EXTRA CREDIT

Maggie Cohen

EXTRA CREDIT

Kay Tillo: Single Payer Health Care: A Human Right

Is something wrong with American’s health care? I never really had much of an opinion on this subject, because currently I am on my parents company insurance, I never had to worry about the costs, effects, and problem in the health care system. I went to this presentation by Kay Tillo, which started out with several eye opening f facts concerning American health care. America has the highest number of infant mortality of six developed countries, which is three times as high as Sweden. Also compared with these same six countries America has the highest number of maternal fatality. This isn’t okay, so now when I am asked is something wrong with America’s health care? I can now answer yes, and something needs to be done.

The problem with America’s health care, is single payer people can not afford the high costs that health care is, or the health insurance companies are denying people coverage due to diseases or previous illnesses, they only agree to cover the healthiest people. My best friends mom is a survivor of breast cancer, and she isn’t eligible to be accessible for health insurance for five years. This is an injustice in health. The number of uninsured people is increasing one million each year. Not having health insurance is a problem in itself, but it also effects people in other ways, people are unable to pay their bills, they are racking up medical debt, and they are getting numerous calls from collection agency’s. People’s socio economic status is critical to health care, and with the economy in a bad situation, the problem is only increasing and premiums and profits are only rising. We need a real health care reform before our premium takes all our income; this is predicted to happen if nothing changes.

In this presentation several examples were given about people who severely suffered and still are, due to America’s serious health care problem.  In most examples the results were death due to not being able to afford treatment, not being able to get surgery, or individuals could not afford their medications. One man killed himself because of the stress he was going through and the stress it was putting on his family. They gave one example where a lady got a free mammogram, had breast cancer, but couldn’t afford any of the treatment, and shortly after she died. One elderly man had a double hernia, the surgeon agreed to operate for $500 for each hernia, but he couldn’t afford the hospital cost of $8,000. Is this okay America that people are dyeing because of a system that doesn’t work but we are not doing anything about?

Single payer solution just might be the answer, it is the soul of democracy, to care and protect the people in our country. To offer freedom and health care for a lifetime. Where individuals can pick their doctors, their hospitals, ect. This will give total access to healthcare for all residents of America; no one will be denied care. What can we as citizens do? Well in order for single payer to go into effect, we need official support, so we need to elect officials who support this. Insurance now is all commercial, and this is the problem, it can not be in the solution. This is a movement, a call to action. We need to remove the private profit insurance corporation, this “profit” is a huge problem, it produces as much profit for stockholders, which cuts back insurance and insurance only the healthiest people.

This solution will fund health care publically, covering everyone automatically. This is a humane system. America needs to catch up with the other industrialized countries. The money to publically fund this healthcare reform will come from the taxes of all residents, these taxes will be less than premiums, co-payments, deductibles, and co-insurance. Of the 435 politicians, 72 are in favor of this movement, we need to get this number to majority. The reasons the politicians are against this, has nothing to do with the future of America and their people, but the fact that these insurance companies fund a lot of money to these politicians campaigns. This is a big change that is blocked by the big corporations, so in order to put the single payer solution into affect we have to build this from the people up.

Is this a human right? I think as a human and a citizen of the United States I have the right to know I will always have access to health care. Our tax dollars go to the roads we drive on, so why not pay taxes to help us live healthier lives, and not have to worry about the expensive aspects of healthcare now days.  We do things socially, why not health care? 

Global Days of Rage: Democracy Now

Global Day’s of Rage

“Occupy Wall Street”

Maggie Cohen

On October 15, 2011 the global days of rage sprung into action. The “occupy Wall street” protest that had been going on for a little over a month continued to arise bringing on hundreds and thousands of people all around the world. Over 1,000 cities around the world are participating in this global protest, 100 being in the United States. This is a movement, in hopes to remake and transform the economy; it is shifting the way people about themselves and the world to create a society that people know is possible. This “occupy wall street” has now led to “occupy the world” where thousands of protesters from Japan, Greece, London, Latin America, Italy, and the United States, this led into the global days of rage. People are tired of the corporate greed and untrustworthy Supreme Court decisions. Our globes stock market is down, there are several ecological collapses, and unemployment is high, people refer to his system as irrational and believe it has failed us, and is only setting the world up for more failure in the future. These protesters are against the bankers, corrupt politicians who are doing nothing to solve this huge mess, and the big corporate businesses. These protesters took action and are starting a huge political movement to start over, to stop the system from collapsing causing many people to struggle. The people are rising against these big systems to begin a “revolution, evolution, and transformation. “ Danny Glover stated in the Democracy Now Global Days of Rage video. Protestors are standing up to be the change they want to see, to raise awareness, to remake this economy. They want to ensure that the this transformation is institutionalized and that big corporate are not taking over. These protestors are very committed to this, the same people come out day to day to stand up for what they truly believe in and know is right. Labor unions, community groups, and student groups are all taking part in this movement. People feel failed in their homes, communities, states and countries, the big bankers got bailed out, but the average American is still struggling. Why do political acts not do anything about this rising problem, this is left in the hands of these protesters, and they aren’t giving up. What about our future? These people feel they are not represented though democracy, so this protest is their final voice that will get heard. So until this problem gets taken seriously, and someone does something, people will be in thousands of cities in search for a resolution on economic inequality, chanting “WE ARE The 99%.” 

