October 2009

Behind the politics, potential success and costs of healthcare reform, there are the values it reflects and is meant to serve. For example, is healthcare a right or a commodity? If it is a right, what ought to be the terms of the debate, the missing provisions in a bill? If it is a commodity, how ought it or would it intersect with the public good? The seesaw between these two poles forms the basis of our conflict, one that seems to pervade how we think of any possible answers. At this point in American history, it is doubtful that a sufficient percentage of lawmakers or of the public would agree that healthcare is a right. Similarly, while the percentage of those opting for healthcare as a commodity could possibly turn out to be higher, it may also not be enough of a majority to resolve the fundamental disagreement. It could be that we’re not ready for the former and past the latter which may mean that we would need to find a way to make healthcare a right while preserving its being a commodity. The task, while it explains the many difficulties of the issue, may not be as much as a tall order as it sounds. There are many examples abroad and in the US, Medicare for one (it may be a government program, but the services are delivered through the private sector).

There’s a new lawyer’s referral service based in Boca Raton, Fla and serving several states called WhocanIsue.com. There are many such services, and they can be quite useful when one needs a lawyer and doesn’t know where to turn. And yet there’s something about this one that is cause for concern, or at the very least thought. Does its name declare its intent? Is its name designed to appeal to a suing-hungry public, people who hope that through a lawsuit or the possible ensuing settlement they will be that much richer? In the context of finding a lawyer, the name evokes the notion that what is legal and what is right do not always coincide. As such it makes one wonder whether the thrust behind this web site is to generate lawsuits or to pursue justice?

Across from the entrance of the old MGM, now Sony Studios, in Culver City, CA there’s a gourmet tea and coffee shop. The Assam tea sells for several dollars an ounce and the coffee, which is not any cheaper, is roasted on the premises and sold no later than 10 days later. Most of it is sold much sooner. On the day I was there a batch was almost gone and had been roasted only four hours prior. The aroma was of course beguiling and in many ways symbolic of the luxury inherent in high quality teas and coffees.
When I came home I did my usual reading of this and that paper and periodicals. A newsletter written by the World Bank caught my attention. Amnesty International issued an emergency alert for Sierra Leone where one in eight women risks dying during pregnancy or childbirth. It is a country where there are 78 doctors for 5.8 million people.
How unreal luxuries must seem when basic necessities aren’t within reach. We live with the world’s inequalities, often forgetting or taking them for granted. Still they exist and it remains our task to lessen them.