I believe there is room for debate about the proper role of government, but I find it interesting that there is so little honesty in the debate. What am I talking about? Nearly everyone would agree that in this day, the Federal government needs to have a standing military to protect and defend our country. I do not think there are many people in the United States that would argue with that assumption. At the local level of government not too many people would argue with police and fire fighters and highway patrol. But as we move from these basic positions, we find that the subject of health care becomes a hot button. Why? If we were all in the same big row boat and all of us had an oar and it was dependent upon all of us to row, would it not make sense that health care for all those in the boat be essential? The problem as I see it is that we as a nation are split over whether we care about our fellow citizen. I think everyone should get health care as a basic human right, but I also believe that every citizen should give back service to their country if capable and able. If we are all in the same row boat, and we all have an oar, then we all need to row when it is our turn, and we all need to be in the best of health to do it. Why is there health care in every other industrialized country but ours? I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that we are a country made up of so many different origins of people. That some people are not recognized in the eyes of others that they deserve health care may be the problem. The economics of universal health care is on the table, but economics will only take this argument so far. People need to care about their neighbor as much as they care about themselves. I would like everyone to get good health care in our country, and that means people learning to live a healthy life style too. The Congress has tilted the playing field to the advantage of the wealthy, in my opinion, (look at the financial crisis if you want proof), now is the time for Congress to move in the direction of a public option for those that can not afford or even get medical coverage in the private sector. As we compete as a country, we need as many hands on an oar as possible, and it starts with universal health care.
Stay tuned.
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1 comment:
AMEN and AMEN!
I am my Brothers' keeper because I am part of Humankind. But those of us who would give an oar to everyone in the boat are clearly in the minority. When I bother to think about these types of questions, my thinking flows to the following:
1) Our Western World mindset of rugged individualism and every man for himself -- which flows from
2) A belief in scarcity which says that if I don't grab my piece of the pie, somebody else will.
I believe that this world has enough of everything to go around -- we could feed, clothe, educate and provide medical care for everyone if only we could agree on the distribution plan.
3) A lack of awareness of the sanctity of life -- a basic belief in the rightness of injustice.
4) An insane belief that it's all right to kill somebody because he/she disagrees with me.
I believe this mindset has become more entrenched in the 20th/21st Century because we're able to bring War and its horrors into our living rooms. Wars are now global, even when they're confined to geographic areas.
Finally, there is a line from my favorite poet/philosopher, Kahlil Gibran: "A single leaf turns not yellow without the silent knowledge of the whole tree." Yes, somehow, we all participate at some level in everything that happens -- we all have a "silent knowledge."
Summer
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