It’s the second week of class here at San Diego State University. I’m sitting in my Public Health Occupations class and the only thing that I can regurgitate from the lecture was my teacher’s tangent about how Hillary Clinton’s health proposal will cost less than one-fourth the amount we have spent on the war in Iraq. Some economists even estimate that the cost of the war in Iraq could surpass one trillion dollars. It’s not my fault that the most interesting facts in class come from the faults of our Democratic government.
In that same health class, I’ve also learned that preventive care only costs pennies, yet the American government allows millions of people around the world to die of diseases like malaria. Every thirty seconds a child dies of malaria in one of the many "third world" countries of Asia and Africa. In America, every thirty seconds is devoted to studying for a test so we can earn a Bachelor’s degree, planning how we can make more money, or simply better our lives in some other way that others could only dream of.
It’s not that America is selfish, it’s the fact that Americans are deluded with this idea that our country is so great and is so altruistic; when in fact, America does not engage in helping other countries unless there is a monetary reward or some sort of trade that will benefit us more than the other country--hypocritical and depressing.
Growing up, I have always learned about how great of a democracy we are and how much we help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. All lies. They are all deceptions that an elementary student would never catch onto during their history lesson; but I am no longer in elementary school and now I am more educated when it comes to politics and economics. Now it is known that when the topic of health care is brought up, in accordance with politics, uproar will always arise, mostly due to the fact that there are 47 million Americans without any form of health care coverage—does this sound like a democratic value we take pride in? No. However, the government will talk about how we are the leading nation in medicine. Can you smell the propaganda? It really does reek. I guess being a leading nation that cares about their people is a little too much to ask for; so it makes sense that we are just settling for advertisements claiming how we are the best while also hiding the fact that we do not use this to an advantage.
A lack of charisma and a lack of true democratic characteristics, this is what the world’s greatest country has dropped down to. What does equality of rights and privileges mean to someone who cannot even see their doctor for a sinus infection because they do not fall under the “categorically needy” criteria for obtaining Medicaid or Medicare?
Another thing that amazes me is how we have so many debates about whether or not stem cell research is an act against God. Perhaps, and this is just a college student hypothetically thinking, we should stop exerting so much effort in these debates and apply all that energy toward actually making a difference in people’s lives right now. Besides, helping others and being generous takes a lot less time and effort than being pissed off at the opposing party and trying to prove your claim is right or better than theirs.
There is hope America. Sometime in the future, everyone is going to sit down and realize how much courage, devotion, money, and time was wasted on wars that made no difference except that they decreased our nation’s population and increased our nation’s total debt. Think of all the debates that did nothing but give people gray hairs and put our country in a state where citizens were constantly arguing their views. Is this how we want to be viewed in history?
The century of change, that has a nice ring to it. The 21st Century, the first century to start moving forward since the African-American Civil Rights Movement of the late 50s to early 60s.
America’s future elementary students would be learning about an America that really is altruistic and does not just state that they are. I only hope that these students, our future presidents, teachers, and doctors, are going to be living in an America much greater than the one we know and live in today.
