Time Magazine on Health Care

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Jared Sulzdorf

My family has always had a subscription to TIME Magazine, and because of that I've always had a weak spot for the magazine.  Even though there are other, better written news magazines out there, and even though there are times that I want to slap the editors, I still come back to TIME.  ("Time after time" is now stuck in my head...)  So, when I saw TIME's newest issue on health care reform I had to pick it up and read. 

As usual, the main article was 95% fluff with about 5% decent commentary/opinion, but it's the opinion articles that come after the cover piece that I'm always interested in.  True to form, four pages later, an article written by Joe Klein, titled "Democracy's Discontent," takes on the issues and makes an elegant argument.  Klein believes that the problems facing Obama are many, but two obstacles provide most of the resistance. 

Klein writes: 

"One of the most difficult things to do in a democracy is react to a problem that is real, but not immediately threatening. Obama is trying to do this in two monster areas, health care and climate change."

Anybody that has studied American history knows that we're extremely practiced at ignoring problems until they are staring us right in the face.  It's human nature.  Why deal with something that we can deal with later?

The second problem Klein discusses is, in my opinion, a far more serious concern.  Special interest groups are dominating and directing the conversation.  That's not to say that special interest groups are a demonic hegemon in American politics.  Such groups are vitally important, and provide outlets for individuals interested in solidarity and effecting change.  What's at issue here is that these special interest groups aren't interested in the health of American citizens, but in the health of their own pocketbooks. 

It's disingenuous to say that the current system isn't broken.  One of the biggest reasons to keep the current system in place is to ensure that the individuals profiting off of current insurance policies continue to profit.  Coupled with the fear and uncertainty that change always brings, we are looking at a political stalemate that will have far reaching ramifications, even beyond what we can currently envision.

 

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'Gatesgate' and Race

Posted on August 3, 2009 by Jared Sulzdorf

When Barack Obama was elected President, there was immediately talk of how racial tensions in the United States had gone by the wayside now that we had a "man of color" in the Oval Office.  If the recent hullabaloo over Harvard 'scholar' (side note:  I wish that I was a 'scholar' somewhere.... are there applications to be a scholar at Ivy League universities?) Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s arrest in his home is indicative of anything, it's that as a country we are far from moving past race as an issue.  And that's not a bad thing at all; from several different perspectives.

First off, for anyone that was naive enough to think that racism was a thing of the past, this serves as a wake up call.  While I'm the first to admit that this situation has become an over-hyped victim of the 24-hour news cycle, it has also been an excellent reminder that race and racism is still a hot topic in America.  During President Obama's hour-long news conference on health care reform two weeks ago, two minutes were dedicated to this topic. What was the news the next morning? 'Gatesgate' (second side note: If this entire situation has taught us anything, it's that the media really needs to stop adding 'gate' to every scandal).  As a country, we are still hyper-sensitive about racism, and, as I said at the beginning, that's not a bad thing.  Racism is still a problem in this country, and should be focused on as such.  The only problem I saw with the story was how it was covered.  This type of coverage, without a serious and sincere discussion on the problems of racism in a forum not driven by ratings, cheapens the topic. 

Secondly, American is the quintessential 'melting-pot.'  As such, it's difficult to identify with any sort of 'American' culture, because (aside from patriotism, NASCAR, and country music) there really isn't a dominant American culture.  In the United States, we take from different cultures and add them to the mainstream as they grow in popularity.  This type of cultural environment means that many individuals and communities hold tightly to their race and unique culture because it is central to their identity.  That is what America is all about:  The freedom to choose how you express yourself insofar as it does not infringe on another person's ability to live and express themselves.  

Race should always be a topic in America, it just shouldn't define how we interact with each other.  We should all be able to sit down and have a beer with one another. 

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