10 THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO ME

1.       Education

2.       Careers

3.       Family (meaningful relationships)

4.       Money

5.       Technology (i.e medicines, ect.)

6.       Charity/ volunteerism

7.       Recyncling/enviroment

8.       Faith

9.       Health

10.   Character

"Occupy Wall Street"

Starting in the streets of New York on September 17,2011 and now spreading to different states in America, protesters are filling the cities of our country for the “Occupy Walls Street” protest.  What exactly does this mean? To the protesters this is a motion to raise awareness and as citizens be a leader in society. These protesters are pulling together as a community to be leaders in the public. “Occupy Wall Street” is a people powered movement where these protesters are saying enough is enough. These protesters are over this financial crisis they find themselves in. They feel failed by the government, thinking their greed, inconsistency, and unreliability is what demolished the economy.  They are protesting against major banks and multinational corporations in hope to achieve economic justice. Wall Street protesters are blaming Wall Street for the economy crumple and the great recession they have found themselves to be in. They feel that they were the ones who bailed these big businesses out and in return they are relying on these corporations to prevent America from a future crisis, by spending millions of dollars, which comes from us.

Since this is a protest is in major cities, now 1,500 cities globally, the cops are definitely a part of this. Cops are “watching” and “protecting” our communities during this protest, well this is what they are supposed to be doing. Instead, they are arresting innocent people, they are pepper spraying protesters for no reason other then for the signs they are holding, and they are violently taking people to the ground just because they are involved in the protest, this is all caught on camera. These cops aren’t protecting these protesters or their rights. This is freedom of speech and how these cops are interrogating these protesters is absolutely wrong and shouldn’t be allowed. It is even more wrong that these police officials actions are caught on camera and all over the news, and it still goes on, if something needs to be brought to the government’s attention it should be that.

The point to this protest makes sense; this is our future we are talking about and as of now our economy is awful. The number of unemployment is increasing, which scares me because I hear about people’s situations all the time, where college graduates cannot find jobs. Then again I completely disagree with this protest, these people want the government to take from those who work and give to those who don’t, this is defined as socialism, which the rest of the world has tried and failed! This protest is a lazy excuse for people to complain to the government why they don’t have money, they can protest 9-5, but cannot go work. I will not let these protesters “occupy” my mind. 

Flaws in Education: Blame it on the Government

            Education and the Crisis of Capital           

It is clearly evident that there needs to be a change in our public schooling system. Education is important, whom we are educating is the future, and how we educate them is everything. I have read many articles and facts about public education and the flaws our country has with it and I’m sorry to say I do agree with the critics. I went to public school from Kindergarten until I graduated high school in 2010, and this is bad to say but I easily breezed my way through high school (which is what is supposed to prepare you for college).  I used to think school was important, until my teachers seemed to stop caring, which resulted in me to stop caring and trying as hard as I could. Do you see the pattern?

I blame this on the government; they were the ones who stopped caring. If education really is such an important aspect in life, which yes it is, then why has the budget for public education funding decreased majorly in the past few decades? Does our government want us to succeed? Does our government want us to be better? Maybe if the government took public education more seriously teachers and students would too. In the article “Education and the Crisis of Capital” it says “the correspondence principle, or the notion that the “social relations of education” normally correspond to the social relations of production in capitalist society.” Well in this case, our education is about as important and unstable as our market, this is sad. I’m sad to that that I am scared for the future of this country in the educational point of view.

Another crucial flaw in the public education system is what are we learning? Well we are learning and following the same system as we did in 1916, that is almost one hundred years ago and life from then to now is one hundred percent different. Very little of the schooling at the elementary and secondary levels is oriented to developing actual skills, which is needed in every living situation and every career. Very little knowledge is attained through these years of education either. It is possible though but only through private schooling, which most people do not go to due to the extremely high costs. When looking at the public education verses private education, private schooling is much more funded and generates a governing class; this cannot be said about public education.

