I’m not a big Whole Foods shopper because I’m so attached to the funky neighborhood classic, Westerly Natural Foods, in Hell’s Kitchen. But now I feel as if I should buy a pound of carrots at Whole Foods just to say, “Huh?” about this fascinating debate. If I’m hearing correctly, we consumers of natural foods (presumably, we’re all Democrats and liberals, but I wonder where that presumption came from) are supposed to boycott Whole Foods because the CEO is a conservative libertarian who does not back the current plans for health care reform. Okay, it’s a free country. I’m just hoping it stays that way.
What I have to say in this moment this morning is: it looks like a mess to me. Although I’d voted for Mrs. Clinton in the primaries, I was hopeful when Mr. Obama won, and I was on the streets in Harlem, my neighborhood, cheering with everybody else. I loved that the Bush era had ended and I was overjoyed to lived to see a person a color in the highest office in the land. What I’ve seen since, however, in terms of this rapid attempt to push through policies that people are very unsure about — not that much different from pushing through the war in Iraq by the Bush-its — concerns me.
You know what I’m wondering: why it is that we have to go from one extreme to the other? I don’t think the Bush guys were conservatives. They didn’t keep government small and the economy healthy and give people enhanced freedoms — quite the contrary. But Obama’s proposal — the House Health Care Bill, anyway (I’ve actually tried to read it, oh my God — I didn’t know the word “subsection” could be used so often in one document!) — doesn’t seem merely liberal: it seems like socialism. Socialism apparently works in many countries and where it works, well, good. But I just don’t believe we Americans have the Socialist gene. We’re fiercely individualistic. We want choice and freedom and to be left alone to “work out our own salvation” so to speak. At least that’s what a lot of us want.
I don’t understand why our government is working on health care reform in the middle of a recession. We’re in debt, for heaven’s sake, a gargantuan amount of debt. To take on health care reform right now is like a family in huge debt deciding to spend two weeks at Disney World because the kids would really like it. Maybe they would, but it’s just not the time.
Here’s how I see health care:
(1) We need to take care of ourselves. I actually like what Whole Foods CEO John Mackey wrote in the Wall Street Journal: “We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society.” If agreeing with him makes me a conservative, okay, that’s cool.
(2) The costs of medical care — or “disease care,” it’s not health care — have to come down. I remember when health insurance was called “hospitalization.” It was only for the big stuff. No one expected anybody else to cover a mere doctor’s visit. Of course, a doctor’s visit didn’t take a week’s salary. My dad was a physician. I used to help my mom in his office when I was tiny little kid. I remember that it was $10 for a major visit, $5 for a regular visit, and zero for those who couldn’t pay. Now, obviously, these are 1950s dollars, but the idea of medical care that’s within the reach of the average person — the person, not the person’s insurance company, whether public or private — is a lovely thought.
(3) Let’s not spend money we don’t have. Is that a conservative thing again? To me, it’s just a good-sense thing. We had a balanced budget under Clinton. That was a time to look at something like all this reform. Right now, we just plain can’t afford it. I know our President believes that the super-wealthy making over $250,000 will take care of it (Mr. Obama: Visit New York City. Nobody making $250,000 in this town is wealthy), but that just seems to kick Horatio Alger in the teeth. Why work hard? Why try to do remarkable things that will make money that you can invest in doing good in the world if you’d be better off making less?
That’s how I see it. How about you?
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