Where Have I Been?
No, I'm not writing as much here as I should. I have been writings some over at sacramentalnazarenes.blogspot.com -- but not enough there either! Though I've not been writing, I am still reading and thinking. I've been thinking alot about health care reform lately. With the health issues that Pierce has, this issue that is front and center in the national agenda, has been front in center in our families agenda.
I am not smart enough, to come up with a solution (ie, I'm not sure how to answer the "how?" question), but am have come to the clear decision that health-care is a basic human right that ought to be guaranteed to all at a reasonable and affordable cost. If it is so important that I be able to have a gun, or speak my mind, or vote, or have a fair trial, et al... then surely the right to adequate health care is at least as basic as those. What good are those if I am not healthy enough to enjoy them?
I am also smart enough to look at the statistics that show countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands have better health care systems, a higher degree of satisfaction with the health care system, and spend far less on health care than we do now. Again, I don't know how it works, but I can read. Of course I can also read the reports of the dangers of systems like Canada and Brittain. It just goes to show there are a variety of options available and certainly we can find an "American" solution that will be consistent with our "American values" and with my Christian and human rights commitment to make sure that all have adequate and affordable health care.
Anyway, below this post are a couple that I have read that I thought were worth passing on.
For you and with you,
EF+
I am not smart enough, to come up with a solution (ie, I'm not sure how to answer the "how?" question), but am have come to the clear decision that health-care is a basic human right that ought to be guaranteed to all at a reasonable and affordable cost. If it is so important that I be able to have a gun, or speak my mind, or vote, or have a fair trial, et al... then surely the right to adequate health care is at least as basic as those. What good are those if I am not healthy enough to enjoy them?
I am also smart enough to look at the statistics that show countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands have better health care systems, a higher degree of satisfaction with the health care system, and spend far less on health care than we do now. Again, I don't know how it works, but I can read. Of course I can also read the reports of the dangers of systems like Canada and Brittain. It just goes to show there are a variety of options available and certainly we can find an "American" solution that will be consistent with our "American values" and with my Christian and human rights commitment to make sure that all have adequate and affordable health care.
Anyway, below this post are a couple that I have read that I thought were worth passing on.
For you and with you,
EF+
posted by EF + at 10:57 AM
1 Comments:
It is a very slippery slope to imply that "affordable" heathcare is a guaranteed right. You have added an objective qualifier and then made it an absolute right. This isnt anything like the other inalienable rights you mentioned. They do not contain objective or politically waivering qualifiers. They are absloute as long as your right does not infringe on someone elses, a subjective qualifier.
I would also take issue with the implication that good christians are obligated to provide healthcare for all people, largely via increased taxes(to which i already give near 40 percent). Each relationship with God is unique as is the service that he/she is called upon to carry out. A govt mandated tax is not an individual or even godly service, in my opinion. This eliminates choice, something essential in America, but more importantly something essential to a personal relationship with God.
Now that i have given my two cents on your posting, I must be honest....I have no answers for this either and it does seem like healthcare gets less affordable by the year, especially with our family only having 1 job right now. But this isnt just about healthcare....it is about a philosophy on how were are governed, and thus our whole lives are affected. Would this open a pandoras box of govt meddling in our lives? Ask the people who were around when income tax was encated as a temporary measure.... or when eminent domain was used for roads/schools/infrastructure and is now used to build malls and various other developer driven projects to increase tax revenues
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