But Anyway...Thoughts on Healthcare Reform

I've been seeing on the news this week how some of the town hall meetings that members of Congress are having about healthcare reform are being disrupted by loud, obnoxious and pissed off citizens. Interestingly it seems that through some sort of cosmic fate that this is only happening where Democratic members of Congress are holding meetings.

But anyway.

Since most of these meetings are being held during the daytime, I'm seeing via media coverage that a lot of older people an others not at work seem to be filling up these meetings.

But anyway.

There's been debate on whether these rabble-rousers are part of a coordinated effort by the Republican Party to gin up some fake "astro-turf" (as in fake grass roots) protest against health care reform so as to kill it on behalf of the big business health insurance and pharma companies that are so important to the Republican campaign coffers.

But anyway.

Yes, but anyway...lets pause for a moment on this. Lets assume that the people causing all the ruckus are not the unwitting pawns of the right wing. No. Lets give them their due and assume that they are, in fact, simple middle class citizens and the retired concerned that reforming the healthcare system is a scary proposition that they don't want to see happen. Lets take their word on that.

My assertion is, if this is all true, that these people are gravely misguided and offer a look at what's wrong with the USA and not some sort of rebellion to be admired.

Lets analyze a few aspects of this for a minute:

Fighting for what's hurting them the most. It's funny (as in tragic) how people are so ready to defend the very system that is killing them. In some cases actually killing them. In the same way that people are duped into voting for conservative politicians espousing "family values" only to have them - once elected - ignore that and bend over backwards for the big business that are outsourcing jobs, enabling huge tax cuts for the rich and getting us into wars that kill mostly poor kids...people who could REALLY benefit for healthcare reform are willing to line up against it in the name of vague notions of "America" or "freedom." Lets be straight here. The free market is strangling our healthcare system. It is the reason we're in such dire straights with healthcare, not the answer to our problems. For indeed, the primary motivation of our healthcare system is spectacular and short term (quarterly) profit and it is not providing insurance, access and care. You can see where that has got us. Like those HMOs? Until incentives for profit are aligned with providing access to care and actual care (or eliminating those incentives) nothing will change.

So I ask, why do people defend the very thing that's bringing us all down?

"I want my country back!" This is one line chanted by the crowds. Yeah, get your country back from what? What do you not have now that you had six months ago? The only thing that's changed is that there's a different president from a different party and that same party controls Congress. Is that what those people are talking about? Upset that McCain/Palin and the Republican party took a beating in 2008? OK, well, fine. But, that's not a reason to abdicate your senses. Or, is the notion here that people want to go back to the good old days of W? Or maybe an earlier time than that? Is that what these people want back? Good old boys running things? That worked out pretty well for most of us. The whole "I want my country back" rings quite hollow to me and is a give-away that many of these protesters are disconnected from reality at best.

The claim that "this is socialism." Bibles in hand, protesters say that the proposed healthcare reform is socialism and soon people in government will be passing judgement on who lives or dies. First off, the USA has is such a conservative country that it has no conception of what socialism is. Literally, one guy said, "Get the government out of my Medicare." Really? As Bill Maher said, that's like driving across the country to protest highways.

In reality, some of the most successful and rock solid programs in our nation's history are "socialism" by the definitions being bandied around these days. You like a little thing called the US Army? How about your local fire department, police force or public trauma center? Oh, and how about those roads you drive on to go to Starbucks and to see your family? You think having some money coming your way after you retire or get laid off is good? And how about the healthcare your grandmother gets from Medicare? What if all these things were private and to get the services you had to subscribe to a private company to get them...if you could afford to?

All of the services I've named above, and many more, are by definition "socialized" programs in the good old U.S.A. that we all benefit from. Most the rest of the civilized world has long ago figured out that healthcare is one of the things that we all benefit from having too...and yes, many have socialized that to some degree or the other. Want to know what most of the 36 countries rated with better healthcare systems than we have in common? Most have a socialized component of their system and guaranteed coverage.

Finally, you want to wave around your Bible as some sort of protest to socialism? Jesus Christ. No literally, Jesus Christ. He was, by the modern definition of it, a socialist. Read the frickin' book.

A broken system will yield sharp objects. In the end, protesting against healthcare reform for whatever reason is the ultimate folly because the current system is broke to the degree that it is not good for anyone. Sure, there is more than one way to reform healthcare, but any way you slice it...if reform fails now and status quo holds serve, the problem will not go away. And the problem is so intertwined with the rest of the economy that letting it rot further is not the answer. Nope. It's only gonna get worse if not tackled now. Think about this: when that Baby Boom Generation really starts to hit in there and sucks up healthcare dollars and services, the shit's really gonna hit the fan. You think that mob is not gonna be waving Bibles and signs? I don't. I think they'll be wielding more potent instruments.

