For whatever reason that I have not been able to get to the bottom of, Medium has been limiting the number of responses and stories I can post. Having said that, I hope this gets posted.
I think we have 2 problems. One, the dithering talking heads are just that — talking heads, most of whom have bought into capitalism and all its evils so they fail to see how healthcare should and could work so everyone has coverage. I mean it will cost every one more money!! That’s their only concern. Second, the folks in this country, by and large, have proven they don’t buy into (excuse the pun) caring for others. They believe it’s a me, me, me world and why the hell should I subsidize healthcare for others? I work hard, I pay my taxes, and everyone else should, too.
Of course, both arguments leave out the most important element — that in our country we have the have’s and the have not’s. The have not’s, for whatever reason(s), simply can’t afford to subsidize others, much less obtain healthcare on their own. The fact is, many of the others do not need help — they are wealthy and can pay. But in their minds, it’s WTF? Why should I pay for someone else when I’ve worked hard and I pay my own way? Polar opposites that will never merge because one side has it all and believes the other side could have had it, too, if they weren’t so lazy and just worked as hard as they did. Of course the socioeconomic reasons for these polar opposites are totally lost on most of those who have it all.
And so the world goes round and in our country nothing changes, except things get worse and worse. We fight about politics, we fight about climate change, we fight about universal healthcare for all, we fight about taxes, we fight about programs that provide safety nets to those less fortunate, we fight about immigration, and we fight about elected politicians like we’ve never seen before. All the while, many of us never consider how much happier everyone would be if we all shared those burdens collectively.
How did we become so damn selfish? How did we become so uncaring for the next guy? How did we become a country so divided that people cannot see the forest for the trees? I wish for the 50’s and 60’s when it seemed to me that others did care more about their neighbors and had a sense of collective ownership in our country’s affairs. When everything was safer and the world was not so dangerous. There have been different political parties since the founding of our country and they have always had differences. But the elected politicians respected each other and even when they disagreed, they would compromise and so much good was done — like SSI, Medicaid, and Medicare.
I’d like a time machine, please. A time machine that would take us all back to a period in our country’s history when most people respected other people’s beliefs even if they didn’t agree. And a time when we all cared about each other instead of this dog eat dog world we live in now.
Thanks Umair. Great article.
