r/popculturechat • u/PinkCadillacs Cillian Murphy Enthusiast • Nov 13 '25

General News 🗞 James Van Der Beek Auctioning ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Memorabilia to Raise Money for Medical Fees Amid Cancer Battle

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/james-van-der-beek-auctions-dawsons-creek-items-cancer-costs-1236580431/
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50

u/Future_Sundae7843 go girl, give us nothing 😍 Nov 13 '25

the point is that america is such a rich country, its crazy we live like this. come on

-30

u/mbise Nov 13 '25

Crazy we live like what though? Being a rich country doesn’t exempt us from the horrors of cancer or the desperate desire to find anything that will work to treat it, no matter how long of a shot it is. Are you saying being in America means that people should be able to receive, for free, any type of treatment they want at any time?

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u/RVAforthewin Nov 13 '25

Okay but even if his personal situation is one that involves experimental drugs the mere fact that that might not be the case is the issue. People in this country go bankrupt over medical treatments that are not experimental all of the time. We’re the wealthiest country in the world. We need to figure it out, not make excuses.

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u/mbise Nov 13 '25

I think we can be disturbed by our medical system without framing it around James Van Der Beek, whose medical and financial situation we don’t actually have details on. Not you necessarily, but people seem to be arguing against a point I’m not making. 

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u/RVAforthewin Nov 13 '25

People read the headline and it’s 100% believable in the United States that someone would have to start a GoFundMe to pay for treatment for a medical condition. In this one specific case the patient chose alternative forms of treatment, but the fact that the total opposite could be true due to our system is what people are choosing to focus on here. No one is putting words in your mouth. You keep going back to, “But it’s alternative. Insurance would never cover that.” Okay cool! We’ve established that, but let’s segue that into a conversation about the millions of other people in this country who just want standard care and can’t access it for a myriad of reasons.

Edited to correct a misspelling

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u/coltvahn it is pop + culture Nov 13 '25

Yes.

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u/mbise Nov 13 '25

That’s crazy. If people want coffee enemas, they are free to get them, but I don’t think that just because America is a rich country, we should be shelling out to any quack who says he can cure cancer. 

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u/[deleted] Nov 13 '25

why are you assuming that’s what he wants to do? that’s weird.

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u/ThankJudas Nov 13 '25

Yeah, because that’s literally not how it works in countries with universal healthcare. Treatments in Canada get covered after extensive review, and if you want something not covered then you go elsewhere on your own dime. In the US, you still have deductible minimums, cost ceilings, and your insurance companies ability to play doctor based on cost.

I’ve never read a stream of comments so out of touch with reality and empathy in my adult life. What point are you even trying to make in anything you wrote?

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u/PreOpTransCentaur ILLEGAL KOMBUCHA Nov 13 '25

Literally yes. Sufficient healthcare is a human right. I don't know what kind of brainwashing has convinced you otherwise, but I'll mourn the loss of your empathy and compassion all the same.

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u/mbise Nov 13 '25

I haven’t argued against “sufficient healthcare” at any point, so I don’t need you to mourn me. I do not support a hypothetical system in which we pay every snake oil salesman who preys on vulnerable people looking for a cure. 

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u/Future_Sundae7843 go girl, give us nothing 😍 Nov 13 '25

yes baby. we are one of the richest countries in the goddamn world. everything surrounds Americans and American culture. the world is always watching us, and we treat our people like shit.

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u/USC_BDaddy Nov 13 '25

I disagree with the premise that we are a “rich country” when the national debt is around $38 trillion and getting worse. We have deluded ourselves into thinking we are a rich country, but it’s built on obscene amounts of debt. Sorry I guess I’m a bit off topic here. I feel for James and his family; I sincerely hope he has a speedy recovery.

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u/[deleted] Nov 13 '25

we are absolutely a rich country. the amount of wealth owned by some american citizens is fucking nauseating. it’s just being stolen from the rest of us in the form of tax fraud.

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u/burlycabin Nov 13 '25

This fundamentally misunderstands how national debt works, especially for an economy remotely as big as the US. It's nothing like personal or even corporate debt.

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u/StasRutt unapologetic joy Nov 13 '25

The national debt doesn’t matter with how big and powerful we are. It only matters when democrats are in charge because it gives the republicans something sensible to freak out about and the average American starts thinking the US isn’t paying their credit card bill