Inquiry: It’s a lunatic asylum

It’s a lunatic asylum.

The US when it comes to some of the reactions to health care reform.

1. True?
   Yes. Sometimes seems that way. I can find stories saying so. I can find feelings apparently supporting it. I can find others who agree. (Especially here in Europe.)
2. Sure?
   No. Not at all. Just a story.
3. What happens when I take that story as true?
   • I go into stories supporting that initial thought.
     • Many of the reactions to Obama’s health care reform seem quite literally insane, including reactions from some otherwise smart and educated people. It goes far beyond just being uninformed or misinformed, although that is part of it.
     • Why don’t they take a look at the many countries with single payer health care? It works well there, so why such a reaction?
     • They are caught up in their own fantasies, and act as if they are true.
     • Why would they be so angry when someone is trying to give them good and affordable health care? What is so bad about that?
   • I get dismayed.
   • Also, I turn it against them. I tell myself if they are so crazy, they don’t deserve it. It is natural selection in action.
   • I tell myself how much more sane Europeans in general are.
   • I  also remind myself of how much money I spend in the US for education, health insurance and saving for retirement, when I would pay the same amount of taxes in Norway (in my income bracket) while having free education at all levels (through Ph.D and beyond), free health care, and no worries about not being taken care of in old age. It is actually far more expensive to live in the US, partly because of expenses for education, the very expensive and ineffective health care system, and private savings for retirement.
   • I have stories about what it does for people mentally to live without a safety net as US citizens do (and they do even if they tell themselves otherwise), and how much more at ease, trusting and relaxed people seem in Norway, partly because they know they are taken care of no matter what.
   • I tell myself that any civilized society would take care of their citizens. It is not only the kind and compassionate thing to do, but it supports the society as a whole and everyone benefits from it in very direct and obvious ways. Having a safety net for everyone, and the society as a whole (aka government) taking care of the weakest in society, so obviously benefits everyone.
4. Who would I be without it?
   • More clear. Curious. Friendly.
   • Interested in the validity of their views.
5. Turnarounds.
   • It is not a lunatic asylum.
     • No. Many – the majority – support single payer health care.
     • They believe their thoughts and act on them, as we all do. If anything, Earth is an insane asylum in that sense.
     • I am sure there is a grain of truth to what they say, although I haven’t really taken the time to find it yet.
   • I am a lunatic asylum.
     • Yes, when I believe that thought I am. I house insanity.
   • My thinking is a lunatic asylum.
     • Yes, again, when it is taken as true, it becomes insane. I pretend the story is true, even if I already – somewhere – know better.