Donna Smith (of 'SiCKO'): Tiny Tims and Our Nation's Healthcare Scrooges

Published on Thursday, November 19, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

Tiny Tims and Our Nation's Healthcare Scrooges
by Donna Smith


Some Americans will schlep into a local theater to check out Disney's latest 3-D version of "A Christmas Carol." They'll gather up the kids and worry about whether or not it's appropriate viewing or a little too scary for the wee ones.

Other Americans are planning holiday travel and bemoaning the tribulations they'll face in airports or at shopping centers as they buy their way through the traditions of the season.

For a huge number of people in these United States, there isn't too much to look forward to this holiday season and beyond. If Dickens were writing today in America, he'd find plenty of souls to take the roles in his classic Christmas tale - plenty of Tiny Tim's, plenty of ghosts past, present and future, and surely plenty of Marley's and Scrooges. That's what makes his tale a classic. It resonates through history, human nature being what it was then, what it is now and what it ever shall be.

But in our society, we kind of like it the Dickens way during Christmas. Doesn't it make many of us feel superior to throw a tidbit or two to the unfortunates? If only they worked as hard or smart as we do (or as hard as we think they should), our work ethic tells us they would not be in such a state. So we hold back from actually changing the conditions for the long haul. We don't want to give away through our social policy what we believe we earned by working hard, do we? .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/19-5