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Everybody In, Nobody Out: Disaster Speaks a Noble Truth
Everybody in, nobody out. It's the battle cry of millions of people throughout the United States who believe healthcare is a basic human right and who advocate for Medicare for All system as an achievable and just answer to that cry.
Everybody in, nobody out. It's the way we are all looking at the suffering and injured people of Haiti. We are not asking for hospital finance officers and bookkeeping staff or insurance company personnel to pre-screen the injured for acceptable methods of payment or evidence that their pre-existing living structures did not contribute to their crush injuries. We are just rushing in to help.
Everybody in, nobody out. Words sometimes breathe life into places we'd rather not go and make us look at who we are and how we treat one another. Which one of us has an illness less worthy of care? Which one of us has an untreated injury we deserve to suffer for years without care? Which American life is worth less than another American life or Haitian life?
Everybody in, nobody out. We are giving huge amounts of money - and rightfully so - and sending ships and supplies and nurses and doctors. We see the tragedy and the human suffering and we cannot turn our heads or our hearts away - thank God most of us have not yet become that brazen or that hardened.
It seems that today, on a day when we honor the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., we might want to ponder why we cannot seem to extend to one another in our own nation when we clearly know it is just in the face of horrific disaster. Healthcare, everybody in and nobody out, is more than words when we see the immediacy of human needs thrust at us when earthquake or tsunami or hurricane or fire or tornado or flood or the ravages of war strike our fellow human beings. We get it when we get it up close and personal.
MLK, Jr., said, "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."
Everybody in, nobody out. In Haiti, in Los Angeles, in New York, in Chicago, in Miami, in Seattle - healthcare when we are sick or injured is what we need and what we most surely can provide to one another.
It is our moral imperative and our national heritage to do what is right by one another. And we cannot do that with the for-profit health insurance industry dictating that some of us are in for care and others are out. We have to do that for each other by extending healthcare to all not by forcing the purchase of a defective financial product that does not protect health or wealth.
It's time to let our own healthcare disaster in the United States give us the same resolve we can show in times of external crisis. It is right to care. It is right to respond when we see suffering. Everybody in, nobody out. Until justice rolls on like a river, we cry, 'Everybody in, nobody out.'
27 Comments so far
Show AllIn the U.S. it's "Every Big Company In, No Big Company Out".
First of all, another note of sincere appreciation to Donna for her valiant struggle which, unfortunately, must go on.....
As a culture, the US is deeply ego-oriented. We view progress not at the group or community level but at the personal. The self. The me, me and me level.
Advertising has had a lot to do with it; we are undoubtedly the most brainwashed, the most manipulated culture ever. The most insidious aspect of it all is that we are completely unaware of this exploitation.
So the call for health care inclusion, similarly to many other movements for social equality, often can't be heard by those who've been left hearing-impaired.
There is a significant segment of our cohorts who view inequality as a form of justice. They think their staus as a "have" is related to their own superiority. And the "have nots" are where they are due to inadequacies on their part. It makes it hard to rally the troops into an effective movement. I
Somehow we need to break through the ego-oriented minstream culture and challenge this nonsense. We've allowed the IWW truth to slip away.
An injury to one is an injury to all. Amen.
iowapinko, you are so right, we are: "the most manipulated culture ever".
I don't think Jesus said "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" because it had a catchy ring to it. He knew that when everybody does better, everybody does better. It's our own lives we'll be saving.
"Advertising has had a lot to do with it; we are undoubtedly the most brainwashed, the most manipulated culture ever. The most insidious aspect of it all is that we are completely unaware of this exploitation."
So true...
"There is a significant segment of our cohorts who view inequality as a form of justice. They think their staus as a "have" is related to their own superiority. And the "have nots" are where they are due to inadequacies on their part. It makes it hard to rally the troops into an effective movement."
On a related note is this groups view that everyone is responsible for themselves and you should always be able to pull yourself up by your own boot straps, no matter what the society is doing to put you down. This works out nicely for the powers that be. As they continue to offshore jobs, freeze wages, cut benefits, charge outrageous interest on credit cards etc, if you can no longer make it in the good old USofA it's all YOUR fault. All failures should be internalized to the individual himself. The fact that the rich are basically screwing the average person in this country never enters into their minds. I suppose this kind of thinking is one of the reasons that people aren't rioting in the streets. (yet).
