[Dialogue] What do we mean by a "right"?

[LAURELCG at aol.com]

Excellent summary, Janice. Thank you!
Jann McGuire
 
In a message dated 8/30/2009 8:46:15 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
aulangca at stny.rr.com writes:

What do we mean by a "right" - excellent question,  Susan.  Your comments 
raise the question of taking personal  responsibility rather than having 
everything handed to  us.  And from Jim W., what are basic human  needs, and who 
is the guarantor?  We might more easily agree about  the basic human needs 
rather than the question of "guaranteeing" their  fulfillment.
 
 
What about the role of government?  Some of us may  see government as an 
important part of the answer to fulfilling basic  human needs.  Others may see 
government as "big brother" ready to control  every aspect of life - 
encouraging us to give up liberty so that we  can be personally lazy.  If the 
government has a role, does it mean  that everyone sits back and waits for 
things to be delivered  to their doors?  Does this mean a government employee  
forcing everyone to have a yearly physical?  No to both  questions. 

 
I propose that "access" to being able to fulfill basic  human needs is a 
key criterion, combined with maximum personal effort.   These are times when 
huge systems of various kinds limit people's access - to  food, to living 
without the terrors of war in their neighborhoods,   to basic education,  to 
finding at least minimal employment,  to  basic shelter, and to basic health 
care.  Unless we begin to understand  the systems and their effects on 
individuals,  we cannot deal with the  contradictions individuals face.  
Governments can surely provide  unhelpful systems as well as being helpful.  
Corporations are generally  more nimble and clever than governments, and their 
systemic effects on  everything from the food supply, medications, employment,  
to making the  case for war, are huge now, both for better and for worse.  
 
How do we ensure access so that every person  is able through their efforts 
to meet the basic needs of themselves and their  families?  In our small 
city in the richest nation in the world the  churches that work with feeding 
the hungry (increasingly families with  children and 2 full-time low wage 
workers) are finding themselves close to  being swamped with new folks, 
breaking records each quarter  recently.  Those who help them say these are not 
lazy people.   Is it important to have individual  charity?  O yes.  Is it  
important to have a safety net such as food stamps available for everyone who  
needs it?  Yes again.  Those in my community who are most involved  with the 
charity of the free health clinic or the food pantries are very glad  for 
government involvement in providing basic programs for folks in need.  All 
systems need critiquing and participation towards improvement - and this  is 
part of what we need to do as citizens, as Those Who Care.   

This means more than just making existing systems work  more efficiently.  
It means asking questions about whether and how these  systems need to be 
changed.  
 
Our present health care system is so broken in so many  ways!  Do we need 
compatible electronic systems for health  records?  Do we need to standardize 
and simplify healthcare  billing?  Do we need to look at the effect of 
lawsuit settlements on the  cost of healthcare (tort reform)?   Do we need to 
look at  duplication of expensive diagnostic machines in the same city?   Do  
we need to change incentives in the way that primary care physicians are  
paid?  Do we need to be able to negotiate drug prices with  pharmaceutical 
companies?   Do we need to change incentives so  that health insurance 
companies are not most "successful" - profitable -  when they deny the most care?  
Do we need to look at providing  incentives for preventive care?   Do we need 
to look at hospital  services in a given area - are there too many beds?   
Are emergency  rooms swamped?  As the healthcare provider of last resort,   
hospitals have to find a way to pay for serving the uninsured - is  there a 
better way?  What is the effect on businesses - especially small  
businesses- of the cost of health care?   How do we  stimulate cost-saving, innovative 
competition in health  insurance?
 
These are some of the questions being discussed.   Lobbyists are working 
full-time to strategize the best deal for their  clients. We may not have the 
money they do, but we can make a  difference.
 
Janice Ulangca



 
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