“Your body is precious. It is your vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care” - Buddha

The authors writing as Favilla for France’s premier business paper, Les Echos, deem that President Obama cannot yield to the “immoral coalition” of vested interests arrayed against health care reform, since “it would then destroy American society.” Click the link to read the original french version.

An American Disease

Barack Obama is laboring mightily. After a state of grace, he now must confront virulent opposition to his great plan to reform the American health care system. Yet, his goal is indisputable and was featured in the program for his candidacy: assuring health insurance coverage for the 46 million Americans who are excluded from it by the present system, a system obviously unworthy of a country that purports to be developed. Moreover, at the beginning of the summer, 70 percent of Americans declared themselves to be in favor of it. In mid-August, they are but 43 percent versus 49 percent against. This collapse of popular support may be put down to an unprecedented unleashing of imprecations and abuse, orchestrated by conservative extremists and pressure groups unremitting in the defense of their own rents. On the pretext that the plan tries to introduce a bit of morality and general interest, it is accused of collectivism and an attack on individual freedoms. Untruths and outrageous allegations abound, to the point that it is useless to quote them. The regressive evolution of public opinion confirms the effectiveness of even the false propaganda.

Yet, the issue is one of blinding clarity. The United States devotes 18 percent of its GDP to health care expenses, even as a sixth of its population is not covered, while France or Germany pay 12 percent and cover everyone. For once, American democracy is adding the prize of injustice to the red light on competitiveness. But one must reckon with the impressive parasitic architecture of vested interests and received ideas. With respect to ideas, there’s the visceral distrust of any collective organization and blind devotion to individual freedom in principle. With respect to vested interests - an even more solid base - it’s the profits reaped from the present system by laboratories, doctors, auxiliary health services, insurance companies; without counting the activism of “lawyers,” who, by increasing juicy suits against care providers, raise the price of their insurance. This coalition, which one may well call immoral, that costs at least 6 percent of GDP (the low estimate), threatens the president himself. He cannot yield to it, since it would then destroy American society. This will be his most difficult, but most noble fight.

Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned. - Dalai Lama

The most impactful, positive individual effort we can make to improve the state of a failing healthcare system is to guard and manage our personal health to the very best of our individual abilities.

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AP Poll: Third of parents oppose swine flu vaccine

As the first wave of swine flu vaccine crosses the country, more than a third of parents don’t want their kids vaccinated, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll…

…Some parents say they are concerned about side effects from the new vaccine — even though nothing serious has turned up in tests so far — while others say swine flu doesn’t amount to any greater health threat than seasonal flu…

Our collective intelligence continues to evolve even in the midst of an onslaught of rhetoric and propaganda from government sources. The informed questioning of federal health officials is a strong statement that these government puppets are thinly veiled puppets of the pharmaceutical industry and their  ravenous greed and disregard for “health” is seeping into the collective mindset.

…The belief that the new vaccine could be risky is one federal health officials have been fighting from the start…

Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, with contrived pseudo-gnosism, stood on her hands, backwards and boldly stating her appeal for widespread inoculation against the swine flu, declaring without restrictions, “We know it’s safe and secure.”

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“Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.”
– Hippocrates

The New Intelligence?

Tempers flare over health care plan

Dingell forum rowdy; Peters’ office protested

U.S. Rep. John Dingell was greeted with jeers and cheers Thursday as he tried to explain why changing the nation’s health care system — as he has advocated for more than a half century in Congress — makes sense…

Civic involvement is our needed right to exercise. But you have to question the effectiveness of misinformed, zealous passion as exercised in this growing movement of town hall meeting behavior. From this article, photo and video clips one could easily perceive the sense that this crowd had it all summed up before hand and attended only with the objective of cheering their absolute understanding and position in the matter and heckling Senator Dingell’s opposing viewpoint and stand.

Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions — Machiaveli

The ultimate authority must always rest with the individuals own reason and critical analysis. — Dalai Lama

My question to all of these vocal, well informed patriots would be: What is the state of your and your family’s self health care management? Is your diet, exercise and lifestyle habits such that you are doing all you can to create a foundation of health so as to contribute positively to the health care crisis. If you need further explanation, you have already answered the question. If your own self health care is not in order you have seriously damaged your credibility to comment on this issue. Without credibility the louder and more persistent the demagoguery, the more foolish it becomes and the more it supports the oppositional issue. When children act out in such a manner they are labelled by the medical community with ODD

Rigidity in the penis is good, but a poor choice in regard to perspective. –Unknown Zen Philosopher

From my perspective there is not enough mention, application or realization that the most effective contribution we can make to improving the state of health care is by taking responsibility for our own health.

My message is: Never assume you are informed enough and appropriate equal time to your continual education and application of a self health care plan as to listening and taking as verbatim propaganda that is designed to keep the uniformed misinformed.