Excuse me for saying it, but Hillary Clinton kind of reminds me of a Veternarian. I would expect to see her in the clinic treating doggey ailments or performing surgery on a pussy cat. I don't mean this in a bad way, so don't take it as such. But I definately see Hillary as a take charge person who can get things done. She's a great communicator, maybe a little bit insensitive at times, but very effective at getting her point across. This could be really helpful when dealing with poorly trained pets.... I think she would also look good with a white lab coat on and a stethescope around her neck. You see, she fits the role perfect. She's loves health care and could do wonders for our pets. The only problem: She wouldn't be long in the profession before proposing a nationalized health care program for pets! You see, with Hillary, everything comes back to something the government can do. Which is not altogether bad, I actually support the government doing it's part. But somehow with Hillary it's never enough...
At the risk of sounding political, I'd like to challenge your thinking a bit. Societial problems are deeply rooted in the selfishness of humankind. Rick Warren describes it this way, "We live in a “me first,” serve-yourself world that says it’s all about you. Commercial slogans cater to this viewpoint. Slogans like, “have it your way,” “we do it all for you,” “obey your thirst,” “you’ve got to think of what’s best for yourself,” and “You deserve it.” There is no end to the selfish demands of humankind.
In some ways, it's easy for politicians to play into that and promise more than they can deliver. For that reason, a nationalized health care is easy to sell because it's free and it affects each one of our lives. But in reality, is this what we really want? Hillary seems to think so. And so does Edwards, Obama, and Richardson. All candidates for President.
I guess what I want you think about is this: Where do we get this notion that the government exist to meet my needs? Why do we think this way?
Now I know this is going to shock some of you, but I'd like to take it a step further. Where do we get this notion that the Church exist to meet my needs? Why do we think that way about the Church? I heard one well known Church official make the following statement: "I really don't care if the Church meets my needs or not, because it's not about me." Woah! That really got me thinking.
I would venture to say that most Americans don't see life that way. We somehow expect the government to meet our needs and solve our problems. And thats where you will find every politician running for office. They cultivate the ground of unmet needs whether those needs are legitmate or not.
So here's what I want to challenge you with: When you have a need or an expectation, bring it before God first. Ask yourself: Who is responsible for addressing this need? Is this a need that really needs to be met? How can I go about meeting this particular need in a legitimate way? How can I do what Jesus taught in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."
This probably doesn't come as a surprise to you, but I have a hunch that things don't turn out very well when live with a 'me' first mentality. I'm not the hand of my own providence and niether is anyone else. When you think about it, there is no limit to the runaway demands and endless expectations we place on other people. And at some point, it just never works out.
Which leads me to a prediction: Nationalized health care will never work out as we would like. Great idea, maybe....But will it work...probably not. I think nationalized pet care has a better chance of succeeding! That's why I'm voting for Hillary to receive "Veternarian of the year" honors!
(I realize that this blog entry may touch a nerve with some of you, that's why it is a blog entry, so feel free to blow off some steam and share your point of view!)
5 comments:
I am completely offended! Having a daughter who wants to be a veterinarian...you've just ruined it for her (since I'm not a big fan of Bill's babe).
Good points though...we expect too much of the gov't and we expect the wrong things from the church and from God.
I don't even think we can perceive how deep the bias and conditioning goes in our own hearts and minds to our our culture and the effects/influence of marketing etc.
While I believe that there are some things that government does better than private enterprise, to be honest, I don't care if we have nationalized healthcare or not. I just care that we, as a nation (a) have healthcare for everyone, and (b) that the cost of healthcare doesn't break our backs. Has private enterprise done that for us? No, and in fact, the situation worsens by the day. Would government-run healthcare solve this? I don't know, but at this point, I'm willing to give it a try.
Your blog post speaks to greed and selfishness. I think it's inherently greedy and selfish to consider healthcare a "profit center". Do we really want decisions about people's quality of life (or even, their ability to live) to hinge on how badly someone wants their next Porsche?
