America, we have a problem...and it's a matter of perspective. With all the focus on universal healthcare, welfare, wage disparity and the like, there are a lot of "clever" one-liners being tossed around out there. Now, don't get me wrong; I believe that a well-structured thought born of knowledge and wit can go a long way to stir the minds of those who hear/read it into more evolved patterns of thought. However, the problem with the pen being so mighty is that just about anyone can wield it, and the results can end up being more along the lines of devolution. Take for example, this little gem: "Instead of spreading the wealth, spread my work ethic." *rolls eyes* Alright, where do we begin?
The big issue for me here (and the cause for all the eye-rolling) is that this statement makes a very bold, very false, and very tasteless claim. It is an attempt to convey the idea that people are poor because they are lazy, that all it takes is a good, solid work ethic to have the life that you want. Well sure, being an industrious, hard-working individual goes a long way, and those types of qualities are to be commended. We should absolutely encourage people to do their best! However, far too often, we not only discourage people with harmful words and ideas, but we also keep many people from having a chance at a self-sustained existence altogether.
When looking at the combination of low wages, little job opportunity, the poor state of education, and the rising cost of living, how can one expect that there will be no one who needs help? Sure, there are some who abuse welfare and other such programs, but there are many more who actually need the help. Most estimates put welfare fraud numbers between 1 and 5 percent, but even if it were 10% or 20%, that still leaves a vast majority of folks who truly need the assistance. Wonder why? Let's do a little thought experiment:
Let's use a couple as an example. We'll call them John and Jane. Let's say that John and Jane grew up in a rough, low-income neighborhood where the schools are lousy and full of drugs and violence. Let's say that they came from poor families and didn't have parents to guide them. Perhaps one had a single mother who was drinking all of the money away and emotionally detached, and the other had a single father who was hooked on drugs and physically abusive. Combine these factors with the need to be accepted and respected by peers (most of whom are behaving irresponsibly), and you have two lost souls who don't have the tools to cope with life. (And if you think this is too dramatic, visit an inner-city high school sometime.) Let's say that these two meet in their junior year of high school, fall for each other, do some good old-fashioned boot-banging in the backseat and VOILA!, Jane is pregnant.
But now, let's make it a little less depressing and say the pregnancy snaps these two kids into reality and they realize that they don't want to be like their parents. So, they decide to keep the baby and try to raise it. Now, we can see that these two kids don't have any marketable skills, don't have parents on which to depend for help, and (understandably) have a bleak outlook--they will need to find a place to stay, a way to take care of their child, a way to make ends meet. Is there anyone out there who truly believes that without government programs, without help from their fellow human beings, they could just get jobs at McDonalds or a store at the mall and everything will be okay? NO!!! Maybe if they both worked two jobs each, they could afford a small apartment and some food and diapers. But, what about transportation to work? What if their city is small and doesn't have a decent public transit system? Most cities in America don't have a decent transit system, by the way (if at all). Can they afford a car? And what if it breaks down? And what should they do with the child at home? Just leave it alone for hours at a time since they can't afford daycare? And these are people who are trying to do the right thing.
Basically, all that I am trying to say here is that laziness is not the problem so much as the idea that laziness is the problem is the problem. (You get that?) By saying things that imply that those who are struggling just need to suck it up and work harder, we are not just ignoring the problem; we are creating a society in which people are less and less willing to give people the chance to help themselves. Sometimes, people need a net beneath them in order to be willing to walk out on the wire. If I removed your net, would you be so willing? Do you think you would still have a "work ethic that needs to be spread?" Don't make these kinds of blanket statements when it comes down to financial inequality...I guarantee you don't know the whole story!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Obamacare
Well, it finally looks like we may actually be making some progress with this healthcare thing. Today, in a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's healthcare law. In a 5-4 vote, the law was deemed to be constitutional, as the mandate can be looked at as a tax...blah blah blah. But let's get down to the reality of the situation here.
We live in a country that calls itself the wealthiest, most powerful, most prosperous country in the world, and yet around 50 million of our fellow citizens don't have any health coverage. Entire families go broke because of the illness of one child; many of the elderly must suffer a standard of living that most of us would find unbearable due to the costs of their prescription medications. However, even those without healthcare must be treated (at the expense of the tax-payer), which not only unfairly places a burden on all who pay taxes, but also drives up the costs of healthcare to astronomical heights. (Ever gotten a hospital bill and seen the ridiculous charges for things like cotton swabs and gauze?) It seems a fairly simple concept to grasp that if everyone is paying for health insurance, the cost is shifted from the backs of those who do have health insurance and must cope with the rising costs of premiums (and tax hikes), to a shared pool that we all pay into. It's really quite simple.
