Or lack there of.
This semester I am taking an Intro to Social Work & Social Welfare course. To say that it has opened my eyes is an understatement.
Previously I already sort of knew that the USA was not as top notch as it is thought out to be. I knew that we have our flaws and our government could do a lot getter.
I knew that our "freedom" is not exactly free.
I knew that America is not what it has been perceived as.
Back to my class. So far during this course we have watched two videos (links below); one about America being more poor than we think it is, and the other compared America's health care system to 5 other countries.
In comparison, we suck man.
America's health care system is ranked 37th in the world.
T H I R T Y S E V E N T H ? ! ? !
Excuse me, if we are ranked that low.. how the hell are we considered the "best country in the world"? I don't know about you but I think that we should be ranked a lot higher in health care if we are considered the best. Thirty seven is no number one.
In the first video, I was shocked to learn that the majority of the US population is living below the poverty line. The video shared many stories of people in poverty all around the country. The one that shocked me the most was about a community where most of the children in the elementary school were not getting meals outside of the school day because their family couldn't afford to feed them. One little girl explained that her mom gave her a rat for dinner. A rat?! SERIOUSLY? Next was a story that is located in the Detroit area of Michigan. People who are homeless seek room in homeless shelters.. when there is no room they get pointed in the direction of tent cities. Basically meaning that in the woods many tents are set up, creating a mini town for the homeless. Why are people being referred to this tent cities when there are thousands of foreclosed homes and abandoned neighborhoods nearby? Shouldn't the government try and fill those empty houses? Or convert those foreclosed homes into shelters? Something? Anything? Who knows. Another story that was shared described a community that lived underneath Las Vegas in the drainage systems. Basically a whole city of homeless people live below Vegas. They have their own population, own government down there... a whole unheard of city below ground. In America? Yes. In the best country in the world. A whole city of people live in poverty below Vegas, where millions, billions, and trillions of dollars are used daily. What if people gave their gambling money to the city beneath them? Just for one day? It could change those people's lives. The last story is one that saddens me. An older man, past retirement age, is still working full time and has had some injuries and pains in his stomach. He refuses to go to the doctor because he doesn't want to get a bill in the mail. He said he won't be able to pay it off, so he refuses. He knows that he will probably die at an earlier age because of his current health, but he doesn't want to get that medical bill in his mailbox. His wife has begged him to go to the hospital for years but he still refuses.
The second video compared our health care system to the five other country's; England, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan and Germany. The narrator/interviewer in this video asked leaders of the other 5 countries how many of their citizens have gone bankrupt because of medical bills. Every single on of them looked at the man with a confused and distraught face, replying with "no". Saying that if that were to happen in their country there would be an uproar. That it simply would never happen. These other countries have systems set up where their citizens either never pay bills for their health care, or bills that are just a fraction of what we would pay here in America. They also make sure that every single person is covered, meaning the government pays for the poor. The wait time to get services is basically the same as it is here. The main downfall to their systems is that their doctors do not get paid as much as American doctors do. But a point that was made in the video.. American doctors pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical school and it takes them years to pay off loans. In some other countries, all education is free, no student loans.
Now, why the hell is our system still around? Our people are avoiding getting help, going bankrupt from bills... how is that okay!? President Obama tried to fix it with Obamacare but of course the republicans did not want to cooperate? Why is that?? Because a democrat wanted to help our citizens?
Why is it that our health care system only cares about making a profit. In the other countries, they care solely on helping their citizens. Why is America all about the market, the money and the profits? What happened to being the best country to live in? The safest country to live in? What happened to the American Dream? Government killed the opportunities to do so. America is so self centered that we do not care about the people. The only thing that is on our mind is money.
Equal right to an education. Equal right to vote. What about the right to health care and services? Shouldn't America make that a priority?
Poor America:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/poor-america/
Sick Around the World:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1050712790/
This semester I am taking an Intro to Social Work & Social Welfare course. To say that it has opened my eyes is an understatement.
Previously I already sort of knew that the USA was not as top notch as it is thought out to be. I knew that we have our flaws and our government could do a lot getter.
I knew that our "freedom" is not exactly free.
I knew that America is not what it has been perceived as.
Back to my class. So far during this course we have watched two videos (links below); one about America being more poor than we think it is, and the other compared America's health care system to 5 other countries.
In comparison, we suck man.
America's health care system is ranked 37th in the world.
T H I R T Y S E V E N T H ? ! ? !
Excuse me, if we are ranked that low.. how the hell are we considered the "best country in the world"? I don't know about you but I think that we should be ranked a lot higher in health care if we are considered the best. Thirty seven is no number one.
In the first video, I was shocked to learn that the majority of the US population is living below the poverty line. The video shared many stories of people in poverty all around the country. The one that shocked me the most was about a community where most of the children in the elementary school were not getting meals outside of the school day because their family couldn't afford to feed them. One little girl explained that her mom gave her a rat for dinner. A rat?! SERIOUSLY? Next was a story that is located in the Detroit area of Michigan. People who are homeless seek room in homeless shelters.. when there is no room they get pointed in the direction of tent cities. Basically meaning that in the woods many tents are set up, creating a mini town for the homeless. Why are people being referred to this tent cities when there are thousands of foreclosed homes and abandoned neighborhoods nearby? Shouldn't the government try and fill those empty houses? Or convert those foreclosed homes into shelters? Something? Anything? Who knows. Another story that was shared described a community that lived underneath Las Vegas in the drainage systems. Basically a whole city of homeless people live below Vegas. They have their own population, own government down there... a whole unheard of city below ground. In America? Yes. In the best country in the world. A whole city of people live in poverty below Vegas, where millions, billions, and trillions of dollars are used daily. What if people gave their gambling money to the city beneath them? Just for one day? It could change those people's lives. The last story is one that saddens me. An older man, past retirement age, is still working full time and has had some injuries and pains in his stomach. He refuses to go to the doctor because he doesn't want to get a bill in the mail. He said he won't be able to pay it off, so he refuses. He knows that he will probably die at an earlier age because of his current health, but he doesn't want to get that medical bill in his mailbox. His wife has begged him to go to the hospital for years but he still refuses.
The second video compared our health care system to the five other country's; England, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan and Germany. The narrator/interviewer in this video asked leaders of the other 5 countries how many of their citizens have gone bankrupt because of medical bills. Every single on of them looked at the man with a confused and distraught face, replying with "no". Saying that if that were to happen in their country there would be an uproar. That it simply would never happen. These other countries have systems set up where their citizens either never pay bills for their health care, or bills that are just a fraction of what we would pay here in America. They also make sure that every single person is covered, meaning the government pays for the poor. The wait time to get services is basically the same as it is here. The main downfall to their systems is that their doctors do not get paid as much as American doctors do. But a point that was made in the video.. American doctors pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical school and it takes them years to pay off loans. In some other countries, all education is free, no student loans.
Now, why the hell is our system still around? Our people are avoiding getting help, going bankrupt from bills... how is that okay!? President Obama tried to fix it with Obamacare but of course the republicans did not want to cooperate? Why is that?? Because a democrat wanted to help our citizens?
Why is it that our health care system only cares about making a profit. In the other countries, they care solely on helping their citizens. Why is America all about the market, the money and the profits? What happened to being the best country to live in? The safest country to live in? What happened to the American Dream? Government killed the opportunities to do so. America is so self centered that we do not care about the people. The only thing that is on our mind is money.
Equal right to an education. Equal right to vote. What about the right to health care and services? Shouldn't America make that a priority?
Poor America:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/poor-america/
Sick Around the World:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1050712790/