This Baffles Me

We all have our causes, issues that we care about. There are so many problems to deal with that after while, perhaps just to stay sane, we choose our top ten, or top five, or these three, or this one. Groups and organizations form to address particular issues, and individuals rally 'round to try and move the world toward their cause.

Of the many issues I care about, health care is at the top of the list. And it baffles me that people don't get it -- if we had universal health care in America it would solve, in one fell swoop, a whole host of problems. Back in May, President Obama signed an executive order giving federally employed domestic partners certain rights accorded to married federal employees. A lot of the people on the left were upset that he didn't go far enough -- those gay employees weren't given the "main" right -- health care benefits for their partners.

Think about this: if we had real universal health care -- and I do mean single payer -- it wouldn't matter who your partner was. It wouldn't matter if you were single, married, employed or unemployed. All of that would be irrelevant. You're sick -- you go to the doctor. You're injured -- you go to the doctor. Your kid, your parent, your lover, your friend, your neighbor is injured or suddenly ill, you help them get to the doctor, or get the paramedics to them. You don't worry who has the insurance. With single payer, we all have insurance.

Those who profit by the current system will say anything to keep the status quo and keep raking in the profits. And those making the biggest profits don't care if they bleed us dry, which is exactly what they're doing. In the past, the insurance industry has spent millions to defeat universal health care. The decision makers at the top of the industry are doing it again. But much of their work is done for them when energy is diverted in so many directions, and those on the left are fighting with their own Democratic President because he is not doing enough for their particular cause.

Don't get me wrong. We need true equal civil rights for gay people. We need clean energy and a green economy. We need agriculture instead of agribusiness producing our food. We need an end to homelessness and hunger and poverty and war. I could go on -- there are so many problems to solve. But if we can achieve real health care reform, certain aspects of many problems will dissolve or be diminished. Case in point: how many people are impoverished or homeless because they've gone bankrupt dealing with a medical crisis?

I'm not saying that health care reform will solve everything. I am saying that if we demand and attain universal health care, all of us who care about the problems that still need to be solved will suddenly find ourselves free to address those issues in a way we never before could have imagined. We will have more time, energy, and money to give to the causes we care about.

Problems come in all sizes and shapes, and there are plenty of bad guys, bullies, and demons awaiting you on the battlefield. But first, before you gear up to engage the enemy, get rid of the vampire at your throat.