Value and Money are not the same.
It’s difficult in the U.S. to really understand value. The value of a hard day’s work. The value of a hug. The value of trust. The value of the qualitative. When commoners in the middle to lower classes in America debate politics they do so in an aimless, impotent fashion that allows them to build fortresses of self perpetuating plausible deniability. Instead of understanding issues fully, contemplating the nuance and subtly of an issue, many resort to scripted straw man rhetoric recycled from the “news”. I use “news” in quotes because in a for-profit market even the news is bought and paid for. The information is presented in the same way it is regurgitated and our collective ability to think critically and creatively suffers.
When I think back to my youth I think back to my parents talking of times of social change and solidarity. They were hippies by their own admission but it’s clear to me that my mother more than my father held to their ideals. It’s possible, I assume, that he was just trying to get laid (successfully, if you count me and my brother) but I digress.
The health care debate rages on in Washington DC but just like the last 6 elections in this country the debates and arguments are semantic bordering on dogmatic. Representatives are not listening to their constituents because they don’t need to. The changes proposed feed a for-profit medical system at the expense of the very constituency it’s trying to help.
Single Payer is not on the table and Obama’s solution is a government run insurance plan. Wait… what? you mean, it’s more of the same I just pay for it via my taxes instead of the tax I’m essentially paying by being employed? Who does that help? How does that help? It seems to benefit only one class of people in the equation: insurance companies. By introducing a public insurance company cost of frequently covered procedures will drop, same with some medications and they will see themselves getting paid due to the lower prices. They’ll complain at first because they have to wait 2 years instead of 2 months to buy that island in the South Pacific but they’ll get over it when the number of delinquent accounts is dramatically lower.
Which brings me around to my point. Value is not only calculated in monetary terms; even in a capitalist society like ours in the US. It can be calculated there but other factors must be considered as well. For instance, as some point we decided that having our neighbor’s homes burn to the ground when someone could have done something about it killed the private Fire Brigade system we had the US. We agreed, collectively, that since we have to pay for it anyway, we might as well make Fire a government run program. It’s locally run and funded and works really well. Is it better than a private only fire system? I suppose that debatable but it’s certainly easier to understand and benefit from. We value that service in our neighbors and communities and we benefit from it personally when/if we need it. If you don’t think your neighborhood suffers from a burnt lot, you’ve never lived near one.
I don’t know if single payer is the best solution to the problem but I do know that a healthy society that can go to the doctor without fear of losing everything they’ve ever worked for in their lives is more valuable to me than the executives lining their pockets at the expense of my friends and family. I already pay a high premium to insure my family (and it doesn’t cover everything) and if that same money could be used to equally care of my neighbors I’d gladly continue to pay it. If it meant that I never have to spend a day requesting medication that my doctor has prescribed can actually be given to me then that is worth more than any amount of money I can dream of.
The value of my neighbors’ health; the value of my community is in actively participating in its success not becoming a profiteer in its inevitable hardships.
In my opinion, and this is simply my opinion, it’s incumbent upon us to care for each other. To value life and freedom over profits. Money is not everything, it’s not even half of everything. The minute we remember that a friendship and health are more important than the bill for those things is the minute we know exactly what adds value.
UPDATE: for the record, I’m not saying Single Payer is without fault or that it’s even the best solution. I’m just saying there’s got to be a way to care for people without compromising on the quality of that care. I simply do not believe the for-profit medical system works to that end. The details for that I leave in the hands of politicians. I’m just trying to put my thoughts down so I do not have to repeat them in public over and over again. :)