This is another excellent point, NC-Tom, the bootstrap theory. We are fed the "American Dream" from cradle to grave. It's in the cartoons I watch with my grandkids, the old westerns we watched as kids, the viagra commercials I turn off and even in the way we view death. When you're overwrought with guilt over your fallible humanity, we have a pew for you. But certainly don't look at all those people to whom you pay taxes in the amount of almost one third of your income to make your life better. Don't expect any of that money back in the form of social services. Don't expect politicians to keep their promises, and if you think the system sucks it's your fault for voting and perpetuating it. And so on.
It's not about deserving health care. It's not even about health care being a "right". It's about health care being a NECESSITY that we're ALL going to need at one time or another, no matter what our station in life.
And as for the riots I kind of think that even the most forgiving, turn-the-other-cheek, Zen master will eventually react when poked and prodded enough. It just isn't bad enough yet. Will it get that bad or will we float just enough above water to get a breath every now and then? Seems to me like we're on a roll that has accelerated.
"As a culture, the US is deeply ego-oriented. We view progress not at the group or community level but at the personal. The self. The me, me and me level."
I'd even go as far as to say 'ego-worshipers.' We are not special in this, most every culture has it's own form of the same, though some may be more subtle than others. Ego in some circles represents the darkness of human nature; thus, there no 'good' ego. Further, there can be no psychological suffering without 'me' somewhere in the mix. Ironically, the vast majority take the thorn of ego as being necessary--even something to be praised! This, of course, is a form of insanity.
The problem is that we do not see it as a problem; quite the contrary, we gaze with great reverence at those who reach the 'top' of the crap heap (whatever that crap heap may be), hypnotized by the glitz and glitter of it all, not seeing the emptiness that ensues when the spotlights go off. Why does it continue? Because there are many who profit from the prevailing state of ignorance, and cannot see the destructiveness of it all, meaning the multitudes are asleep and that those that profit from that sleep aim to keep it that way.
We must begin to tire of the game and go beyond labels, whether they come from the left or the right, to discover for ourselves if there is such a thing as Life beyond ego and the destructiveness of egotism.
Single payer! Single payer! Single payer! Single payer!
Gary
Everybody in, nobody out.
----------------
Foreclosure?
Debt?
Depression?
Well now that the Dems have just about finished handing Ted Kennedy's senate seat to the GOP after 47 years, the fat lady is warming up for the health care defeat and scores of others. Don't worry though Martha, you will have plenty of company in the unemployment line come November.
Every millionaire in, every peasant out. Now that's America!
"Each one of us has an obligation to those who are yet to be born."
D Hudson
I've got to say this is right on the mark.
AD
here are the accurate numbers for the true cost of health care:
canada - $353 per month for 100% coverage of their citizens.....
france - $327 per month for 100% coverage of their citizens....
USA - $708 per mth for around 80% coverage... so add in the other 20% who have no coverage and that "cost" would go up to around 850 per month....
that is easily figured out by the 1. % of gdp per country spent on health care -
2. health care costs divided by population
for ex - 17% of GDP in America spent on health care -> multiply .17 times 15 trillion (gdp) = total cost of health care --> divide by population(300 million) = 708 per month. except that we only cover around 80% of our citizens.... so the true cost is actually around 850 per month if we covered everyone....
so in America we could provide coverage from single payer for around 350 per mth - no deductibles, no-co-pays etc
What i wonder is why I haven't seen any number such as this coming from our leaders..... easy to understand numbers EVERYONE would get on board with if they realized how much they'd actually save.....
of course the answer is easy to understand....billionaires don't want to share- even when it means our loved ones are crippled and die years and even decades earlier than they needed to.....
and half these greedy and thoroughly corrupt SOB"s claim to be "christians".....
I had a conversation recently with a man who watches nothing but Christian channels on TV, and he said he was against Single Payer because someone who didn't "deserve it" might get health care. I said, "well, kids and the elderly are already covered, illegal immigrants get care at the emergency room, so that leaves independant businesspeople, and the working poor. So you just don't want to share your doctor?" These guys are just so full of the talking points vomited up by the likes of Pat Robertson that they have completely lost the basic tenets of the Christian faith.
It's this kind of thinking that really riles me.
Who does not "deserve" health care? Why is there a segment of our society that does not "deserve" health care?
