We, and by we, I mean the people and the United States government combined, pay more for healthcare than any other country yet we are arguably the most unhealthy of any industrialized nation. I’m going to try not going to go into a predictable rant about what’s wrong with America. (Although I could and would enjoy it but you can read all about that and you already have your mind made up).

What I will say is this: I’m sick of hearing about greedy insurance companies. I’m sick of hearing it because it’s not the real problem. They wouldn’t need to charge astronomical rates to maintain their business and grow surplus so that they have a capacity for growth, which is necessary, if they didn’t have to pay out of their asses for claims and lawsuits… This leads me to a few questions about things that should actually make you sick. Why aren’t we focusing on greedy pharmaceutical companies? (Did you know that the price of drugs is based on the actuarial prediction of how much will have to be paid out in lawsuits due to the harm done by said drug!?)  Why aren’t people worried about the agendas pushed by doctors in the name of, you guessed it, money!? And their own science, which makes them more money and which is actually the designed science of the people who are in the business of making money by masking symptoms and taking advantage of a sick, sick society. Why stop there? Big Pharma wouldn’t even be a big deal if it wasn’t for Big Ag and an attempt to control the world’s food supply disguised as a solution for ending hunger. Why aren’t more people complaining about what is allowed in our food system? Let’s bring it full circle. Why aren’t people questioning the government involvement in our deterioration of health as a society by allowing our food supply to be poisoned and exempting anything that seems to have a good (albeit incredibly fake) intention?

Why aren’t people questioning why we need so many more drugs and doctors than the generations before us? And it’s not because we have more people. Why aren’t we connecting the dots when we find out that the nutrients in our soil are being rapidly depleted and our health seems to be moving at a similar rate? Alzheimer’s wasn’t a disease 150 years ago and that’s not just because there wasn’t a name for it. Think about it.

I don’t care who you vote for. What we need in this country is for our government to get out of bed with Big Food. (Or in the case of our First Lady, who was actually onto something, not bow down to them after the realization that your vision doesn’t fit into that of the select few companies who finance the government’s My Food Plate). And by the way, even if you don’t have much of it, you can choose to vote with your money. Maybe if we can affect the companies, we can get the attention of the government. That’s how it works, right?

What we have in this country is not health care, it is sick care. Nothing is going to change in this country until an emphasis is placed on actual health care and real preventative care. I’m not talking about more medical tests either. I’m talking about overcoming this dire situation and if you don’t believe it can be done… stop watching reality tv and start reading something.

Why would you settle for anything less than a long and healthy life in a country that supports it? Why do we accept that while the actual mortality rate may be going up, the age that we live as productive members of society is going down?

Maybe at this point we don’t bother going after the ACA, maybe we need to go after Coca-Cola and Pepsi (and Beyonce for that matter) and McDonald’s and Sara Lee and Lean Cuisine and Monsanto (threw that one in there on ya, Google it). And then go after the ease of marketing to prey on people who aren’t even afforded the right to know where their food is coming from and what’s happening to the air they’re breathing (I could go on in this department of what we think we’re getting and what we actually are). It’s time to question everything. It’s time to get to the root cause, in our crisis in this country as well as in our own health and happiness or lack of either. It’s time to stop looking at the insurance company or President Obama and start looking at ourselves and what might be behind EVERYTHING or even anything.

It’s one thing to not know better. So let’s get to know more and do better.

In my opinion, which I’m allowed to have (and don’t worry I have an Economics degree), tragic accidents, while devastating to an individual and expensive aren’t putting the strain on our health care system. Women birthing children, while a financial burden to them at that time and an everyday occurrence are not putting the strain on our health care system. Chronic disease and illness, recurring problems and numerous prescriptions and follow-ups and new referrals are putting the strain on our health care system and there are things we can do about that. Just some food for thought (no pun intended) for our government who may appreciate another thing to consider in their attempt to be even more involved. Be involved with companies for the right reasons; make them do better so we can be better.

So I’m assuming the people who wrote the Affordable Care Act have some time on their hands now and are clearly capable of doing shit that gets noticed. So I have some advice for them, which is inspired by an old Chinese proverb:

If you’re thinking one year ahead, implement a massive act to reform health care as we know it.  If you’re thinking ten years ahead, admit that there may be changes needed and that it our current situation may not be perfect.  If you’re thinking one hundred years ahead, stop funding sugar and covering up for the food companies who are giving us cancer. You might have a country full of crabby, sugar-withdrawn, angry, hungry (between meals, imagine that) people on your hands for a while. But at least in 100 years you will have a country of able people.