Life in America

After I departed college, I thought I was set. I was making a good deal of money, and had a steady job and benefits. But now, thanks to an unfortunate series of events, I'm back at square one. I hated my career in software, and am now in the midst of changing careers. So, once again I find myself to be poor. Not only am I poor, but I'm surrounded by people who are struggling to make it financially. Life in America is not all that it's cracked up to be.

This is especially true when it comes to the issue of health. The New York Times, this weekend, had a revealing editorial on our national health care system. To quote the punchline

With health care emerging as a major issue in the presidential

campaign and in Congress, it will be important to get beyond

empty boasts that this country has “the best health care

system in the world” and turn instead to fixing its very real

defects. The main goal should be to reduce the huge number

of uninsured, who are a major reason for our poor standing

globally. But there is also plenty of room to improve our

coordination of care, our use of computerized records,

communications between doctors and patients, and dozens

of other factors that impair the quality of care. The world’s

most powerful economy should be able to provide a health

care system that really is the best.

While I agree with Michael Joseph in having some reservations about socialized health care because of culture of life issues, I believe that we must do something about the 45 million uninsured Americans, and we must do it quickly. As Yahoo News reported this past weekend, we have a lower lifespan than many other industrialized countries. It's bad to be more scared of financial ruin than you are of getting terribly sick, but I realized that that is the position that I'm in right now. One wrong turn, and a lifetime of good financial planning can go down the drain, all thanks to our unjust American health care system.