Town Hall Protests

And, intelligent democracy collapses.

Because all I do is sit around and read and study Arabic some, I don't have many life updates to report on. I did go to some museums the other day, but I've had enough of those posts. So instead I'm going all political.

I have been very happy with the health care debate up to this point. No, the results haven't been all that promising yet, and no, President Obama hasn't taken a good lead in explaining what needs to happen to Americans, but, nontheless the debate was intelligent and rigorous. Everyone was looking for solutions and talking about options. The American people were not going to settle for just plugging up holes in the system, they were actually looking for real solutions and smart change, demanding that everyone be insured and that costs go down, both of which are reasonable, if not simple, expectations. An ad-hoc bill came out of congress that maybe was a step in the right direction, maybe not. People weren't satisfied. So more intelligent debate ensued, people began to focus more on cutting the costs of health care. Some of the real issues, like problems with American lifestyle that were driving up costs weren't talked about enough, but they were making more frequent appearances.

And then congress recessed and cable TV got boring and the crazies came out. The main problem the town hall protests is that it is mob rule. Nothing is accomplished, which is just what the people protesting want. That's my main beef. Intelligent debate has broken down. Let's not settle for that. Let's reject fear mongering. See the sign up there: "I'm not going to discuss my end of life options with anyone." Seriously? No general care physicians? No specialists? I know, if you're not willing to pay out of pocket for what is for most people expensive end-of-life care, you are most assuredly going to talk to your insurance company about it. And do you know what your best chance of getting it paid for is? Medicare. From the government. Come on America, we're better than that. No, finding a solution for our health care problems wont be easy. No, it probably wont be fast. But it has to happen. And it isn't going to happen on its own. We decided to just let things be in the Clinton years and things have just gotten worse. Things have to change, and it is going to take all of us actually thinking and talking about it, not shouting and carrying signs that don't really mean anything to get it done.

That's my other beef. This was the first picture that came up when I searched "health care town hall protests." Or maybe the second. Everyone in this picture is older and obese. According to this and this obesity is not, if the number one cause for increase in health care prices, certainly among them. Now, I'm not hating on fat people, but when insuring you costs 25% percent more than insuring the non-obese, a few more signs saying "Sorry America, for making health care more expensive" might be apporpriate. And insuring older people isn't cheap either. I'm not saying older people and obese people shouldn't have a voice in health care, I would just like them to recognize that they'll be the first ones to be dropped (after poor people, who seem pretty uniformly on the side of reform, or at least realize they are dependent on the government for health care, unlike all these old people seem to) if we don't do something about fixing health care. The only reason that their health care costs aren't bankrupting them is because they are either already on government run care or are insured through their employer, who are more and more refusing to pay for more expensive health care. I want the obese and the old insured, I just hate to see them fighting against the only way that they'll get insured. And also, I think the government is best suited for providing incentives for better health and lowered obesity, a further reason for government to be more involved in health care.

In summation: Please, please America. I was so proud of you for being trying to be thoughtful and intelligent about this issue early on, let's not quit now.