During the six decades or so that I’ve been on this planet I’ve seen a repetitive cycle of social progress and digression. Suppose that is to be expected with billions of people with just as many opinions about what is right, wrong, and everything in between! However, I really thought that the 50’s era of ignorantly referring to anyone who supported effective social change that might benefit everyone in the good ole US of A was gone forever. Seems that isn’t so…………….afterall millions of folks voted for change when they voted for Obama — guess they were only referring to a change in figurehead/person at the top and not in the areas of real social change such as health care and education. Weren’t they listening to his campaign speeches? Here is a man, albeit a politician true enough, who wants to finally address the inequities in health care and ensure that everyone has access to the best available. He wants to eliminate the stratification of availability that currently exists based upon employment, income and/or wealth and create a situation where the same care is available to everyone. What is wrong with that???????????
First folks called him a socialist and now a communist. Ironically we heard few voices shout out about the fascism of the Bush era; something far scarier if one considers what all of these terms actually mean. Those who scream about socialism and communism just seem selfish because they — in their own words — “don’t want to pay for someone else’s health care.” Don’t they realize they are paying now via insurance companies whose rates reflect the imbalance of personal wealth and income; and they are also paying to pad the pockets of CEOs and build those huge mansions that some in the medical and insurance fields can afford? And the rest of us cannot? Suppose they would rather be ripped off by corporations than join together with their fellow citizenry and support one another!
And it seems like pure racism when parents actually don’t want their children to listen to the President of the U.S. What happened to respect for dialogue, conversation, the position of President? Didn’t hear this argument presented when Bush was talking about war, war, torture and more war. But then war is an old issue; having better, more affordable health care, and encouraging our young folks to remain in school and obtain an education that will benefit them personally and could ultimately lead to a more fair and just society — well that change is just too scary for some I suppose…………………….. This country touts itself as the most fair, just, safest, equitable, blah, blah — some of us vote on that basis and now that we have true representation of what we say we are…….shouldn’t we actually practice what we broadcast around the world?!
Our Outside View 
Good post!
In my personal point of view, no one should profit from people’s basic human rights such as health, education and welfare (NOTE: fair welfare, not for the ones that abuse it) without a public option. Yes, healthcare, education and welfare should be rights, not privileges. Profiting from this, without an option for people whose income restrict them from any of these rights is plain wrong. Nothing wrong with companies making a living, but don’t leave people behind or on the fringes just because they don’t have money to pay and no other options.
If you had options (i.e. a Gov’t run healthcare, sound welfare, quality education programs), you could still attain the “American Dream”. But in the world we currently live in, that’s an impossibility. No options. I can’t believe that the richest nation in the world cannot provide health care for all of its citizens. Un-freaking-believable.
Reform. Now.