Don't be hurt...
I saw someone on TV saying that people who are against universal health care are being hurtful. Let's just say I took that personally. It hurt my feelings. Of course, I know that no one on here is hurt by my views. We've had some ripe barneys (fights in British talk) on here, but we all walk away friends. We can disagree and be friends. So, once
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And it feels like, my life is on the line and people want to complain that maybe then they could only afford one car instead of two. Is a car worth more than my life?
You want to talk about struggling... my boyfriend and I share a bug-infested apartment where the ceiling has collapsed several times. All the major things I own-computer, car, Chris' TV, even mismatched kitchenware.... they were all gifts. Nothing I could have bought on my own. We don't even have a real bed.
And I'm doing MUCH better than several of my friends. Once in a while I'm able to save up to buy a book or go to a concert. I have friends and coworkers who ration food for themselves because even being on food stamps is not enough to supplement their income. And it's not like they aren't working, they hold full-time jobs.
We are hardworkers with college degrees (and with that comes DEBT) but the job market is awful for recent grads, especially those without cars, and people rejoining the workforce after pregnancies.
I would far rather wait on a health merit basis than wait because I can't afford it. Why should only people with money get treatment? I don't matter because I haven't been lucky enough to find a well-paying job?
My friend lives in Boston where there's state-wide health care. Because of that, she was able to go in for some stomach issues that turned out to be cancer. They could have taken her in for surgery the next day (she waited because she wanted to have some 'last meals').
It's $200 just to get an uninsured appointment here, let alone treatment.... The free clinics think I make too much money. So I put it off. And put it off. Meanwhile, I could have cancer destroying me inside and I wouldn't know until it got to the point of being debilitating. Preventive care avoids huge costs down the line of treating something that is out of control.
Even after the initial appointment to find out what's wrong, I would have no way to pay for treatment. And then I get saddled with a pre-existing condition and can't get insurance even if I could magically afford to. And IF doctors would take me uninsured for the condition, I would go into debt.... if I had a house, they would repossess it but I don't have much they could take away besides my car and then how can I get to work so I can pay them back?
So you know, for me to think someone might have to "suffer" with having only one car instead of two or a smaller house....that's nothing compared to what I have to face without health care.
As a country, we're managing to survive with the ridiculous amount of debt brought on by the war but yes, national debt is a serious issue. There are a lot of things the government could cut spending on, I don't see this as one of them... I see it as an essential that all people of a community deserve equal access to living healthy lives. What good is education if we're not alive or well enough to utilize it? What good is the police force or army keeping us safe if we can't be kept safe from internal invasions? Those aren't programs I'd want to cut BUT if it came down to health care or libraries, I'd take health care in an instant.
I think part of what I've been more sensitive about it lately is again, I have a health problem that could be serious and I just have to suck it up and HOPE that it's not. And it's the sarcastic comments that I've run across that really bother me (not from you, from people I know face to face)...the disregard, the assumption that people who don't have health care are just too stupid to get a real job or just don't try hard enough and want to rely on the system.
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