Did you hear about the recent Free Healthcare given at the LA Forum? Over 10,000 people showed up for free medical, dental, and vision care. It saddens me that an event like this gets so many people who are denied access to the US Healthcare system. So the guy who gets eyeglasses may now be able to work. The girl who gets dental treatment may now feel good enough to work. The women who got mammograms may be able to get early treatment for something that could get much worse if left undetected. Etc.
Why there is so much opposition to universal healthcare I don't know. But I would like to make a comparison here. Let's use Public education as an example here:
One argument I've heard is that which is free has no value. So then I guess that tells us what we need to know about public schools.
One argument is: "Like anything that is free, people will flock and get in line for any givaway. Every hypocondriac will be getting multiple, unnecessary treatments." Ok, so public education attracts all these poor kids from the ghetto. The all come to school and make it hard for the good non-ghetto kids to learn. They are so concerned with their own problems that they cannot concentrate or behave and so it affects all the "good kids" who want to learn.
Here's a comment I just read: "The picture of the free healthcare at the LA Forum is exactly what free healthcare looks like, long lines, piss smelling hall ways, just plain filthy....Thanks.. but NO THANKS!!!!!" - American --- so public education is similar with it's long lines, huge schools, piss smelling, vomit covered hallways, just plain filthy. Yep, that's right.
Here's another argument against free healthcare I read: "If I offered free cheese for a day, people would line up to get it. That would not indicate that there was a shortage of cheese or any kind of problem with the cheese industry. It would indicate that when you give something away for free (or for less than its value), people line up to get it." hmm? Public education goes even a step futher. Not only is the cheese (education) offered free. But it is "mandated" for all kids under the age of 16.
Well, you get my point here. We also have "socialized police and fire fighters". You know the poor take up so much of the policeman's time. If they had to pay for police service like they have to pay for healthcare then they wouldn't call the cops all the time and the cops would then have time to look after all us more affluent white people who can afford to pay for their services.
So I don't get how we can have socialized education and other public services, but healthcare gets people to draw the line against socialism. Nope, they don't want to pay for that.
My opinion is that healthcare should be a "right" and not a "priviledge". I like the idea of a single payer system. I think if people want to pay for better medical services they should be able to. But some kind of basic care is a "right" for all of us.
Here's an article published in a British Paper on this topic: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-brutal-truth-about-americarsquos-healthcare-1772580.html Be sure to look at some of the comments at the end of the article. Quite revealing.
Health to you all.
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