Have you ever wondered what would happen if all those 45,000 people who die every year from lack of health care coverage all died on the same day? Just hypothetically. It doesn't have to be a special day. Just any ordinary day and then, suddenly, poof. 45,000 people. Dead. Imagine the headlines:
CNN: "43,000 Americans Dead. President to Address the Nation"
It would make the tragedy of 911 seem like a minor event in comparison.
The networks would give it theme music and custom graphics. 24 hour coverage for weeks. A long, self-reflecting, national conversation about the deadly disaster that is our health care system. A national, ceremonial morning for the dead. Coverage of the funerals. Big investigations by Congress. Mass public outrage. And a renewed resolve by our corrupt and fickle leaders to 'never ever let anything like this happen again.'
And then, hypothetically, there might even emerge a publicly financed, universal health care plan. And with the world watching, it might even pass.
At the very least, perhaps we, the broader American public, would break through the cold comfort of our statistical detachment and feel the pain and suffering of real people for a change.
But alas, they don't all die on the same day. No memorials. No national attention. No national conversation. Just quiet passings away. Sometimes with friends and family. Often alone. Spread out like tiny dots on a map.
Have you ever lived through a big emergency? A flooded city? A major earthquake? I've lived through both. And I can tell you that the most amazing thing happens.
Everyone becomes a "socialist".
That weak, ideological stranglehold that can move people to vote for the biggest psychopaths on the planet suddenly gives way to that most basic human instinct, compassion, and people start taking care of each other again. It's a beautiful thing to see.
And the government stops being the enemy real quick. They can have every preset on their radio set to Rush Limbaugh, and they'll be demanding that the government step in to help these poor people.
Our national emergency goes far beyond the health care crisis. By my count, we're juggling about 5 national emergencies all at once. Each of them deadly, and imperative to resolve.
How do we get people to realize this? It's as though a super giant volcanic eruption popped up in Peoria, IL. and it's slowly oozing lava that will blanket the United States. But it's only advancing at 3 mph.
So the media and the American people pretend it's not happening, or just happening somewhere else. And nothing gets done. Periodically, the lava will reach somewhere that matters, and the media will report on that: "...but until they get to the bottom of it, they are advising citizens to keep plenty of water on hand. Back to you Bob." We don't want to scare the consumers, do we?
But while it may feel like it's playing out in slow motion, it is rapidly catching up to real time. Millions of Americans this Christmas are not going to be celebrating holiday cheer. 1.6 million children in the United State won't even have a Christmas tree in their homes. That's because over 1.6 American children don't have homes..
We are in an emergency and it's called the destruction of American society. We can see it all around us - in our schools, prisons, communities, neighborhoods. Every facet of American society is breaking down. The fact that it is playing out over time is irrelevant. This is our fire, flood, and earthquake all in one. And we have to figure out a way to prevent people from pretending it's anything less.