A Terrible Misunderstanding?

Drunken Santa stumbles
out of car, hugs children,
asks where his reindeer are.

Can you believe the mess we seem to be in? Obviously somewhere along the way there has been a terrible misunderstanding. I thought, and I guess Democrats thought, that citizens of the United States would like to have universal health care, as does all of the rest of the industrialized world. Apparently this is not so. After months of (presumably) hard work to pass a health care reform bill of some kind, instituting universal care, reducing costs, and stopping some of the more criminal policies of our greedy Insurance companies, it appears this attempt is going the way of all previous attempts to reform health care, namely, nowhere. There are two reasons for this, one of which I could have predicted, the other I would not have thought possible.

It is no secret that the Insurance giants, pharmaceutical giants, and some others, are willing to do anything to prevent any change in the system of graft they have enjoyed for so many years. And as they have so much money they can pretty much undermine any serious attempt to change our dysfunctional health care system. This was predictable. I do not think it was predictable that every single Republican, with no exceptions, decided not to cooperate in any way. More importantly, however, some of those Republicans, joined by a small number of Democrats, are known to be essentially bribed by these corporations to do whatever they can to prevent any positive action on health care reform. They have been doing a fine job of obstruction, thus preventing 30 or more millions of their fellow citizens from enjoying any kind of health care at all. How they can possibly ignore their consciences I do not know. I do know that the reasons they offer for resisting health care reform are not the real reasons, and this is especially true of Joe (the Killer) Lieberman. Given the nature of our current political system I guess it is not surprising that Senators and Congresspersons can be bribed to essentially betray their fellow citizens, and do so with some regularity. We do indeed have the best Congress money can buy.

While I think this is unconscionable and even despicable, I am not surprised by it. What does surprise me, and where I believe there has been a terrible misunderstanding, is that such large numbers of citizens apparently would rather have no health care at all than have some form of governmental health care system. Frankly, I am at a loss to explain or understand this. Somehow, in recent years, people have been taught to distrust their government, and what is even worse, they have been taught to believe that government is incompetent to run things. I mean, we do have things like the Postal Service, Medicare, Veterans Care, Social Security, universal education (at least through grammar school), and such. And we do have Federal laws that function pretty well, and highways, and things like that (for which we pay taxes of course, for how else would we have them). For the most part these institutions, laws, and practices function very well (with the exception perhaps of education). But we hear this almost constant refrain coming from Republicans and their fellow travelers, “Do you want the government between you and your doctor?” I fail to see why having the government between you and your doctor (which is not actually something that would happen in any case) is any worse than having an Insurance person between you and your doctor. These kinds of claims lead me to believe that those making them have never had any experience with private corporations. I could tell you horror stories for a week about trying to deal with Insurance companies, telephone companies, energy companies, banks, and so on, experiences far worse than anything I have ever encountered when dealing with a governmental agency (although of course there are sometimes problems with them also). When you have a problem with some governmental agency you know they are at least not trying to maximize their profit at your expense. In principle, at least, governmental agencies are there specifically to try to help you with your problem, something that cannot be said for private companies nowadays who can rarely even offer a human voice to discuss your problem.

I do not understand where this irrational hatred and suspicion of government comes from. I find it interesting, even fascinating, that probably the majority of citizens in the county in which I reside are in one way or another on the “dole.” They get farm subsidies, social security, government jobs, unemployment insurance, dependency aid, welfare, food stamps, and so on. Even 4-H kids sometimes get subsidies. They also get their roads fixed, police protection, fire departments, and so on. And yet the very people who enjoy this government largesse are the ones who complain the most about government (and also at the same time pride themselves on being “rugged individualists,“ who whine incessantly about having to pay taxes). I do not believe this began with Saint Ronnie, but he certainly helped it along.

This dismal situation is related to the fear of socialism, which dates back to the late 19th and early 20th century when socialism was actually an active and important social movement trying to organize unions and improve the lot of working people (which, in fact they did). I believe there is an inverse correlation between the suspicion of socialism and any actual knowledge of it, and those vocal opponents of Obama who claim he is a socialist are so far from reality they might as well be on another planet entirely. That there seem to be so many of these appallingly ignorant citizens I find frightening. Our corporate masters with the elaborate propaganda organs (the MSM) they own and control have done a fine job in virtually eliminating any semblance of critical thought in our country. Why so many of our citizens would apparently rather die than have universal health care administered by their own government is a mystery so grotesque we should find a slogan to inscribe on their tombstones, something along the lines of, “I died a martyr to my own ignorance,” or something like that.

LKBIQ:
To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.
Gustave Flaubert

TILT:
Milkfish bellies are a national dish of the Philippines.