[Oe List ...] Health care and "ideas" of what I/we can do

Fri Sep 4 20:00:49 CDT 2009

Great idea, Jon.  David, where shall we send our checks?

Susan

  _____  

From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf
Of jonzondo at juno.com
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 1:20 PM
To: oe at wedgeblade.net
Subject: [Oe List ...] Health care and "ideas" of what I/we can do

David, and everyone,
Thank you for sharing your story.
I am a part of a dance community that deals with these stories all the time.
What makes us "deal" with them is love and choice.
We are not perfect in our responses, however, we rarely no nothing.

Here's a perfect chance to do something with this community...
David, are you willing to share how much the surgury costs?  What is the
need?
If you are willing, then the next question is...
How many here on this listserve are willing to help?  

By the way, Please don't respond with a yes or no to this listserve.  This
is a rhetorical question unless the offer is accepted.  My idea may not be
the best idea.

I know that I am willing to give $10.00 without knowing what the true need
is.  
$10 is not much, but if 300 people give $10 then David's daughter has $3000
to work with.
(I have no idea how many are on this listserve).

Are there other ideas out there?
Can we think outside of the box?  outside of our box?

and yes, I have a story to share too... about my parents and their
interactions with our health care system.

Walk in Beauty,
Jon Mark Elizondo

---------- Original Message ----------
From: David Dunn <dmdunn1 at gmail.com>
To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe at wedgeblade.net>
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] What do we mean by a right? To Jim, Dave, et.al.
re: Conservativism
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 11:00:28 -0600

Colleagues

I listed what I thought were the implications of what Susan was asserting,
among them:

. caring about people is the purview of civil society and not of the public
sector  

To which Susan replied:

Yes, but not entirely.  Certainly I think the government has a role in
caring for its citizens, but not as the grand public teat that eliminates
all motivation to provide for yourself because everything is taken care of. 

In the clear light of Friday morning, it seems to me that the much more
helpful contribution I can make is to tell a story.

The job my daughter Ruah was slated to begin at Home Depot in Atlanta fell
through without explanation. The economy has dried up the in-home child care
that has been her fall-back "plan b" in the past. She continues to
diligently seek employment. 

She has a life-threatening condition that requires surgery. $100 a month in
child support makes her ineligible for Medicaid. The hospital to which she
was referred by a social worker was unable to attend to her, let alone help
her. Now, both her emotional wellbeing and her body are at risk. And her
father is writing an email to a listserv when he should be working.

An energetic 38-year-old single mom is now medically indigent because of a
series of unfortunate events beyond her control: the collapse of the Detroit
economy; the migration to Georgia in search of greater employment
opportunity; a recession and an Atlanta economy that has also "gone south." 

Because she does not have access to health care, she and her children are
without hope for health. All of this, in a society that professes belief in
"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but is unable to formulate a
workable consensus plan to provide for the first, and most basic need: the
lives of its citizens.

What's wrong with this picture?

Neither shouting about socialism, government coercion, or destroying our
society (at this summer's town hall meetings), nor the concern about a
public teat that destroys motivation and individual responsibility (in the
present dialog), speak the two most important questions in my life today:

1. How is my daughter going to get the surgery she needs?

2. How can I add something useful, grounded in concrete, innocent human
suffering, that would make a difference in my daughter's prospects for a
healthy, happy life?

I do not have the answer to either question. I acknowledge that posturing
about liberal this and conservative that does nothing to move us closer to
the answers.

I wonder how many others have stories to tell about family members or
friends who are without health care.

David

---
David Dunn
dmdunn1 at gmail.com

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