Why America Has Failed: Deux
A lot of people responded to my short essay on why I felt this nation has
failed it's citizens. Some of the responses were supportive of my ideas and
others were not...but I wanted to respond to everyone who wrote their thoughts
in a manner that wasn't restricted to a small comments window. So here
goes...
I wrote this in a bit of a rush...but have at
it...
Although many may argue the point, I believe that nature, is by definition, progress. Everything about our physiology and ecology denotes progress. To that, I add that our human nature speaks volumes as to why we must progress or die. This occurs on many levels, philosophically, socially, scientifically, etc. Part of progressing socially is that we must always be thinking of the advancement of our society. Our Bill of Rights and Constitution provide us with the protection and resources to ensure our progress, but they are not the end point at which we stop, simply the framework to try new things and go forward.
I propose to you that the Constitutional amendments were created and ratified because we progressed as a society. Others will tell you that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights give us the only rights we deserve as members of a society. But that argument is flawed, as both documents only work as a framework for where we as a society choose to go, which is why the Constitution is open to change. They do not limit us to certain rights and protections because our forefathers knew they must build a living breathing document which could change as society changed.
Because they trusted us to do the right thing
So I want you to ask yourself a couple of questions:
Q: Should the health and welfare of our citizens be a right to everyone regardless of their income, or should it be a privilege to only those which can afford it?
Q: Should our society (which is radically moving from industrial to technical) put an emphasis on education and provide an education to anyone who desires one, or should it only be available to those who can afford it?
Q: Should the destitute, working poor, or middle class bear more of a tax burden than the rich?
Now that I have made the statement above, I'll will attempt to remark on the comments left by others here. I've placed their comments in italics. And since they were harsh with me...I will be equally so.
The point is this: the responsibility of the government is NOT to make you feel good -- including your health. The responsibility of the government is to take care of those things that the best-intentioned individuals couldn't *possibly* take care of themselves: inter-state and municipal electrical systems; the mail; national and local defense, etc.
This is the type of argument that I find very interesting. It is the idea that the government has no responsibility to it's citizens other than to pave roads and deliver the mail. While we live as individuals in this nation, we also live in a society, which can define how it chooses to represent and take care of it's citizens. The Constitution does not mandate that the government should not take care of the people within the borders of this nation. While people will tell you that the forefathers never intended for the nation to function with a social conscious, I will argue that is exactly why they wrote these documents. In fact, the proliferation of the word "God" throughout our government denotes the idea of a social conscious and responsibility. In fact, the Bill of Rights and Constitution are probably the most important statements on the social welfare of a society in the history of the world.
You say that you cannot afford the additional $1200/year for your own coverage -- I suggest that if both you and your wife are working, as you say, that you could if you made it a priority -- you just don't. And I say that without knowing the details of your situation or finances.
Right, you say that without knowing the details of our situation or finances, which is why I can't believe you even opened your mouth. Until you know the intimate details of our lives, you have no right to comment, and your ignorance to our situation speaks volumes as to why your argument is weak...since you also don't know the situations of the 60 million people in this nation without healthcare.
Instead of evaluating your priorities, however, you would prefer to whine about the government and muse on Canada or wherever you can receive your socialized medicine. That's the easy way out. If you're a capitalist, as you dubiously claim, then you wouldn't want the government grabbing any more from you to PAY for the socialized medicine. If you think you can't afford the $1200/year for direct coverage, wait till you see what happens to your taxes under a socialized plan. The $1200 will look like a deal.
Okay, let's look at priorities. My priorities are thus:
1. Have a roof over our heads
2. Have food under that roof
3. Pay the utilities and other costs of maintaining a household
4. Have affordable transportation and insurance for it
5. Provide a good life for my newly born daughter who is insured
6. Stay in business so I can continue to earn a living.
After all the above...there isn't much left over...
Yes I am a capitalist...and being a capitalist does not exclude the idea that providing a government subsidized healthcare system is against every capitalist ideal. In fact, I would say to you that small and large business gets more handouts from the government than the poor...is that really a free market? How many Fortune 500 companies have accepted government handouts in times of need? Should we have let the airline industry crumble after 9/11 because the free market will take care of itself? Don't insult my intelligence.
