Here's the thing: The earth's rotation cannot be reversed, no matter how much it's intimated, to a time where White is right... Guns are fun... Jesus is joy for every girl and boy... Business knows best... No to integration and immigration, yes to revisionist education... and, of course... We don't need no stinkin' health coverage.
Put your hand on the teevee and feel the power... plantations, Puritans, and a pistol in every purse. Praise the lord and piss on the unions. Amen.
I don't get it. Pardon me for talking like The Little Woman, but am I old-fashioned in saying that women spend much of their lives looking after their families... keeping them healthy and making sure they get a good education? Why is it unpopular to take those issues to Congress? And while we're taking things to Washington, if we teach our children to be civil and respect others, can't we expect Congress to behave similarly?
Businesses are already saying... to those lucky enough to have jobs... that employees will be paying a larger chunk for their health benefits. Millions are one pink slip away from no coverage in this shaky economy, yet you'd think that more accessible health coverage IS a disease! In Blue Cross/Blue Shield We Trust... until our COBRA expires.
Repeating the mantra, "the US has the best health care in the world" doesn't make it so. Even the WSJ couldn't figure out a way to muscle it up past No. 15 on their chart, while most studies put us around 37th. Guess what kind of coverage the 14 above us have.
If you've ever tangled over insurance approval of a medical procedure, you know that the argument about not wanting anyone between you and your doctor is a false one. The elephant in the room is exactly that and it's bloated.
CBS reports that here in NC, one man--Fred Eschelman-- has donated $3.37 million to defeat Democratic candidates. I've seen some of his group's TV ads--they're the weaselly, negative ones that whisper for you to vote against the Democratic candidate. They are targeting Democrats in other states, too. Fred is CEO of Pharmaceutical Product Development. Following the money is a very short trip.
We can also repeat until we're blue in the face that we have the best education system in the world, but it still won't be true. About three years ago, The Times-UK, listed world rankings in reading, math, science. Because they showed only the top 25, we can't tell where we stand; the US didn't make the list in even one of the fields. (Our universities are, however, still highly rated, which begs the question of why we sneer at Ivy League educations even as other countries prize them.)
If you want to see us atop a short list, here's one I heard Fareed Zakaria mention recently: The United States is one of only three countries which does not use the metric system. The other two are Liberia and Myanmar (formerly known as Burma.)
When Republican politicians extol the virtues of Sarah Palin as a possible Presidential candidate, their reasons are, exactly... what? Damned if I know.
Carly Fiorina (running for Congress herself) was quoted as saying that Sarah Palin couldn't do anything as complicated as running a corporation, but that running the country was different. Not to pick on Ms. Fiorina, but she was named by Conde Nast Portfolio as one of the 20 Worst American CEOs Ever after being forced to resign as head of Hewlett-Packard.
Too many of this group of candidates have little to offer except sneers. We wonder why kids don't value learning? Because WE don't. Intelligence? Who needs it? History? Yawn. World affairs? Only if intercourse is involved.
Have we watched so many episodes of Desperate Housewives that we want to send them to Washington? The Real Housewives of the U. S. Congress? Gag me. Hell, gag them!
The word statesmen has been collecting dust on the shelf for a long time now. They have been in short supply. The word needs to be redefined to include both sexes, but we need not bring out the Endust for this group of GOPs. Michelle Bachman a stateswoman? I don't think so.
I don't know how to start a groundswell, yet I think it can and must start with us. Our better selves. Not parroting the same old slop we've been hearing.
Our children, our country, and our world deserve better.
Frankly, Rhett, we do give a damn.
Great post, Ms. Henny Penny! I've long felt that this country was getting dumber and dumber, all the while trumpeting about our "American Exceptionalism." But the only country besides Liberia and Myanmar to go metric? Now I know it's official...
ReplyDeleteGive that chicken a megaphone! This needs to be heard far and wide. Somehow I think the ones who need to hear it have a special type of deafness; the kind that blocks words from being processed into ideas.
ReplyDeleteWow! That entire post made me a little teary. I agree with anonymous. Why don't people understand that our country is becoming more stupid and less healthy? Why aren't we using the metric system?
ReplyDeleteOne of the men I work with and I discuss politics. He doesn't like this administration BUT he didn't like the last one either. Some of his stuff is insane, but some of it makes sense. He is a caring, intelligent, Christian and he still thinks that people on welfare are sitting out there, popping out babies because they WANT TO. FRUSTRATES ME!
It does need to start with us. Good job!
