With the latest version of the healthcare overhaul making its way through the House over the weekend, I figured now is as good a time as any to post my feelings about the whole healthcare issue.
The primary idealogy bugging me since the first mention of healthcare reform months ago is the precedence of money over human life. Since when did the mighty dollar become more important than the lives of your fellow Americans? A country that spends more on their military than any other country (and even combinations of countries) but can't give money intended to improve the health of its citizens has got its priorities dead wrong.
As harmless as it may be (which is another article all in itself), you're far more likely to die from H1N1 and the regular flu than from a terrorist attack. Yet to pay for the healthcare overhaul we hear horror stories of schools shutting down, medicare and medicaid being trashed, and the quality of healthcare going down the tubes. Instead, how about we slash the military budget by 10% for each of the next 10 years to pay for healthcare. Not only would our citizens at home benefit, but we'd also improve the health of a lot of people abroad too (mostly by not killing them).
The healthcare debate also dances around a larger issue, the health of Americans in general. In a nation where we chow down fast food, shovel a plethora of drugs into our mouths, and think exercise involves picking up and putting down the remote it's no wonder we need healthcare more than every other developed country. Bill Maher stated long ago that he thinks America and the American lifestyle cause cancer, and I'm becoming more and more inclined to believe him. The old mantra stands: your life won't change until you change your life.
A few articles, such as this one about Government Healthcare Protesters Receiving Government Healthcare, make me wonder if half the people in this country can actually think for themselves or just feed off the banter of Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. But then again, articles such as this one pinpointing the similarities between the former Soviet Union and the United States make me wonder if there's even a shred of hope for this country at all. If the healthcare reformation efforts fall flat, it will be proof that Americans truly love the all mighty dollar more than they even love themselves.
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