Forward Momentum

I’m going to get a little bit political here, so bear with me.

In 1979, I was 7 years old and the world looked very much like this:

And that was the last time a US President had diplomatic contact with Iran. The end of 1979 saw the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the election of Ronald Reagan. U.S. diplomatic sanctions made a matching set with the economic sanctions that had been steadily increasing. But things are changing. The Iranian people have overwhelmingly elected a moderate politician with the hopes that their daily lives can improve if their interaction with the rest of the world improves.

It seems to be working. On Friday, September 27, 2013, US President Obama placed a phone call to Iranian President Rouhani. That was the first crack in the thaw, heard the world over.

Here is why this is important to me in the context of this blog. The Iranian people, who through no tangible fault of their own, have been shouldering the severe burden of worldwide sanctions against their country. One of the more hard-hit group of Iranian people are chronically ill. Cancer medicine is scarce. As is medication for managing MS.

See, we got around to the point eventually. MS medication is life blood for people around the world, yet it can be so easily put out of reach.

And now I’m going to jump on my soapbox for a moment. If anyone ever asks why the Affordable Health Care Act is important, you can say that it’s because of me. You can tell them that—with all due respect—they are not looking at it correctly if they are thinking that this will cost the US more than it can afford.

One way or another, the US is going to have to help me. It is either going to guarantee that I can always be affordably insured or it will pay for my care under Medicaid because I am uninsurable.

I know it doesn’t seem fair to those of you who are healthy and fit. Why should you have to buy insurance so that I can get my meds?

The answer is simple: Because that is the only way society can work. We have to help each other out. We all have to be individually responsible and collectively companionate.

Here is the interesting phenomenon that is happening now. It seems to be working. 

It is happening despite the Federal government shutdown. People are discovering that this plan will actually benefit their lives and their families. The citizens of this country are learning that they can get the health care they need for a smaller cost than they were expecting. And all the while, the sky hasn’t fallen.