Your Health is the Government’s Business
By Adam Graham (08/20/07)
A dispatch from 2037
The following piece is from David Jenkins who writes of American culture and health 28 years after the passage of the National Health Care Act of 2009 and was originally podcast August 15th on the Truth and Hope Report ( http://www.truthandhope.2truth.com )
Free health care. The words brought a lump to my throat when I first heard them. Who knew that an issue as complex as health care could be solved by simply giving the government control of it? Senator Ted Kennedy’s words rang in my ears as he fought for the landmark National Health Care Act of 2009, “Our friends on the other side say this is not within the role of Government. Well, I disagree, your health is the government’s business.”
I didn’t know how much that phrase would come to mean to my life and those of my friends. We thought we’d won the lottery. Of course, you know what they say about things that are too good to be true.
Health costs spiraled out of control over the first decade, and taxes went higher and higher. It was then that Senators rose to demand that steps be taken to control costs. They chided the government for spending little on needful preventive medicine. As I looked at my pay stub, and the Federal Tax figure staring up at me, I knew they were right.
A bi-partisan group of Senators, with a reform minded Administration, set out to keep Americans healthy. The first target was tobacco. Cigarettes and Chewing tobacco were banned due to their effect on the health of the American people. I’d never understood why the government allowed folks on SSI and Medicaid to go out and buy their cigarettes, which would end up costing us money. Smokers were now allowed 1 Cigar a month, with a price tag of $100, which would be used to help fund the health system. My buddy, Ronald whined about the government taking away his smokes.
I looked over at him. “Pal, before this all started, what you smoked was your own business, but now I’m the one who’ll be paying for your chemo. When you’re smoking, you’re smoking my money.” I didn’t hear from Ronald after that.
I was even okay when the government banned non-light beer, as I only drank light beer anyways. Of course, then there were a string of drunken driving accidents involving light beer, which were highlighted by the President, who also focused on the obesity of the American people.
It was in an Oval Office address that the President declared that in addition to the right to health care, people had a right to food, and he didn’t mean twinkies. He meant high quality vegetables and meat. The President proposed that the right to food be guaranteed and that everyone be entitled to receive the same food rich folks eat at a much lower price. The bill was applauded and shoved through Congress, as members were urged to think of the poor children of America and to insure they were fed properly.
The bill, however, also had a provision that with its right to free food required that everyone be placed on a diet. The President, along with lobbyists for the Poultry Industry, Diet Food industry, and makers of multi-grain breads viewed the South Beach Diet as the best. The President proclaimed that the diet had never failed. It just was encumbered by obstacles, such as people who weren’t on the diet offering forbidden foods to those who were on it. This would never happen again.
Every American would be assigned monthly to either Stage 1, Stage 2, or Stage 3 of the South Beach Diet based on their current weight, and only allowed to buy foods that were legal on that stage, and only what could be eaten before their next shopping trip. Beer was outlawed, but exactly one glass (and no more) of red wine was required with each evening’s meal unless you had a physical or religious reason not to, as a glass of red wine was found to be “good for your heart.” The exact requirements shifted as dietary science often found some food previously thought healthy to be unhealthy and vise versa.
Exercise was next. Employers were required to add three half hour exercise breaks to their schedules each week. Employees were expected to walk to work if they lived less than two miles away. If they lived further away, they could take a carpool, but they would be expected to get their two miles in unless they were ill. In addition, unnecessary Television viewing time was limited to one hour per day.
And for violations of any of these acts, there were severe punishments. Of course, public awareness campaigns ran on the air. “Eat a twinkie, go to jail” was a popular theme of many television commercials.
Other illness prevention measures followed. Neither I nor my wife will forget the solution to venereal disease. It was similar to what Al Gore had proposed for Social Security, an electronic lock box. The key was held by the local director of Reproductive Affairs and could be released to your spouse permanently with a marriage license, or temporarily after a one time use permit had been approved for two people who are free of sexual disease. Even after marriage, to leave your spouse unlocked was considered a crime as illicit sex spreads disease in or out of marriage.
Then, another issue came up when a Congressman rose to the floor of the House to demand action. We were spending billions per year on mental health services. Most mental health problems began in childhood. Therefore, if the home was producing children with complexes and psychosises, the children should be taken to a more psychologically healthy home. The Federal Home Auditors were created with the goal of insuring a psychologically sound and hygienically balanced home. The auditors raid 12 million homes each year at random, looking for potential mental health issues in the home.
When a friend’s children were taken away, I protested to the field office director, “You have no right under the Constitution to do this.” He laughed. “The Constitution doesn’t matter. Tell me where you find free food in there It’s all about what feels good. Yesterday, it was national health care, today it’s making sure kids don’t grow up in dysfunctional families.”
Since then, I’ve grown in acceptance. Today, I’m more healthy than I was as a young man of thirty. I had to learn to deal with the lines for food, the lines for health care, and the changes in my lifestyle that have occurred. It’s harder to move up the economic ladder, but with free food and health care, our basic needs are met by our Benefactor, so there’s really no need. I’ve learned to accept that my body is not my own. It belongs to the State, because the state is ultimately the one responsible for taking care of it.
The Government is my provider, in it will I trust.
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.-Thomas Jefferson
(Printer friendly version) Email: Adam Graham
