I've been trying to find an interesting way to convey the personal differences between my life here in Germany, a social market economy, and America, a capitalist economy. Germany is a social government, America is not.
I've had a toothache for about a week and I have to tell you, I am severely trained to be an American. A poor American. I've lived here in Germany for a long time, but my first impulse is to not go to the doctor. In my experience, doctors cost money that we never had, so, you tried to never go!
Now, my teeth are bad, I’ll admit that much. Mom wasn't a stickler about us boys brushing, she and dad both had full dentures and, well, the brushes were there, but we were never made to brush.
You can get away with that for quite awhile, at seventeen I went into the Army and they did the cursory stuff to make sure I could jump out of an aircraft or helicopter if I needed to, the dentists there told me I could still save my teeth if I began to brush and floss every day- but those bad habits I developed as a child took forever to get rid of and those years of only brushing irregularly took their toll. Stripping wire with my teeth so I could get commo to a cannon probably didn't help either. (Who carries pliers, I was a gun bunny, not commo!)
In 2014 in Ohio, a dentist did a thorough examination of my teeth and smiled at me- she said. “I can fix that, it will only cost about $25000.00. You’re insured, right? You work for XXXXX company- they have good insurance!” It was a very BIG smile.
And they did have good insurance, for America- after insurance my part would only be about 12000 dollars out of pocket expense and yeah, we could probably work out a payment plan.
Needless to say that’s a lot of money for a poor man. And yes, the damage is my fault, I should have done better, mea culpa!
I didn't have the twelve big ones I would need to get pretty, pain free teeth. Nor did it look like I ever would, so I said thank you, I’d call if I decided to do that and walked out of the door- putting that silly idea behind me.
The pain, have you ever had your whole mouth ache non stop for years? It gets to where you don’t smile, you try not to talk, you withdraw from the world because it looks so bad and when you open your mouth, you know it smells horrid. People start calling you taciturn and a loner.
To make a long story short, from Ohio I moved to Portland, Oregon and from there I moved back to Germany. My wife is German, so I have that as a possibility.
On landing here, I went to three doctors. I was scheduled for a look at my Diverticulitis, which I couldn't afford to have surgically removed in Portland- I was scheduled for a ct scan for my whole spine so they could see what was going on there and I went to a dentist.
That dentist saw me, took one look and gasped. “How the hell did THAT happen?” he asked. So I told him. “I’m an American.” He nodded and simply said, “Ah, I understand, you don’t have social insurance over there.” Now, I got really lucky, the dentist is a VERY capable doctor, he does the smiles for a lot of German celebrities. The man earns a LOT of money. He also gave me, a man with no money, his full attention, care and skill.
That is the social state and the social mentality. Here, yes, you are, to an extent, a profit unit, just as you are in America- but here you’re a human and patient first.
“Let’s get you to where you can feel good about yourself!” He told me and did a whole lot of work to make me be able to leave, that first day, and smile or chew at will- then he eventually gave me a full bridge up top. Today, after he fixed my little emergency, we discussed the coming full bridge on the bottom.
I have yet to pay a single Euro out of my pocket. Had I had more income, at some point, I would have paid more, but you have to make a lot of money before your dental care becomes expensive on the order of American expensive. If it ever reaches that high.
That is social. It is social because the human comes first. It is social because you are not alone, every one of your neighbors helps you out, just as you help them out without ever knowing them. I've had a German insurance company tell me point blank. “Mr. White, there is a dispute about who has to pay for your care- but that can’t be allowed to affect you, we’ll take care of your medical needs and worry about who has to pay us later.”
And that’s the difference. It’s a mindset. Those who tell you that America can’t go social because we can’t afford it are lying to you. They worry about the payment first. That is the American mindset. Money first then people.
My back problems started in the Army and I can’t forget the doctor who saw me when it was still a little problem. He sat there in the American hospital in Frankfurt and told me. “You need an M.R.I. but I’m not going to order one.” I asked him “Why not, sir? I’m a soldier, it’s paid for.” His answer rings in my mind to this day. “I’m about to get out of this circus and I’ll be going home to a private practice. I’m not going to get in the habit of prescribing procedures and medicines my patients can’t afford! Germans might be able to get away with that, but I wonder how long they can keep it up?” That was in 1988 or ’89- Germans are still keeping it up. As a matter of fact, their health care system ended 2012 with a two billion Euro surplus. And this year they dropped the premiums nationwide. What I wonder is how much pain have I lived through because of that missed MRI?
They are lying to us.
My orthopedic surgeon here, in Germany, is “ein halb und halb”, half and half. His mom was German his dad an American soldier. He got his medical education in both Germany and America. I asked him once, since he speaks English like a native and we’re friends “Artie, why don’t you go back home and open a practice? You’d get rich!” His answer was so awesome. “I don’t want to get rich, I make plenty of money here- all I’ll ever need, and here, I can help anyone who walks through my door!” that was important to him.
While I waited to see the dentist today, no appointment, so I had to wait a bit longer, I took the time to look at all the people coming into his practice and it hit me- none of them have ever had to face unending years of pain. They did not and will never have to face becoming an outcast because of medical problems that can be easily fixed- it only takes money.
Social, it isn't just about who pays, it is about where you put your values, on the human before you, or on the money you can get from that person.
I’ll be writing more because, social is an idea with as many arms as an octopus on steroids- I hope these little vignettes will help explain why I am an adamant socialist and want that for America- I want us to stop letting them lie to us!
So, today, I went to a dentist- and after that I sat here, smiling and pain free, to tell you about it and I hope it starts you thinking.
Happy Friday
Kell
This post is from Kell's World, if found and brought home there is a reward of many words!