Health Care

I'm so tired of this debate.

What has shocked me the most is everyone's selfishness. No one cares if their neighbor dies without health care as long as they can keep the coverage they have. The elderly don't give a damn if children have access to health care, they just want to keep their medicare. The illegal alien down the street isn't like me and wasn't born here so they don't deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But, I guess selfishness is at the heart of capitalism, so it shouldn't be so surprising. We need to take a step back and look at what's best for the most people in our communities, the most amount of the time. But we can't do that, right? It would be too socialist.

One would think, in this time of high unemployment, we would be cognisant of the fact that we might be a day away from being in the same uninsured boat. One severe medical issue, which could happen to anyone at anytime, could spell bankrupcy. It happens every day. Why are we okay with this?

sigh

Comments

[Fuzzy]

I was reading an article the other day about how the far right actually considers it immoral to empathize with others, behave charitably, etc. Their world works best if everyone focuses entirely on themselves, and they feel those that don't are actually a threat to the system. I'm not sure what philosophical framework we can use to deal with such people. I mean, what would an enlightened buddhist do? Simply identify and ignore, or attempt to engage? Can there be a middle ground there?