The Start of an Honest Health Care Debate

The Start Of An Honest Health Care Debate

The Purpose of This Article

Lately, there has been a lot of noise regarding health care.  I call it noise because I don’t think that the dialogue that has been ongoing qualifies for the term debate.

I suspect that many of the “arguments” regarding our country’s current attempt at “Health Care Reform” are based on information that may or may not be “totally honest”.  It seems to me that there is a shortage of honest, fact-based discussion.

In this article, I will refrain from stating that any particular claim is a “fact”.  Instead, I will offer some of my thoughts based on personal observations and heart-felt convictions.  It is my hope that I might persuade you to look at the question of “Universal Health Care” from a different viewpoint – a viewpoint that differs from both the conservative and liberal points of view now being put forward.

The Most Important Question

Has our society advanced to such a level that we have an obligation or self-accepted duty, as individuals, to try to provide for the “healthy well-being” of each other?  Should we accept, as a civic duty, the responsibility to do what we can to see that everyone in our society has access to health care?

I will not – I cannot – answer that question for YOU.  I am not sure that I even have the right to ask you to look within yourself – to ask your heart, or your soul, or your conscience that question.  But I would like you to do just that.  Ask yourself this question – “Do I believe that we should do what we can to provide health care for everyone?”

Why Or Why Not?

Again, I am not here to argue one side or the other.  I would like to frame the question in such a way that the argument takes place within your own thoughts and beliefs.

YOU might want to consider the question from a religious standpoint – does your religion offer any advice concerning how you deal with your fellow man’s needs?

YOU might want to consider it from a moral standpoint (you do not have to be religious to have a moral compass that points you towards one direction or another) – what do you feel is the right answer?

You might want to pose the question from a financial position.  Or from a “what’s the best end-result” point of view.  Or from a long-term “evolutionary effect” viewpoint.

There is most likely some particular stance that I have not even thought of from which you can debate this question with yourself.  Please do that.  Please do consider The Most Important Question.

What Then?

The answer to The Most Important Question is either a starting point or an ending point.

If YOU (and I, and enough of us) believe that the answer to the question of Universal Health Care is a “YES”, we certainly have it within our ability to “make it so”.

If a majority of us think that the answer is “NO”, then we, as a society, are simply not ready for that next step.