Accept and Adjust

I feel for my friends on the Right. I do. They just feel, in absolute value, like I felt when we invaded Iraq.

But this whole “Repeal and Replace” thing sounds very immature to me. It’s a tantrum.

Why the tantrum?

Move forward. Accept what is happening to you. Like many times before in life, you simply lose. You just do. And then, you pick up from that spot and you adjust.

Why go backward?

This new law is so imperfect. It will not work as it is. It is a starting point and like everything else ON EARTH, it will transmute into something else---like HBO or The Internet.

As I have written, months ago, I do believe this is the thin edge of the wedge that will lead to a single payer system. More and more people will join Medicaid. We will have to increase taxes to pay for it. Eventually, Medicaid will become so large that nothing will be able to compete with it and so there will be a collapse of insurance companies. But is this so bad? All those incredibly savvy business people can then go do something else. The world can always use a bunch of smart, hard working folks in exciting new ventures. Or perhaps one or two insurance companies will end up with most of the market share and they will become the “ATT and Verizon” of healthcare, and well, fine.

The call from the Right, endlessly, is less government. This is no surprise. And I kind of get it. I mean, I would be a libertarian if I were taller, more beautiful, more confident and rich. Then, it would serve me well. But I’m a bit of a stay-at-home, romantic type, easy prey for any strong random enslaver who might come along so I rather not live in a completely free society. The idea of a semi-Nanny-state is appealing to me. It makes me feel cared for, much like I feel when I am on a train and someone else is the conductor and I can just read my book, knowing I will get to my destination with little effort.

I like that.

Why can’t we have some of that in our lives? Must we all be responsible for every single transaction we ever do from now until death? I mean, I really do not mind handing over some of my personal responsibility so that I might be freed up to have a more inward life. This is enjoyable to me.

I like to drive, too. Sometimes, I really like to drive. I like to be in charge. I like to be aggressive. I like to be a frigging wild animal directing my every movement. But when it comes to healthcare? (And what if I am, like, dying? Then, too?)—do I really want to be an aggressive animal around that? Always shopping? Forever haggling? Worrying? Really?

No, I don’t.

Basically, healthcare is a shitty business---your product-service is the care of the human body which is in a state of decay, heading toward death. To turn that into a business has proven to be a horrible thing, especially in the get-rich-or-else atmosphere we've been living in for thirty years. To have the government run it is incredibly burdensome. In the end, fat, uniformed Americans are a losing bunch. This is sad. Is there really any winning with this? It is such a hard call. Something had to give. Pelosi and Reid went hog wild.

I now must suggest to my Republican friends, of which I have many, instead of chanting Repeal and Replace, why not chant Accept and Adjust? Get in on the process. Stop this all-or-nothing Super bowl mentality. Show Democrats some respect for what they have achieved. It is not perfect. Not at all. Yes, taxes will increase, they will. And perhaps government is not the answer. But corporations clearly were not the answer either. (And now, it’s a combo of the two, blech.) I suggest we all exercise a lot, eat very little, stay positive and engaged and meditate on the following idea: "I will be most healthy if I move forward and remain open to new ideas. I trust that we are all moving toward greater wellness."

Stop with the bullying. Calm down with the doomsday paranoia. Get in with the process.

And

Wash your hands.