The following is a letter that my husband sent to our local newspaper.As I follow the heath care debate in the pages of the Gazette and on television, I am stuck by how many people my age, over 65, are the most actively engaged. The recurring theme in most of their rhetoric revolves around one word - socialism. I understand that people, most of all seniors, do not welcome change. Frankly it scares the beejeebers out of them. Before you cry out the S word again though, please consider the following.
If you are over sixty five you are most probably receiving Social Security. You paid into Social Security but if you live more than five or six years over 65 you will receive ever so much more than you paid in. That monthly check really helps out most of us with a bill here or an unexpected expense there, doesn’t it?
You are also probably enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. Again you paid in, but one serious illness could easily wipe out all that amount. The cost of one procedure could put you in the minus column real fast. Did you ever consider that these programs are like your friends and neighbors, all 300 plus million of us, helping to restore you to health?
If you are a military retiree like me, you receive a monthly check from good old Uncle. So what, you may say, I earned it. In the strictest sense of the word, no you did not. You earned your salary while on active duty. That check is a monthly thank you note from a grateful nation.
If you are covered by the Veterans Administration, for either health care and/or disability, it’s another one of those thank you notes. That program is rated the best health care in the nation. But how can that be, it’s run by the government. Yes it is. In fact it’s run by a outstanding soldier, who has himself sustained wounds in combat. Who is better to understand and overcome the problems faced by our veterans.
Every one of the programs I mentioned is socialism in one form or the other. So before you again go out and attempt to save the land from socialism, I think you should first renounce any and all of these programs that you may be enrolled in. If you don’t, then I feel more than justified in using the H word. H for Hypocrite.
