Universal Healthcare

 

I am always negotiating the American healthcare system. It is infuriating. Now I am helping Leah with medical issues, trying to get her into a cardiologist. I called Northwestern in Chicago. First available: January.

Americans get angry about gas prices, but not this. That’s like obsessing over a leaky faucet while a tornado hits your house.

Ten points about universal healthcare:

1. Universal healthcare systems commonly do make you wait in some non-emergency situations. Oh … and where they also make you wait is called the United States.

2. An MRI in the US costs around $1,200. In Japan it costs $95. And chances are your MRI machine was made in Japan (or Germany).

3. Universal healthcare is not socialism. Children riding the bus to school is socialism? Nope. Germany and France (and a long list of countries that have universal healthcare—see point 5) are market economies. Are Medicare and the VA socialism?

4. Government is inefficient? One of the contributing factors to healthcare costing the United States 19 percent of GDP is corporate inefficiency. The United States has a GDP of $20 trillion. France has a GDP of around $3 trillion and spends about 11 percent of GDP on healthcare. As for corporate efficiency, called customer service lately?

5. These countries have universal healthcare: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the UK.

6. Canadians love their healthcare; approval among Canadians is well into the 80s. Do a few come here? Yes, many for cosmetic purposes.

7. According to a Yale study, universal healthcare would annually save $450 billion and prevent nearly 70,000 deaths a year.

8. We are not broke. We have a Treasury Department and the world’s largest economy (see point 4). I don’t feel like explaining this one. It’s stupid with two O’s.

9. Universal healthcare has mainstream support. According to Pew: “Most Americans (66 percent) say the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage.”

10. Number of Americans who declare bankruptcy a year due to medical bills: 700,000. Number of people in Germany and Japan who declare bankruptcy a year due to medical bills: zero.

PHOTO: The Greek god of medicine Asclepius and his ... um, rod.

Cemeteries

“They’re a waste of real estate.” How many times have you heard people say this? I’ve heard it quite a few times.

I cannot recall if I have written about this in the past, so I apologize if this is a repeat.

What’s curious about the comment made by the coldly practical is the fact that it never includes other uses of real estate. It just focuses on cemeteries for some reason.

The sober and sensible people who make this comment never—ever—include golf courses, shopping malls, car dealerships, and McDonalds (which owns 50,000 acres). Why do these never get mentioned as wastes of real estate? Why is it where we bury our dead gets chalked up as a waste?

Humans were burying their dead over 100,000 years ago. We have talked to our dead, made sacrifices to them, dug up their remains and placed their skulls on display. After the Agricultural Revolution (12,000 years ago) began the process of viewing these spirits as gods, resulting in the broadly held view that there exists a singular deity.

Many love to announce that the oldest profession in the world is prostitution. (When you hear something reflexively blurted out like that, it’s usually wrong. Statements about the Middle East, the Bible, Adolf Hitler—they’re commonly inaccurate.) At any rate, prostitution is probably not the oldest profession in the world; the oldest profession in the world is likely a witch doctor. This shaman’s job was to make contact with the spirit world, which is where it was assumed we all went when we died.

So, honoring the dead, talking to the dead, and visiting the dead is part of who we are. It lies at the center of human cultural life. And I’m not even sure it’s cultural; we might just do it naturally.

Cemeteries have poetic value. They are meditative spaces. They are reflective. They are calming. They are places for quiet contemplation.

As for those who dismiss cemeteries as a “waste of real estate,” maybe they just don’t know enough people who permanently reside in them. I suspect that once enough time passes, they will change their tune.

Luxury has a funny way of producing ugliness in people.

…

PHOTO: I took this photo about 25 years ago. It is where my brother, Jason, is buried. I have sat there many times, thinking about him, crying, and in the past having a cigarette (or two) with him. We consumed and poured whiskey on the ground for his twenty-first birthday. (This is all a waste?)

His dates are May 23, 1974 – Feb., 4 1995

On his headstone is a prayer by W. E. B. Du Bois:

Lord of the springtime, Father of flower, field and fruit, smile on us in these earnest days when the work is heavy and the toil wearisome; lift up our hearts, O God, to the things worthwhile-sunshine and night, the dripping rain, the song of the birds, books and music, and the voices of our friends. Lift up our hearts to these this night and grant us Thy peace. Amen.

Three Dog Night

I have made my thoughts clear on rock-n-roll. At age 54, I find it tiresome and sometimes comical. It is an art form that has lost the 20-somethings and many of the 30-somethings. It is kaput. Don’t get me wrong, it had a good run. From Fats Domino to Radiohead? Extraordinary. But now, the image of a bunch of middle-aged folks—or seniors—rockin’ out? It’s become an occasion for sadness, if not hilarity. When classic-rock FM finally disappears, the world will be a better place.

That said, I occasionally post something from the world of the rock-n-roll. And I would like to do that again here. The American band Three Dog Night in 1974 released an album entitled Hard Labor. It’s a wonderful collection of songs.