I think you can see that, taking the town hall disrupters at their word, my assertion is that they are misguided and way off base. I'd bet you a beer (a decent one too) that 100% of protesters this week actually benefit from a socialized service and that the majority either know someone or themselves directly benefit from Medicare or Medicaid. Ignorance breeds bad decisions and I think that's what we're seeing here.

But anyway, I'm sure Twitter, John and Kate (plus their eight) and Paula Abdul will solve all these problems. What am I all worked up for?

China Report #3 - Terracotta Warriors

History's Army Raises Questions About Today's Government

For two millennium, an entire army of soldiers made of terracotta lay buried under the rural hills outside of the city of Xi'an, China. The first emperor of China - Qin Shi Huan - put them there in the year 210 BC because he believed he could continue to rule his empire from beyond the grave as long as he had his army with him.


Therefore, he had a replica of his actual army assembled, complete with armor, horses, weapons and all the military accompaniments.
And, he had a massive underground tomb built to house it all. More than 700,000 servants, slaves and laborers sweated and toiled away all those centuries ago to create more than 8,000 individual warrior figures. The size of the army is stupefying enough, but it really boggles the mind that each of the soldiers also bear an individual face - modeled after actual members of the Emperor's army.

Discovery Leads to Tourism
Following its rediscovery in 1974 by a farmer digging a well, tourists from all over China and every corner of the world now come to see the army, contemplate what it would have taken to create and bury the figures and ponder why it was done in the first place. My wife and I were among those tourists in May 2008. We viewed the army and saw the farmer who discovered it - a man who as a measure of this quasi celebrity stats today wears Harry Carey-like glasses and signs books about the warriors in the exhibit store.

Suffice it to say that we were impressed by the whole experience. Because it is an iconic symbol of China, I would recommend visiting it to anyone making the long trip to China. You've gone that far...see the warriors.

The Chinese Peasantry Will Have Its Say
However, I there is more the royal regiments of yesteryear can tell us than just its size and status as an ambassador from a different time. Rather, I think the story of the Emperor, the army and how it was discovered lend themselves to understanding today's China - namely, the Chinese peasantry will have their say.

Turns out, it wasn't just the Emperor who believed he would rule his kingdom from beyond the grave with the help of the buried army. Indeed, our guide informed us that the local peasants felt the same way too and they weren't too keen on the idea. Unlike recent centuries, it was no big secret that the tomb existed or where it was for the locals in the area had been enslaved in the thousands to build it all. These people knew where the army stood and where the entrances were.

So what did they do? With the help of a couple enterprising generals eager to succeed the now deceased Emperor, the locals destroyed the tomb and the army within (see picture, below). They broke in and - instead of smashing the soldiers one by one - they lit the
overhead wood beams on fire to collapse them onto the army. It worked. In fact, only one warrior survived unscathed. You can
see that one archer figure today (pictured above right) in the on-site exhibit.


A new Emperor came of course, along with his own all-too-real army to lord over the land. But, that one spasm of collective uprising helped usher in change. The violent action is an example of how big change traditionally happens in China. Far more people lived in the Chinese rural areas than do the cities, so the Emperors know they had to in some way pacify or dominate them to minimize their desire or ability to do any harm to the dynasty. When they didn't, "regime change" followed. When poverty, hunger, taxes, corruption, conscription and other problems become unbearable, the millions in the countryside rise up against the government. And they have over and over again throughout China's history.

This remains true in recent history too. The communist revolution that culminated in 1949 was started, built and propelled from the countryside - not the cities.
Is Today's Government the New Terracotta Army?
Flashing forward to today, the government of China has to find a way to appease rural dwellers lest they decide they've had enough and repeat history. One reason put forth for why the 1989 uprising at Tienanmen Square in Beijing did not go further was that it was confined to the urban area of one city and was instigated by students and intellectuals. Those in the country were actually enjoying some improvements at the time, so there was no motivation to link up with their urban brethren to really make the uprising stick.

Today, the opening up of the Chinese economy has meant members of farming families can find much better paying jobs in the cities. So, that deflates tensions now. However, corruption by local officials, crushing poverty, lack of healthcare (yes,despite being a communist country there is no guarantee healthcare) is still prevalent. The potential for a rural uprising still exist, and despite the power of the current Chinese army, the countryside has the population to do something if they want. For example, of China's 1.3 billion citizens, 750 of them live in the rural areas. The numbers are huge.

What will happen next? Will the government buy off rural dwellers with the promise of better paying jobs and a westernized future? Will those dwellers buy in? Or, with the Chinese communist party become the terracotta warrior army of the 21st century - doomed to be destroyed by the locals in a bid to unshackle themselves fro their overlords?

All this remains to be seen, but as change continues at a rapid pace in China, I will be watching what happens in the hills, valleys, mountains and meadows of China as much or more of what happens in Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong.