Health Care: A Case of Practicality or Compassion?
Article Tools
-
0
Liked it 
Subscribe to RSS
The constitution does not grant entitlements. It is in fact a precedent setting document which limits the power of government and thereby unleashes the rights of our compassionate and divine spirit.
Time, the great healer of all wounds, is also a reminder of the benchmarks upon which we inscribed our national will. Our forefathers started the process on the 4th of July 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and willingly suffered the consequences of a war with England. The greatness of our nation is defined by our resolve to insure that all citizens, regardless of his or her social status, is provided the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is our constitution, which declares and protects citizens rights.
When an enemy of our nation intends us harm we are quick to gather resources to repel its most damaging weapons. The responsibility of our government is to provide its citizens with protection against the ravages of all potential enemies. Without that protection the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness would be nothing more than empty words scrawled across a worthless document. The resources to provide protection comes from the populace via taxes or when necessary ‘conscripted soldiers’ to fight against a national enemy. The success of our military is highly dependent on the literacy and physical health of its soldiers. It behooves us as a nation to insure that our potential pool of conscripted soldiers remain literate and healthy. An excellent review of the literacy and health issues related to conscription is the book by Suzanne Mettler “Soldiers to citizens”.
Simple logic dictates that the preservation of a nation’s security is highly dependent on the health and literacy of its youth. It would be prudent for any nation to provide its youth with mandatory comprehensive health care and education up to the highest age of conscription (in the US it would be age 25). There is one other health issue that does have national security implications and that is prevention and control of disease.
Rights as granted by the US constitution are essentially conditions which stipulate the limitations of government. There are no rights which stipulate that specific entitlements must be provided to its citizens. Whatever entitlement that occurs (such as education) is always a result of state or community consensus secured by taxation. In addition to these entitlements, there are the very practical socialized systems of police and fire protection. The primary reason for these systems is that they insure the safety of the community by enactment of laws and are not necessarily specific to any individual right.
It was our constitution which set us apart, head and shoulders, above all other nations. However, over time many nations around the world have developed similar documents. What then distinguishes us as nation in the modern world of fast modems and personal computers? At one time we were the light of hope for many nations. Up and through the Korean conflict we were seen as a nation of liberty, compassion and opportunity. To this day the Grand Lady of Liberty Island proclaims that our doors are opened to the oppressed and poor. But time has a way of eroding the most noble of intentions. Our once grand nation devolved into a wretched and ignoble bastion of robber barons whose vile smirks invite the poor to be robbed, starved and divested of their dignity and life savings. Our light of hope has become very dim and with it our sense of compassion. We are now a model of decadent life styles fed by the fires of Wall Street greed.
However, even the most powerful of the Wall Street thugs could not stop the procession of a righteous dawn. With the election of a black President we have the opportunity as a nation to take back our dignity and once again become a model of compassion and liberty. Our country is in financial crisis, and millions of Americans will soon find themselves destitute and without the basic necessities of life including health care. We cannot stem the tide of bankruptcy that has its roots in Wall Street, but our divine spirits can come together and insure that every citizen has adequate health care, food and shelter.
1 Comment
It is a shame that some Americans are so gullible, to the outlandish propaganda and lies spat in the newspapers, television and radio about Obama’s health care agenda. They have demonized the British, Canadian and other worthy plans. Hidden under a disguise cover, these radical entities are determined to keep the special interest organizations in absolute power. Comprising of the money-draining profitable insurance companies and their rich stockholders. They don’t want any changes to the broken system of medical care, because it will hurt the status quo. I was born in England, in the county of Sussex and until the inception of the European Union and the European Parliament dictating to Britain. That they must accept millions of foreign workers, the nations medical system was exemplary. I never had to wonder if I would have to file bankruptcy, to pay my medical bills, or listen to the incessant ring of debt collectors on the phone.
On several occasions I ended up in the cottage hospital and their was never a cost applied to it, never a ream of paperwork. Incidentally, I choose my own doctor where I Lived. The longest I waited for surgery was three months, as it was not an emergency. No doctor, no hospital or specialist asking me for my Social Security number, drivers license or if I was covered by a predatory for-profit insurer. No premiums, no-cops and pre-existing condition clauses. Yes! Didn’t have a private room, but who cares? Today the British Isles is being submerged under a barrage of legal and illegal immigrants, who have never paid into the system, have caused some rationing. Prior to the importation of foreign labor my trips to doctor, to hospital, the eye or a dentist was paid from my taxation. Unless we pass a national health care agenda, Americans will never know what it’s like to breeze through their lives, without worrying about paying for health care? Tell your Senators and Congressman you want an alternative to the–GET RICH– insurance companies, before a Universal health care is killed. 202-224-312 REMEMBER THE INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS DON’T WANT THEIR PIECE OF THE $$$TRILLION$$$ DOLLAR PIE DISTURBED. EVEN SOME POLITICIANS HAVE THEIR DIRTY FINGERS IN THE PIE?
AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE PRIVATE HEALTH CARE, A GOVERNMENT SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM WILL ASSIST IN REVITALIZING THE WILTING US ECONOMY.