I believe in free markets. But I also believe as a society we must make decisions...decisions on the quality of life that we will provide to our citizens, regardless of their income. And I propose to you that the same rights I want to see for myself, also protect you if for some reason you experienced a catastrophic loss of income and deterioration of health. At least you would know that they won't take your house to finance your hospital bill. My mother probably paid more taxes than most of you will pay in your lifetime, and yet when she became ill...what did she have to show for it? We lost just about everything.
Sir, I have seen what other nations, who provide healthcare, have done. The tax base for healthcare is set at the same percentage of income for everyone and is capped once you reach that amount each year. For example, in many nations, your healthcare tax caps at perhaps $1,200 a year (regardless of how much you make), at which point you no longer pay another dime for the year...so the idea that a person who makes a large amount of money is paying in excess of his part, is ridiculous. I find your argument dubious that most Americans would pay more than $1,200 in taxes to provide themselves with healthcare benefits. Do the math. Take 200,000,000 people and multiply an additional $1,200 a year in taxes towards healthcare. How much money is there? Enough to wage war and rebuild Syria, Iran, and North Korea.
With skyrocketing healthcare costs, and record profits, salaries, and benefits, I find it hard to believe that socialized medicine would bring the nation to it's knees.
Hope you get that tooth fixed; just not sure I should pay for it if *you* won't.
Who the fuck is asking you? I pay taxes jackass. And it isn't a matter of won't. For one thing, my insurance costs for me and my wife actually hover around $2,400 a year. By the way, that is catastrophic coverage, with a very large deductable. So even if I pay the $2,400, I also have to cough up an additional large payment for my treatment. Even with $2,400 in insurance, that doesn't count a dental rider. Oral surgery will run me in the neighborhood of $2,000 for my particular malady. And if I took the $2,000 to pay for my tooth, I just depleted my income to put towards insurance.
Live below your means; its the only way to build wealth. You can't make money without money.
The government doesn't owe you what your common sense should provide.
Your common sense should provide you with an internal dialogue that prevents you from making ridiculous statements. Live below my means. Um...what do you know about me or my means? What kind of an asinine comment is that? These comments are those that come from someone who doesn't know anything about who you are and what your situation is. Let's talk about means for a moment. We buy powdered milk instead of fresh. This saves us $100 a year. We buy almost everything second hand. We make all our food from scratch and buy everything in bulk. My wife and I don't exchange gifts for Christmas and we make the gifts we give to friends and relative. If we didn't live beneath our means, we'd be living on the streets...but thanks for the advice.
- Our government does provide health care, ever heard of Medicare? Anyone who is in dire need can not be denied medical treatment, that's law. If you are poor you get free medical care in this country (you may have to fill out a few forms and wait in lines, but it's free).
You should do a little more research before you make this comment...because you could not be more wrong. Medicaid/Medicare is not available to anyone who is poor or in financial trouble.
You must be:
1. 65 years old or older, and on Social Security retirement or railroad or civil service retirement.
2. Blind.
3. Disabled and eligible for Social Security disability benefits.
There are a few exceptions for pregnant women and children...but that's it. Also, for your information it is NOT the law that you must be provided with medical treatment.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) says Medicare hospitals with emergency departments are prohibited from inappropriately transferring or refusing to provide medical care to "any individual" with an emergency medical condition. All patients must be screened and those with an emergency medical condition must be stabilized.
So therefore, if you have cancer, only when you become critically ill and show up at the emergency room can you receive treatment...and that means they just have to stabilize you. ten years ago a good friend of mine who worked a full-time job without healthcare benefits got cancer. They would not treat her until she was at deaths door...otherwise she had to come up with $10,000 for surgery that she required. She died. By the time the cancer had progressed to where she qualified for emergency care, it was too late.
I recently went to a free clinic to get medical treatment. I was denied treatment because my income was $250 a month more than their cutoff. However in their great wisdom, they failed to take into consideration that as a self-employed person, I have certain business costs that aren't reflected until the end of each year. That means that even though I qualify for treatment on a yearly basis, since they only look at my monthly income and average it...I don't qualify.
- On taxes you are way off. The fact of the matter is that if you are poor the IRS gives you more money back than they take. If you look at the actual data from the IRS you will find that the top 50% of wage earners pay 96.09% of the taxes. How is that the poor and middle class getting taxed more than the rich. Have you honestly seen a tax law that, when all other things are equal, requires people making 10k a year pay more than people making 50k a year? Most people who make the claims your making don't realize where they fit in the national averages, and think of themselves as low-middle class income when it's really middle-high class income.
