I just about blew a fuse today. I read the article in The Independent called "The brutal truth about American healthcare" as well as a number of the comments left at the bottom (this is never a good idea for someone harboring even the slightest hint of misanthropy). The British newspaper (yes, I said British) launched an attack on the American health care system using the R.A.M. (Remote Area Medical) forum in Inglewood, California as a backdrop and plot setting. R.A.M., very quickly, is a volunteer non-profit organization that offers free medical care throughout the U.S. and the world.

The very first person quoted in the story had a priceless tale that I will cut and paste here since retyping it would make me frustrated enough to break the keyboard.

"Christine Smith arrived at 3am in the hope of seeing a dentist for the first time since she turned 18. That was almost eight years ago. Her need is obvious and pressing: 17 of her teeth are rotten; some have large visible holes in them. She is living in constant pain and has been unable to eat solid food for several years.
'I had a gastric bypass in 2002, but it went wrong, and stomach acid began rotting my teeth. I've had several jobs since, but none with medical insurance, so I've not been able to see a dentist to get it fixed," she told The Independent. "I've not been able to chew food for as long as I can remember. I've been living on soup, and noodles, and blending meals in a food mixer. I'm in constant pain. Normally, it would cost $5,000 to fix it. So if I have to wait a week to get treated for free, I'll do it. This will change my life.'"

She had a bypass surgery. Did everyone catch that? I hope no one was distracted by the emotional build up to her quote. Bypass surgeries, from what little I understand of them, can cost upward of $40,000. I'm curious how an 18 year old affords an expensive medical procedure, finds out it doesn't work, doesn't go back and have it fixed correctly, and then spends almost a decade watching her body decompose. Now, I'm not upset this girl got help, I'm not a monster. But R.A.M. is a volunteer organization, there is no federal mandate or legislation that requires them to help.


A national health care plan is not the same thing as charity, no matter what the busy body Brit or the delusional American may think. It angers me to the point of maniacal laughter to hear people cry out about "legislating morality" when talking about gay marriage or abortion but they have no compunction about forcing the entire nation to be charitable toward others. The hypocrisy here actually, and quite literally, gives me a headache. The supporters of socialized medicine shout, almost in unison, that every person has a "right to health". I would like to know what constitution they are reading because it isn't the one I uphold. We are guaranteed the rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and let it be here said that the phrase is so simple that only the simple minded can misunderstand it. We should protect every life from being lost due to the actions or inactions of others but if that life is self-destructive (like eating poorly, smoking, spending any free moment in front of the television, and then not purchasing the means by which you can avoid dying because of your own choices) then it is that life's right to end. The quality of life is up to each of us individually.

The answer to the morality question is basic in its logic. It is morally good to help your fellow man. It is morally good to assist those in need of assistance, medical or otherwise. It is not morally good to enforce moral good. History's throat is raw from screaming that forced social-conscientiousness results in the general morale equivalent of mass depression which then leads to uprisings and revolution. Anyone familiar with Latter-Day Saint theology should recognize the idea of "forced righteousness" and the price that was paid to avoid such a fate. The decision on the table goes much deeper than simply providing health care. They are entering our homes in the dead of night and attempting to rob us of our God given gift, the gift of personal choice, responsibility, and subsequent power.