I was having lunch today with a nameless friend, discussing obviously politics and religion — like ya do, but are always told not to amongst friends..
I offered in my train of thought, altruistically (so I thought) that if worst came to worst with the US economy, this area’s economy collapsed like other parts of the country, and I could sacrifice my financial status and my belongings as long as I knew that we, as a idyllic nation would survive intact, I would be perfectly ok with that.
To my amazement, this drew literal gasps (in shock and horror I imagined) and comments about how I was “a socialist” and support “the redistribution of wealth”…
I didn’t see it at the time, and to a large extent, I still don’t really. All I meant was that I don’t believe either candidate will be able to save the economy. One will follow established the failed patterns and policies that got us here, the other of untested quality under the pressures of a failing economy, two unnecessary wars, etc.. Unfortunately neither party offered up a better candidate, so… They’re “what we got”.
So, what DO I believe that got me here?
I believe that government needs to stay the hell out of our pockets (as individuals. I do not feel the same view for rich corporations). I feel that people are wholly responsible for their own status in life, good or bad, However, at the same time, I believe that the government has a great responsibility to work for the public well being, instead of for itself, or lobbyists which is the way it is now.
I believe every human being has the right to quality affordable (if not free) health care but the system here is so broken down and corrupt that honest hard-working people in America are having to pass up on even basic health care because it costs more per month than they make in a week (if not two).
Trust me. While I’ve been blessed enough (not a religious statement, a confirmation of my luck in life so far) to have good jobs and a steady income, I worked for it, only to have my basic Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy (which didn’t pay for anything except really major medical) go from $165 to almost $300 per month over the course of two years.
I see doctors charging $3600 for what amounts to an IV full of painkillers, a couple of X-rays and some rental time in a bed (which happened to me with a kidney stone). All while the same doctors complain about the system and having to hire 5x the size of their necessary staff JUST to handle the paperwork from the outrageous claims. Claims they’re forced to inflate because the insurance companies refuse to pay for anything realistic.
If, for example, said doctors charged the insurance company $600 for said services, they would have probably received $60 with a warning that they should “charge appropriately”.
While I believe that we, as human beings are responsible for our own destiny and the government should stop interfering, I also believe that it’s time for a “reboot” if you will, to fix all the problems which caused what will end up being trillions of “bailout” debt.
While I’m sure there are those of you here who will gladly argue the point against, and I don’t want the government in my pocket any more than you do, I just think that we — as a nation — pretty much earned where we are today, and everyone is going to have to compromise to some extent to get out of it.
Just a few of my wacky socialist ideas…:
- Stop spending 10 billion a month in a war no one wants, ever wanted, or even cares about except for the wasted money. That money alone could pay for the ever-unpopular “universal health care” (of which I’m not necessarily a fan, I’m just making a point here).
- Don’t give Alaska another dime until it coughs up the money it stole for “the bridge to nowhere”. In fact, do a big ass audit for all states that have wasted money fudging in rider bills to grant tax exemptions to “laminated arrow makers” (see the aforementioned “bailout bill” as it was passed).
- As a matter of fact, stop putting billions of dollars into pork barrel spending and put that money into providing a realistic education to our children. For all you stingy “me” generationalists, “children are our future” and right now, the future doesn’t look too damned bright (socially, or intelligence-wise).
- Invest in the fricking future, which includes getting away from oil dependency and if that includes building solar, wind-powered, and nuclear power plants all over the damned country, so be it. Hell, dig out the big tree in my back yard and put up a wind turbine if it could get me out of paying my utility bill.
– (ancillary note to the trophy Veep candidate Sarah “ya betcha” Palin, it’s not “new-kya-lar”)
- Let the people who bought $500,000 houses on 50k incomes take their lumps and if that means they gotta get evicted then rent somewhere, then so be it. Lesson learned as far as I’m concerned and I have zero pity for them.
Between said idiots and the corrupt market, it’s their dumb asses that got us here in the first place. When I bought my house, it was specifically below what I could afford, because — let’s face it — I like having the ability to eat out and go see movies. Now with the economy the way it is, I may need to do a little less of each, but hey, maybe I can keep the house. Novel fricking concept.
All I want to know is, when did the ideal of a government “for the people” get phased out for “for big business and the rich corporations who are supposed to trickle down their wealth but instead go on 400k junkets the day after receiving their bailout from the government?”
Do these thoughts of social responsibility make me some sort of evil bastard? That’s kinda the way I’m feeling right now, and that’s not cool.