Actually not true. I'd like to point out that beyond the income tax rates, there are numerous federal and local taxes that you pay each day on food, telephone, fossil fuels, etc. In fact there are literally thousands of federal taxes you pay each year that you may not even be aware of. The fact of the matter is that someone who makes little money, bears a HIGHER tax burden than the rich. I pay the same taxes that someone who makes millions of dollars on everyday items I need to survive. Those taxes are a larger part of my income than a millionaire. So yes...everyday I see a tax rate that puts the burden on the poor. Someone who makes $10k a year as opposed to a person who makes $50k a year, pays higher percentage of taxes in proportion to their income. The federal and state taxes on gasoline affect the person who makes $20,000 a year much more than the person who makes $80,000 a year.
And while we're talking about the poor, let's put a face to them. Whenever people want to talk about how the poor just want handouts, I'd like to point out that the largest faction of poor in this country are what are considered the "working poor." People who work multiple jobs to eek out a living, but can't seem to get ahead. Are they all just living beyond their means? Or are they the same folks who aren't paid a living wage while they scrub the feces out of the public toilets? You know them...the faceless folks who pick up after you everyday. Are you aware, by the way, that the Federal minimum wage in this nation for a full-time employee is $5.15 per hour? That means the average person making minimum wage would make less than $10,000 a year before taxes. And by the way, only certain companies who make a certain amount in annual sales have to comply to this guideline. The working poor in this country total about 30+ million people...of a nation of roughly 260 million. Currently in our nation, there are over 60+ million people in this country without any healthcare coverage at all.
Folks, the government and society of this nation is whatever we choose for it to be. That's it...no mystery. Nowhere in the Constitution does it prevent us from providing benefits to all of our citizens, not just the poor. It is really up to you. I've been poor, rich, poor, rich and poor. I've seen both sides of the coin. It isn't a matter of just pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. Life is more complicated than that...and there is a story behind each statistic. It's easy to look at numbers and forget that there are actual people behind them.
We are the richest nation in the world...we can do better...and those who make the argument of "every man for himself" just expose themselves as the selfish people they are.
Although many may argue the point, I believe that nature, is by definition, progress. Everything about our physiology and ecology denotes progress. To that, I add that our human nature speaks volumes as to why we must progress or die. This occurs on many levels, philosophically, socially, scientifically, etc. Part of progressing socially is that we must always be thinking of the advancement of our society. Our Bill of Rights and Constitution provide us with the protection and resources to ensure our progress, but they are not the end point at which we stop, simply the framework to try new things and go forward.
I propose to you that the Constitutional amendments were created and ratified because we progressed as a society. Others will tell you that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights give us the only rights we deserve as members of a society. But that argument is flawed, as both documents only work as a framework for where we as a society choose to go, which is why the Constitution is open to change. They do not limit us to certain rights and protections because our forefathers knew they must build a living breathing document which could change as society changed.
Because they trusted us to do the right thing
So I want you to ask yourself a couple of questions:
Q: Should the health and welfare of our citizens be a right to everyone regardless of their income, or should it be a privilege to only those which can afford it?
Q: Should our society (which is radically moving from industrial to technical) put an emphasis on education and provide an education to anyone who desires one, or should it only be available to those who can afford it?
Q: Should the destitute, working poor, or middle class bear more of a tax burden than the rich?
Now that I have made the statement above, I'll will attempt to remark on the comments left by others here. I've placed their comments in italics. And since they were harsh with me...I will be equally so.
The point is this: the responsibility of the government is NOT to make you feel good -- including your health. The responsibility of the government is to take care of those things that the best-intentioned individuals couldn't *possibly* take care of themselves: inter-state and municipal electrical systems; the mail; national and local defense, etc.
This is the type of argument that I find very interesting. It is the idea that the government has no responsibility to it's citizens other than to pave roads and deliver the mail. While we live as individuals in this nation, we also live in a society, which can define how it chooses to represent and take care of it's citizens. The Constitution does not mandate that the government should not take care of the people within the borders of this nation. While people will tell you that the forefathers never intended for the nation to function with a social conscious, I will argue that is exactly why they wrote these documents. In fact, the proliferation of the word "God" throughout our government denotes the idea of a social conscious and responsibility. In fact, the Bill of Rights and Constitution are probably the most important statements on the social welfare of a society in the history of the world.
