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Then there's that other bit of American mythology, the part that talks about how, when the going gets rough for our fellow citizens, we all rally round and share our energy and our wisdom and our compassion to make things right again.
Neither of these narratives is true, but we like to believe both of them anyway, even if they are myths and contradictory myths at that.
Now, it seems to me there's a third bit of American mythology that's getting overlooked. That's the bit that talks about certain inalienable rights we all have, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's from our Declaration of Independence, written by our Founding Fathers.
I like to think of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not as states of being, but as goals. That's because we've never achieved 100% of any of these three freedoms. So they -- and we -- are works in progress.
But it's pretty hard to imagine pursuing much happiness if you happen to get sick, get cut off by your health insurance company, and find yourself on your way to medical bankruptcy. Isn't that the point where we invoke that other piece of great American mythology -- the one that says now we circle the wagons, pool our resources, and find a way for all of us to help all our fellow citizens?
Well, there's only one way to do that and that way is to use our government. The government is us; we pay for it, we own it. We need to make it work for us.
Sure, there are a lot of folks out there who are telling us we can't go down this road because it will lead us into the dreaded socialized medicine. A government takeover of health care.
So what? Forget the labels; that's propaganda. It's the same sleazy accusation that was used against FDR's New Deal in the Thirties and again in the 1960s in the right-wing efforts to demolish LBJ's Great Society.
But, in fact, it's exactly what we're already doing for our seniors under Medicare, for our men and women in uniform, for our veterans through the VA -- and for every member of Congress. Seems to work just fine for these folks.
So why is it going to be such a disaster for the rest of us?
When you think about how much we pay for health care and health insurance in America -- many times more than the most advanced countries in the rest of the world -- and understand that we get substantially worse results, one has to conclude we must be doing something wrong.
We need to fix a bunch of things beyond predatory, uncompetitive, profit-centered health insurance companies. But neutering these vultures would be a start.
Maybe it's time to tell our Congress persons how we feel.
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