Health Care Argument! And An Old Consideration

 

Well, the current SCOTUS ruling has renewed the national discussion on the Health Care law.  Which is really depressing, because it seems none of the advocates learned anything and millions of people’s shallow thoughts are once again displayed. 

For instance, Facebook brings me this…….

Now, I’ve no idea if this is true or not.  I’ve certainly heard and read some horror stories, but I never investigated.  Canada is often brought up when the health care discussion ensues.  Which, I hold as vapid.  What may or may not work for them, may or may not work for us.  But, that isn’t the point of my post.  This graphic simply started a conversation.  So, we get this response to it…….

I was vacationing in Canada over 15 years ago over Thanksgiving. I was pregnant and having a miscarriage. Went to the ER close to the resort, lo and behold they admitted me, did diagnostics, lots of blood work and ultrasounds, and my entire bill was $22 US dollars for an overnight stay. Granted, I wasn’t there for some rare disease that isn’t covered by their system, but seems to me a system should support the most, without the burden of having to help the least among the illnesses. It made an almost unbearable situation a helluva lot less painful.

Now, this was wonderful that our Canadian friends helped out our friend here.  But, you see what she did?  How she came to regard the Canadian system?  They took care of her and it only cost her $22 dollars!  Why can’t the U.S. have a system that only costs $22 dollars for such excellent care?  She doesn’t see the true cost, she doesn’t care about the true cost, and she won’t regard the true cost.  It only cost her $22.  To hell with what it cost someone else. 

But, there’s a much higher cost.  One that we can’t put a price on.  In my view, the monetary cost is irrelevant to the discussion.  I had an occasion, yesterday, to speak to a state Senator.  His district lines have been redrawn, so now he’s campaigning in my area.  I wish Mr. King success.  We spoke of the state accepting federal monies, and their mandates which accompany the federal largess.  (This is actually very relevant to the SCOTUS decision!)  I told him that when the states accept the money (and the accompanying mandates) that this is an acquiescence of the state’s sovereignty and an assault on individual liberties.  These mandates effect the way we conduct our every day ways of living.  (He agreed.)   

 

The ballroom was filled with fashion’s throng,
It shone with a thousand lights,
And there was a woman who passed along,
The fairest of all the sights,
A girl to her lover then softly sighed,
There’s riches at her command;
But she married for wealth, not for love he cried,
Though she lives in a mansion grand.

These are the velvet shackles which much of the populous willingly accepts.  They’ve rejected the animated contest of freedom in exchange for a little security.  I can respect their decision if not understand it.  But, what I find irreconcilable is that they would deem it suitable and appropriate to make this decision for me.  This is a rejection of the legacy bequeathed to us through work, tears, fortune and blood.  They have placed the interests of the collective over the interests of the individual.  I’m heartbroken that so many of my countrymen would so glibly relish such a decision.  Nor, do they have an interest in determining what they’ve given up for such an application of law, or what they’ve forced me to give up.  Has the concepts of liberty become so distorted that the individual is no longer regarded? 

My mind can’t help but conjure the images of the of the multitudes who have gone to the judgment seat of  God in defense of the liberties we once extolled as the true cause of this nation and her peoples.  That these ideas were once so jealously guarded upon even pain of death now seems obscure and faint. 

My mind also can’t help but conjure the images of the struggles of people around the world who would also pursue these ideas.  One word would come to be synonymous with the ideas of liberty, hope, justice and the prosperity which flowed from these ideas .  That one word, could sometimes only be thought and not uttered, sometimes only whispered, sometimes loudly and proudly proclaimed as an ultimate goal was America. 

Now, our highest court has moderated its pursuit of justice and the cause of liberty is considered extremism.   In the truest of Orwellian fashion, today, with the representation of congress, the execution by the president, and with the approval of our courts, the federal government can now compel the entire citizenry to engage in any action it wishes, as long as they attach a punitive tax to it.  How bitterly ironic is it that the words “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” comes from the Book of Law.  The bells of freedom are ringing the alarm!  Are there no patriots to answer the call?  Have the forces for tyranny finally won?  The road to the peaceful exercise of liberty will be a long and arduous journey and this recent event will make it so much more difficult.  But, the exercise of liberty is paramount.  I am ashamed that that the very bodies empowered by the people would allow such a bastardization of our government and insult the highest treasure ever given to a group of people, freedom.  

God help us all.

James

About the picture.  It was painted by Evelyn De Morgan.  It is called The Gilded Cage.  The meaning I glean from it……There are two women in it.  One on the inside in what would be a luxurious home with carpets and draperies.  The other on the outside(or on a mural?) dancing with her child held close, with many people reveling in the gaiety liberty provides.  The woman on the inside yearns for such freedom, but she cannot have it for she’s married to the unhappy master of the house who doesn’t allow for such activities.  There are two birds in the painting.  One on the inside where its every needs are provided, in a cage.  The other, a large bird, (an eagle?) soars high about the crowd outside, with the winds beneath his wings elevating him to heights never to be seen by the bird in the cage.

The poetry below the painting is part of the song composed by Arthur J. Lamb (lyrics) and Harry Von Tilzer (music), “A Bird in a Gilded Cage“