You say that you cannot afford the additional $1200/year for your own coverage -- I suggest that if both you and your wife are working, as you say, that you could if you made it a priority -- you just don't. And I say that without knowing the details of your situation or finances.
Right, you say that without knowing the details of our situation or finances, which is why I can't believe you even opened your mouth. Until you know the intimate details of our lives, you have no right to comment, and your ignorance to our situation speaks volumes as to why your argument is weak...since you also don't know the situations of the 60 million people in this nation without healthcare.
Instead of evaluating your priorities, however, you would prefer to whine about the government and muse on Canada or wherever you can receive your socialized medicine. That's the easy way out. If you're a capitalist, as you dubiously claim, then you wouldn't want the government grabbing any more from you to PAY for the socialized medicine. If you think you can't afford the $1200/year for direct coverage, wait till you see what happens to your taxes under a socialized plan. The $1200 will look like a deal.
Okay, let's look at priorities. My priorities are thus:
1. Have a roof over our heads
2. Have food under that roof
3. Pay the utilities and other costs of maintaining a household
4. Have affordable transportation and insurance for it
5. Provide a good life for my newly born daughter who is insured
6. Stay in business so I can continue to earn a living.
After all the above...there isn't much left over...
Yes I am a capitalist...and being a capitalist does not exclude the idea that providing a government subsidized healthcare system is against every capitalist ideal. In fact, I would say to you that small and large business gets more handouts from the government than the poor...is that really a free market? How many Fortune 500 companies have accepted government handouts in times of need? Should we have let the airline industry crumble after 9/11 because the free market will take care of itself? Don't insult my intelligence.
I believe in free markets. But I also believe as a society we must make decisions...decisions on the quality of life that we will provide to our citizens, regardless of their income. And I propose to you that the same rights I want to see for myself, also protect you if for some reason you experienced a catastrophic loss of income and deterioration of health. At least you would know that they won't take your house to finance your hospital bill. My mother probably paid more taxes than most of you will pay in your lifetime, and yet when she became ill...what did she have to show for it? We lost just about everything.
Sir, I have seen what other nations, who provide healthcare, have done. The tax base for healthcare is set at the same percentage of income for everyone and is capped once you reach that amount each year. For example, in many nations, your healthcare tax caps at perhaps $1,200 a year (regardless of how much you make), at which point you no longer pay another dime for the year...so the idea that a person who makes a large amount of money is paying in excess of his part, is ridiculous. I find your argument dubious that most Americans would pay more than $1,200 in taxes to provide themselves with healthcare benefits. Do the math. Take 200,000,000 people and multiply an additional $1,200 a year in taxes towards healthcare. How much money is there? Enough to wage war and rebuild Syria, Iran, and North Korea.
With skyrocketing healthcare costs, and record profits, salaries, and benefits, I find it hard to believe that socialized medicine would bring the nation to it's knees.
Hope you get that tooth fixed; just not sure I should pay for it if *you* won't.
Who the fuck is asking you? I pay taxes jackass. And it isn't a matter of won't. For one thing, my insurance costs for me and my wife actually hover around $2,400 a year. By the way, that is catastrophic coverage, with a very large deductable. So even if I pay the $2,400, I also have to cough up an additional large payment for my treatment. Even with $2,400 in insurance, that doesn't count a dental rider. Oral surgery will run me in the neighborhood of $2,000 for my particular malady. And if I took the $2,000 to pay for my tooth, I just depleted my income to put towards insurance.
Live below your means; its the only way to build wealth. You can't make money without money.
The government doesn't owe you what your common sense should provide.
Your common sense should provide you with an internal dialogue that prevents you from making ridiculous statements. Live below my means. Um...what do you know about me or my means? What kind of an asinine comment is that? These comments are those that come from someone who doesn't know anything about who you are and what your situation is. Let's talk about means for a moment. We buy powdered milk instead of fresh. This saves us $100 a year. We buy almost everything second hand. We make all our food from scratch and buy everything in bulk. My wife and I don't exchange gifts for Christmas and we make the gifts we give to friends and relative. If we didn't live beneath our means, we'd be living on the streets...but thanks for the advice.
