The Big Scare

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY??????

That is the cry of millions of our citizens, pouring out their hearts in grief and despair. What is happening has already happened---there is a great fear of Socialism encroaching our lives in the land of the free, the home of the brave.

But what of it? Doesn't anybody realise that socialism has been around a long time? Like since Social Security. We all have a Number, issued by the Government. That is our Number for Life. Without that number, we cannot buy or sell . . . oh, wait a minute--that is 666. Sorry. But we cannot get a driver's license without a Social Security number. We cannot get a job without one. We cannot get insurance benefits without one. The list goes on and on.

I am the first person who disdains the thought of Socialism or Communism----I lived in Russia for a while, just after the first military coup, in late 1992. It was a strange place. . . one could get a decent meal for about US$7.00, that is, if you ate at a normal Russian restaurant serving stuffed mushrooms as a main course, and a very old and little apple for dessert.

But I digress. The current trend of non-thinking people is of accepting our president's push of socialized medicine. The others, such as the writer of this blog, do not accept it so willingly. I also lived in France and the UK, had to deal with socialised health care on a daily basis for many years. It is not pretty. A percentage of your salary is taken out and put toward the socialised medicine. It is not free. In fact, what looks like a good thing, really isn't in reality. Sort of like Communism. Great in theory, but not really nice for the poor people who were forbidden to travel the roads to the dachas that belonged to the party cadres just outside Moscow.

Because our president is very naive, I suppose the socialised health care bill will be passed. Perhaps in the near future. It will happen. And we will never be ready to accept tired doctors, underpaid and disillusioned, who were made to believe in the Great Fairy Story of Socialised Medicine. (Sure--right now, doctors in this country have it made, most are not complaining about their salaries or life-styles.) So is there going to be another revolution????? Are there enough people to rally to the cause of freedom for private health and insurance? One issue that hasn't been addressed is: What about the people who don't have any insurance, don't or can't work---would they be eligible for government-sponsored insurance? You know, mostly women who have been divorced for a long time, have children, their ex-husbands have sent very little child support throughout the years, they took care of ailing parents without getting paid for it, couldn't work and are now close to poverty level? What about them?

Okay. Enough ranting for one day. Let me leave you with one thought: If socialised medicine really works, it will be a miracle, because socialised anything has never worked. It is The Big Dream. There are always those who are left behind, there is no true equality to be found. Sort of like Communism. Remember "Lord of the Flies." Not just a book, but the stuff that nightmares are made of.