To tell you the truth, I hope I'm wrong. Due to pure stubbornness I'm sure that there are some who want this to fail miserably but I personally have no roosters in this cock fight. My ego will not be shattered if everything works out wonderfully. I would love it America becomes a healthier, more industrious nation without a single person sacrificing an iota of his or her freedom. Some people far more intelligent than myself, or at least far more politically connected than myself, seem to think so. Of course more intelligent people than myself bought into the idea that American soldiers "will be greeted as liberators" in Iraq and that Endangered Species Act would prevent species from going extinct but I digress. And regardless of whether it's the most economically, philosophically, and morally sound approach that the government could take I will always be optimistic about my ability and the ability of humans in general to overcome obstacles and make the most of a given situation. I'm not losing sleep because I think that human progress has come to a halt. This may be naive of me to say but I'd like to think that if it proves to be ineffective that maybe we can try a different approach in the future.
So if I feel so good about things, why am I even bothering to write a blog about this hugely divisive issue after the fact? Because now that we have an idea of what our political future is like we need to look at what our own personal futures will be like. This may be an unwelcome comment but I think some (which is a loaded term in and of itself) proponents of Democratic-led healthcare were, well, dicks. We know that a lot of Republicans were dicks with their whole death-panel/Obama-is-more-dangerous-than-Hitler rhetoric so that's been addressed. But no matter what your political ideology is you have to agree that any argument with integrity must be accompanied by culpability. First, some context.
See, I used to live with this guy who hated Blacks because he thought that they were shiftless, lazy criminals but he himself was cocaine dealer (I didn't know until a couple of months in) who only cared about Florida football. Obviously because his mind was muddled with white powder and white power I couldn't take anything this guy said seriously. I've made A LOT of mistakes in my life. I put myself through decades of obesity, failed to exercise, and ate literally tons of fast food. Then I became a pot head. You know who doesn't take their health seriously: a fat ass, Taco Bell eating pot head. Now I'm far from living a perfectly healthy lifestyle now but now I go to the gym regularly, actually eat fruits and vegetables, and completely gave up the use of illegal drugs and alcohol. That's now. Maybe in the future things could change again, but right now I try to place some importance on my health.
I put this in context because I'm aware that a person's health and his or her necessity for health care are intertwined. You can't change your genetics (yet) and you can't make everyone a cautious driver but there are some major things you can do to preserve your health. I chose to look in the mirror and ask myself what can I do to improve my health. You may imagine, then, that when I am presented with rhetoric to reform health care from a person I think that they way he or she takes care of his or herself is going to affect the calibers with which I use when evaluating his or her argument. Maybe that's not fair but I remember a Facebook posting from a person I know who was a smoker who drank heavily and used cocaine demanding her "free goddamn health care" I immediately de-friended the person. I had no respect for her argument and felt that she was probably not a person whose life and words would be personally edifying for me. Maybe I'm a dick too.
I completely disagreed with Obama's statement during his debates with McCain that we are all going to have to sacrifice for the sake of America's future. I think all of us already make sacrifices but they are voluntary; that's what makes it a sacrifice. When something's taken away from you without your consent or as a form of retribution when you've wrong someone that's not a sacrifice that's an act of oppression. But let's go along with this inane idea that perhaps we all need to make a sacrifice for America. If you believe in this health care package that is going to be signed into law by President Obama, I want you to step up to the plate too. Barack smokes and drinks so he can't make this call to action, but I can. If you think Pelosi, Reid, Obama, and that Floridian guy who said that Republicans want you to die are correct I want you to start by giving up cigarettes; especially hot chicks because smoking ages you and makes you less attractive. I also want you to stop drinking heavily. If you aren't able to drink less than, say, a twelve pack in a week you may need to seek professional help. This shit ain't easy, I know. Neither is earning over $200,000 a year but Congress is okay telling those people how their money should be used. Given the political reality we face right now I desperately want to be wrong. But when it comes to the idea that nobody is more responsible than you for the quality of your health I know I'm right.
