I wrote this in December 2014 but for some reason never published it. Yes, I'm still angry, angrier now more than ever.
Yes, I'm angry.
Greed is a cause for anger. Selfishness. Narcissism of the non-clinical variety. A willful choice. The idea that the Earth's axis is located in your living room.
Apathy, too. Apathy may be worse. At least greed has a goal, as nasty as it may be. Willful ignorance is the greatest behavioral crime of all. You just don't care until you are personally affected. But that brings us back to selfishness.
A Congresswoman today used her husband's death as a political prop. She blamed "Obamacare" on his death, because, because...well, I can't figure out what exactly she is blaming it on. First she said a test that could have saved her husband's life wasn't covered. Then she said that she thought they had signed up for Obamacare and it turned out they weren't. Those are two vastly different things. Now, I don't know what test it was that he didn't get, or if it would have saved him from having a massive heart attack that night. What I do know is that the woman is worth $15 million. Are you telling me that you couldn't pay for the test yourself, Rep. Lummis?
I know that you're not going to be denied life-saving care if you don't have insurance, which is one of the things you said, Rep. Lummis. I know because Chris was recently admitted to the ICU and had all the tests he needed. What kind of heart test isn't covered by Obamacare, which is the other thing you said? Chris didn't even HAVE health insurance and signed up for it while in the hospital, because the ACA allows you to do that now.
But this post isn't about ACA or politics. It's about greed and selfishness. It's about thinking that some people's lives are more valuable than others, that YOUR life is more valuable than another's. Rep. Lummis's husband had been a state politician, but I can't find any reason that his life was more valuable than Chris's life. Chris is an opera singer. He gives the world beauty. In my opinion, politicians mostly just make the world uglier.
Rep. Lummis's husband may have been a little more important than average Joe, but that just makes the average Joe's support for him over Chris all the more perplexing. Average Joe knows neither of them, so why would any average Joe pick the rich politician over the singer?
Here's what life was like before the ACA: if you were healthy, you paid artificially low premiums because insurance companies kept the sick people out, so they got to keep all the profits and were able to keep your premiums down a bit. Insurance companies denied coverage for many tests and procedures for many people on a regular basis. Some Americans were forced to stay in jobs they hated because they had pre-existing conditions and wouldn't be able to get insurance if they lost their employer-sponsored insurance. Thousands of people DIED because they didn't get the tests and care they needed.
Where was Rep. Lummis when they were denied their procedures?
Now, it is illegal to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Premiums have gone up for some people and down for others. Premiums will continue to go down as more healthy people - especially young people, either sign up for coverage or remain on their parents' plans, which they are allowed to do until age 26, thanks to the ACA. Having more healthy people in the pool allows insurance companies to have money to cover costs for the sick and the elderly.
Now here's one other thing - in some states, Republican politicians are responsible for increased premiums because they refused to raise Medicaid spending. They WANT your premiums to go up so you blame the ACA.
But back to greed and selfishness. Your life isn't more valuable than another.
Yes, I'm angry.
Greed is a cause for anger. Selfishness. Narcissism of the non-clinical variety. A willful choice. The idea that the Earth's axis is located in your living room.
Apathy, too. Apathy may be worse. At least greed has a goal, as nasty as it may be. Willful ignorance is the greatest behavioral crime of all. You just don't care until you are personally affected. But that brings us back to selfishness.
A Congresswoman today used her husband's death as a political prop. She blamed "Obamacare" on his death, because, because...well, I can't figure out what exactly she is blaming it on. First she said a test that could have saved her husband's life wasn't covered. Then she said that she thought they had signed up for Obamacare and it turned out they weren't. Those are two vastly different things. Now, I don't know what test it was that he didn't get, or if it would have saved him from having a massive heart attack that night. What I do know is that the woman is worth $15 million. Are you telling me that you couldn't pay for the test yourself, Rep. Lummis?
I know that you're not going to be denied life-saving care if you don't have insurance, which is one of the things you said, Rep. Lummis. I know because Chris was recently admitted to the ICU and had all the tests he needed. What kind of heart test isn't covered by Obamacare, which is the other thing you said? Chris didn't even HAVE health insurance and signed up for it while in the hospital, because the ACA allows you to do that now.
But this post isn't about ACA or politics. It's about greed and selfishness. It's about thinking that some people's lives are more valuable than others, that YOUR life is more valuable than another's. Rep. Lummis's husband had been a state politician, but I can't find any reason that his life was more valuable than Chris's life. Chris is an opera singer. He gives the world beauty. In my opinion, politicians mostly just make the world uglier.
Rep. Lummis's husband may have been a little more important than average Joe, but that just makes the average Joe's support for him over Chris all the more perplexing. Average Joe knows neither of them, so why would any average Joe pick the rich politician over the singer?
Here's what life was like before the ACA: if you were healthy, you paid artificially low premiums because insurance companies kept the sick people out, so they got to keep all the profits and were able to keep your premiums down a bit. Insurance companies denied coverage for many tests and procedures for many people on a regular basis. Some Americans were forced to stay in jobs they hated because they had pre-existing conditions and wouldn't be able to get insurance if they lost their employer-sponsored insurance. Thousands of people DIED because they didn't get the tests and care they needed.
Where was Rep. Lummis when they were denied their procedures?
Now, it is illegal to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Premiums have gone up for some people and down for others. Premiums will continue to go down as more healthy people - especially young people, either sign up for coverage or remain on their parents' plans, which they are allowed to do until age 26, thanks to the ACA. Having more healthy people in the pool allows insurance companies to have money to cover costs for the sick and the elderly.
Now here's one other thing - in some states, Republican politicians are responsible for increased premiums because they refused to raise Medicaid spending. They WANT your premiums to go up so you blame the ACA.
But back to greed and selfishness. Your life isn't more valuable than another.
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