"We must not surrender to the relentless medical inflation that can bankrupt almost anyone and that may soon break the budgets of government at every level. Let us insist on real controls over what doctors and hospital can charge, and let us resolve that the state of a family's health shall never depend on the size of a family's wealth." ~ The Late Senator Edward Kennedy, Address to the Democratic Convention, 1980
The health policy debate that is currently raging across the nation has been a personal topic of interest for a while. Realizing that I knew very little about the way health care operates in our country (and I still do. I feel like very few people TRULY understand how it works anyway), I tried to keep an open mind to the arguments made from both sides. It's an interesting topic to me because of its interest to the nation, but especially because I plan on entering the medical profession!
As a disclaimer, I would like to first state that I do not identify myself exclusively as a Democrat or a Republican (I suppose this makes me somewhat of an Independent?), but that my views do tend to side with the Democratic party (big difference!).
Anyway, my first reaction to the above quote was: why do doctors have an inherently evil image in modern society?
And my first answer to that question was: because doctors are misunderstood and miscategorized.
It seems that doctors have fallen in to the same social cateogory as lawyers and ibankers. They are portrayed as money-grubbing professionals who take advantage of the common person's confusion. A lawyer understands law, his client does not, thus, the lawyer will try and swindle as much money from his client with his tools of law as possible. An ibanker understands the market, his investor does not, thus, the ibanker will try and swindle as much money from his investor with his numbers as possible. A doctor understands medicine, his patient does not, thus, the doctor will try and swindle as much money from his patient with useless medical procedures as possible. It seems that a lawyer/ibanker/doctor cannot be considered good-natured and pure of heart unless they they dedicate their entire life/career doing pro bono work.
Huh?
Last I checked, the wrong doings of a couple doctors does not equal the innate shortcomings of all medical professionals in existence!
Sometimes it boggles my mind how we live in a capitalist society, in all meanings of the world. We earn our money, we earn our friends, we earn our lifestyles, and we earn respect. The more friends we have, the more popular we are, the more respect we have, the more popular we are, yet it seems that the more money we have, the less we are liked. Yes, it is undeniable that lawyers, ibankers, and doctors have the highest salary amongst all the different professions. And yes, I would agree 100% that teachers, policemen, and firefighters, who give back just as much to the community, if not more, deserve higher paying salaries than they have now. But doctors are not evil people! They are people who are driven by a desire to heal, and yes, unabashedly, a desire to make a living and provide for their families by making MONEY. They are competitive people because a capitalist society made them that way.
It's like saying to a child, I have raised you to speak only English, why can't you speak French, dammit?
They can speak French, but obviously not right away. It doesn't work like magic. Just give them some time to learn, and yes, someone to teach them would be helpful as well.
And now, a penny for your thoughts:
(Personally I think universal health care is a great idea in theory, but I have many reservations about it becoming a reality, mostly due to the timing of it all and the circumstances around it. Explaining that would take another post, so perhaps on the weekend then, since there is no Metro on the weekends.)
~ Why Why
No comments:
Post a Comment