(Cross-Posted at Silence Isn't Golden)
This has nothing to do with any candidates running for President. My apologies in advance.
Earlier today, R. Neal at KnoxViews (a Knoxville blog obviously) posted a sad anecdote about how his wife went to the drug store and witnessed a woman being forced to decide which of her six prescriptions to fill, because she could not afford all of them. It's the kind of story you hear all too often these days, and all you can do is shake your head and look forward to next year, when we have a Democratic president in the White House and we see some real work being done on reforming our health care system in this country.
Then Volunteer Voters (an all-Tennessee blog) reposted the story, and the wingnuts attacked.
Here’s who you have to depend on: yourself, your family, your church, and charity. In that order. The government isn’t going to help without making something else even worse. Life isn’t fair. Sorry. Get used to it.
I don’t understand why people feel they are entitled to buy things they can’t afford. There are lots of thing I can’t buy, because I haven’t earned enough money to buy them. That’s life. Wear a helmet.
If this lady truly needs six different prescriptions in order to continue living, she needs to prioritize her spending and budget accordingly. Prescription drugs aren’t cheap and there’s many people who have to sacrifice in order to afford them.
And my personal favorite:
You do realize, don’t you, that your first experiment in socialized medicine (Medicare) is the sole cause of our health care crisis?
Instead of leaving me angry, it just leaves me with a profound sadness. The story was immoral. The reaction to it was inhuman.
We don't know anything about this woman, or her circumstances. But a liberal looks at the situation, sees that there is someone who can't afford her medications even if she may have insurance, and we see a huge problem with that. We don't understand why, in the wealthiest nation in the world, we can't do SOMETHING to make medicine more affordable. We further believe that it should be a right, not a privilege, to receive the treatment you need to stay alive.
You might say that liberals are, in this regard, pro-life.
On the other hand, a conservative sees it, and immediately assumes the worst. If you can't afford your medications, then you are just getting what you deserve for being lazy and not saving your money properly. You should have anticipated getting sick (or being in a car accident or needing a liver transplant), and if you didn't have that kind of clairvoyance, then you shouldn't rely on society to help you. You should rely on your family, your church, or charities to do so. Never mind that your family may not be able to afford it either, or that aid from churches and charities can only go so far.
But of course, the conservatives arguing this ALWAYS have that kind of foresight, you see, they've saved up their money and are prepared to shoulder the burden. The fact that insurance companies can deny their claims or their medications for basically whatever reason they see fit doesn't add into the equation. Because remember, they're good hard-working Americans, and by God, bad things don't happen to good people!
It brings me back to the question I pondered after the death of Nataline Sarkisyan--what would have happened to Terri Schiavo had the whole family agreed to keep her alive, but couldn't afford the life support? Would the conservatives have been as quick to jump in and help out, or would they have told the family to stop mooching off of the taxpayers? Is the "culture of life" truly just for those who can afford it?
To me, this notion is devoid of any trace of humanity whatsoever. I come from a family of doctors (even though I'm the pre-law black sheep), and I don't believe that profit is more important than human life. I do believe that bad things can happen to good people, and all the foresight in the world won't save you. I believe that yes, it is my problem when someone in the wealthiest nation in the world can't afford their medications. I believe in the idea that I am my brother's (and sister's) keeper, whether I want to be or not.
And that is why I will always be a Democrat.