This slice of life is an interesting example of the problems in the health care debate. It is a wonder why the average American continues to advocate against their own interests.
How does Texas health care measure up nationally and internationally? How are their senators, congressmen, state legislators working to improve the health of the average Texan? Protecting malpractice? Killing Texans? Prosecuting nurses?
Check this out: Nurse trial
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The rescue effort has ended. The recovered bodies are being disposed at the dump. And yet, the supplies that pile up at the airport still continue to barely trickle to those in need. People continue to die. Why?
During World War Two, the troops and supplies that needed to be moved were exponentially larger than today. We managed large operations in Europe and the Pacific with speed and efficiency. Operations in Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy, and southern France were accomplished in short order. In the Pacific, the Marines island hopped their way to Japan. In one operation, they traveled over 3000 miles from San Diego to take a small Pacific island, the longest invasion in history to that point. During World War One, when we were ill prepared for combat, over a half-million men were deployed in France in only two months.
After the world wars, our nation was able to accomplish logistical marvels such as the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift. During the sixties, we could go to the moon. But what has happened since? How quickly and efficiently can we react? For the most part, the answer is poorly.
In Iraq and in Afghanistan, we can barely move a brigade a month. Instead of millions of men, it is thousands. During Katrina in New Orleans, and now in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, our rescue and recovery efforts drag on and on. We no longer can go to the moon. For a nation that was able to recover quickly from the San Francisco earthquake, build massive dams, railway networks and interstate highways, we have become of unable to do anything. Our “can do” has become “can’t do”.
For the last thirty to forty years, we have allowed our country to be outsourced. The mercenaries and contractors have taken us over, and we don’t even know it. Our fears from the Vietnam Conflict compelled us to maintain an all volunteer army at the great expense of outsourcing its logistics. Our capitalistic “free-market?” system has allowed the rich and powerful to cash out our manufacturing and services. We no longer make anything or do anything. We just shuffle funny money around, until someone notices it is worthless.
As the cause du jour of Haiti is fading from our short attention spans, we can be sure of one thing: another disaster is right around the corner. Will we be ready? Will we wake up?
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