Here's to Our Health

I thought I'd write here about (what I believe is) the biggest issue of the 2008 elections: national health care. It is outrageous to me that the US spends far more per capita on health care than any other developed nation, all of whom have universal health care, and yet we do not provide basic care (let alone preventative care) to millions of our citizens.

It's a simple matter of principle: our health should not be contingent on companies making a buck. The capitalist system (which happens to be Giuliani's "solution") does not work for this industry, just as we know it doesn't work for fire and police services. (See all the candidates' positions here.) On a personal note, I've been extra wrangled about this issue since Barbara and I have been dropping a good deal of money on IUI here in Berkeley.

There are thousands of horror stories about our broken system, but I'll just point out one interesting fact (from this study): it seems that although Americans were the "tallest in the world between colonial times and the middle of the 20th century," we have now "become shorter (and fatter) than Western and Northern Europeans. In fact, the U.S. population is currently at the bottom end of the height distribution in advanced industrial countries." The significance is that "height is indicative of how well the human organism thrives in its socioeconomic environment." Looking for why, the authors suspect the poor "health-care system, as well as the relatively weak welfare safety net." Like it or not, we now have to look up to the Europeans.

So what is the obstacle to change? A fantastically wealthy industry (especially Big Pharma) spreading fear of universal coverage.

I happen to have a copy of Michael Moore's new documentary, Sicko, and will mail a DVD out to Paulson headquarters in Amery. Although the film is a bit propagandistic (not as bad as Fahrenheit 9-11), I think it pushes the right buttons. I hope you see it and share it and get people thinking about the issue. If anyone else reading this would like a copy, drop me an email and I'll send you a DVD in the mail. Here's a little gem I pulled from the film: a 50 second audio clip of a famous actor warning of the dire consequences of government controlled medicine.

The economist (and NY Times columnist) Paul Krugman concludes that "this is a test. The only things standing in the way of universal health care are the fear-mongering and influence-buying of interest groups. If we can’t overcome those forces here, there’s not much hope for America’s future."