A Therapeutic Rant About the USA Health Reform

Here comes a rant about the current "debate" regarding health reform in the USA. I'm not a citizen of that mighty country, so some of you may feel inclined to tell me to shut up. By all means, don't restrain yourselves and carry on.

I've left some comments in articles around this topic (here and in other sites), in turns expressing my fascination with the twists and turns of the politics around health reform, and stating my refusal to participate in any civilized conversation until the core issue stops being money and starts being ethics and morals and, fundamentally, human rights.

Oh. But wait. That won't happen because then we wouldn't even have a "debate". I mean, if morals and ethics and basic human rights were the core issue, then the USA would already have a public health system.

To put it simply, folks, I'm overwhelmed and disgusted that health, the well-being and care of human beings in the country with the highest GDP in the world is being argued about in terms of money.

The closest I've come to hear any morals in these, shall we say, lively discussions is when politicians or citizens without "rank" have stated that it ought to be possible for American citizens to be sick without going broke.

Still, even that statement is about money. For me to take any of these discourses seriously, someone would need to say, shout, declare and spit with all their might: "Human beings have a right to be taken care of when they are sick". A corollary along these lines would help, too: "especially when they live in the country with the highest GDP in the world."

But that would be about money, too, and I refuse to discuss health in those terms when we're speaking about ANY country in the First World. Please. It is shameful and I am deeply ashamed to breath the same air as the so-called leaders of the free world in this particular matter.

My question is: Why a debate around health reform must turn around money. But reality bites. In the ass too, especially in the current economic climate. Especially after having thrown out the window an incredible amount of it to bail out some mighty motherfcker financial institutions and their masters who will NEVER ever have trouble getting health coverage.

So, money has a weight. So what? What the f*ck is wrong with America?

Of course a public health solution will cost money. So does education and public transportation and having paved streets and highways and a democratic government and sewer systems and food and gas and just about ANYthing costs money. Never you mind going to the moon and building missiles and going to frigging war. That does cost money to pay for 10 public health insurance systems twice over. Give me a break!

Still, most of the debate continues being about money as if this were the most insurmountable obstacle. I wonder, why not manufacture another 7 or 8 trillion dollars outta that bunker also known as the Federal Reserve? Been done once, why not twice? Because it's going to mean more taxes? OHHHH. So more taxes are digestible if it's to bail out some highway robbers but not to care for fellow citizens? Give me a break!

Of course I know that some Americans are as outraged as I am by the arguments used by right wingers, but what comes out for the public eye to examine and wonder about (and mind you, in the case of USA the public eye is the whole wide word) is that politics, the establishment, the status quo, the goddamned country, whatever that means, will not move on with this topic to reach a common sense conclusion.

Evidently, I'm speaking of my own common sense here. This is my rant and you can freely tell me off as much as you please. See if I care, though.

How many times has a health reform been attempted and failed? And the bad news are this: When other administrations attempted it, Clinton's at any rate, the economic situation was a lot better than now, it was actually buoyant! So what was the excuse then? Money would have certainly played a smaller role in THAT context? But it didn't, it didn't! It was all about money then, too. Not how much it would cost the country but how much some lobbies stood to LOSE!

Which is exactly the same situation as today's. This is not about what cost it has for the country, it's about the potential loss it would cause to some! That appears to be the real deal breaker here. Excuse me while I puke.

Not that I'm done puking, but let me say this: Some 16 odd years ago the country at large could have afforded it. Which leads me to think money is equally relevant now as it was then and we're back to square one: Money is put ahead of a country's well-being. Which leads me to think that the USA is sick. Which makes sense. It's sick because a good portion of Americans can't afford treatment, they are seriously set back if they need any, or even go broke over something as minor as a broken leg.

To me, it is rather irrelevant that now half the country is eating dried goods because nobody can't even afford a steak. I don't care that half the country is unemployed. I don’t care that the financial system went downhill or that numerous businesses closed. That applies to so many other countries in the world that DO have a public health system. It is insulting, as a human being, that money would be put to the forefront of this particular debate.

To add insult to injury, I keep hearing about how much it would cost treating illegal aliens. I'm not even going to bother with the fact that they are already being treated to some extent, at least for a minimum of assistance. What makes me double my puking efforts is that the USA would accept these immigrants as cheap labor (many being in roles that no American would want anyway, same as here, Germany, UK or any other frigging First World country) but would refuse them a moral right to be treated if sick.

Seriously, but seriously folks. The "illegal alien" discourse is so very despicable, so very disgusting, so very pertinent to any excuses for DNA morphed into somewhat-past-monkey forms that I don't even want to rant more about it.

Now, free-speech it to me, dudes, but make no mistake to think that I care what you think, if you don't think this is a moral issue above anything else.