Health Care

Flogging a dying horse - to think that we can succeed with a failing health-care system built upon an illusion: that the market is the best means to care for the nation's health. There isn't a civilized nation on the face of the earth, and even a few uncivilized, that pits its citizens' health against market factors.

A single-payer health-care system is the only answer, and the sooner we get on with it, the more quickly millions of Americans who live and die without adequate care will be on the improve, lowering costs, improving productivity and adding to the overall security/happiness scale that plays such a huge role in any society.

The only folks who continue to argue for the antiquated illusion of the current system are those who have sufficient income to purchase their care. But, then, hasn't that always been the character of an unregulated free market: the wealthy enjoy the benefits on the backs of millions who suffer quietly in the shadowed corners.

Most significantly, we tolerate in our food supply and in our product manufacturing toxic chemicals outlawed in Europe. Why? Because we don't give a damn, especially for the struggling middle class, and we've forgotten the poor.

European standards are much higher? Why? THEY PAY THE BILLS FOR THE HEALTH OF THEIR CITIZENS!

When will America give up its illusions? The current financial debacle proves the point: business is incapable of moral decisions, and that's all right, as long as we can tell the truth. Good government has proven itself time and again as the only means whereby the average citizen can enjoy a safe and abundant life. As we've seen in the last few weeks, the wealthy privatize the gains and socialize the losses. Shame on all of them for pretending to have a conscience, and shame on all of us for failing to create a conscience-driven system to monitor the Wall Street Jockeys and finally build a decent health-care system.