enfinblue's Bluey (credit to Fifi for the nickname!) Diaryland Diary

"I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart." -Vinc3nt V@n Gogh

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And yes, environmental policy here is still fucked.

Things I don't understand about the U.S.:

The obsession with bleached white teeth.

First, tonight, I saw online that people were critiquing M. Obama's hairstyles (WTF?). And then I saw a picture of the first family - and no critique of them as people - but they have those scary, uber-white fake-looking teeth. I find it disturbing.

I was just looking at pictures on the Sartorialist, one of my absolute favourite websites, and thinking, "Gee, I really love Europeans and their quirky, natural teeth."

To me, it looks absolutely ridiculous when middle-aged people open their mouths and they have perfect, bleached white teeth.

What a waste of time and money.

I'm not criticizing oral hygiene, but I find the obsession with perfection in teeth that is not in any way directly related to health or functioning...weird.

It's like those infomercials that come on late at night on tv (when I'm at my computer and too lazy to get up and switch the channel) with silly-looking people doing the latest fad hip hop or whatever dance aerobics, marketing some video. I mean, WHY do you need to have a six-pack?

I can tell you from personal experience that a six pack is not necessary to health, back health, comfort, or, yes, happiness!

I really don't like the obsession with "buff" bodies.

Again, what a waste of time.

Health, and pleasure, yes. The latest workout gear and buffing to get the right "shape"...why????

I had perfect teeth when I was younger. And then my wisdom teeth came in and I didn't have them out for a few years...and they pushed some of my front teeth forward on the bottom. Two of them now overlap.

I could have them spaced out again easily at an orthodontist, I'm sure, but they are not impacting my breathing or eating - my health in any way - so I like the quirkiness of them when I smile. I suppose I've always wanted to have a crooked smile. :) I will never straighten them.

The second major thing that befuddles me about America today is why it is so difficult for people to understand that public health care, that requires RATIONING (always) to be AFFORDABLE, is, indeed, socialism.

Accept it, people, and think about why it's a good idea.

What people seem to be missing is that a society makes a choice that everyone gets as much as is affordable, but there are limits on what a society can ACTUALLY afford.

You do your best to arrange a system so that people in urgent need get immediate care, and sometimes people have to wait for non-essential procedures.

I pay more taxes than a very large proportion of Canadians, but I'm proud that we do this so that the poorest people get the same treatment that people like me do when they are ill (and have the same opportunities to go to university or to receive financial assistance under a variety of other circumstances). If I have to wait for something non-urgent, I will wait. And if something urgen happens and I don't get health care fit for Queen Elizabeth II...well, that's life. I trust in the people who do their best to make the system work. I'm also willing (in principle) to sacrifice some small quotient (a small probability, really) of my health and pleasure for the chance for us all to be better off. Why me? ...Why not me?

Luckily, I have never known anyone who had to wait for a long time for anything. I've always had the best of health care, as have all of my friends and family. My step-father in particular has been a heavy user of the system as a result of his disabilities, with multiple surgeries throughout his life, and he has one of the best surgeons in the world. So I feel lucky. Interestingly, my stories of poor health care are actually about U.S. health care, for a change. My grandparents, who were rich, and who had ample insurance, lived in Florida for half of the year after they retired. When my grandmother had the heart problem from which she died in a matter of weeks, she was mis-diagnosed in the U.S. It wasn't until the Canadian system had flown her back to Toronto for her to see a heart specialist there, that we actually knew what was going on. It was surprising to a certain degree. (She would have died, anyhow.)

A society makes a choice to make the greatest number of people as well off as possible, understanding that some levels of service will not be attainable. That said, of course, re-evaluation, better coordination, efficiency improvements, etc., are absolutely things that we must continually pursue.

That's why the whole idea of public health care doesn't match the American way of life. American society is rooted in the culture of the individual. I've been seriously skeptical for quite some time that any form of public, single-payer health care will ever be possible in America. And now they're talking about surtaxes as a source of funding...

Yeah, right.

Of course I'm abstracting from a great many public/private combinations.

But at the root, you can't get around the fact that for everyone to get some, some will get less. Particularly in a country in such a miserable fiscal position.

But as I read in a blog at the NYT tonight, "No doubt, a single payer plan would turn us all into godless communists like our Canadian neighbors and the French, further eroding American productivity."

Um, yeah.

It's ultimately a question of priorities.

Health care is a basic human right.

12:09 a.m. - 2009-07-25

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

previous - next

other diaries:

stepfordtart
ohell
awittykitty
annanotbob
manfromvenus
smartypants
fifidellabon
hungryghost
hissandtell