Complacency and Ignorance - Health Care in the USA

Complacency, ignorance, bigotry, cult of the self... these are the negative qualities of the American culture that has deeply disturbed me over the years, and I feel that I am only starting to understand the depth at which these problems run in American society. Although in most cases, this does not lead directly to others being harmed, there are two extremely harmful manifestations of these problems, one of them being health care.

I am becoming increasingly disturbed at the lack of health care coverage available to the citizens of the world's most powerful, advanced, and rich country. Although I had been aware that there are problems with the American health care system, I did not realize the extent of the problems until watching Michael Moore's Sicko a few weeks ago. Although I am by no means a Michael Moore fan boy, what I saw in the movie shocked me, which caused me to start researching into the health care problems of this great nation. I had never looked into this issue, as coming from Canada, I had just assumed that in the US, a country richer and more technologically advanced than Canada, everyone had full access to high-quality health care services in the country. To me, and most other Canadians, access to free health care when you need it is taken as a basic right that should be granted to all human beings.

In my experiences, the most visible manifestation of the lack of health care coverage in the US is the highly visible disabilities and disfigurements in the homeless population in the country. Living in San Francisco and walking around the less well off urban areas of the city, I see a shockingly high number of homeless people with disabilities, either in the form of missing limbs, deformed appendages, or a limp while walking. Many of them seem to be bound to a wheelchair and have swollen extremities. Many more rely on old, beat-up canes to move around awkwardly. Many more seem to have obvious mental conditions, blathering incoherently as they walk around, yelling at passersby, or repeatedly performing simple actions over and over again. Just the sight of them makes you immediately lose hope that they will ever recover. They look like they are just waiting around for their death to release them from the pain and hopelessness of their lives.

Back when I lived in Canada, before moving to the US, I had never imagined sights such as this. The idea of such a rich and privileged society refusing to provide the most basic aid to the most needy was completely unfathomable to me. I had seen many homeless in Canadian cities too, but they all seemed quite healthy and most of them gave off the vibe that life still held great promises for them in the future if they worked at it, and that they were just down for the moment. I felt that the homeless in Canada were still part of Canadian society, while the homeless in the US feel like a separate subclass who are not seen as human beings. The general feel I get here is the less interaction we have with them, the better.

Even with all of these problems, there is still a surprising amount of hesitation, even contempt, in the US for the idea of universal government-provided health care as it is seen as "socialist" or "communist," two of the most derogatory terms in American political language. The American cult of self has instilled an idea that no one should be responsible for anyone else in their culture, and just living here for six years, I feel that I have become a much more cynical person who is becoming less caring about others in need. Worse still, is that large corporations in the US run very well funded propaganda campaigns which convince the ill-informed populace that the current private health care system is the most effective system. Combined with the Americans' contempt for government control and their rejection and ignorance of foreign countries and different ways of thinking, these propaganda campaigns are surprisingly effective at combating any policy which makes it difficult for the large corporations to make a hefty profit.

Of course, I do think there are advantages to the American system. It has indeed made them one of the richest countries in the world, and the vast majority of Americans live in a life of privilege and luxury compared to the rest of the world. However, when it comes to the basic necessities of life, I believe that these should be regulated and controlled by a responsible government that is working to serve the people. Sure, go ahead and privatize consumer goods and services for non-essential items and new technologies - these creative and hardworking entrepreneurs deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labour for taking such risks to bring joy and comfort to the world - but basic necessities for human beings to survive and to give them a chance at success should not be controlled by forces who do not care about the people who need them and only about the profits they can make by controlling these resources.

The American people need to wake up and see the problems in their society, especially when it come to health care. Now that there is actually a president in power who wants to improve the system, it is time for action, not time for even more complacency. Americans need to wake up to the world and see how things are done in other industrialized nations and question why it is that the American health care system is so abysmally low in the international rankings when the US itself is in such a privileged position. Americans, this is your chance to rescue many millions of people from a hopeless and painful existence, not to mention the lives that will be saved with health care coverage for everyone. Wake up, be bold enough to face the truth, and you can make the world a better place for everyone by taking action and supporting your president in the battle for health care reform.