Monday, July 18, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 15 JEFF ZUSCHLAG E-MAIL JEFF AfTJEFFDZ@UMICH.EDU _~ Health hypocrisy Amid the illegal fireworks, trips with the family, and back- yard bar- beques on the Fourth, there is a com- mon senti- ment about the history of this country. Whether it is the sacrifice MAX of the soldiers LEVENSTEIN fighting for freedom or the pride we have of being citizens of this nation, we call ourselves Americans and we are proud of it. We are all a part of our coun- try and share a unity through this common bond. Our politi- cians address us not as individu- als, but by "fellow Americans." We are a community of people joined under a common good and care about our fellow Americans. Or at least on the Fourth of July. Fast forward two weeks, past the glamour of our holiday and the pressure to act patriotic. Debates still rage on among the Republican presidential can- didates as to who is the most against the new healthcare plan. "I will repeal Obamacare," says Mitt Romney. On the other end, the Minnesota twin dream team of Bachmann and Pawlenty think they would each be better suited to repeal the terrible govern- ment takeover of our lives and let the free market do the work. So much for caring about fellow Americans. I supposeitmayberighttodeny tens of millions of Americans access to health care, because let's face it, if you can't afford it you don't deserve to be healthy. We need to stick to the free mar- ket because it has never steered us wrong. Money is what really matters and we cannot afford to maintain a healthy population if we want to compete with China. Unfortunately this sarcasm isn't shared by Americans opposed to Obamacare. They put money before life and the free market before humanity. Do they care about others who live in their country and are also Amer- ican? I would venture to say they do, but they are blinded by their dogmatic political and economic ideologies. We have seen decades of proof that suggests that the health care industry in America has failed to live up to the standards that we require. It is time for a change: something that not only makes more economic sense, but is more consistent with our vision of what America is. We have to care about the health of other Americans and cannot simply ignore the fact that millions are undertreated. Health care is different from nice cars and fine wine. It is not something we want to go out and buy because it will make us, happy, but something we need to maintain in order for everything else to matter. Without a healthy life, what is there? We must have a quality and comprehensive health care system as the first pri- ority in all policy decisions, never putting money, tax breaks or competition with China above it. Without a healthy life, what is there? Guaranteeing health care for all Americans is by no means economic suicide. In fact, of the dozens of countries that have successfully implemented national health care systems, all spend less per patient compared to the United States, while still maintaining the same status of public health, if not better. There is a lot of room for improvement here, all we need to do is take advantage of this opportunity. No longer can we call our- selves "fellow Americans" and sit back while millions of people around the country continue to live unhealthy lives. Let us feel the comradery that the fourth of July brings to us. Let us feel for other Americans who cannot afford to be as healthy as their rich peers. People do not deserve health care because they can afford it, they deserve it because anyone who calls themselves an American deserves the opportu- nity for a happy and healthy life. Max Levenstein can be reached at medl@umich.edu. Did you read about the study they recently released saying that search engines eay he weakening our memory? No, but it sounds like a load of Bs. Really? Why do you think that is? Why what is? Why it's a load of BS? Why WHAT is a load of BS? The study about search engines and our memory! Oh, that sounds interesting. Here, let me Google it. Yt UIMA I i Ill L M'3 I- - "-_. I Ill Umfrinj 1____-__ I It .M..,.Ix' - - _ l Freedom isn't simple With the coming and goingofthe Fourth of July, one thing I've been thinking about is freedom. As a twenty-year- old American woman, I've had it pretty cushy. More than that, everything I know about free- dom has been VANESSA shaped by every RYCHLINSKI social studies _______ class I've taken in every grade since elementary school. That and bumper stickers. I recently saw the phrase "Freedom Isn't Free" slapped onto the back of a fourteen person SUV - right in between one equating being pro- choice to being pro-death, and one quoting a bible verse about the sanc- tity of marriage. This five-by-eight philosophy raised some questions. Basically, what I really want to know is - what the hell does any- one really know? The recent unrest in the Middle East and Africa is almost unimagi- nable. Accounts of governments firing on their own citizens have been appalling, but the violence goes deeper. A June 16 CNN arti- cle claims that soldiers loyal to the Gaddafi regime have been tor- turing prisoners, and there's cell phone video to prove it. One alleg- edly depicts soldiers sodomizing a Libyan woman with a broomstick. Libyan rebels claim that they have a number of phones in their posses- sion with similar recordings. Then there's the plight of Iman al-Obeidi, a lawyer who was detained before being gang- raped for two days by members of Gaddafi's militia. After escaping, al-Obeidi attempted to talk to for- eign journalists in a Tripoli hotel, only to be dragged away by hotel staff and government personnel. According to a March 27 Washing- ton Post article, in a phone call to al-Obeidi's mother, Libyan govern- ment officials told her that if her daughter reneged on all her claims, they would provide her with "any- thing she wanted." Al-Obeidi told her mother, "I will die rather than change my words." Though there are more stories arising from this conflict, these are the two that get to me the most. The Libyan people are collectively pay- ing a high price in both happinness and dignity - while most inthe U.S. only have to deal with the high price of gas. As a student at the University of Michigan, I've had it pretty easy. Students have several great forums in which to publicize pet issues. The recent smoking ban is more of an exercise in futility than a limit on personal freedom - any official of a learning institution ought to know that we've all been taught to resist "peer pressure." There's some kind of organization to cater to almost any student's interests or back- ground - whatever issue gets your goat, you're free to grandstand in the Diag. Though tuition isn't free, every day we have the opportunity to make the choices indicative of our true selves - from the clothes we wear to the opinions we hold. Back in February, I was annoyed at a Facebook event page for an"Egypt Liberation" themed rave. In May, I was uncomfortable that students partied in front of the White House when Bin Laden was shot. Last week, I was angered by a new blog devoted to this current age of revo- lution, cutely named Revolt Riot, which sells clothing. Getting to the point here, my personal philosophy for situations LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: involving school, work, family and even romantic relationships is that if it isn't challenging, it isn't worth pursuing. Anything ofvalue is going to be difficult - the worth of any- thing is measured by how much bullshit you're willing to endure, or in how many quarts of the pro- verbial blood, sweat and tears you can afford to lose. The triumph of climbing a mountain lies in its size - the payoff of the trek is the What the hell does anyone really know? view from the peak. My thoughts move here from mountains to clubs, White House merrymaking and tasteless t-shirts. I'm not sure how entitled I am to make any sort of judgment here. I could easily exer- cise my uncultivated, unearned freedom in the same ways - I'm just as free as any other American to attend a rave, celebrate the death of a terrorist or buy a "Keep Calm and Riot On" wristband. I am a young woman living in the freest nation in the world, attending one of the most accommodating schools in the country, and yet I have not strug- gled for any of it. Al-Obeidi would rather die than change her words - to me, "changing my words" means editing this column. Freedom is not free, so the stickers say, and I know it is worth something, a big some- thing. But what do I really know if I haven't struggled for it? Vanessa Rychlinski can be reached at vanrych@umich.edu. Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu.