Many Americans are worried about what others think about us outside of American borders. Health care is a huge issue, and they are puzzled by our inability to resolve this ongoing issue. Literally every other industrialized nation has affordable healthcare by law, and they view this as a basic human right. We, of course, do not, and thus we're the odd one out, with outrageous and offensive healthcare costs. All the outrage about big government, but what about big healthcare industry profiting off of people's pain, literally? Where's the justice in that?
This article was a fascinating read, and I think it speaks volumes about the differences in attitudes between Europe, and the rest of the industrialized world in general, and the United States, which now stands alone as the only country in the world without some form of what many Americans dismissively refer to as "socialized medicine".
Of course, this is in reference to the Supreme Court case that was recently heard, where debates about the constitutionality of what has also been derisively labeled as "Obamacare", which is hailed as Obama's greatest legislative victory by many, and demonized by others as his biggest and boldest dictatorial encroachment towards bigger government imposing on individual rights and liberties.
This is an issue that has always bothered me, and in fact, frankly, embarrasses me, as an American. We stand alone in many areas, and I think that has everything to do with our traditionally powerful and privileged status, but this issue is about what should be, to me, an obvious basic right. When you are talking about profiting off of people's pain, people that cannot fend for themselves or take care of themselves, yet are being taken advantage of and squeezed fro all that they are worth, then this is literally an issue concerning what we would define as basic evil. How is it that this eludes Americans? Where is the outrage? How can this be justified, let alone again and again and again, as people fall for the corporate line time and again? Will things ever change? When will we stop dragging our feet on this issue?
Over the years, I have argued with numerous Americans on this issue Many people seem almost violently opposed to this, because of some preconceived notions about the "evils" of the "socialized medicine" in Europe, not making any distinction between that and the Communism of the former Soviet Union. They talk about how America is different than Europe , which to me sounds like another argument for American exceptionalism, and that what works there for "them" would not work for us. I heard that argument many, many times, and even heard a variation of it that suggested that America is too diverse a place for such a system. Really? Yet, they label all of those various systems that other countries have as some form of the healthcare system that far too many Americans would dismiss as "socialized medicine". These countries are diverse themselves, speaking many different languages and occupying many different geographical regions, yet they all recognize affordable healthcare as a basic human right. Let's look at the countries that practice this: Britain and Ireland , France , Germant , Italy , Spain , Switzerland , and the rest of the European nations, Canada , Australia , New Zealand , South Africa , Japan . Are these communist dictatorships? Many Americans would seem to think so, apparently. A few years ago, they were considered our allies. Now, apparently, they seem increasingly to be viewed in the enemy camp. It really is tragic, frankly.
Yes, politics sucks. But I don't think this is even a political issue anymore, it is far beyond that. Literally profiting off the pain of others who all too often cannot help themselves is, by definition, evil. Period. We can make excuses for why we should not implement this or that system, and indeed, no system is perfect. But tens of millions of people, including children, remain uninsured, and the courts may uphold that outrage. I would ask one question of those who would blast the affordable healthcare systems in other countries: with free press and free speech and the ready availability of all the facts and figures and statistics and human interest stories just like we have here, why is it that not a single other industrialized nation has looked at our system and decided to scrap their system in favor of ours? Not one. On the flip side, why is this issue always raging here, in particular, and will continue to do so evidently? Why do Americans not get outraged when the same pill that is sold in Canada, with their legal price restrictions on medicine, gets resold here on the black market, and still sells for far less than what it is sold for here on our shelves?
Let me make no bones about it: I definitely am in favor of some form of affordable and universal healthcare. If that means "socialized medicine", than so be it. If people want to label me a "socialist" or even a "communist" than let them label away. What are labels, anyway, except things that we throw upon others in order not to think about things anymore. This is too important, too crucial an issue not to think about. Yet, we continue to label anyone who does not agree with us.
When I have argued about this subject, I have asked one question to those opposed to such a healthcare system, and it has yet to be satisfactorily answered. It goes something like this: If all of these other countries that I mentioned are free to discuss and debate on this issue, like we are here, and they all know the facts and figures, the statistics,, and they all have to deal with the alleged horror stories and allegations of abusive or inept systems that Americans opposed to this system accuse them of, then why is it that not one single nation that has this system has looked to the "superior" American model and opted to scrap their inferior system?
On the flip side, why is it that this particular issue always seems to come up again and again and again in the United States ? In my lifetime alone, it was a major issue throughout, and was addressed and argued heatedly during the Carter years, the Clinton years, the Bush (Jr.) years, and now the Obama years. It is one of the key issues in the upcoming elections, so it promises to continue to be a major issue that will continue to divide well into the future. Other countries do not have that, but here and now, indeed, we are the exception, in this case. American exceptionlism, indeed.
I can go on and on about this issue, and go into detail about the excess and greed of corporations and private interests that profit from the pain that people are in. But I have tried to focus on the American people, and their puzzling reluctance to grant for themselves affordable health care, now long overdue. It is the American people themselves that have proven to be the biggest obstacle, and they mislead themselves and act against their own self-interest, and all for an idea that America is somehow always better, are too good to learn from the examples of others. A presumed superiority complex that allows for an inferior healthcare system that presently leaves out forty million people that remain uninsured, including millions of children. American exceptionlism, indeed.
I will conclude this now by borrowing a viewpoint directly from this article, because it encapsulates the opinion of someone from Britain , a traditional ally, which illustrates the gap between
"Wasn't the point to make sure the richest and most powerful nation on the planet could protect its own people, as other nations do?" he wrote. "If Americans are promised not just liberty but life and happiness, is there not a constitutional right to affordable healthcare?"
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