- Our government does provide health care, ever heard of Medicare? Anyone who is in dire need can not be denied medical treatment, that's law. If you are poor you get free medical care in this country (you may have to fill out a few forms and wait in lines, but it's free).
You should do a little more research before you make this comment...because you could not be more wrong. Medicaid/Medicare is not available to anyone who is poor or in financial trouble.
You must be:
1. 65 years old or older, and on Social Security retirement or railroad or civil service retirement.
2. Blind.
3. Disabled and eligible for Social Security disability benefits.
There are a few exceptions for pregnant women and children...but that's it. Also, for your information it is NOT the law that you must be provided with medical treatment.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) says Medicare hospitals with emergency departments are prohibited from inappropriately transferring or refusing to provide medical care to "any individual" with an emergency medical condition. All patients must be screened and those with an emergency medical condition must be stabilized.
So therefore, if you have cancer, only when you become critically ill and show up at the emergency room can you receive treatment...and that means they just have to stabilize you. ten years ago a good friend of mine who worked a full-time job without healthcare benefits got cancer. They would not treat her until she was at deaths door...otherwise she had to come up with $10,000 for surgery that she required. She died. By the time the cancer had progressed to where she qualified for emergency care, it was too late.
I recently went to a free clinic to get medical treatment. I was denied treatment because my income was $250 a month more than their cutoff. However in their great wisdom, they failed to take into consideration that as a self-employed person, I have certain business costs that aren't reflected until the end of each year. That means that even though I qualify for treatment on a yearly basis, since they only look at my monthly income and average it...I don't qualify.
- On taxes you are way off. The fact of the matter is that if you are poor the IRS gives you more money back than they take. If you look at the actual data from the IRS you will find that the top 50% of wage earners pay 96.09% of the taxes. How is that the poor and middle class getting taxed more than the rich. Have you honestly seen a tax law that, when all other things are equal, requires people making 10k a year pay more than people making 50k a year? Most people who make the claims your making don't realize where they fit in the national averages, and think of themselves as low-middle class income when it's really middle-high class income.
Actually not true. I'd like to point out that beyond the income tax rates, there are numerous federal and local taxes that you pay each day on food, telephone, fossil fuels, etc. In fact there are literally thousands of federal taxes you pay each year that you may not even be aware of. The fact of the matter is that someone who makes little money, bears a HIGHER tax burden than the rich. I pay the same taxes that someone who makes millions of dollars on everyday items I need to survive. Those taxes are a larger part of my income than a millionaire. So yes...everyday I see a tax rate that puts the burden on the poor. Someone who makes $10k a year as opposed to a person who makes $50k a year, pays higher percentage of taxes in proportion to their income. The federal and state taxes on gasoline affect the person who makes $20,000 a year much more than the person who makes $80,000 a year.
And while we're talking about the poor, let's put a face to them. Whenever people want to talk about how the poor just want handouts, I'd like to point out that the largest faction of poor in this country are what are considered the "working poor." People who work multiple jobs to eek out a living, but can't seem to get ahead. Are they all just living beyond their means? Or are they the same folks who aren't paid a living wage while they scrub the feces out of the public toilets? You know them...the faceless folks who pick up after you everyday. Are you aware, by the way, that the Federal minimum wage in this nation for a full-time employee is $5.15 per hour? That means the average person making minimum wage would make less than $10,000 a year before taxes. And by the way, only certain companies who make a certain amount in annual sales have to comply to this guideline. The working poor in this country total about 30+ million people...of a nation of roughly 260 million. Currently in our nation, there are over 60+ million people in this country without any healthcare coverage at all.
Folks, the government and society of this nation is whatever we choose for it to be. That's it...no mystery. Nowhere in the Constitution does it prevent us from providing benefits to all of our citizens, not just the poor. It is really up to you. I've been poor, rich, poor, rich and poor. I've seen both sides of the coin. It isn't a matter of just pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. Life is more complicated than that...and there is a story behind each statistic. It's easy to look at numbers and forget that there are actual people behind them.
We are the richest nation in the world...we can do better...and those who make the argument of "every man for himself" just expose themselves as the selfish people they are.
Posted: Mon - September 29, 2003 at 01:38 PM
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Published On: Jan 29, 2004 01:35 PM
Total entries in this category: 25
Published On: Jan 29, 2004 01:35 PM