Well said, Ms. Henny Penny. We've succumbed to the mythology of our own greatness. I remember when we looked to leaders who appeared to be the best of us, we wanted our leaders to be more thoughtful and more intelligent than we were, now we give accolades to people who aspire to leadership because he or she is just like us. We don't want leaders who use "big words" or even who understand multi-syllabic words. As a nation we flock to the inane and the ignorant; the more idiotic the declaration, the more the declarant's fan club grows.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've come to quite like the metric system since we switched over back in the 1970s when I was in grade 5. But I still weigh myself in pounds. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for health care, our Canadian system is not perfect but no one ever goes bankrupt seeking medical care (with some exceptions for people who live in provinces that don't pay for certain insanely expensive cancer drugs!), no one has to stay in a particular job because of the health coverage, and everyone gets care, rich or poor. I see a lot of lies about the Canadian system circulating the web these days, clearly put forth by people who don't live here and never have. Our system may not be perfect (whose is?), but our infant mortality rate is lower than that of the US, and our life expectancies are higher. But no one ever mentions THAT when they're talking about death panels and gassing grandma!
You guys have such great hospitals and doctors and such incredible medical knowledge; it continues to boggle my mind that you don't have a health care system that serves everyone equally. My hope is that you one day will, and that people will stop listening to the fear mongerers and get on with it!
...I've got to stop coming here and going off on a rant... :)
Knatolee, please keep on coming here and rant away if you like! People need to hear the truth about what life is like outside of the U.S. Too many folks in this country are provincial in their viewpoints, with some bordering on the xenophobic, so your voice is more than welcome!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Knatolee! You may be assured that our mailboxes are still laden with an "authentic" e-mail from "disgruntled Canadian" talking about how terrible your health care system is--forwarded to us by Republicans who send it to everyone in their address book.
ReplyDeleteI also agree, Knatolee; I love your "rants"! Unfortunately, the U.S. has succumbed to a mythology that we are superior to all otehr nations and that there is nothing to be learned from other countries. As a country, we are quite narcissistic.
ReplyDeleteThere are certainly disgruntled Canadians out there (there are lots and lots of WHINEY Canadians out there), and I am the first to say our healthcare system is not perfect. But it's pretty damn good, and I've used it a lot, and have seen both my parents go through the system with long-term critical and terminal illnesses. They got excellent medical care (cardiology, oncology, open-heart surgeries, chemo), as have I over the years, one quack notwithstanding. Mistakes do happen, sometimes you do have to wait longer than you'd like, particularly for non-essential surgery, but mistakes and waiting happen all over the medical world. Any of the friends and relatives I have talked to would not trade our system for anything, even though there are things we would like improved.
ReplyDeleteI get irate when I see lies circulating about our healthcare system. Republicans et all could be HONEST and probably still find some ammunition to use in support of privatized healthcare, but no, they have to lie and exaggerate. I saw one email where a "Canadian" was purporting to pay 55% income taxes. Utter nonsense! I know that, because my husband is in the highest tax bracket and he ain't paying anywhere near 55%. Even with pension deductions and executive parking he's not losing anywhere near that off his paycheque. :)
I mean come on, yes we pay higher taxes but we do get some services for that! At least be honest about it.
Americans might decide that in fact they DON'T want to emulate our system, but they should at least get the facts before they go off on one about Canadian healthcare.
And if Obama is a socialist, then our Prime Minister (who is considered right-wing) is a communist. I view Obama as right of centre by comparison to what goes on here.
Oh here's a tidbit. We always hear about lengthy ER waits in Canuckistan. Well, I went to the ER last month with a migraine from hell and waited about 20 minutes before I was on a gurney with I.V. pain relief, a cold cloth, a warm blanket, and the lights out in my "stall" (thanks to a kind nurse.) I have waited longer than that in the ER, and big-city ERs can be zoos, but that's my most recent experience. I was referred to a neurologist by the ER doctor and had an EEG five days later (all is fine; my migraines are just changing as I age.) I paid nothing for this privilege. Pretty horrific, eh? I know, I know, who would want that?
Anyway, I just would like people to get some facts, not fiction. I freely admit that there are some horror stories, but I've heard medical horror stories from the US as well!
And on that note, I bid you a happy, healthy Hallowe'en. I love my American friends and I love visiting the US. I think you guys could teach Canadians a lot about customer service, for starters... :)
Oops, sorry, that last comment was obscenely long... my bad!
ReplyDeleteNothing obscene about it, Knatolee! It's great to hear the truth about Canada's healthcare system instead of the self-serving lies we get fed here in the States.
ReplyDeleteYour ER visit sounds sublime compared to my mother's last year. The care was good but the ambulance ride was $700, the fee for the ER was $1,047 and I think there was an additional fee for the ER doctor. My mother has Medicare and a supplemental insurance policy, so most of it was paid for, but what about people who can't afford insurance or whose insurance has lousy coverage (like mine)?
I'm hanging in there with a $10,000 deductible to keep the premiums down until I reach medicare age in a year and a half. Like you said previously, we have excellent medical care in this country, but a crummy delivery system.
Wow, you guys have had so much FUN while I was gone!
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