Sonny's Corner
"Sonny's Corner" is a regular column in Prairie Fire, featuring commentary on civil rights and justice issues. Our friend and Omaha colleague, Joseph P. "Sonny" Foster, died suddenly at age 54 in August 2005. He left an uncompleted agenda, as did many of our civil rights and justice mentors and heroes. We shall attempt to move forward on that unfinished agenda through this column.
Given the amount of hyperventilation that is taking place by some participants in the health care and health insurance reform debate, we urge continued thoughtful and civil discussions. The rhetorical food fights replayed after numerous public meetings are a disappointment. Fear and anger are not satisfactory explanations of bad behavior. The U. S. health care system is far too complex for any of us to understand without hard examination of the facts and critical comparisons of the trade-offs that inevitably will occur as any component is adjusted.
There are many of us who are not totally satisfied with the status quo, but we cannot hear each other (or, for that matter, even think about what you are saying) if you are screaming at us.
In regard to the warnings of looming socialized medicine, many Americans have had successful encounters with several forms of socialized medicine in the U.S. Whether we have received health and medical services through a college or university, through Medicare or through the various components of the U.S. military, the access was immediate, the treatment was prompt and the outcome was almost always excellent.
Prairie Fire is not arguing for the adoption of one system or another. But we do decry those who scream “socialized medicine” in an attempt to end thoughtful discussion.
Your publisher has visited every province and territory throughout Canada some 25 or 26 times over the past 20 years, which has resulted in a delightful education in all matters Canadian. We do not recognize the actual Canadian health care system from the polemics now being broadcast on American television. Prairie Fire is not urging adoption of the Canadian health care system in the United States. What we are urging is that the citizens and decision makers become better acquainted with all health care systems through direct study and examination and not through advocacy infomercials.
The repeated reference to death panels is laughable to those of us who have accompanied loved ones through the end-of-life’s journey—laughable in the sense that (to us) successful end-of-life journeys are the result of serious discussions between the person concerned, family members and/or doctors about the types of care to be provided. Many times a decision is reached to withhold certain types of care in order to avoid spending a huge amount of money during the last few weeks of life. Moreover, oftentimes these costly end-of-life procedures diminish the quality of life for the patient and provide no real benefit. Many of us who have had the financial ability to be involved in end-of-life discussions have found them to be profoundly uplifting and have found greater humanitarian insight. We want the reforms now being discussed to include the ability to make these end-of-life discussions universally available. The indiscriminate hurling of the “death panels” accusation will not get us there.
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