The Great Debate

Obama has the right idea and the right attitude, but he doesn't understand how politics work well enough to change the system. It's sad, and it's going to leave a lot of people in a lot of misery for years to come. I love Barack, don't get me wrong. But he is human, and fallible, so things will never be as easy or beautiful as his speeches profess. Obama Drama has always been a multi-sided story, unfolding over the last several years...and in true Hollywood-esque fashion, Barack has been effectively revealing true American values, biases, stereotypes, ugliness, and intolerance for any amount of diversity. Many people choose to ignore these facts, and in so doing, they ignore any chance to make real, permanent change.

Everyone would love to blame "someone else" but what truly matters here isn't what party affiliations you have, or how much money you can throw at lobbyists who will do your dirty work. Any reasonably aware person should understand by now that "The Great Debate" is - and has been - about more than rich versus poor, healthy versus sick, or me versus you. It's about doing the right thing. It's about being humane. Some of the same people who preach about fetal "rights" are the also arguing that people who don't have jobs should not be provided medical care for cheap or free. Really? How the hell does that make any sense? You can't simultaneously argue for and against humanity. This is about people being laid off, underinsured, or just having a stroke of bad luck. We've all been there. It doesn't mean you deserved it. People need to quit blaming the victims, quit believing in the "Just World Theory" (Lerner) and quit being so god damned ignorant and selfish.

How can people be so rigid and say that unless an individual pays for insurance directly out of his/her own pocket then it isn't justified or deserved? What's the difference between someone who marries a person with health insurance and getting spousal benefits (thus "cheating" the system since it's not coming out of his or her own pocket)? What's the difference between someone having an employer that pays most or all of the costs of health insurance for the employees (thus again, the cost is not falling on the individual insured)? Did this person "work hard" and get a good job? Sure. But what has been revealed in earnest lately is the truth, sometimes shitty things happen to good people and there's no reason for it. Or sometimes a lazy ass person marries into the right family, then contributes nothing to society for the rest of his/her life. Ask yourself, did that person work hard for these coveted health benefits?
 
People are so ignorant, they think this is about "poor people" not working hard. This is about reforming a broken system and getting proper medical care to everyone. That is the humane thing to do. Everyone deserves to be healthy and have an equal shot at it. Look, even some people who can easily spend $$$$ on health insurance cannot get the insurance if they want it. That's what this is about. Say you're a student or self-employed and you've had previous medical condition like cancer - with today's healthcare system, you will be UNINSURABLE.
 
 Don't these people get it? They talk about poor people thinking they're entitled....it's those who have insurance and have never had to fight for it, those who've never struggled with being sick and your fellow humankind not giving two shits about you to help, even though you have put into the system just as much if not more than the "average" healthy person. People who need insurance the most don't WANT to need it. They aren't abusing the system. They'd much rather be healthy, you see. It's those people who say ME ME ME and MINE MINE MINE who make me go absolutely batshit bonkers. These people are the most entitled, ignorant, selfish assholes in the world. What they don't understand is a little bit of philanthropy can go a long way. The $10 per month you will likely end up paying into any public healthcare option won't kill you, but it just may save someone else's life!
 
Time and time again, we see examples of people doing the right thing by others. I hope humanity doesn't collectively let us all down.