America is the greatest country in the world. I grew up hearing that and I used to believe it. I still hear people saying it.
Is it true? What did people mean when they made that claim? What does it mean now? Are people now just saying it out of habit? What criteria are they using? Perhaps we need to look in the mirror.
We aren’t the richest country in the world. We don’t have the longest life expectancy. We rank way down the list on satisfaction with our lives. We have the highest crime rate in the world. One of every four prisoners in the world is one of us.
We spend half of all the military funding in the world. Is this what they mean when they call us the greatest? I think not.
Our politicians collect more bribes than those of any other country. Is this what they mean when they call us the greatest? I hope not.
America isn’t so much a place with amber grain waving between shining seas. It is essentially an idea, an experiment. Can the people govern themselves? Do we need a monarch or a dictator to make those decisions for us? That is the idea. That is the experiment.
Many people actually think us incapable of making decisions for ourselves. They may be right, or not. The funny thing is, those that believe it just happen to think that they are the only ones qualified and suited to impose those decisions on us.
Who are these exemplars of omniscience? Who are these people worthy to replace democracy? There are two groups of such exalted beings that bless us with their very presence. One group, ironically, acquired their lofty stations via the democratic process they hold in such low esteem. The others are the economic elite, known historically as plutocrats.
These two groups, composing government and corporations, work as a team. The problem is that we make up the other side. There are two political parties: the corporatists and the populists. One side holds the interest of corporations supreme. The other considers actual human beings of greater importance.
There are two quotes that I feel appropriate. The first I commend to you comes from Benito Mussolini, “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” Those corrupting our country should take note of the other, by Charles de Gaulle, “The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.”
We came to expect W, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bolton, Wolfowitz, and the others of that ilk to repair to their authoritarian bent, whether they felt challenged or not. They were essentially sociopaths. We hoped those eight years were an aberration. We sat back and waited.
We found someone who promised change. Were those sincere promises that became sullied in the rough and tumble of political combat? Or, were those promises no more than a marketing ploy to attract those who were desperate for a government that valued the people.
Obama is being assaulted by the “birthers,” people who make their own reality. He is being compared to Hitler, by people who have no understanding or appreciation of what Hitler represented. He is called a socialist, by people who couldn’t find the word in a dictionary. From Newt Gingrich to the droolers who think he cares about them we hear claims of government plans for euthanasia.
UnAmerican crowds are denying others the right to express themselves, as democracy requires. They threaten bodily harm to anyone with the temerity to hold a different position. Those are the tactics employed by the Brown Shirts back in the 1930s. Rational discourse is disappearing from the American body politic.
The President is doing his fair share of damage to this American idea. He campaigned on the accurate claim that the government and people are being ripped off by al-PhARMA. He proclaimed that banning Medicare from negotiating drug prices had to change. He promised that all negotiations with the health industry would be covered by C-SPAN. Boy, that sounded great. It was just what was needed to restore some confidence in our government.
C-SPAN is ready. The people are waiting. Stand down. There has been no coverage by C-SPAN. The ban on negotiation has been ratified by fiat from the Oval Office. So much for change. Hope felt nice, while it lasted.
If, as Obama and most everyone else agrees, healthcare reform is the most important issue, what are we to do now that it is official there will be no real reform? The White House staff is putting together a marketing campaign to support their empty claim that they have achieved reform. Marketing is hardly an adequate substitute for democracy.
We will be told again that we have the greatest healthcare system in the world. The 47 million uninsured has grown to 52 million. The last study from the World Health Organization listed us as 37th. Before you gloat too much at that wonderful ranking, you should know that report came out in the year 2000. Before that, the U.S. was falling. It is only natural to assume that the decline wasn’t reversed. Why has there been no updated report? The WHO says that correlating those eight factors is just too complex. My personal opinion is that the U.S. exerted some influence to avoid further embarrassment.
While the cheerleaders shout about our healthcare system being the best in the world, the cost rises. The number without healthcare rises. And The Changer promises the the greediest group in the system a bigger piece of pie. Meanwhile, polls in every country with national healthcare systems shows overwhelming support for their systems. Not a single one of those countries has any interest in adopting our “Greatest Healthcare System in the World.”
{ 14 comments }
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I liked it. So much useful material. I read with great interest.
Crawford,
Your representative did respond. You posted his letter here. You just didn’t like his response. I know you have had to contend with PhARMA, more so than many of us. I know you have spent a lot of time abroad, although I don’t know why you mention that, unless you have seen a better country in which to live. If so, you didn’t mention it when I asked where else you would rather live.
The specifics are simple, really. The obvious is that you and we can criticize our government on this blog without fear of recriminations. We can go to various and sundrie stores and whatever we want will be on the shelves, whether we can afford to buy not withstanding. We can go to those stores and malls with no realistic fear that we will be blown to smithereens by those who disagree with us. Most countries’ elite live in worse conditions than are poor. The biggest health threat to our poor is obesity.
Edit it to sound like I went to Notre Dame, huh? Sorry, I went to Tennessee, so that means you’ll have to write it for me!
The edit function is not working corrctly. I tried to fix the sentence, “Most countries’ elite live in worse conditions than are poor.” It should have been “Most countries’ elite live in worse conditions than our poor.”
Bart failed to respond to my question and to my challenge. He just sent a form letter on an entirely different subject.
I have lived in and visited several countries. Several have policies, situations and human resources that are admirable. Whether the US is the greatest is one question. Whether it could be improved upon and whether others have things we could adopt or emulate is another. I lived in Canada years ago. I didn’t feel repressed. I spent time in Scotland. I didn’t experience fear. Australia and New Zealand were quite nice. The Scandinavian countries might have been more attractive to me had I spoken the language. They were impressive, however.
I didn’t mean just going to ball games.
Dear Ed,
I am very proud to live in America, sure. But it sure is getting tiring after working 40 – 48 hours a week since 1991 without insurance. I am a diligent worker and rarely miss a day. It’s plain and simple: I cannot afford to get sick.
So, yes, America is great. But it is really trailing in keeping it’s resident’s healthy and alive. I vote we change something. I’m only 52 and would like to stay around a little longer. But the old body is starting to fall apart. I take lots of tylenol. Generic brand.
Not knocking anyone here, but I’d like to have a little hope….
At 52 you’re still a Spring chicken. You’re barely old enough to take across state lines.
Yes, the lack of healthcare is a problem but there are other problems. More seem to come to the fore with great regularity but none seem to be addressed. It’s a case of becoming progressively more burdened as we grow older and less able to cope.
Cheryl,
No offense intended, but if you have worked for 18 years in a job without insurance, you may want to consider the notion of getting a different job.
Which country would you rather live in?
The America I used to know. The America that kept trying to improve. The America that strove to fulfill the promise that is implicit in its Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. The America they taught us about in Civics class.
That America may have been only a dream but it was a beautiful dream.
Well, the closest you can come to that is still right here.
My Representative refuses to respond. I’ve actually had to contend with PhARMA. I’ve spent a lot of time abroad. I’m still living with broken promises. It has become a real question with me.
Indulge me, Ed. Make the case. Give me specifics. If you need it, I will give you an entire post. I’ll even edit it to look like you were graduated from a good college, something like Notre Dame.
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