Listening to a speech by the governor of Massachusetts, I was struck by the seeming willful suspension of disbelief that many who share his views take part in. He spoke ardently, valiantly in defense of his views, and spoke of the broken systems, the unaffordability of healthcare, the rebuilding of a “national community”. To me, he sounded out a cry for unity, for change. Every time I hear that word, I sit back, and I wonder, what could possibly be meant by those who speak it? It is then that I take the time to think on all I have heard from the side for change.
They speak of a change in healthcare, of making it free to all who wish to receive it. This, for those of you who do not know, is socialized healthcare. Sure, you say, that sounds fantastic! I can go to a doctor, find out what’s wrong, have him/her fix it and I don’t have to pay a penny. I won’t have to spend thousands on hospital bills or treatments for illnesses like cancer, or some disease I may have contracted. But I tell you now, it is not as it sounds to our humble ears.
Take for example the countries of Britain, and Canada. They both of them have free, socialized healthcare. Are they not, therefore, in less of an uproar over the cost of medical care? No, ladies and gentlemen, they are not. In both aforementioned countries people with real illnesses are being told that they will have to wait ten to fourteen days to be seen, not counting how long it may take to get treated. In fact, recently a person in Britain who suffered from cancer was told that the treatments would begin in nine months; that person was dead in seven, and may very well have lived if only a little longer had treatment been properly dispensed. The people of Canada come to the United States for doctor visits as well as treatment because they know that they’ll get it here.
Do not misunderstand my feelings. I know what it is like to witness the progression of severe illness, and what it is like to watch my family struggle to pay medical bills. And yes, it does hurt. But that is life; life is difficulty and life is pain, every day is suffering. Our measure is found by how we overcome that, how every day we choose to rise from our beds and say, today I choose to live, to fight through the pain, the suffering. That is a choice we make, and we are all cowardly dogs undeserving if we allow another to make that choice for us.
Another point of ire I find in this motto of change is just that, the realization that those who claim that they stand for the meaning behind that word are in truth afraid of it. One point is the economy in its current state. It isn’t strong enough, it is recessing, we need to do more to strengthen it, and there aren’t enough jobs. I am not saying that we should stand aside and let it go to pot. I say instead, look to yourselves. Look at the waste you create in spending monies on unimportant thing that should not cost half so much when you could be using them to greater causes, such as the better facilities that the people clamor for! You say we need to create more and better jobs, better salaries, better benefits… but look into what else you say. You say that certain industries should not sell this or that because it is not healthy. Is it not our right to choose such for ourselves? You tell the people what they can and cannot do, but is that why this country was founded? To allow others to choose for us what we should ourselves choose? As far as the wages go, there is a reason why it is called minimum wage. It is not a salary meant to live on and raise a family with! It is a supplement to a greater amount we should go forth and earn for ourselves, and from that make our lives better. All of mankind is born equal, created under the same natural law. But it is to us to make more of our lives, to advance our state for individual gain and, ultimately, the greater advantage of our species. If we all were equal, on the same level at all times life not be worth the decision we as individuals make to suffer through it every morning. Yes, men are created equal, but not a single one of us die in the same state, that of the ideal equality.
I am only one person, a single mind that cannot seem to compass why a definite change for the better cannot be sounded by those who claim to stand for it. It is very likely that many who read this will disagree heartily with what I say here. I expect it, welcome it in fact because it means that any free-born American, regardless of age, color, or stance is able to do the same. We will never agree on all things, nor will there ever cease to be disagreement; just as a vast number of people will always fear true change like the shifting of temperatures or tectonic plates or temperaments. This most undoubtedly will not be the last I write concerning what I believe. I hope though, with all the frailty in that hope that you will not fear to do as I have done, and in turn, will not fear to see what will come of it.