Shake your head, go ahead and change channels. This is sort of a rant. I'll get right to it: I keep hearing proponents of Obama's health care bill trying to systematically dismantle any argument from the other side. Some of the typical rhetoric is: the protests and outrage in town hall meetings is not a real example of American sentiment, that right-wing nuts are just trying to place hurdles in the way of proactive health care reform just for the hell of it, that the people screaming and chanting in town halls are not causing productive discourse, and my personal favorite, that these crazy right-wing nuts who do not represent the popular majority in America are robotically following the rhetoric of the other right-wing nuts who lead them around by their collective noses.
I don't know if anyone else is tired of subtly being called stupid, but I sure am. I am a vocal opponent of this SOCIALIZED medicine and I'm not being lead around blindly by anyone. I am researching and learning and gleaning important information and making decisions for myself. I want to address the points from 'the other side' I hear of the most. First, I resent the notion that I cannot think for myself, and that I am too stupid to understand what I need for my own welfare. I am perfectly capable of making decisions about my own health care and that of my family. Yes, yes, I know the "pro-Os" tout the proposed health care system will allow people to keep their insurance and continue to choose their own path with their medical care. Yada, yada, yada...I simply don't believe it. I am not being bullish and obstinate and refusing to even consider the other side. I have researched and read and discovered plenty, and what I have found leads me to decide I don't agree with this proposed plan and I do not believe it is the best way to provide good health care for Americans. Quite frankly, I don't think the government is obliged to provide health care for people just by virtue of the fact they are alive. This whole thing is just going to add fuel to the notion of dependency on the government.
Secondly, 'pro-Os' are currently espousing a supposed belief that all the people we are seeing on videos and news reports who are showing a sincere anger and disillusionment are not representative of most of America. I do not believe that either. I am hearing the same things right here in my own area. I go into gas stations and hear people talking about this. It is an insult to the intelligence and tenacity of Americans to say these people do not have a valid argument. When I see normal-looking (ie, hair is cut, appear to be clean, no peace-signs or tie-dye) people marching down their city streets carrying signs and demanding JUST TO BE LISTENED TO, I know I am seeing a cross-section of our country.
And then, to suggest fiscal conservatives are just trying to place needless hurdles in the path of the saving grace of the American health care system is just ludicrous. It is hard to picture your average factory-worker with three kids and a mortgage sitting around trying to figure out neat little tricks to suggest to his congressman regarding how to stump those darn tree-hugging liberals. Please. We're drowning out here! HELLO! We are drowning and we are looking for life rafts and they are throwing us cinder blocks labeled 'life preserver'.
Trust me when I tell you Americans are waking up. I wasn't sure there for a while. I used to watch the news and shake my head and tell my husband, "The whole country has turned into a bunch of apathetic couch potatoes. They would walk into slavery open-eyed as long as their masters were willing to feed and house them and provide some type of brain-killing entertainment." I'm thinking now I may have assumed too quickly. I am seeing things on TV that warm my heart and strengthen my resolve. It is time for Americans to take back the rights bestowed upon us by the men and women who had very different ideas for the direction of this nation than where it is currently going.
Finally, I resent squeaky-voiced mouth-pieces trying to talk over the bubbly Cavuto to say that those people raising all kinds of heck in town hall meetings aren't being productive by yelling and screaming and chanting. Ok, so I ask anyone who would care to answer: What would be more productive? We called our state representatives...didn't do a bit of good. I have typed until my fingers are ready to come off, and we have talked to people about it until I'm sure those who simply don't care really are tired of hearing it. If I fall into the category of 'right-wing nut' I officially don't care. What I do care about is the research I have done that shows the unbelievable wait times for health care in other countries with SOCIALIZED medicine. I have already had a brush with cancer. My dad died from cancer, so did his brother. I'm just biding my time. What do I do if I'm told I have to wait an interminable time to treat a possibly terminal illness? Now days I'm able to get the health care I need because I have insurance. But guess what? When I didn't have insurance, I didn't expect anyone to provide it for me. I took into consideration the fact that I had made the life choices that had gotten me to the place where I was unable to afford health insurance and I waited until I could afford some, and prayed I didn't get sick. But, I did not expect anyone to provide something for me I could have provided for myself if I had only made better choices in life.
This all comes back to accountability. When the government takes care of the needs of the people down to the tiniest detail, where is the drive to do for oneself? Where is the reason to strive for more? It is just this type of situation that leads into a downhill slide to complete dependency on the government. I absolutely do not want that for my life, and cannot imagine why anyone else would want it either. I am not saying there should be no help for the disadvantaged at all, but it should be more carefully dispensed, not just given to everyone who has a backache or asthma. Yessss, I'm sure you do know where I'm going with that. Another post, another day.
So, I've pretty much had my say, for now. I will not shut up. I may not have a voice. It is entirely possible that not one person will ever read this post, or any other writing I have done in defense of my position on health care reform. But, I will continue to try. I firmly believe part of the accountability I refer to is to use your God-given talents and skills to promote the greater good. Since I am a writer, I'm going to write. I am going to try to make people see that depending on the government, or even relying on it, for that matter, is not the answer to life's problems. The government is not there to take care of each and every need of the people. Part of the pleasure of living is making your way in life, and knowing you did it. What's the point of living at all if you are merely born to eat, sleep, and die?
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