HEALTH CARE MORALITY
Contrary to the “contrived wisdom” of the Powers That Be, providing health care for everyone is not an economic or even a health issue – it’s a moral issue.
Notice that corporate chieftains and the political elites all have the Rolls Royce of health care – while most Americans are trying to make do with a sputtering Yugo, and while millions of our people are walking barefoot. This crass inequality on such a basic human need is a moral abomination.
How is it that the richest country with the most democratic ideals of any country in the history of the world has 45 million people with no health coverage and millions more with pathetic coverage? And how is it that We the People pay $1.2 trillion a year to a corporate health-care complex (more than any other people pay) and rank only 37th in the world in the quality of health care we receive?
The Powers That Be just shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, sadly, America can’t afford a system of good quality coverage for all.” Can’t afford it? George W. says America can afford the $1.2 trillion in tax giveaways he’s bestowed on the wealthiest people in our land. He says America can afford the $300 billion in direct costs already shelled out for his war of lies in Iraq. He says America can afford the hundreds-of-billions of tax dollars being pocketed by drug companies and insurance giants through his boondoggle prescription-drug program.
Of course, our so-called political leaders don’t feel the pain of America’s corporatized and exclusive health system. The very politicos who say America can’t afford universal coverage receive full platinum coverage for their families – courtesy of you and me.
No public official should have even a dime’s worth of coverage until every man, woman, and child in America has full coverage. For morality’s sake, the president and Congress ought to be last in line, not first!
KEEPING WATCH ON YOU
In his 2002 State of the Union speech, George W. issued a clarion call for Americans to join in a newly created program he called TIPS: Terrorism Information and Prevention System.
This silly and uniquely un-American program was to recruit millions of Americans to spy on … well, each other. Letter carriers, utility workers, repair crews, your cable guy, and others with access to our homes were enlisted to report any activity they considered “suspicious.” Luckily, the great majority of Americans are way too independent-minded and levelheaded to sign up as government snoops and snitches, so TIPS was hooted down by the public and eventually killed by Congress.
But – be careful out there! – the TIPS mentality still survives in too many of our federal, state, and local police operations, which have implemented a myriad of “watch” programs around the country. An “Eyes on the Water” program in Ohio, for example, urges boaters to report anyone “not wearing the right gear,” while a Michigan “River Watch” program eerily sports the slogan “Be our eyes and ears so we can calm your fears.” Similar silliness goes on under such names as “CAT eyes,” “Real Estate Watch,” and “Eagle-Eyes.”
The Homeland Security Department has issued materials warning citizens to be on the lookout for people who don’t fit in, such as any “beggar, demonstrator, shoe shiner … or flower vendor,” saying they could be a terrorist in disguise. In addition, proving that there is no limit to security silliness, Bush’s Citizen Corps has published a “preparedness guide” instructing us not only to report any suspicious-looking people to the FBI, but also to “keep your yard clean” and “prune shrubbery.” Remember, declares the guide, “Homeland security starts at home.”
The first step toward real security is not to watch our neighbors, but to keep an unblinking eye on any agency of government that insists on watching us.
This article appears in May 26 • 2006.