I hope that you've had a chance to read the first part of this posting. I felt that I had a lot to say, and that it was more than could be reasonably fit into one post. That's a lot to ask. Please read on...
After a series of long conversations, some heated, some a bit threatening, I carried my opinions about the new healthcare bill into the back of my brain in an attempt to understand what all the fuss is about. On a deeper level. To organize my thoughts, I actually drew out charts, made notes, and got generally pretty geeky about all of this. I feel like this has been time well spent.
One big question that I still have is whether or not we should be so concerned about the effect that this law will have on business, and small business in particular. The so called "engine of the economy." If healthcare reform will hurt these entities (while they are down, as it were) then I would agree that this bill has been introduced at an inopportune time. However, this far-reaching change would not have been possible in an era of Republican domination of both houses of congress and the office of the president, such as we have had in recent years. So, I say bravo to the current administration for going for it, even if the timing could have been better. I for one, have seen enough kowtowing to the interests of big business, and their disregard for the general public, to last a lifetime.
I have heard the expression that folks were "using their homes like cash machines" over and over to describe the finance bubble that played a large part in our current economic quagmire. What I feel that most of us have ignored or disregarded is how corporations have continually used the American market and the environment in a similar fashion.
We are, to be sure, an easily manipulated population. Make products, market them effectively, and we will surely buy them. But the question has to be asked in this age of dwindling natural resources (and heightened competition for them) if we have made the right choice for the long term. Currently, I see two systems that are intrinsically linked. Our businesses, in order to move ahead and be profitable, are directly connected to consumerism on an ever increasing scale. Consumerism drives business, and business needs resources, whether in the form of man-power, or raw materials for production. So, as it pertains to a nationwide Healthcare system, should the argument really be about whether or not we will harm American business with the passage of this bill? Continued, rampant business expansion, will use more man power, more resources and more energy. A false prosperity will continue to exist, allowing for even higher global birth-rates, and ever more consumers. I feel I am being carried to the edge of the cliff by a mad wave of lemmings.
The blame for our recent economic woes has got to be focused on our own short-sightedness. The arguments against healthcare are the perfect example. This is by no means an argument against healthcare, but wouldn't you think businesses would see the benefit in covering their employees, so they could afford to go on to have covered children, who would grow into healthy adult consumers? I guess that kind of thinking goes against today's bottom line.
The point is, I'd really like to think that at some time in the near future, we would be willing to put the pieces in place in government to "downshift" our economy to a new model that doesn't require endless consumption for stability. I'd like to think that everyone would be able to do more with less, while waxing nostalgic about "the good ol' days" of $3 coffee drinks available inside your local Wal-Mart.
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