Health care: what a joke. To read all the ins and outs of this disaster, click here.
Not a single Republican in the Senate voted for the incredibly watered down health care bill that was passed 60-39. They fear the big government is taking over. Senators of the GOP, you bitch about the government like it's some evil entity... hello! It's the very same government in which you are a part, and from which you get your salaries and your health care. Hypocrites!
I was talking with a friend a few months ago who lives in Korea. She expressed sadness at the health care debate in this country, and didn't understand how people could deny others medical care should they need it, and didn't understand the fear of socialism. I agreed (and brought up forms of socialism we already enjoy, such as state run schools with state approved curricula, police, fire, and other public works).
It is a shame, and it saddens me too. I am not without health care, but I know those who are. I think sometimes fear of change, that very change we were promised, can frighten people to the point where they allow their elected officials to work against the people's best interest, all the while insisting they are protecting them.. from financial collapse, from socialism, from death panels, from the boogey man.
I've finally realized that it's not just the Republicans who mislead their followers. It's the Democrats as well, all the way to the top of the food chain. There are a few well-meaning souls (like Kucinich, who has run twice but will never ever get elected President, no matter how many times he tries). I feel betrayed. Mislead. I feel that Obama has allowed his good intentions (I do believe he has/had them) to be trumped by.. what? Those powerful men who lurk just behind the curtain? Lobbyists? Big Business? Wall Street? Or is it just plain ol' reality? Is there some reality that is not being communicated clearly to us, something that portends doom if we cover all Americans?
All of the above?
I am also sick of moderate Democrats. If the majority of people wanted Republicans, they would have voted that way. But they didn't. Not this time and not in 2006. When Republicans are in control of the House and Senate, the Republicans win. And, when Democrats are in control, the Republicans win. Democrats are either too close to the middle, or are a bunch of pansy asses who are afraid to stand up for the tenets of their party.
Wake up Democratic Senators! You are supposed to balance out the other party, not constantly cave to the side of conservatism! Bah...
Copenhagen Climate Conference: it was more than disappointing.
Ok, at least we were there this time, right?
Not good enough. Not at this stage in the game.
To put it plainly, not taking many steps backwards is actually taking huge leaps backward. Population is growing. Developing nations are growing. The US is as bent on consumerism and consumption as ever, and it's getting worse. Per capita, we produce the most greenhouse gasses on the planet. The rainforests (the Earth's air filter) are disappearing, giving way to cattle grazing and farm land. The summer ice (the Earth's cooling system) will be gone in a few short years. It's also the same ice which has long trapped another greenhouse gas, methane. The world has already gone beyond 350ppm... we have gone beyond the tipping point. We really do not want to see what happens when we go beyond the point of no return, to the 770ppm that was the negotiated number to come out of Copenhagen.
A word or two to the rest of us, who still can, if we choose.
Health care: A friend of mine recently brought up a good point. A large part of health care is prevention. So true! America has one of the highest rates of preventable deaths in the industrialized world and yet spends the most on health care. That's not something any government health care reform can fix for us. We need to do that ourselves. There is so much we can do to keep ourselves out of the hospital. The foods we eat. The air we breath. The water we drink. Our activity levels. Our spiritual and emotional health.
Climate change: While we wait for the world's leaders to grow some cohones, to pass legislation within their own countries, to tell their people that the age of gobbling up resources is over, and pass binding resolutions at conferences like the recent one in Copenhagen...we can do our part.
We can send a message to them all, through our actions, what it is we want. We already do this, of course. But our message at the moment is one of complacency, of business-as-usual, of "what we deserve" rather than what is healthy.
There are so many things we can do. Eat responsibly, by choosing foods without carbon inputs (in other words, organically grown food), local food, and less meat (cattle are destroying the rainforests as mentioned above, plus they and their flatulence are one of the major contributors of greenhouse gasses, not to mention their shit polluting our rivers and streams). Switch to CFLs and LEDs, and turn them off when not necessary. Save up for some wind and/or solar power equipment. Drive smaller, slower, and less often. Practice the 6 R's: refuse, reduce, re-use, repair, recycle and rot. Dry clothes on a line. Dump the harsh cleaning chemicals for some good ol' vinegar and water. Cloth napkins, dishrags and hand towels instead of paper equivalents. Grow some of your own food. Capture rain water for some of your water needs.
Really, the list goes on and on. I don't do enough. None of us are doing enough. But what we do (or don't do) tells those in power what we are willing to do, what we are capable of. We are more than mere consumers.
Thanks for reading
An interesting blog I found while searching for good links (really do check out a few. They are interesting): FoodShed Planet
