So - one of my lovely relatives, and oh how I do love them - has just sent me a sweet email full of updates and marvelous family news... and, this:
Are you still charmed with Obama's policies? Do you like the idea of living in a socialistic country. He and Nancy Pelosi scare me to death. What do you think about their proposed health care plan? I probably will have to opt out because they won't cover anything for me anyway. I'm getting too old. The democrats have put you and future generations in jeopardy. You were afraid when Bush was in office. I don't think you've seen anything,yet!! It sounds to me like we're going the Russian route. That's what happens when you share the wealth! Come back to Michigan and I'll share with you. It doesn't sound like I'll have much to share for very long anyway. Economy in Michigan is getting worse. They just announced on the local news that the Michigan educatuion plan is defunct. Thank you Gov. Grandholm(D). We invested money for _ when he was two. he has to go to college in MI but he should have had enough money by the time he graduates from high schoolto pay all of his fees. He is about 10 now....
Aww. Such a sweet, sweet aunt. Such misguided tripe. So I had to respond:
....I’m sorry to hear about the education fund. If you want, I’ll see what can be done to retrieve your money and put it in another fund.
However, I doubt it has much to do with your governor, unless she’s been in office for the past 30 years. It probably has a lot more to do with the fact that Michigan ranks as the highest unemployment state in the nation, and has been going economically downhill for a long time. You are living the republican dream – small government. And surely, the government has no business meddling in education... right?
Of course, I’m just kidding, but you can’t have it both ways. These services are created for the purpose of carrying out society’s will that they be available to the public. That is the correct and appropriate use of government. Government is not a dirty word, and it, in itself, should not be demonized. It is the way civilized societies organize. If government does not exist, that is what has always been referred to as anarchy. "Drowning government in a bathtub" is a wish of any global corporatist... so they don’t have to adhere to safety, environmental, or ethical standards. However, that notion is not a favorable outcome for humanity.
With regard to socialism: socialism is defined as the state ownership of all business, and ultimate control of resources and compensation. We aren’t even close to that here, nor are we moving anywhere near it. Also, Russia operated under an oligarchy and bannered it as Communism – quite different than socialism, and both quite different than the US, which operates under a representative democracy with a capitalist economic system. If you and I are going to have a conversation on the issues of the day, we will need to move away from the fact-free fearmongering and deal with specifics.
HEALTH CARE INSURANCE – while it may be a cool business for a few people to get wealthy by, isn’t exactly ALL business, and it’s a business that is killing people in our country directly due to the fact that they profit more from denying the health care people need, than if they paid out the claim as they promise. Click on this to see just one example of many, many stories, with some stats.
This is from 2006, before the full-scale politicization began. The author is a Nobel Prize winning economist. And before you dismiss him, the paper, and the Nobel prize system as being a "left-wing conspiracy" that’s hellbent on brainwashing you, perhaps you will first consider the real state of health care for millions who don’t have the luxury you have – which is, being over 65 with "socialist" health care, that doesn’t deny the real medical procedures you require. Why not? Because unlike private insurance companies, the government is not in the business or profiting from denying you coverage. Their objective is to provide the service to those who need it, and break even. As a result, Medicare’s administrative expenses for health care was 5.2% in 2003; it was 16.7% of private insurance, and for individuals, it was 30.0%. If the private market "always" does things better than government (which is a ridiculous notion anyway), what is the explanation here? Link:
http://www.cahi.org/...
Moreover, the demand for a public option (I am one of the demanders) is to COMPETE with, not replace, private insurance. This competition is as American as apple pie. The move to a public option to compete with private insurance does nothing to promote socialism, and it will change absolutely nothing to your personal health care plan. At all. And anyone who tells you any differently – whether intentionally or unintentionally - is lying to you.
Of course, I will probably not send this... but I want to. Instead, I will send it out into the Internet ether.
I won't be around too much to comment until later, but thanks for stopping by.