So for those of you who are Facebook members like myself, you may have seen the following status come-up a lot lately-
“Enter name here thinks that no one should be afraid to go to the doctor because they can’t afford it, no one should go broke because they got sick, and no one should die because they could not afford care. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.”
The status update was a modern version of a chain letter. And while I agree with the sentiment behind the ‘movement’ I was really bothered by it.
So my response to the so-called movement was this-
JR. Cook People should die, because it is their time to die. If they want insurance, OK. But I recommend putting down the cheeseburgers, beers and cigarettes first. And try taking a damn walk.
My response garnered hot and cold reactions. Either folks were on-board or they thought I was the devil.
And I cannot lie, awhile after updating my status, I looked at it and was disappointed in myself. I sounded like a pundit for FOX.
But I, as with any of the letters foisted on society by these pudgy digits, stand by what I posted.
Logic trumps partisan-ism, at least in the world according to Homer. And my statement was based on logic.
Insurance is pretty simple. Risk versus reward. The more of a risk you are, the more expensive it is to be insured.
Cheeseburger lover? High cholesterol and heart attack are pretty sure to follow. Insurance cost uptick.
Smoker? Ahoy, Cancer and Emphysema. Bigger insurance cost uptick.
Beer? Well, I love beer. So I cannot knock it…but it is a less than healthy choice.
So the point of my Facebook status retort was to exhibit how personal responsibility cannot be substituted by government.
If I choose to ride a motorcycle at 140 mph and end-up crashing and dying, no one would feel sorry for me. That’d say that what you get for going 140 mph on a motorcycle -- Just a dumb decision.
The same can be said for the average American’s lifestyle. It’s comfortable, but not so healthy.
But the point of this rant is not to solve the insurance issue. I am not that bright of a bulb.
My gripe is not with the movement to insure all Americans, which by the way I don’t think is too bad. My issue is with this pseudo-activism.
Copy-and-pasting some text into a web browser does not an action make.
Much the same way no one is getting rich from the Nigerian lottery, nothing comes from a mouse-click and no action.
Such hollow moves just garner head-shakes by yours truly.
I respond to these copy-and-pasters the same way I responded to a mass of pissed-off parents who had gathered to steam-roll school district representatives when I was in the audience for a taping of ‘Town Meeting’ when I was in high school.
“How many of you are attending meetings? I see many of you here complaining, but how many of you are doing something to fix the issue?”
Being 17 at the time, I was written-off by the vast majority of ‘adults’ in the audience even as the show’s host gave me kudos for the cut-to-the-quick question.
And to all of you copy-and-pasters out there I ask the same thing-
What are you doing to fix the issue? (That you are advocating for/complaining about.)
I have no real issues with the system as it is. With the exception of one item- Prenatal care. If a gal is pregnant she should get anything she needs. It’s not the child’s fault they ended-up in a womb and properly caring for developing fetuses (not people, but that’s a whole other topic) can save everyone a ton of money by preventing issues after the child is born…again pure logic is pretty sound. And I sound like one hell of a nice guy.
But back to the system, I have yet to hear of anyone getting turned away from a hospital.
Though I have heard of many folks being in financial ruin as a result of not being turned away.
To which I note- They are still alive to be in financial ruin, a much better outcome than the alternative.
So yeah, I am not starting any petitions or attending any town hall meetings. So I am as guilty as those I am calling-out in this post…But then again, I am not complaining about the system as it is.
What I am complaining about is this faux-activism.
If you have a stance on something, make it known, in the real world. And do something about it.
Until you do, you are just an enabler for the status quo.
But then again, maybe you are fine with that.
2 comments:
If you'd left the food-cop anti-cheese burger thing out of it, you would've had a great rebuttle for that annoying chain letter status. Obviously I dislike chain letters and food-cops trying to make us all eat soy and salads all the time.
Um. Dude. Well. I'll start by saying that I agree with anyone annoyed by chain-letters. However, I should also state that my facebook friends contain some folks so screamingly conservative that perhaps they really could benefit from learning that some of their 'friends' actually support health-care reform. (Just as folks like me benefit from realizing that some of my 'friends' would lovingly vote for Sarah Palin).
I agree that a status update is not going to change the world and if you want to change someone's opinion actually talking to them is a much better way to go about it. But, I didn't really get the feeling that anyone was claiming to change the world with their staus updates (and anyone who thinks their updates are that important has 'megalomaniac' written in their profile someplace).
One point you made piqued my interest particularly. The notion of personal responsibility in Socialized Medicine could be a problem in this country.
-- "People should die, because it is their time to die. If they want insurance, OK. But I recommend putting down the cheeseburgers, beers and cigarettes first. And try taking a damn walk."
Ok, the logic is fine, I'm not here to argue. But the outcome of socializing medicine in the US could lead to more "food-cops", 'nanny-states' or worse: Higher taxes for the unhealty. My question is this: do people really want to live in a country where your taxes are based on your weight? Or whether you smoke? Or if you have a family history of heart-disease? Because once we are taxed for a fat-asses seventh cardiac bypass surgery, people will start getting pissed. Our freedom to get fat, smoke, ride a bike at 140 mph (on a track, of course) could be jeapordized by public funding for treating high-risk people. It's a slippery slope that has not been a problem in Europe due mainly to the fact that no one in Europe idealizes a 400 lb. person. Here, it's another story, some people here like being fat. Most Americans don't know what is in their food, do we take it away from them? Just a thought.
One last shot-across-the-bow: People ARE turned down from hospitals all the time. Ambulances often go to many Emergency Rooms in order to find one that can treat a patient before they die. Our Health Care system sucks, it is broken. Whether we want it to be better (better treatement, lower waits, more care, etc.) or whether we want it to be chaper (lower costs premiums, drugs, surgery) it is going to need to be overhauled. We pay more to get less care than virtually any industrialized country in the world, and that is just pathetic. I won't begrudge facebook posts any more than I begrude your opinion for one simple reason: we need the debate, we need to come to a consensus on what will work and what the country wants...and we need to change the way we treat sick people. None of that will happen until folks understand the real-world costs and benefits of the options on the table.
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