This is 2017. It is now nearly 50 years since we put a man on the moon. We’ve created aircraft that can easily break the sound barrier and spaceships that can reach Mars. We have an internet that enables us to communicate worldwide in seconds. We have built machines that can submerge to the bottom of the sea and bring back information without being crushed under the enormous pressure and weight of the sea. We have commercial aircraft that literally can fly themselves. We have cars that have the convenience of our living rooms built into them. Some can now even park themselves. We’ve gone from a few television channels to a cable network of thousands. In other words, the capabilities of human ingenuity are staggering, limitless and ongoing.
So why is it, in spite of a huge and very obvious national health crisis, that we are unable to stem the tide on human illness and suffering? Why is our attention being diverted to “affordable” health care when the real issue we need to pay attention to is “effective” health care? How has it been possible for citizens of this country to devalue the incredible hard work and dedication of our nation’s physicians? And why will a patient leave a doctor’s office without a prescription and complain to their family and friends that the doctor didn’t do anything for them?
We are living in truly mad times. Spend about 30 minutes listening to the news and you cannot help but feel sadness and grief at what you are hearing. There is war, starvation, crime, pollution, ecological disasters and corruption at all levels of government. Capitalism has been a mixed blessing and curse since it is responsible for technological advancement and lifestyle enhancement, yet at the same time gives rise to greed. Greed always leaves victims in its wake. And the U.S. healthcare system is a system that has evolved from greed and control and leaves millions of unsuspecting Americans as victims of a system that truly does not have their best interests at heart.
As a doctor who has been practicing for more than 35 years I can state, unequivocally, that the healthcare system in place is failing miserably and the public is complicit as unconscious victims. What do I mean by unconscious victims? The majority of the public has no real connection to how they jeopardize their health every day. For example, if you walk into a supermarket, you may encounter an aisle that is labeled “Health Foods”. If you think about this for a moment, you need to ask yourself, “What are they selling in all of the other aisles”? The U.S. population is being given toxic “foods” that are unnatural, chemicalized, refined, preserved and do not support the nutritional requirements of the human body. We are literally eating ourselves sick. Our national health debacle centers around lifestyle illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, chronic infections, arthritis, cancers, heart disease, etc. And then, as a medical intervention, patients are given prescription medication for their symptoms.
One does not need to be a doctor to know that medications do not change the underlying mechanisms of illness. They simply address the symptoms. And since medications are designed to suppress symptoms, they initiate a physiologic cascade that leads to side effects and toxicity. So, in 35 years, I have watched people age, develop conditions, take medications and continue to get sicker and sicker over time, eventually requiring more and stronger medicines, surgery and all types of interventional therapies for their suffering. It is really not that difficult to understand. We eat unhealthy foods, breathe toxic air, drink tainted water, get very little exercise, have extraordinary amounts of stress and do not sleep well because we stimulate our brains with T.V., computers and social media until we close our eyes, giving little attention to the fact that our homeostasis depends on adequate sleep.
Finding “affordable” solutions to our health care dilemma is not going to improve the health of the public. Addressing the reasons why we are so sick is the only way. If you knew someone that suffered from chronic headaches and witnessed them banging their head against the wall a few thousand times a day, would you think a pain reliever would be an effective approach? Our responsibility, as human beings, is to look at what we’ve created and give careful and serious consideration to what is going on here.
We have a pharmaceutical industry that delights in all of the pathology being created by this and has developed a research paradigm of medicinally controlling the human body. In other words, we stand around all day banging our heads on the wall and they are giving us aspirin. They have become enormously wealthy and powerful by keeping us sick and giving us pills for our symptoms. When you stand back and take in the entire landscape of human suffering, it borders on insanity. Why are we not demanding healthy, natural foods? Why are we allowing our atmosphere to house more toxins than oxygen? Why are we so quick to swallow pills rather than stop the madness? And why do we continue to pay premiums to health insurance companies who will not pay for prevention or natural, supportive therapies that can help coax the body back toward better health?
In a system based on capitalism, we certainly have power to influence things in a more profound way. For starters, the public must demand healthy, organic, chemical-free foods. The food we consume will either serve as the backbone of our good health or lack of it. The greater the demand, the greater the supply. The greater the supply, the lower the cost. Putting people in power who will give credibility to environmental issues is also critical. We desperately need to clean up our air and water supply. This is not a political issue. This is a matter of life or death on this planet for our descendants! Imposing the will of the consumer on health insurance companies by mandating coverage for prevention and natural, non-drug therapies that can actually begin to improve the health of the nation (rather than wait for illness and then provide coverage for intervention) is of paramount importance. Do not pay your premiums unless this is added to your coverage. If you do not pay your premiums, then all of a sudden, you are in control and not them.
We have our work cut out for us. There are VERY wealthy people who DO NOT want anything to change. That is why they are very wealthy. However, we cannot sit idly by while we continue to crumble as a species whilst we destroy the planet for our animal friends as well. This is WRONG thinking. Victim mentality gives rise to victims. We have the collective power to change anything. Wake up America. Put on your BIG people pants and do something about YOUR life here on Earth or don’t complain!!!
The way I see it, in a country based on choice, we only have one choice left. What choice will you make?