The cover art both weirded me out and fascinated me when I was a kid. (Those feet! That creepy mask!) At the time (1982?) there was a huge Band-Aid graphic covering the “birth” of the warped record. At the time of release, the cover was actually deemed controversial, and the album came in a manila sleeve obscuring most of the cover art.

My favorite tracks are “I’d Be So Happy” and “Play Something Sweet.” But the rest of the album is also a joy.

Forget about what you usually listen to and give this a try. Good stuff. It might just put a smile on your face.

Problem

 

My Friend Leah—Update 11

Leah recently pointed out to me, “You haven’t exploited me for content in a while.” I have been accused of this by others—I kid you not—and now we joke about it. “Oh my God, it has been a while!”

So, here we are. Update 11.

I suppose I have not written about Leah in a while because I’m frustrated with all the specific details about her life that I cannot share. I’ll throw in small deets once in a while. But 85 percent of her life I can’t. And I’d love to. I would really like you to get to know her.

It’s been a crap year in the pets department; she’s lost quite a few. Petco gave (yes gave) her a couple of tortoises a small while ago. The damn things escaped from an enclosure she had in the back yard. So, she has been on tortoise patrol lately.

She remains hopeful; upon inspecting some recent gardening, she noticed there were nibbles taken out of the leaves of some new hostas. “They’ve been here!” So, they might turn up yet. Good thing it’s summer.

I’m not sure if they have names. I do not believe they do. I suggested “Sears & Roebuck.” Leah vetoed this idea. “Dolce & Gabbana”? “Stop.” [sigh]

And just today (June 29) Leah noticed a her male veiled chameleon named Francisco whom she adores was not doing well. Leah was very upset. I tried to be consoling, but made a hash of it. The less I say the better sometimes. 

The chameleon died tonight on the way to my place, after a day of going on a last adventure; Francisco got to feel the sun, meet kids, and touch plants. Leah took it hard—another reminder that beyond buying sneakers and books for her, I can do nothing.

Her reading continues on a warpath. She is reading Aristotle, Heidegger, Doctor Zhivago, War and Peace, an immense history of WWII, and some more Aristotle. A lot of Aristotle. And as noted, she carries these books around like a kid that brings her toys everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Her enthusiasm is infectious. I used to pile up books and read five at a time; but these days I focus on one, then move on to the next. Not anymore. I, too, am reading Doctor Zhivago, a huge biography on Albert Speer, and I just started the complete works of Primo Levi.

Oh, did I mention I’m writing a book on Adam Smith?? Who do I think I am? Leah reads about five-times faster than I do, so I’m in a Hyundai Sonata trying to keep pace with a Formula 1 car. But will that stop me? I think you know me by now.

Leah has done nicely staying out of the hospital—knock on wood. She does have bad days and bed-ridden days, but I am quite proud of her increased strength, which continues to floor me.

She went through a bad withdrawal with Xanax about a month ago. Her prescription got messed up, and she was in serious pain. I could see it in her eyes, the darkness of agony. And yet, she tried to smile through it. Pain, smile, pain, smile. I was on the verge of tears and just told her everything was going to be alright, my arms tightly embracing her. I have never met a stronger or kinder human being.

I hate the pain she is occasionally in. I hate the lost days when she can’t get out of bed.

She has a birthday coming up. She will be 36.

We were going to sing happy birthday at the Peninsula in Chicago. But we had to cancel. I guess it’s going to be a Christmas thing. So, we’ll sing at a nice restaurant. A mutual friend suggested Pop’s. I countered with Taco Bell. Because of course I did.

You Are Probably a Liberal

 

Democratic Socialists

I found this article interesting. The reason I found it interesting is that the New York Times, in its review of the positions held by Democratic Socialists, never mentions that most Americans hold these views.

Most Americans are centrist liberals. Most Americans are aligned with or to the left of Bernie.

Here are the points the NYT summarizes:

1. End military aid to Israel
2. Expand the social safety net
3. Government healthcare
4. Tax the rich
5. No expansion to police budgets
6. Raise the minimum wage

. . .

1. This is about half of Americans. As I have said for many years, if the coverage was better, this would be in the 90s.

2. Major support. Most Americans want the government to do more. It depends on the specific issue, but support in general is over 60 percent—sometimes well over.

3. Over 60 percent. And has been higher. This one’s easy. Do you love your health insurance company??

4. Almost 70 percent support. Also a no-brainer. The position that if we take care of the rich, they will create jobs, etc. is pure, unregenerate nonsense.

5. Almost 60 percent of Americans want to see major changes and reforms with regard to the police. But the “defund” word is a mistake.

6. Over 60 percent support. Duh.

CONCLUSION: Most Americans are just fine with Democratic Socialism and would like to see the United States become more like Denmark or Norway.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/us/politics/heres-what-it-means-to-be-a-democratic-socialist.html