Universal Healthcare: Why Does it Matter?
At first glance, the sound of universal health care coverage is a seemingly great idea. What kind of sadistic person has their fingers crossed for suffering people to continue to suffer?
I trip children for fun in my free time and even I, in my kinder moments, have been known to grimace at the thought of a hospital declining to help repair their shattered tibias.
So what’s the deal with all these selfish jerks with their hands clasped around their wads of cash? Why are they so unwilling to sacrifice a little to help others? Well, maybe some of them are just jerks. But a good amount of them aren’t, and more realistically, that group of people may see the big picture.
The picture where that small sacrifice isn’t so small after all.
What’s the core of the issue? Is this about money again? Because it’s not about donkeys versus elephants (which would be a hilarious satirical fight that I hope someone someday is fortunate enough to capture on tape in the wild). It’s about rights. The same rights that others fight so desperately for, for issues like women’s rights or gay marriage, are being thrown away as an afterthought – if even a thought at all. And I guess people have the right to sit back and watch their rights get taken away. But you at least owe it to yourself to see what you’re losing.
I don’t think I’m stating anything debateably controversial by saying that living in a free country means having the freedom to live your life the way you want. And that includes supporting whatever causes you want, and spending the money you make however you want to spend it. To forcefully require the working population of the country to “share the load” and cover for the guy who can’t afford the services he gets is blatantly wrong. I know I said it’s not about the money (and it’s not, stay with me), but life costs money. That’s the way it is. You need to pay for food, heat, water, and when you dislocate your little sister’s shoulder (sorry Arielle) the doctor has to get paid so that he can pay for the food, heat and water of his own family.
It chills me when people say that health care reform is “a sign of a civil country” or that we have “the responsibility” to help those in need. Annnnd for my next trick… a revelation! Revelation: Life is full of hardships. If you had the responsibility to solve every problem every person ever faced out of your own pocket you’d be bankrupt. Believe me. You would. And you know as well as I that helping others is a fantastic and noble thing to do, and no one should ever tell you that you can’t be generous or give to who you want for whatever reason you want. But it’s wrong to be told you have to.
Personally I envision the whole thing as a Norman Rockwell painting of a homeless guy sitting at a bar with a drink in his hand. He’s pointing his thumb over at the guy sitting next to him and whispering something to the bartender who’s leaning in close to hear what he has to say. Under the painting, the small plaque on the center of the frame reads: “Put it on his tab.” Imagine the nerve of that guy? And imagine the nerve of the cop standing next to him who will throw you in jail unless you throw down an extra ten bucks for the bum. But the analogy is pointless. Everyone knows that it’s wrong to force someone to do something they don’t want to do, right? … Right?
“OK, so come on, Will. How could this seriously affect me in any way? I appreciate your preachy opinion, but I don’t make a lot of money. I need health care. Why would I make a big fuss about a really small amount of tax to come out of my checks to help those who are in the same boat as me? And you should apologize to Arielle.” (It was years ago, she’s gotta be over it by now.) But if that’s what you believe and that’s the position you really think you’re in then that’s fine. But I genuinely hope the day never comes where you are put in the position to sacrifice a greater cause or something you really care about because someone told you you had to.
If you wouldn’t let someone rob you in real life, don’t enable “the man” to rob you either. Now if I could only find my Rage Against the Machine CD…
Comments
yesss! stir that pot, will. stir it good!
Hmmmmm. so wait what happened?
Will.. I have miseed you. When you write I listen. Sadly, I don’t always agree but at least you don’t sound like some of the idiots who just scream Obama is the devil. Don’t we have mandatory health care in MAssachusetts already? have I missed something? The folks screaming the loudest are the ones who never had to debate whether or not to see a doctor because even the co-pay is a stress on the budget. Health care is a MESS!!! When Angela paid for her first visit as an adult she thought her co-pay was $5! HA.. yeah.. when she was 5 years old it was. Since then my deductions for medical have quadrupled and my care is pitiful since where I go is dictated by my plan. I am NOT in charge . This plan does not take my power away since I never had any. The rich have power and always have. That is fine so the moral of the story is .. be one of the rich people so you can bitch when your rights appear to be threatened. Those less fortunate are quite used to being told what to do.
oh SNAP Momma Bunt!
I was listening to the radio this morning and they were going over the main points of the Health reform and the guy was talking about how people with pre-exisiting conditions will be able to have insurance that will cover them that wouldnt have covered them before BC of their conditions. Then he went on about how his Mom has diabetes and couldnt afford her meds bc her insurance didnt cover it, but now she will be able to afford it. So, isnt it good that people who dont make a lot of money but have diabetes or any other horrible problem can actually take care of themselves?
USA! USA! USA!
Well I do agree with you on a lot of those points. Sure, health care is in a terrible state. But I just can’t get my head around “solving” a problem by making it worse. And I really can sympathize. I didn’t have insurance after college for over a year and I still don’t have dental. I’m going to my fifth dentist visit in three years tomorrow, where I’ll have to hear “you really need to have your wisdom teeth taken out.” Truth of the matter is I really just haven’t been able to put that much money into that. And I certainly don’t now.
But, principally, getting into the practice of letting the government control your life AND your money is just a long and draining cripple that I don’t think many people care about or even think of. As dramatic as I even feel saying it, it always has to start somewhere. Like a tear in a seam. And you do have some power in your vote! I don’t think you deserve to be told what to do. And I have my fingers crossed for Jackie to hit a few more big money scratch tickets.
Hi Will,
The fact is I think we disagree on something fundamental here… I believe the country/government owes its people health care. I believe it is much like being owed protection from the police or from a fire department or other such basic things. It is a right to have care no matter what and not a choice. If Betty Lou (sick of Joe the Plumber) collapses and needs an ambulance she should get one and no one need hesitate because of health insurance issues. She should get the same care and should not be sent to a hospital miles away because it might take her when the one down the street won’t.
Government control of health insurance is fine with me and does not threaten me. It is not a “gateway drug” to total government control of my life in my opinion.
Will.. dental insurance is cheap. You should get some but the wisdom teeth can be covered under “medical” if they are ‘infected and impacted’.. it is all a game and I’ve been playing it a long time. When are you visiting with Steve?
Yeah, this is the year that I need to take care of my wisdom teeth for sure, they pretty much told me again I can’t put it off anymore. But I must tell you that today (while filing my taxes) Steve’s dad has *promised* me lunch for a month if my federal tax doesn’t double by next April 1st because of the cost of the health care bill. I don’t think it will, but time will tell.
And speaking of Steve, I’ll visit whenever he goes up next! As long as it’s a Saturday I’m game. It’s been a while since my last trip through the Florida mountains to the NA
obama get me a job