Over the last few months, many things have been happening here in the United States and around the world that have left me deep in thought, struggling between my own morals, and the global and national issues at hand. I have come to the conclusion that I deeply disagree with… me, myself, and even I. On one hand, I have my own ideals and morals, yet on the other hand lies science and observation.
If I look at the current events from the idealistic perspective, I see many great things happen. There’s the government health care plan, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, many of the banks were saved from their own demise, and a host of other things. Isn’t this what we’re supposed to do? Help each other and grow, right!?
On the other hand, when I look at things from the more scientific, observational perspective I begin to see that things aren’t as bright as they may seem. The unconsidered effects of these great strives toward what I believe to be morally right begin to become crystal clear. As a result I begin to foresee a decline in education, healthcare, our economy, and even the future downfall of our once great country. I realize that these “fixes” that are being made now are only perceived as fixes, yet merely mask the underlying problems.
I have come to the conclusion that we are not truly faced by healthcare and economic crises. While it may seem so, these are just masks worn by the true problems. Instead, the true problems we face are laziness and greed. While I could attack this argument from a number of directions, I’ll do so from the point of the liberals vs. the conservatives. On both sides I see amazing amounts of greed for money and power.
The conservatives are by far more blatant and obvious than the liberals. Every day I see them whining about how business will be hurt by this or that, or how the liberals are going to end the capitalist system. They whine, they cry, and they cry to attempt to scare people into protecting their ability to store up their power and wealth.
While they may not be as blatant, the liberals have been just as bad. While they don’t seek wealth in the same way, the liberals more than make up the difference in their search of power. The power they seek is the power to heal all the ails of human kind. They believe that patching the superficial problems we see now will heal human kind and bring about global peace. If only this could be true.
Now here’s the truth as I see it. People need to start looking at things from a realistic perspective on both ends of the spectrum. There are a number of ideals that people have right now that just can’t work.
While I’m sure that those who have collected billions would like to continue to collect their billions, it can’t happen. There is a balance that needs to be upheld, and the scale has tipped way to far in this country. There needs to be change in our economic system because it is no longer stable due to the greed that has become so much a part of business. Yes it’s alright to succeed and do well, but you have to have responsibility to your employees as well as your shareholders. When you fail in this, you fail everybody including yourself.
As for the health care system, I’m sorry, but life isn’t perfect. While we’d all like to live long healthy lives, and see those around us do the same, sometimes that just doesn’t happen. Our morals may predicate that we should do whatever we can, but when you step back from morals and look at things realistically, there are only a few ways to impact healthcare without creating a financial black hole. Firstly, frivolous malpractice suits need to be done away with. This will reduce the cost to our doctors, and decrease our cost of care, thus our insurance as well. Secondly, certification requirements for medical supplies, devices, and pharmaceuticals need to be lessened while communication with recipients needs to be increased. This would greatly reduce the cost of nearly everything, while somewhat increasing the risk of receiving new treatments. This is why the communication is so important. If you want the newest treatments, that’s you’re choice, but it’s up to you to take the risk and possibly suffer the consequences.
Now onto the dreaded topic of public assistance. Now I’m not normally one to quote the bible as many of you know, but there is one quote that fits this subject very well. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Lately, we’ve been all to readily giving men and women fish, and expecting them to somehow miraculously stand up and start fishing. It’s time for people to learn to fish on their own. You and I work far to hard for our money to just give it away to a person who believes that it is owed to them. Sure people would have to struggle to make ends meet, but have you not had to struggle at points in your life? Has that struggle not led us to be stronger people? Yeah it would be nice if we could wave a wand and take all pain and suffering away, but without pain and suffering, there is no motivation. Just as an alcoholic will not stop drinking until he feels enough pain and suffering from it, a public assistance addict will not stand on his own two feet until he has hit rock bottom. I know that at least in my town, there are a lot of these people.
So yeah, I know a lot of you won’t agree with me, but be assured, I have put thought into this until my head was more than spinning, and I had to get it out. Some will say I’m naive, others crazy, but before you assail me, take time to think it through.
