Sharkbait's Local Spot

georg_cantor from Metafilter made a great front page post about the WSJ Op-Ed piece by John Mackey the other day. The discussion on this topic has been quite lively on the Whole Foods Forums, MeFi, Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere. I have been voicing my opinion on this when and where I can, because I think its the most important issue there is right now, and I fear for the health and safety of all Americans if this good-will plan gets sabotaged by greedy corporate mobs.

Here is my comment from the Metafilter thread, re-posted here. It pretty much sums up my stance. Feel free to comment, copy, and repurpose as you see fit.

Mackey: "Many promoters of health-care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care—to equal access to doctors, medicines and hospitals."

Why don't I have a right to health care? Just what would I have to do to earn the right to basic care from another human being? What do I have to prove, to be worthy of equal treatment? Or even access to equal treatment?

Put another way, if my house is on fire, the Fire Dept. comes and puts it out. If I'm being robbed, raped, harassed, or otherwise harmed, the police come and help. They don't stop and ask me if I'm covered for these things. They don't half-assed put the fire out or refuse treatment based on some third-party contract I've signed. They just fucking do it, because their job is to ensure personal safety and well-being of the citizens of this country. Why the hell does my physical and mental health not fall into this category? Why is access to all direct pathways to my well-being intercepted by a profit driven industry? How can I expect that my health will be their number one priority? And I don't understand why anti-health-reformers care soooo much about the possibility that this will bankrupt the country. It's as if they're more concerned about the economic health of this country than the actual health of its citizens. As if that idea was the most noble expression of their patriotism and capitalist altruism, all bundled up in this strong symbol of freedom called America. Don't they realize that America is made of people?

Also, I'm really sick and tired of 'government' being a dirty fucking word.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:31 PM on August 12