8.15.2009

Health Care: Part 1: Basis of the Current Debate.

Society Proforma is returning at the correct time. As America broadly discusses the shape and merits of health care reform, the absence of a sensible well formatted legislative debate is embarrassing.
America wake up! The movement towards substantive health care reform has never had better traction in the last 30+ years. Yet, the plurality of the talking points on both sides have been centered on utter non-sense.
Frankly, the reality of the matter is that as in most things regarding socio-economics and politics in America, the fourth estate (aka the media) has failed to serve the best interests of our society.
The talking heads: righty vs lefty political punditry presented as news and journalism by our media has crippled America again, and in so doing the media perpetuates one of the core elements of the problem which is driving legislative inaction.
To be direct, the problem crippling America is that we are truly being threatened and terrorized by our own internal extremists and miscreants. Because these extremists are home grown, are loosely connected to the formative faith of the majority of the nation, have access to money, privilege and a platform to power, we don't recognize them for what they are: religious and cultural extremists/fundamentalists. And like all extremists, these elements are incapable of compromise, embracing change, intellectual flexibility or accepting criticism of their failures and mistakes. Further, they are completely willing to use tactics which they claim to otherwise abhore for the sake of insuring the security of their own self-interest, while disguising their actions as having motives in the protection of the greater good.
America is being torn apart by stupidity, greed, corruption, mismanagement, and legislative incompetence. Health care reform is but one facet of this disease. What's frightening is that, most American's choose not realize that the position of those opposed to health care reform has zero factual basis, is counter intuitive to the greater good of all Americans and yet still the position gets equal air time in the press instead of being thoroughly discredited as the rubbish that it is.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Insightful article. You are a good writer and make the logical seem so simple. It amazing that others are unable to recognize what special interests are doing to public discourse. It's become so discouraging that many have opted out of following ongoing debates on health care. Thanks for bringing a little sanity to the issue. Peace!