health care reform?

Health care reform? Don't think so. It's not going to happen in our lifetimes. Not here. Why, you ask?

My dear gentle reader, there are many reasons. But, the ones that jump quickly to mind are:

(a) first and foremost—resistance by the Ratpublicans (oops, i meant repubs);


(b) the fact that this is a capitalist society and even medical care must generate a profit;


(c) the unwillingness of the hospitals, AMA, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies to be fully transparent (and they have the gall to ask for tort reform);


(d) the power of all of the above's lobby groups; and finally



(e) the lack of grassroots support (Where are all the rallies and marches on Washington to attain 'universal health care coverage'? Where are the ER protests? I went into an ER about a week ago and everyone was just lined up like meek sheep. Looked like they were ok with what they were getting! --Wait till they get the bill!--)

Here's the main issue: Americans are not a ‘folk’ like Danes or Norwegians or even Brits and Canadians.

We do not have the sense of social identity that exists in Denmark, Norway, Britain, and Canada because our social divisions are recent and deep and have not been (dare i say cannot be) mitigated. Just consider the Gates vs. Crawley situation (and have a beer while you're at it).

It's not going to happen.

From the sample of callers to CSPAN’s Washington Journal I've heard every morning this week, it seems that most people with adequate health care insurance are quite comfortable watching those without it deal with the ordeal of the emergency room (at least, up until the time they require emergency treatment). And, there are some, out there, quite willing to forgo health care coverage for themselves in order to insure that no laborer in the U.S. (not fully documented) will have health care! (It would seem that these people have not considered the consequences of an epidemic or endemic under such a policy.)

Bottom line: we're not too smart...or...not smart enough.

You see, doing everything for money is an easy system to construct and convince everyone (who doesn't think too deeply about things) that it's the best system that's ever been created. It (capitalism) doesn't require great moral courage or much intellectual insight or even 'enlightened self-interest'. All it requires is a docile population that will accept a price on everything (from health to justice) and a ruling class (say, a group of established rich and influential families who's wealth goes back to the 18th century and who's children go to all of the best schools and never work in mail rooms) that pays the sheep as little as it can get away with for their labor and charges them as much as they can get away with for the goods and services they create with their labor!

What a system. Ripped-off from two directions at once.

Oh, and lest I forget, the same ruling class buys its way into the highest offices in the government and charges this 'work dependent class', if you will, the maximum taxes it can get away with.

Ripped-off three ways at once!!

And guess what:

Most of these sheeple, getting ripped like this, will not only grin-and-bear-it, they'll send their children off to die in wars started (often, for no good reason) by this ruling class and think themselves 'blessed' when their kids come home just missing a few parts (like a mind).

Wow, what a system of collectivization! The commies never had it so good!!

This must be the greatest system of social control (i.e., country) ever run on a group of workers.

So, you ask yourselves if you're going to get 'health care reform'?

Yeah, you're going to get it.

You're going to get it right where you've always gotten it. Right up your ER!

good luck with that...and...(as always) more later...