I'm sitting at home listening to "As It Happens" on CBC. The topic on the radio is an interview with a city official in Boston who is going on about parking costs at Red Sox games.
Listening to this rant, we have this gentleman getting all upset about the cost of parking around the Red Sox ball park. Apparently, some of the parking lot operators are charging in excess of $100 for parking in the vicinity of the baseball field. One of his statements was along the lines of "just because people are willing to pay it doesn't make it right". Followed by something about ensuring that games remain accessible to "average" fans.
Ironic, isn't it. In the land where the so-called "Free Market" reigns supreme, we have civic officials getting bent out of shape about the cost of parking for a sporting event. Meanwhile, the free market is allowed to hurtle out of control in more critical areas such as health care.
I live in Canada - how do I know anything about the US health care system? In terms of costs, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together. When it is essential for an average worker to have work-sponsored health insurance in order to afford the cost of a baby's birth, something's wrong. When American border dwellers are finding that it is cheaper to come into Canada to fill their prescriptions, or they order them from Canadian-based Internet Pharmacies, I can only surmise that the costs of these drugs are far beyond what the "free market" is able to pay, much less whether or not those prices are reasonable for seniors on fixed incomes.
It astonishes me that a city will legislate to regulate the costs of parking for a sports event, but the collective legislative bodies in the US haven't got the spine to regulate the health care industry so that the people who need access to it can get that access without fear of being pushed into bankruptcy.
In Canada, it is equally important that we watch our own governments carefully and ensure that whatever structural changes they introduce to the health care system in this country have appropriate checks-and-balances to ensure that those that need access to treatment have timely, appropriate access. The thickness of someone's pocketbook should not dictate their ability to access such critical services.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
On March 19, 2024 the United Conservative Party of Alberta held an event that they called " Let Kids Be Kids " (spoiler alert: i...
-
So, India is expanding its temper tantrum over Canada expressing concerns over the suspected role of the Modi government in the murder of ...
-
There is an entire class of argument that we see in discourse that basically relies on the idea that “physical attribute X means that Y can ...
4 comments:
I think you have lost perspective here. Your view is awfully one sided, and you are not taking the rights of anyone else into due consideration. For shame!
You need to consider this entire situation first by placing yourself in the shoes of the average Amercican Citizen who is a civic official - part of a union, and for all purposes tenured.
He has a guaranteed income, and his health care is covered. His out of pocket expenses include beer, cigarettes, entertainment and other necessities of life.
This poor, poor man is being coerced to shell out $100 for a parking space - an absolute necessity if his beer belly and general physique makes it near impossible for him to waddle further than a few blocks to the stadium.
Surely you would not want him to become a burden on his health care provider - so generously compensated by his employer. There is such a risk involved with the physical activity associated with taking public transit or walking more than two blocks. It should be outlawed!
It is clear to see that driving is his god-given right; it is his right to pollute the atmosphere, and his right to dock his SUV tanker in close proximity to where he is going. Otherwise there is an obvious infringement on his rights! There ought to be a law!
That $100 is a grave misservice, it cheats him of the $35 hot dog and $18 can of pop that he would otherwise be able to afford at the game.
Remember - America is truly the land of the free and the home of the self-centered...
What really got to me was that they were busy drafting legislation to do something about this "grave injustice".
To borrow from Julius Caesar: 'Panem et Circenses' (bread and circuses) - a formula that kept people from rising in revolt against the Roman government - apparently the US has found the same magic formula
Bread and circuses... while you utterly destroy civilization as we know it... and raise taxes too!
Dear Grog:
We miss you. Come back soon!
Politics just aren't as tasty without the special Cracked(TM) seasoning with a side order of cynicism.
Post a Comment