Over Simplification
Don't be a victim of over simplification of a problem. It seems to be a growing trend, particularly in politics, work hard to keep out of the gutter that is taking a complex problem and making it seem like a simple fix. There rarely is a silver bullet. Don't let people 'dumb it down' for you, we are smarter than that.
Case in point: Health Care. I won't sit here and argue with you that healthcare in this country is not a complex diagram of processes and red tape that could make your head explode. Healthcare that we have today, and the processes we experience in our care are no doubt directly tied to the payer (health insurance) system we have today. It is mind boggling what goes on to get care paid for, and the system we operate within in the United States is antiquated and the way we care for people must shift to be more proactive. But don't go slopping your frustrations of how well the American person cares for themselves on healthcare and health insurance. There's a much deeper issue there, one that revolves around lifestyle choices and socio economics - one that unless you really want to talk about it and dig deep - you best just step away from the fire. Because we all own a little of that problem - and most of us don't want to pay to fix it. That would require self control and self awareness, two areas not many of us claim to be perfecting.
We want people to be more accountable for their choices, we want American's to engage in their well being and avoid getting so seriously sick that it costs a truck load of money to 'fix' them. We want access to affordable care for all, so that no one has to worry about whether they can go to the doctor for a check up or feed their family next month. Those are all reasonable wants, things I want too. But don't confuse those wants with an over simplified plan that says the government holds the answer. And certainly don't think that the wants come for free, because we all know, nothing in this world is free. But beware of the people that tell you the government is the silver bullet, because try as I may, I cannot find where government ran anything fixes a problem.
Do not misconstrue my last comment. Government plays a vital role in society. It sets policies and regulations. It's the gutter bumpers in a game of bowling, guiding us to use down the lane. But government is not there to run businesses. It's a bad idea, it cripples processes and inhibits growth and stifles innovation. So when someone tells you that the government can run healthcare better, than they can give everyone great coverage - you need to smell the rat. They can give you care, but I promise you it will not be the care you have come to know. And so you say, maybe you don't like the care you have now. We live in a country that has one of the most robust trauma models in the world - you have a horrible accident - there's a system in place that effectively responds to your need and the innovation in medicine to save your life. You have a preemie baby - US health care has medical innovation to save babies that are born too early. Go live in another country, see how it works for you when you are in dire need. We can get into ethical conversations - about whether we should be intervening when a trauma occurs or whether we should be so medically involved in births - but all the innovations we sometimes take for granted in this country cost dollars. Just remember that, and be careful how you judge what is ethically appropriate in medical care, until you've been a momma scared to death that you might lose your baby at 32 weeks.
We don't need to look to another country for the issues that government ran health care presents. It's right under our noses, in the form of the VA health system model and Indian Health Services. I can speak to my personal experience with the VA. If you are ready to head into your clinic for your annual physical, at 7:30 am, and sit in the waiting room, likely for 2-3 hours, watching a screen so you can stand up and move forward when your name pops up - by all means, let's get on this government health care for all model. Just don't let the your name drop off the screen before you get to the front, otherwise you get a full day of waiting room hell.
I know that sounds like something I want. Sign me up.