Health Care vs Natural Selection

Recently getting all of my impacted wisdom teeth surgically removed at the same time was one of those alien experiences for me. The entire process fascinated more than scared me. It was all like a field trip to an observatory, from looking at the neat x-ray of my entire mouth to actually being put under. The recovery process was no walk in the park either. At the same time I wouldn't call it painful and it wasn't annoying at all, at first. It got tedious around week three. It all reminds me that I'm very disconnected on so many levels. Was it pain? I don't know. I hurt but I wasn't dying. I have always thought that pain must hurt a lot worse. Much like dying! So, whenever I'm in pain I check to see if I'm dying and when I discover I'm not I have to wonder if the pain is all that painful.

Groups of these monkeys often establish
 a dominance hierarchy determined
by aggressive behavior. Just like us
and our health care system.

The experience brought to light the need for health care. I spoke to many people about the situation and a lot of them told me they need to have their wisdom teeth out too. That they had lived with the uncomfortable throbbing of those third molars for many years. They also made it very clear that the only reason they could not have them removed was not being able to afford it.

I lived with that throbbing annoyance of impacted wisdom teeth for ten years until I did not want to deal with it anymore. Thankfully when I was ready to deal with it I was able to pay a surgeon to extract. It was expensive. I was not happy with the bill. It dawned on me throughout this that people suffer a lot because they can't afford it. That may be common knowledge to some, but it still really frustrates me when I realize we still live in that kind of world.

It all makes me wonder that if we are all supposed to be equal loving human beings then why don't we take care of each other better? They have been arguing for a better health care situation endlessly. Nobody has come to an agreement and when they came close it was just more bull. We need to decide if we want to take care of everyone or let natural selection take its coarse.

I guess I am one of the few people who just wants the truth from their dictators. It's obvious that the people who can afford care get it and live. Just like those who can't get it either suffer and stagnate or die sooner. I want them to come out and tell us the truth. They need to tell us that health care is a luxury and if you can't afford it then you can't. Health care isn't a new Mercedes, yet that's exactly what they make it. But the people wouldn't like that. So they accept a carrot being dangled in front of them while being told, "Well, we just haven't figured it out yet!"

What exactly haven't they figured out about getting everyone health care? Maybe what they can't figure out is how in the world would we all survive if we were all better off? Maybe they have figured it out. It wouldn't work very well. Unfortunately we are what we are, creatures refusing to believe in natural selection and demanding to override it. I don't blame them. It's what we do! Humans, monkeys and insects alike.

It does not make me happy knowing that I get the relief in my mouth, sinuses and jaw that I always wanted, while others are basically not allowed to do so. It's almost aesthetic. It's a situation no one should have to deal with. If I needed a heart transplant I'd understand that it might cost money to save my life and that I might not be able to afford to save my life. But to have painful teeth removed and be kept from it? That's just deviously masochistic of "them" to put such a high price on.

We all may be victims of natural selection and unequal in wealth, power and safety. But I think if there's one thing we deserve it's the right to be slightly comfortable. It's the least we could do for each other in a world that boasts such things and rarely delivers.