There comes a time when people say, "Enough". We think we have heard enough, thought enough, discussed enough, researched enough, experienced enough, to conclude the debate and press forward.
This is what has happened in Iran. Hundreds of thousands have said, "Enough". Enough of alledged election cheating, enough of suppression of speech, enough of denial of freedom for women, enough of being cut off from the rest of the world, enough of being prevented from assembly, enough of being denied many basic human rights. Enough!
Likewise, with health care. The people are saying enough to high premiums, enough to high deductables, enough to no insurance. Enough!
In Luke 22:38, Jesus is giving final instructions to his disciples for what they are to do when he is gone. In this context he tells them to buy swords. A disciple tells him, "We have two swords". Jesus responds, "It is enough". Indeed there is a strong dose of disgust in his response. If Jesus believed all of his disciples needed to be armed to protect themselves, he would have insisted on each having their Second Amendment right to bear arms! He did not. Don't be rediculous! There comes a time to end debate and move on to what is truly essential. Enough.
Within the health care debate, it is clear that the vast majority of people are demanding a public option. I support this demand. The public option will cause a lowering of health care prices because it will provide quality, affordable, and accessible options. Capitalism works in part by the market charging what the people will pay. If the people refuse to pay for a product because it is priced too high or doesn't meet their requirements, the people will refuse one or more products and buy the one that fits their needs. Yes, this means some businesses go out of business. But it also means that businesses must be sensitive to the needs and resources of the customer. In this way the people, the customer, are in charge of the resources. Those providing the resources are required to respond to the needs of the people. This usually levels the pricing and quality of the resources. This is healthy competition. Who can provide the best product for the most reasonable cost? This is consistent with what Frank Rich wrote recently in his NYT editorial, words to the effect of "health care is supposed to be about serving the medical needs of the people, and not about the profit of the corporation." (paraphrase). Enough!
I would agree that a national, single-payer system would be more efficient and less costly. I believe the public option would be an important step towards this end. It seems the public option could be a way to unite all insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and doctors in a comprehensive medical care program, with everyone making a fair profit. The winners would be everyone. The sacrifice would be less huge profit-taking and less huge salaries. But the people would be better served. It seems one of the major problems is weaning the powers away from the greed bucket, the desire to have more, the scourge of "excess". We are a bloated and overweight nation in so may ways. We need to get skinny! Enough!
Likewise with Iran. There is an excess of control over the people. Call it power greed, religious greed. This means that the focus is on maintaining a cultural-political-religious structure that is detrimental to the well-being of all the people. The "business" of the government, the Ayatolas has become insensitive to the expressed demands of the people. The people are marching and dying for a "public option". Their political and religious "health care" system is not working adequately anymore. They march to be heard. They march for change. They are saying, "Enough"!
As Jesus tells his disciples, "Enough", so is it time to say "Enough" to ways that are counter-people. Our "enoughs" must turn towards putting the legitimate, life giving needs of the people first. Then we will discover that there is "enough" for ALL!
Enough!
Ron
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There is indeed 'enough' for all. The difficulty is in getting those with an excess to realize that it is in their best interests to relinquish a share of what they have in order for all to have enough. In America, this would mean accepting 'fair' profit over maximum profit, something which seems as foreign to our system as European-style health care. It will require those with excess to take a broader view, to realize the health of the system as a whole is more beneficial to them than concentrated profits, which are directly 'beneficial' to them. In short, it would require re-evaluation of the American ideal, from a place where one can become fabulously wealthy through self-interested means to a place where all are considered, and the ideal is that all benefit from an increased standard-of-life baseline.
ReplyDeleteIran is a more difficult situation, because of the potential for violent suppression. Already we are seeing the use of violence has largely subdued the demonstrations. One hopes that the people remain emboldened and courageous in their resistance of tyranny, and remain peaceful in that resistance. And yet when protesting against a theocratic power, I struggle to see how their desire for change will be realized; it seems the repressive powers are too great, too harsh. And yet history is filled with the unlikely triumphs of those who hold that hope for freedom. I guess it takes the faith and courage to believe that saying "Enough" will indeed be enough, to create the conditions for a new paradigm to emerge, for justice to take root and for the tyrants to be dethroned.