (feminists, lefties) that would normally have been sympathetic. And really--this isn't comparable to rape, get a thesaurus.
I also have to wonder, how do you go through 4 years of college and not realize that your degree isn't going to make you money? My degree was in finance, and my internships each summer paid $13, $15, then $22/hr. That final year as a rising senior--the big internship year--most people I knew in business, engineering, or computers were making $20-35/hr. If you can't find paying jobs in your field during college, that's a pretty good sign you won't have much luck afterwards, and it sounds like she wasn't reading the signs. And okay, you mess up once--but if you have the chance to go back for a second degree, for heavens sake make it something useful.
And no, I don't think having a degree should give you a leg up on bagging groceries or working at a drive thru. C'mon now.
Shannon at October 18, 2013 10:31 AM
"Now this woman who has asthma and cerebral palsy is expected to pay $319 a month for insurance and she's complaining?" Kevin...
actually, not... she's complaining about the lie that she was fed about "keeping your insurance" that she was paying $75/month for.
Ultimately, as with any individual, this is a crashing cascade of different issues all at the same time.
Primarily, she needs to move to where there are jobs... her degree IS a sheepskin, doesn't matter what it is. I don't use my degree for what it is, either.
But if no-one is hiring, you have to go where there are jobs... and for that she may be in a pickle. Does she live with her mom? Can she operate on her own?
File under getting what you reward. Her best bet as an individual is to stop working, go on disability, and get medicaid.
It's true in the aggregate, that you can tell people, "don't get a stupid degree" but the sad fact is that there are an incredible amount of jobs out there employing people WITH degrees, that could easily be done by an HS grad.
Still, this is all about an ugly pig of an insurance plan, that you are being COERCED into buying... no matter what you had before.
No matter if you can afford it. A lot of people are glossing over that deductible... if it's $6000, doesn't that mean that you have to pay the first $6000? if so, that means that the cost of the insurance is actually $800/mo in her case, because she has to get passed that.
Ultimately it's an expensive luxury, never used. The average person doesn't spend that much a year on healthcare.
SwissArmyD at October 18, 2013 10:48 AM
Whoops, I just assumed she was a left-winger who became disenchanted with Obama. Followed the comments and she actually practices "objectivism" a la Ayn Rand,
Comments are very interesting--several point out that based on her income, she would qualify for Medicaid with lower rates. She responds that she doesn't want to live off the government--commendable attitude, yes, but in reality someone with cerebral palsy, asthma, and ulcers who only pays $75/month is essentially living off the government already, or is underinsured to the point where the taxpayer is still going to be left holding the bag. Comments also point out that Obamacare is the reason she was able to stay on her parents insurance until age 26 in the first place--and that her previous plan would expire because of her age regardless.
Still doesn't explain the film degree.
Shannon at October 18, 2013 10:54 AM
[quote]She responds that she doesn't want to live off the government--commendable attitude, yes, but in reality someone with cerebral palsy, asthma, and ulcers who only pays $75/month is essentially living off the government already, or is underinsured to the point where the taxpayer is still going to be left holding the bag.
No kidding.
Her academic choices are her own lookout, but there isn't a violin in the word small enough for someone with that constellation of maladies who is now "forced" to pay more than $75/month for her own health care.
And I maintain that this is a particularly odd story for Obamacare foes to use to bolster their argument.
Kevin at October 18, 2013 11:31 AM
On November 6, 2012 the population of the United States was given an intelligence test. It was determined that 51.06% of the population qualifies as special needs adults with intelligence way below functional.
Now we are seeing if education can help correct that. But it is probably way too late for it.
Jim P. at October 18, 2013 11:44 AM
"Comments also point out that Obamacare is the reason she was able to stay on her parents insurance until age 26 in the first place..."
Hmm. Shouldn'there have been a gap there, of a couple of years?
Radwaste at October 18, 2013 12:45 PM
Now, it seems to me that when Obama was touting the ACA, he kept saying that for those currently with insurance, nothing was going to change. I would like to think that with all the regulations put forth in the 20,000 pages that they would have thought to restrict the insurance companies from raising individuals' premiums more than 10% once the act was going to go into effect in 2014. If they can regulate pre-existing conditions and other aspects of coverage, they could also regulate the premiums of current clients. (By the way, a common myth is that the ACA completely does away with pre-existing conditions. It doesn't. Insurance companies can no longer deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, but they can certain use them to make you pay through the nose.)
Fayd at October 18, 2013 2:33 PM
Now, it seems to me that when Obama was touting the ACA, he kept saying that for those currently with insurance, nothing was going to change.
Acctually what he said was if you like you plan you can keep it. He said jack shit about what the PRICE of that plan might be
lujlp at October 18, 2013 6:26 PM
Now, it seems to me that when Obama was touting the ACA, he kept saying that for those currently with insurance, nothing was going to change.
Acctually what he said was if you like you plan you can keep it. He said jack shit about what the PRICE of that plan might be
lujlp at October 18, 2013 6:26 PM
"51.06% of the population qualifies as special needs adults"
Today at work a guy bet me I couldn't chug ten Cokes in a row but I did it and I only threw up once so the joke was on him and he had to buy me a Coke!
Then our supervisor came in and got mad and said to get back to work. I hate this job. It's no fun working for the TSA.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at October 18, 2013 6:26 PM
I have to call you out on your comment regarding prices of Obamacare premiums lujlp:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/flashback-obama-promised-lower-health-care-insurance-premium
“If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is the amount of money you will spend on premiums. That will be less.”
chaz at October 18, 2013 9:11 PM
Gee, Chaz - why are citing that?
Here's the byline from CNN:
With few exceptions, every American must have insurance by March 31 or pay a fee.
"Few exceptions." That actually means if you're a non-citizen, or you don't pay taxes, you don't pay.
Does that sound remotely American, or cheap, to you?
Have you used the ACA calculator at NPR? If so, what did you find there?
Or are you simply going to be quiet about that, as Patrick is, because it doesn't agree with you?
Radwaste at October 19, 2013 4:25 AM
Just for you champions of the Affordable Health Care Act:
Here is the cost calculator.
In my case, if I lose my job (isn't that a special little treat?), it'll cost me over $1000 per month.
If you approve of the Act, do you realize what you're doing? You're identifying yourself as mentally inconsistent, at best - and possibly incompetent to manage your own affairs, must less the nation's, through the exercise of your vote.
Because you think the people who invaded Iraq (then claimed they didn't want to if they had a "D" by their name), established the TSA, run the BATFE and IRS and public housing and give breaks from the ACA to their political cronies are doing the RIGHT THING!
Radwaste at October 19, 2013 4:59 AM
"Now we are seeing if education can help correct that. "
To a considerable extent, education, as it's practiced in the U.S. today, is the cause of it.
Cousin Dave at October 20, 2013 11:20 AM
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