Standardized testing is what defines public education. Teachers barely have any say or freedom in what to teach because everything in public schooling is evaluated by standardized testing. In the article “Education and the Crisis of Capital” it says, “Likewise, Ellwood Cubberley, an influential education administrator, and superintendent of San Francisco’s public schools, wrote in 1916 in his Public Administration: “Our Schools are, in sense, factories in which the raw products (children) are to be shaped and fashioned into products to meet the various demands of life.” To bad this isn’t the case anymore in 2011, our schools are bent and pushed to the side to meet the basic needs of society. 

And the Bigger Problem....

“Teachers Wonder, Why the Scorn?”

            To sum up the article, “Teachers Wonder, Why the Scorn?” teachers are being threatened, per-say, to get laid off or get a salary cut for one of a few reasons. Either due to low-standardized test scores, they don’t have “seniority protection”, or the government feels as if they are not doing their job. I find this ironic because in Ken Robinsons video clip I watched in class he touches on this same subject, just viewed in a different way, instead of criticizing the teachers his fingers are pointed in the direction of the government.

            Our government says students standardized testing scores are low, yes well maybe they are, this could result in bad teaching yes, but lets be honest not every teacher is bad, being a student, I had more good teachers the bad. I think it results in bad standardized testing. Like it as stated in the video, these big yearly tests the states have us taking are broken down into what they think is appropriate for each grade level to have the knowledge of, and each grade level is broken down by age, well what if some kids who are the same age are more or less advanced then others and know more or less? Which I believe is almost always true.

            Teachers are being laid off because they have only been in the school system for three years as opposed to 20, so they don’t have those seniority privileges. Seriously, really, are you kidding me? If this is the way the school system is ran then no wonder it is failing, the people running it are failing. Some of the younger teachers have so much knowledge, spunk, and motivation to be a amazing teacher and they have more chance of loosing their job compared to someone who has been teaching longer, who easily and most likely does take advantage of this system and can get away with being a lazy teacher. Government cant ask why the schools are the way they are, it is because Government is the way it is.

            In the article “Teachers wonder, why the scorn?” Tony Bennett, a young teacher who was laid off due to seniority privileges, said, “This is in no way, shape or form an attack on teachers; it is a comprehensive effort to reform a system.” If teachers aren’t doing their job then yes, they should be fired, education is a very important subject, and they are teaching the future of our world, our children. I agree with the intentions the Government and authority has to make our schooling system as good and advanced as possible. But we live in a very advanced time right now, much more then in the past, how do people think we can learn the same way as we did years and years ago? We are trying to meet the future, doing everything the same as the past and we are getting nowhere.

What is your America?

“Where do you think you are? Some Place like America?”

            Everyone is well aware of the economic crisis we are dealing with and facing today. Or so I thought I was well aware, I thought that the problems were getting “dealt” with and it was just taking time to rebuild the many companies and restore the financial issues that tumbled down in 2008.  After reading this foreword, “Some Place like America?”, by Bruce Springsteen, my opinion changed a lot. I have heard people compare our present times to the Great Depression, but I always blew it off. I almost feel like the government and all the “important” people, these who we as a country have put our trust into, have been lying to us, or at least they have been trying to keep the worst a secret from us, leading us to believe crisis really isn’t a crisis. Sad to say but they have done a pretty good job, at least with the people in my generation, who have the potential to be hit the hardest from this economy failure. This downfall in the economy never worried me before, now I am scared for my future and the future of my country.

            “Some place like America” took me back through the past and let me relive in it, it brought back and referred to books written by people who lived and survived the Great Depression, the hardship and battles they faced and their will recover from this disaster. This reading made me recognize that the people we give our trust too fail us, lie to us, and surely don’t listen to us. Springsteen says its perfecting, “trillions for the titian. Crumbs for the rest.” Meaning every focus to rebuild this economy was immediately directed towards the wealthy, the ones who had money and weren’t struggling. So why are officials bragging saying our country did not hit a Great Depression when nothing has been done for the low-income Americans, who have been hit the hardest and are still bleeding. Also, the people we rely on for safety, like our police, harass homeless people who are simply just sleeping.

            It is all bullshit. Our government says that we are doing everything possible to avoid a Great Depression, but it seems to me we are doing everything to sink ourselves closer to hitting rock bottom. We got ourselves in this mess the same way we got out, and our country still continues to do things and procedures the same way they did the first time, which is why we failed again. Instead of listening to the people, they just ignore us. So this is when I think back to the title, “Where do you think you are? Some place like America?” and wonder where am I? Am I in a free country, where we are increasing and advancing in life, with safety, stability, and security or am I in a place where money is always tight, living from pay check to pay check, taxes get to high, health insurance in too expensive to afford, and jobs are scarce? What America is to some people, it is the complete opposite for others.