HEALTH CARE REFORM AND BEYOND

We promoted all our causes, especially Health Care Reform, through our booth in Ramona Fair 2009.

Ramona Forum is currently actively promoting a Health Care Reform that contains a Public Option, especially for uninsured and underinsured Americans. Ideally, we would like to have a Single Payer System similar to what exist in different forms in Canada, Sweden, U.K., and several other industrialized countries, although they are much less affluent compared to United States. However, even a Public Option has become a struggle.

Falsehoods

Ramona Forum is appalled about things people believe, which are blatant lies—commentaries presented as facts—that are easily refuted from factual documents or video records. It is worse than what were going around during last general election. A few examples are in order:

· The draft House bill on health care promotes euthanasia.

· The Bill removes all private insurance companies, and incorporates and installs only the public option.

The House bills are far from perfect, but that is not the issue. The Senate bills are worse. The issue here is that anybody can check the document, as large as they may be, and find out about the false claims a group of people are making.

Our Dave Patterson has written a letter to Ramona Sentinel. We publish the letter on our member essay page.  link

[The following is a commentary by dutta; you are encouraged to participate.]

Baffling

That brings another baffling issue. It seems a group of people are deliberately promoting falsehoods and, unfortunately, a good number of Americans are willing to believe them, without any kind of verification. Whatever happened to the Reagan doctrine that was proposed during cold war about Soviet Russia: ”Trust but verify”? On the other hand, what we, the progressives, are saying are not getting any foothold; it is the same when we are pointing out the falsehoods. Of course, without the vast cash flow from the health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and big broadcasting networks, the progressives have a comparatively feeble voice. Yet, it seems some group of people want to believe something, rather than inquire about them. The country is most likely conservative, but that should not promote blind following, ugliness in political discourse, or denying the constitutional rights of others. And choking of other voices as it is going around the country now. As the President said, “We need to talk to each other, not talk over each other.”  Another political factor is complicating the health care issue — the rightist political agenda of somehow embarrassing or defeating President Obama that they could not do at the general election in 2008.  

Hypothesis

Some say it is the brain that makes us entrenched in our position. Is it? Human Brain is a dynamic entity, not a static one. It changes with the experiences it encounters through our senses.

Or, is it the generational brainwash carried out—by choice—by some groups of people with power and money? Nobody is born liberal or conservative, they get there! There is no gene for being liberal or conservative! Nobody is born with bigotry and prejudice. Yet they become parts of belief system of some through perpetual promotions through generations—Generational Bigotry and Prejudice. Nobody is born with an attitude of ignorance rather growing up begins with newer and newer learning from experiences. The doctrine that being gullible and impressionable is human nature is not acceptable.

Or is it the a priori definitism of religious faith, which is also generational?

What killed the curiosity or the inquiring mind?

It may take generations to reverse the process.