Unhealthy Healthcare?
-Mark Guadagni

If you asked most people today what they think of the state of health in America today, most would respond with what the statistics prove. A skyrocketing obesity rate, an emerging epidemic of type 2 diabetes among children, and many more afflictions causes America to fall to a dismal 37th ranking in healthcare among the industrialized nations of the world. One must wonder what the diagnosis for America’s unhealthy performance is. It is a sad reality to walk through our school see the poor state of health that some of our fellow classmates are in; and the only thought that goes through my mind is why do we have to live with all these ailments when we are one of the wealthiest and most advanced countries in the world, spending more money on healthcare than other nation in the world (approximately 15% of our GDP)?
Just in the past few weeks a bill to expand healthcare to 10 million children was presented to President Bush. He vetoed the bill.

Meanwhile, our government spends $454 Billion dollars to fight an unconstitutional and unpopular war Iraq. Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend our money to make hospitals and medicine to take care of our own people, rather than spend it on weapons that kill others? Higher taxes would not be an issue if we diverted money from the war and invested it in the overall health of our nation.

In the United States today there are over 50 million people living without health insurance and even though it’s not in American headlines, it is still a harsh reality (medical bills are overwhelmingly the most common reason for personal bankruptcy in the United States) that many people have to live with every day; and we should feel obligated to help our fellow countryman. After all, this is not some new radical untested idea; all you have to do is look north of the border and see how well universal heath care is working in Canada, who ranks a whole seven positions ahead of us. France, which tops the list, also has a universal healthcare system. Those who hold the blind ideology that anything like socialism is bad, should look at the success of American police, fire service, postal service, public education and community libraries, which are said to be "socialized" services, which have not led to communism but to the greater good for Americans. Instating universal health care in the United States would not only improve the health and well-being of many Americans, but also satisfy the situation in the ethical realm.

However, blaming solely our government for our healthcare problem would be an oversimplification. The need for healthcare has been skyrocketing, exacerbating our health problem — but why? In an ideal world everyone would eat healthy small portions; yet in our consumer culture, corporations promote us to buy and consume as much food as possible in an effort to raise the most profit, while the health of the consumer perishes. If the government cared about the health of its people, rather than private interests of the corporations, it would prohibit health hazards in our society such as unhealthy fast food and tobacco. If we’ve already made pot illegal, why don’t we put our health before profit and have the courage do the same thing with other health hazards that hinder our society?
The sad reality is that this is very unlikely to happen due to fact that some people care more about their selfish monetary wants over the health of their fellow humans’ health. Fortunately, if we want to see a change in this sad societal trend we can do our part by eating healthy and exercising, even though such ideas are not found in our mainstream media. In a recent study by Duke University, researchers found that exercise is just as effective as medications such as Paxil and Zoloft in treating depression. This fact is a perfect example of information that your pharmaceutical company would not want you to know. They would rather profit off our dependency on their medicine, than have us eat healthy and exercise.

Seeing that there is a great deal of profit to be made in unhealthy Americans, my hope is that we can wake up from this dream, realize the folly of fast food and other health hazards to make a stronger healthy America that is independent of corporations that profit off of our unhealthy state. Take charge, and don’t be a pawn by making thoughtful healthy choices in your life, like water over soda, or real food over fast food. Instead of drinking energy drinks that cause you to crash early in the day, why not exercise, release endorphins and feel even better than you did before? The answer is not another pill; it’s only a few steps or a bike ride away. Bill Maher puts it best “Ask your doctor if getting off your [bum] is right for you!”