By denying health care you are promoting misery, suffering and possibly death. This conscious act of denial, especially by those who have plenty, is the most inhuman, immoral act.
Why is this valid political discourse or religious thinking? I can only rationalize this thinking by looking to American history to a time when it was acceptable to segregate a portion of the population, deny them any human rights and treat them as chattel - slavery. I regret that time has not yet washed away these false justifications.
I think that organized religion is a lot like organized sports. We're good, they're bad, and the bad should be punished, not rewarded. Losers really aren't forgiven and embraced, they're ignored or pitied, and if they're helped it's in the form of a handout and not an invitation to join the club. So much about religion is dominance and submission, rather than an integration of all into a whole. Of course it's not easy to love your neighbor as yourself, but we can't even say we've tried very hard.
In The Netherlands, there are a number of plans, some cost more, some less; ie. it can cost apprx.$140 per person per month, full coverage, with a deductible of 150 euros per year. You can see as many specialists as you want per year for that amount.
First of all, Donna, I want to thank you for all of your hard and persistent work concerning REAL health care reform for "we the people."
Over the weekend, I had the chance to listen to a town meeting, or something similar, by Senator Ron Wyden who has a bill before congress. He kept his rhetoric focused on markets, choices, etc. Quite honestly, I had a very difficult time listening to him. People in the audience, person after person, brought up single-payer. He had a "but" ready for every argument raised by "the people." In other words, I didn't think he was really listening. One woman's number was called, she stood up, advocating for single-payer, but went even further, saying that until the senators and represenatives had to go out and find their own health care policies, she didn't think that anyone in congress would ever get it.
I am, and have been, an advocate for single-payer. I will continue whatever meager efforts I can muster to continue the fight.
Excellent comment!
Senator Wyden is a perfect example of what is wrong with the D Party. The "solutions" he's hiding behind in this debate are convoluted and useless. I used to think he represented me, was on our side. But since the Baucus debacle, I visited opensecrets and looked at Wyden's financing history. I've never looked at him the same since. I hope his seat gets challenged, but with the incumbent advantage, there's probably no hope of seeing him lose his seat.
I'd like for all of congress to have to go into the private market for insurance, I really would. Then they could see what Donna Smith has shown them time and again - the immorality of some deserving care while others do not. What makes someone deserving of healthcare? Being in congress, being in a union, being a teacher, being in the military, being poor enough to be on Medicaid, being a child, being an immigrant at a clinic, being over 65.....we have a very strange system of deciding who to include, but no ability to look at who is left out. Maybe if Senator Wyden joined those left out he might finally stand to answer why shouldn't it be everybody in and nobody out.
Never forget, assassination is a tried and true method for securing political change. The entire Roosevelt legacy was first stopped in its tracks and then reversed through assassination. Wyden is another Dim collaborator and TRAITOR. What do you call people who are deliberately legislating Demographic Collapse and human Die-Back in the US? MURDERERS. Intemperate or Understatement?
P.S. Employer based health care is PERFECT if you're planning the 2nd Wave of economic collapse and you know the employers will be gone as a direct result - "Ooops, I'm sorry your job is gone and you don't have ANY health care at all - so you get NOTHING, so why don't you just die now?"
Universal Health Care is the only moral option.
Everybody in insurance company's OUT
I appreciate this thoughtful and insightful essay, but frankly I've been hoping that Donna would comment on the ramifications of Obama's recent meeting with union leaders.
See: "Labor Officials Bend to Democrat Pressure on Health Care" by Shamus Cooke
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Labor-Officials-Bend-to-De-by-shamus-cooke-100117-176.html
· Yr Obd't Servant
I will. The Unions bought the merit of care, just like they bought a seat at the table. The corrupt pol from Chicago owes them. I believe we are also paying legacy care costs to the UAW. Some people deserve care, some don't. You pay to deserve and taxes don't count.
Got it in one!
I'd like to add my compliments to those already expressed by others here Donna. You have indeed never given up the fight and pursued it with dignity.
Unfortunately should these corrupt toads eventually pass the garbage they have cobbled together, not everyone will be in it. There are exceptions being granted on every side, so we will not be "everybody in" in any case.
The best hope now is that they find a brain cell and start over.
Ever thought about running for Senator Donna? There may be a couple of openings in California soon.
So much said rightly and powerfully with so few words. You move me to tears Donna.
And Allee, Allee in Free; Obama OUT in 2013!