Now, I know that some people think that it is unfair that they have to pay money to ensure that other people are insured, but that argument is so far off-base it's not even in the stadium--and here's why. First of all, as mentioned above, no one can be denied medical care based on the absence of insurance coverage. I believe we all agree that that is a good thing, right? I mean, turning someone away who is in need of medical attention requires an attitude of indifference and outright cruelty that has absolutely no place in a society like ours. It would be unconscionable to allow such behavior. That being said, the treatment of individuals who don't have access to health insurance is a major drain on resources, especially financial ones. Those costs have to be made up somewhere--prices for treatments go up, hospitals have to cut services and staff, etc. Then consider the domino effect of insurance companies having to raise the cost of premiums and copays and deductibles, not covering those with pre-existing conditions, fewer people receive the care that they need, leaving more and more people sick, draining their funds and thus making paying for more medical care nearly impossible...the cycle is obvious and obviously detrimental to our health as a nation.
But, some have said, the state of healthcare in this county is already so desperate and resources spread so thin, that providing medical care for 50 million more people would just make it worse. We would have to spread these resources that are becoming more and more limited between more and more people. Well, let me be the one to say that this is the voice of irrational fear and nothing more. Medical care is not something we can run out of. Sure, it may take some creativity and ingenuity to figure out how to continue to produce the material resources (like medications, syringes, or what have you), but healthcare is about much more than those items. And with new developments in treatments, who's to say that we will even need those particular items in the future. Not to mention that if more people have access to healthcare, especially preventative medicine, we can shift the paradigm away from making sick people better to keeping people healthy! How about that for saving some resources? If we can go into a doctor for a regular check-up, thanks to our insurance, we are several times less likely to suffer an advanced illness (that is outrageously costly to treat) that we didn't catch in time, or that may be the result of lifestyle choices that people aren't even aware they are making because no one has told them how it adversely affects their health. The possible benefits of becoming actively involved in our own healthcare and having regular access to professionals to work with are limited only by our imaginations.
In the months to come, leading up to the election in November, there is going to be a lot of shit being spread around. Be prepared for confusing rhetoric and hot-button appeals to emotion and passion rather than logic and the common good. Be vigilant and pay attention to what is really being said, and keep in mind what the real purpose is behind all of this--healing the sick, taking responsibility for ourselves and our country, and love for our fellow human beings. That's all it really comes down to after all, isn't it?
We live in a country that calls itself the wealthiest, most powerful, most prosperous country in the world, and yet around 50 million of our fellow citizens don't have any health coverage. Entire families go broke because of the illness of one child; many of the elderly must suffer a standard of living that most of us would find unbearable due to the costs of their prescription medications. However, even those without healthcare must be treated (at the expense of the tax-payer), which not only unfairly places a burden on all who pay taxes, but also drives up the costs of healthcare to astronomical heights. (Ever gotten a hospital bill and seen the ridiculous charges for things like cotton swabs and gauze?) It seems a fairly simple concept to grasp that if everyone is paying for health insurance, the cost is shifted from the backs of those who do have health insurance and must cope with the rising costs of premiums (and tax hikes), to a shared pool that we all pay into. It's really quite simple.
Now, I know that some people think that it is unfair that they have to pay money to ensure that other people are insured, but that argument is so far off-base it's not even in the stadium--and here's why. First of all, as mentioned above, no one can be denied medical care based on the absence of insurance coverage. I believe we all agree that that is a good thing, right? I mean, turning someone away who is in need of medical attention requires an attitude of indifference and outright cruelty that has absolutely no place in a society like ours. It would be unconscionable to allow such behavior. That being said, the treatment of individuals who don't have access to health insurance is a major drain on resources, especially financial ones. Those costs have to be made up somewhere--prices for treatments go up, hospitals have to cut services and staff, etc. Then consider the domino effect of insurance companies having to raise the cost of premiums and copays and deductibles, not covering those with pre-existing conditions, fewer people receive the care that they need, leaving more and more people sick, draining their funds and thus making paying for more medical care nearly impossible...the cycle is obvious and obviously detrimental to our health as a nation.
But, some have said, the state of healthcare in this county is already so desperate and resources spread so thin, that providing medical care for 50 million more people would just make it worse. We would have to spread these resources that are becoming more and more limited between more and more people. Well, let me be the one to say that this is the voice of irrational fear and nothing more. Medical care is not something we can run out of. Sure, it may take some creativity and ingenuity to figure out how to continue to produce the material resources (like medications, syringes, or what have you), but healthcare is about much more than those items. And with new developments in treatments, who's to say that we will even need those particular items in the future. Not to mention that if more people have access to healthcare, especially preventative medicine, we can shift the paradigm away from making sick people better to keeping people healthy! How about that for saving some resources? If we can go into a doctor for a regular check-up, thanks to our insurance, we are several times less likely to suffer an advanced illness (that is outrageously costly to treat) that we didn't catch in time, or that may be the result of lifestyle choices that people aren't even aware they are making because no one has told them how it adversely affects their health. The possible benefits of becoming actively involved in our own healthcare and having regular access to professionals to work with are limited only by our imaginations.
In the months to come, leading up to the election in November, there is going to be a lot of shit being spread around. Be prepared for confusing rhetoric and hot-button appeals to emotion and passion rather than logic and the common good. Be vigilant and pay attention to what is really being said, and keep in mind what the real purpose is behind all of this--healing the sick, taking responsibility for ourselves and our country, and love for our fellow human beings. That's all it really comes down to after all, isn't it?
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