Watching politics these days I am noticing a trend from both sides to things being addressed in complete absolutes. It is white or black. It is light or dark. Take the health care reform that is currently being thrashed out between the House and the Senate. The Republicans are opposed to it because it is liberal and all bad and goes to far towards the dreaded socialism. Liberals are opposed to it because it didn’t go far enough and compromises were made. It is all darkness and we must have our version of light.
The Republicans talk about “purity” and having a scale that their people will be judged by to make sure they are pure conservatives. Some Democrats are taking the same idea but putting it at the other end of the spectrum to make sure they are liberal enough.
Life however is not all black and white. It is not all light and darkness. Opposition based on stringent absolutes ignores the shades of gray that makes up reality. Things are rarely just one things. The color white for example is made up all the other colors. In order for our eyes to see an object we have to have both the lights and the shadows. If you have a pure white object on a pure white background colored with pure white light you can’t see it.
Working at a hospital as I do I can see first hand the need for health insurance reform and health care reform. We need to be able to cover the expenses of people who are really sick and have no health insurance to pay for it do to no jobs available or a company that doesn’t offer health insurance or only the cheapest of packages. We need reform of the insurance agencies with their preexisting, retroactive termination of policies when something that will cost money shows up, refusal to pay for new drugs and testing. At the same time we need to reform the way we do business and our own use of the health care system. No matter how you look at it an ingrown toenail is not a reason to go to the Emergency Room. That should have been seen by the family doctor. People who are seeking drugs need to be stopped. The medical establishments need to be run more effectively.
What we really need is the ability to see what is good in the health bill, what isn’t good, what will help people the most, what will reform the insurance agencies, what will make the medical establishment more efficient and cost effective so that the money goes where it is needed and not frittered away. We need the liberal approach to getting everybody covered by health insurance of some kind combined with the conservative fiscal responsibility. I am speaking of the pure concepts of liberal and conservative here not of specific politicians. We need to make sure we don’t close our minds to any ideas but to fairly weigh all the options. Whatever the final bill comes out to be we need to be able to pay for it. We need to put the proper fiscal controls in to make the bill cost effective.
Lights and shadows are what we see with our eyes. We need both. Our minds need to be able to process both. Health care and insurance reform are too important to let a dogged attachment to only one side close your minds. We need to see all aspects of the situation if we are to be truly effective. We need health care. We need insurance reform. We need to be able to pay for it. And we need it now. That’s the bottom line.
The picture is called “Lights and Shadows.”
The Republicans talk about “purity” and having a scale that their people will be judged by to make sure they are pure conservatives. Some Democrats are taking the same idea but putting it at the other end of the spectrum to make sure they are liberal enough.
Life however is not all black and white. It is not all light and darkness. Opposition based on stringent absolutes ignores the shades of gray that makes up reality. Things are rarely just one things. The color white for example is made up all the other colors. In order for our eyes to see an object we have to have both the lights and the shadows. If you have a pure white object on a pure white background colored with pure white light you can’t see it.
Working at a hospital as I do I can see first hand the need for health insurance reform and health care reform. We need to be able to cover the expenses of people who are really sick and have no health insurance to pay for it do to no jobs available or a company that doesn’t offer health insurance or only the cheapest of packages. We need reform of the insurance agencies with their preexisting, retroactive termination of policies when something that will cost money shows up, refusal to pay for new drugs and testing. At the same time we need to reform the way we do business and our own use of the health care system. No matter how you look at it an ingrown toenail is not a reason to go to the Emergency Room. That should have been seen by the family doctor. People who are seeking drugs need to be stopped. The medical establishments need to be run more effectively.
What we really need is the ability to see what is good in the health bill, what isn’t good, what will help people the most, what will reform the insurance agencies, what will make the medical establishment more efficient and cost effective so that the money goes where it is needed and not frittered away. We need the liberal approach to getting everybody covered by health insurance of some kind combined with the conservative fiscal responsibility. I am speaking of the pure concepts of liberal and conservative here not of specific politicians. We need to make sure we don’t close our minds to any ideas but to fairly weigh all the options. Whatever the final bill comes out to be we need to be able to pay for it. We need to put the proper fiscal controls in to make the bill cost effective.
Lights and shadows are what we see with our eyes. We need both. Our minds need to be able to process both. Health care and insurance reform are too important to let a dogged attachment to only one side close your minds. We need to see all aspects of the situation if we are to be truly effective. We need health care. We need insurance reform. We need to be able to pay for it. And we need it now. That’s the bottom line.
The picture is called “Lights and Shadows.”
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment