“We have to purge Blue MAGA from our movement. We have to start having these ideas about basic humanity. We can’t be embarrassed about them anymore.”
~ Walter Rhein ~
Diogenes In Review
The tenth installment of the Diogenes Club’s conversation turns inward, examining the structural rot of American institutions—healthcare, media, and electoral systems—while mapping a concrete path to democratic renewal. Nick Paro, Evan Fields, Walter Rhein, and Dr. Eric Lullove build their argument methodically, from the failures of insurance monopolies to the urgency of primary races, making a case that existing power structures will not yield without direct pressure from grassroots candidates and independent media.
The episode opens with Eric Lullove’s account of a speaking engagement where he encountered Kate Rubins, a microbiologist and former ISS mission specialist who sequenced DNA in space. Rather than celebrating distant scientific achievement, Eric connects that story to immediate political stakes: the Trump administration’s $5 billion cuts to the NIH threaten the pipeline of young researchers who could develop the next generation of breakthroughs. His argument is not nostalgic. Instead, it’s about survival: when PhD candidates see no funding, they flee to private industry, leaving public health innovation to billionaire-controlled research agendas. This is how democracies die—not through one catastrophic failure, but through the slow draining of institutional capacity and public investment.
We then drill into healthcare monopolies, using Evan’s personal experience (a $300 dental bill for an uninsured family) as a case study. Eric methodically explains how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) conspire with insurance companies and pharmacies to deny claims not because the system lacks money, but to hold 5-15 percent in reserve for interest income. Insurance companies are mathematically designed to deny coverage. Meanwhile, dental and vision insurances have decayed into systems that cover only basic procedures while forcing customers to pay out-of-pocket for actual care. The system functions to extract wealth, not to heal people. Walter connects this to regional healthcare fragmentation: without intervention, monopoly insurance companies will balkanize America into regional fiefdoms where your healthcare access depends on geography and corporate affiliation. This is infrastructure for authoritarian control.
But here’s the good news: we do not counsel resignation. Instead, we articulate a concrete political strategy. Walter has begun interviewing primary challengers—progressives running for Congressional seats against entrenched centrists who’ve done nothing to stop the Trump administration’s agenda. His core message: legacy media ignores primaries because they’re easier to rig; the Democratic establishment suppresses primary coverage to maintain “the illusion of a choice between two bought and paid for candidates.” But primaries are winnable. Face-to-face organizing beats money. Knock on enough doors in a district with 20,000 voters and you can beat a candidate with $80 million in ads. We bring the example of Edwina English, who is running for Congress without corporate donations, relying on high school students and disabled activists—the two groups “completely ignored by our entire political movement.”
The practical framework is clear: one candidate, one creator, and independent media as the force multiplier. Walter will interview a candidate, then connect them with other creators who will do the same. Suddenly, grassroots primary challengers get visibility in a way legacy media refuses to provide. The goal is not purity—Walter explicitly reframes “purity tests” as “qualification tests”—but basic competence: Will you impeach fascists? Will you fund research? Will you guarantee healthcare? Will you fight for democracy or just play defense? These are not radical demands. They’re the bare minimum.
We also name the systemic dilemma: young people are not entering medicine because they’ll graduate with $300,000 in debt and no salary pathway to justify it. Enrollment in podiatry schools is dropping. The medical pipeline is collapsing. And the Democratic Party, having won full control of government in 2020, did “a goddamn thing” to stop fascism’s return. This is why primary challenges are not luxury activism—they’re survival strategy. You cannot defeat the other side until your own house is pure. And purity here means: do you actually believe in universal healthcare, abolishing ICE, universal education, universal housing, and wealth caps? If not, you don’t belong in a pro-democracy party.
Walter’s vision is of a transformed Congress within the next cycle, where primary victories bring in representatives who are willing to lose media battles in order to win the narrative wars. The right wing introduces “stupid bills” that shift the Overton window toward conservative ideas. Progressives must do the same—propose universal healthcare, Medicare for All, wealth redistribution, not because bills will pass, but because every proposal adds to the narrative. Young voters are already noticing. Kids on Reddit are tracking primary candidates by name. The system is frightening the establishment into silence, which is proof the strategy works.
The episode closes not with despair but with momentum. We are concrete about next steps: interviews with candidates in Colorado Springs (a Republican stronghold where progressive organizing is urgent), collaboration with other independent creators to amplify grassroots primary challengers, and a refusal to allow the Democratic establishment’s “electability bullshit” to suppress new voices. The message to viewers is direct: your job is to support these candidates, not with money necessarily, but with attention, conversation, and door-knocking. The primaries are the arena. The money has already won too many times. This time, we organize.
Sources & References
* Senate Bill 3877 — The Breaking Up the Medicine Act, addressing PBM consolidation and insurance monopolies
* Kate Rubins, PhD — NASA ISS mission specialist, first human to sequence DNA in space; now at University of Pittsburgh Center for Medicine
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Nick’s Notes
I’m Nick Paro, and I’m sick of the shit going on. So, I’m using poetry, podcasting, and lives to discuss the intersections of chronic illness and mental wellbeing, masculinity, veteran’s issues, politics, and so much more. I am only able to have these conversations, bring visibility to my communities, and fill the void through your support — this is a publication where engagement is encouraged, creativity is a cornerstone, and transparency is key — please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and grow the community!
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