Caring & Sharing.

So today, right at noon, I jumped on my bed, turned on the radio, and laid there with ears wide open :D  Actually, this has now become a favorite Sunday ritual, as it's when KVSC-FM broadcasts the latest "Alternative Radio" program...

AR is a weekly one-hour public affairs program that "provides information, analyses and views that are frequently ignored or distorted in other media." Personally, I've found (time and again) that AR programs really open my mind and make me think about things differently.  It's always interesting, and invariably I end up learning something that enlarges my viewpoint.

Well, today's show, titled "Dying Younger Than We Should", was no different.  I think it should be a "must-hear" for everyone, and wish that the main points were common knowledge in the mass media.  Today's speaker, Stephen Bezruchka, offered an insightful exploration on the differences between health and health care...

First, he pointed out that if the U.S. was compared to other countries in terms of overall health (like a "Health Olympics"), it wouldn't be at the top on any measures. He also mentioned that, at certain times in the past (like the 1950s & 1970s), the U.S. was doing much better than now.

He then discussed what has changed, and what needs to be improved to stop this country from falling further behind.  Bezruchka argued that to do better, we need to improve things like: having a smaller gap between rich and poor, more paid vacation time, requiring longer maternity leaves, living longer overall, and seeing more people describe themselves as happy...

Another factor in this was being compensated (by the state) if you got laid off, receiving training for a better job, and help in landing such a job.  So in general, the ideas he promoted involved more involvment by the state to improve lives (without it requiring people to feel humiliated, such as when taking food stamps).

Bezruchka went back to the Constitution for the basis that the government should be involved to this extent.  Specifically, he cited its goal for people to have "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".  He also added that we shouldn't just encourage people to pursue happiness, but help them actually obtain it.

Bezruchka also stressed that we can't look at our own lives as just our own lives.  Because in reality, our happiness, statistically speaking, depends on others around us also being happy (or at least happier).  So, when you make other people happy you also make yourself happy...

He summed up this kind of culture as a "caring and sharing" approach.  This is because ultimately, as a society, you're better off focusing on good health rather than good health care (though you need that too).  Anyway, it looks like the key 2 me.