Subsidizing Stupidity

Avert your eyes; I am about to rant.

Universal health care is one of those ideas that makes its supporters feel wonderfully egalitarian. Nice warm fuzzies all around. To be sure, it is perilous to be without health care in this country, and for those with genuine medical need, receiving competent medical care should not come only at the price of bankruptcy.

But health care is a responsibility, not a right. People who insist on treating it as a right instead of a responsibility are part of the reason why we have a broken health care system. I know some of these people, and the following rant is directed at one of them in particular.

I know you think otherwise, but guess what? You are not entitled to my tax dollars to pay for your emergency room visit if you...

1) think energy drinks, coffee, and doubleshot espressos are an adequate substitute for food, and

2) have previously had heart palpitations while on a diet heavy in the aforementioned liquids, and

3) are currently having heart palpitations while on a diet heavy in the aforementioned liquids.


You are entitled to...

1) modify your diet to exclude the offending beverages. (Ideally you would have done this the last time you had this problem. Or the time before that.)

2) lay down until your heart stops racing. (Breathe deeply while you're at it.)

3) pay for your own emergency room visit and extensive testing. (The end result? You have a sensitivity to caffeine. Shocking.)

You wouldn't presume to come to me and ask me for money for that emergency room visit. (Actually, knowing you, I take that back.) Yet somehow because my money was separated from me via the mysterious process called 'taxes', funnelled around by this thing called 'government' into something called 'state-sponsored health insurance for the uninsured', you feel entitled to run to the doctor at the drop of a hat.

Thankfully, I have private health insurance at the moment, though there were several years when I went without insurance altogether. As a participant in private health care, I realize that the number of doctor visits I clock in a year is reflected in the premiums that everyone who participates in my plan pays. Unfair though it may be, we all pay for the poor health choices of those with whom we share insurance. Sadly, this seems not to elicit a spirit of cooperation that would collectively lower our premiums, but rather a 'I'm gettin' mine' attitude. And now I have to watch this attitude suck up tax dollars.

I have watched you and yours run to urgent care centers simply because they are there and you could. My tax dollars paid for it. In most cases it was not medically necessary that the condition be treated immediately, rather than waiting for a regular doctor's appointment. If you had had to pay for the visit, you would have 1) known the difference in cost between an urgent care visit and a regular office visit, and 2) exercised some basic common sense before seeking medical treatment. But because insurance is paying for it (and possibly compounded by the fact that you are not paying for the insurance), all considerations of cost go out the window.

Our health care system is broken in part because we are not responsible medical consumers. We live much less healthy lives compared to the people in other countries where universal health care is provided, despite adequate education on health and nutrition. Sickness is something we flaunt to one another, perhaps because it gives permission for sympathy to be extended to us. An office visit with a doctor is no longer the option of last resort for many common ailments, but rather a 'necessary' validation of common sense. Of all the reasons I hear for the high cost of health care, the one thing I never hear discussed is excessive and unnecessary use of the system. Perhaps this isn't a large factor in the price of health care, but it's a damn annoying one to have to witness.

Health care is a responsibility that starts with the individual, not the doctor. As such, it is irresponsible to expect others to absorb the cost of your poor health choices. Here's an idea - If 9 out of 10 doctors would agree that your predicament/visit was 1) unnecessary, and/or 2) the result of blatant stupidity on your part, you shouldn't expect health insurance - private or public - to pay for it.

Hello Election Official

"Hundreds of thousands of Americans, working at polling places across the country, make elections happen. Theirs is not merely noble work. It is the essential work of democracy." - editorial in local paper

Okay, I'm preening just a little bit.

I got my official letter today for my assignment as a poll worker in the upcoming election. My curiosity has gotten the better of me yet again. For some dubious reason, Our Fair State has been targeted by "partisan operators... who seek to create confusion at polling places." The details of the shady tactic being employed at this late hour aren't completely clear to me, but experts agree that this action will create "unnecessary hardship and confusion at the polls, and at worst, the disenfranchisement of [Our Fair State] citizens with a clear and legitimate right to vote." Voting can be quite a time-consuming process as it is, especially when voter turnout is expected to exceed 90% in a national election. What justifies making this process harder for the average voter?

In addition to being curious, I'm also a bit irked. The more I look into this, the more it smacks of a politically-motivated, partisan action by an elected official who is supposed to serve the citizens of Our Fair State. You'll excuse me if I find it hard to believe that "the stakes are enormously high", as alleged by Our Elected Official. I likewise find it hard to believe that "properly qualified voters are at risk of having their votes diminished and diluted by the votes of unqualified, ineligible voters". One presumes that Our Elected Official would back up such an allegation with evidence of the possibility of such a 'dilution'. Surely there should be evidence that such a heinous thing might actually occur if one is planning to unleash chaos at the polls. The only cited statistic in the original petition is an alleged approximation of a 22% discrepancy rate that will be found in voter registration applications. Of those discrepancies, there is no mention of what percentage would indicate an ineligible voter who actually turns up and votes thereby diluting the votes of 'properly qualified voters'. No one reasonably suspects that this is a high percentage. Oh, and did I mention that Our Elected Official was/is a "co-chairman of Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s [Our Fair State] campaign." Do you hear a voice in your head screaming 'conflict of interest'? (Yeah, I'm probably not completely 'politically neutral' right about now, but this is about messing with the democratic process.)

I agree with my compatriots that the "ultimate protection for democracy comes... from the people, who the founders of this revolutionary republic entrusted to zealously defend the electoral processes... And the single best way to mount that defense is to become a poll worker." Where else would you want to be, if not the front lines?

We'll see if my zeal can make it through a 16+ hour day as a poll worker.

Why I Am a Humanist

"A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men."

First of all, may I suggest that you take a moment to read this. (Go on, I'll wait.)

I've never been much of a joiner, but I do tend to gravitate towards ideas that I find to have merit. And I find the idea that we must examine ourselves critically if we are to have any real happiness or understanding of the universe and its meaning to be fairly sound.

That may not quite be the heart of traditional humanist doctrine, but if prompted to expound upon that statement, I would add this...

We are not perfect creatures whose minds are incapable of error or mistake. We are all capable of being led astray in our thinking, even the best among us. If there is any advantage to be gained from knowing absolute truths, then we must identify the obstacles that our minds place between us and this knowledge. To this end, it is worth studying ourselves, how we form our values and beliefs, and what drives our actions. In achieving such an understanding of self, we are also better able to understand others. If there is an 'article of faith' to be found in my reasoning, it is in my belief in the power of mutual understanding to facilitate positive change.

I'm not a humanist because I strongly prioritize human life relative to anything else. I'm not a humanist because I have a militant need to reject supernaturalism. I'm a humanist because I believe in the power of the mind to free itself from bias and gain a more accurate picture of the reality in which we live. I'm a humanist because I believe that, alone, I am fallible, but that the wisdom of others may correct my errors. I'm a humanist because I believe that a better understanding of human nature enables empathy and tolerance, and that is a goal worth embracing. I'm a humanist because I believe that we are our only hope for better world.

That's why I am a humanist.