And before you start in on how much it costs to trial a new drug, or how much it costs to go thru medical or nursing school, stop right there my friend...I know those things are costly, and THAT'S part of the problem. We don't solve that problem with incredible rewards at the end of the rainbow - we solve that problem by making the initial schooling or drug trials less costly.
Our nation spends a huge amount of its GDP on healthcare, and by many measures, we are no longer in a position (if we ever were) to say that we have the finest healthcare in the world. We may have the fanciest healthcare in the world for people orders of magnitude more wealthy than myself, but for me...waits are longer, co-pays are higher, choices are reduced. Recently choosing to move into self-employment has fully unmasked the cost of health insurance, and it's not all that pretty. My co-pays on labs are, in fact, pretty ugly.
What's the solution? How long has "the market" had to correct this issue again? Is it getting better or worse? Those who disagree with Hillary (or others) should present their realistic solution to the questions of how we ensure everyone, and how we do so without causing many personal bankruptcies.
Thanks for your insightful input on this. As you will note from the article, I didn't say that we shouldn't do National health care. However, I did say that it will not turn as we would like. It's not a fix all solution as the Canadians and Europeans have taught us (they in fact, are coming here to receive health care). And I really don't know which is worse? Corporate Greed or government waste? I do know this, however, we expect more than can be realistically deliver. And that's where I fault many of politicians running for president. They fall prey to saying virtually anything to get elected. Hillary being among the worst offenders. And truth be told, this is not a Democratic or Republican problem. It's a human problem. Too many politicians get a 'Messiah' complex when it comes to solving national problems. They over promise and under deliver. So the question remains, why should we expect anything at all?
OK, I'm writing a book now...
I agree that politicians promise more than they can deliver, especially in an election cycle. It's all so disingenuous. And I believe you're also correct that people respond to that out of self interest. But you raise a good point - given the track record of both parties, why should we expect any delivery?
Perhaps that's why voter turnout is so low.
Back to the veterinarian...I've never imagined Hillary in a lab coat, that does seem weirdly appropriate. Now when I see her campaigning, I'll imagine her giving a shot to Fido. Thanks for that.
There is no simple solution on this healthcare thing. But I insist that the problem is solvable given time, and that it should in fact be among our top national priorities.
The polarized positions can make solutions really hard. Here's a recent for-instance...Bush didn't want to expand the SCHIP program, because that expansion would make us start slipping down the slope of nationalized healthcare. That's nearly a direct quote, I'm not making this up. Never mind what good the SCHIP program might do for kids without healthcare... I saw him speak on this, and I was shocked. I'll tell you this - I'm betting if the fates were turned - if W's family lived under the poverty line, and if his daughters were in need of medicine, he would be very much in favor of them having access to healthcare. No? Perhaps he would turn it away, for idealogical reasons? I don't think so.
I didn't like some of what I heard about Hillary's plan. But I have to say, the cost didn't scare me. $110 billion per year? Hmmm, I think I know where we might have found that money...
Bottom line - I would like to see us, as a nation (both sides of the aisle) decide on some priorities, and then make them happen. For me, universal access to affordable healthcare is a must-solve. Government? Private? I don't care. Just make it happen. Anything less is unacceptable, and we should be ashamed if we can't do better. Would I sacrifice personally for this? Is this a good use of my tax dollars? Yes, and yes.
I think we all know that industry, left to itself, will not choose to reduce the cost of healthcare - why should they? I can't imagine a compensating free-market force. When you need it, you need it, and you'll pay for it (or you won't, and you'll go without, and be sick or worse). There will have to be an external pressure, and I can't think of anyone other than government who can exert that pressure. In the end, that's what it's going to come down to whether we like it or not. It's not optimal by any means, but I just don't see it happening any other way. I'd love to be wrong.
To the question of what's worse - greed, or waste, I respond, why do I have to choose between those limited options? Are we just giving up, and saying we can do nothing well? I don't believe it. I go for option C. Let's work together to figure out what that is.
National Healthcare? I trust the private sector a whole lot more than the government. What has the government done right? Social Security? Education? Good grief - they can't even pass appropriation bills without downloading it with their special pork. There are many programs to help those who need it. Let's tweak those programs to make them work. There is only so many taxes people can pay.
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