Five Things That Scare Me

Normally, I embrace fear. I traffic in fear. Fear has been good to yours truly.

But if there's anything scaring me these days, it's the blatant misuse of fear in regards to health care reform. I am appalled at the brazen lies being propagated by opponents of reform specifically to scare the elderly and other vulnerable segments of our society. Pushing untruths about "death panels" and "pulling the plug on Grandma" are not helping the debate.

If we're going to achieve effective health care in this country, we need an honest public discussion based on facts: how do we pay for reform, how will it work, who will be covered?

These are important issues than cannot be solved while lobbyists, pundits and "tea-baggers" are muddying the waters by marketing fear. The only people who should be scared by health care reform are those who make a profit off of other people's suffering and illness.

Other things that frighten me:

I'm scared by the enormous amount of bottled water being consumed today, instead of people drinking filtered tap water. Did you know that nearly 90 percent of those plastic bottles are not recycled and wind up in landfills where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose? Hey, there's only so much room on this planet folks...

Also on the environmental front, I'm scared by the liberal contingent of Escalade driving, thug wheeled, Blackberry-yakking, GPS-searching moms who idle their huge vehicles in front of elementary schools for 30 minutes a day while waiting to pick up their children. Yeah, they'll give lip service to being eco-friendly, but five days a week they'll sit in their SUV's spewing carbon monoxide into the air. And hey, when did kids stop walking to school?

I also fear that kids themselves are losing the spirit of adventure that I grew up with. Thanks to a culture of instant gratification and constant connectivity an entire generation is growing up online. Instead of opening up their horizons to travel and new cultures, they spend their time communicating via text on cell phones (even when they're standing next to each other), socializing from afar on Facebook and downloading their entertainment from the internet. The technologies of convenience are making our sphere of exploration and experience smaller.

Finally, one thing that's scaring me in a good way is a recent Swedish horror film movie I saw called Let The Right One In. Just when I thought vampires had "jumped the shark," comes this chilling and disturbing movie (based on an equally frightening novel) that had me trembling like a teenager who had just discovered Stephen King, Clive Barker and Anne Rice on the same day. It's a complete reinvention of the vampire myth, and an extremely dark and creepy one at that. I highly recommend you find a copy of it on DVD, surrender to the subtitles and immerse yourself in a truly good scare.

Robert Englund is currently starring in FEARnet.com's Fear Clinic.

 

 

Comments

[tugofpolitics]

I hope that isn't a top five list. I'll give you the one about the kids. That is disheartening, and as life becomes more and more convenient, it loses more of its meaning.

"The only people who should be scared by health care reform are those who make a profit off of other people's suffering and illness."

The private insurance companies stand to make a windfall beneath Obamacare.

The government traditionally had the role of providing for the safety from foreign threats as well as a few other enumerated powers such as the post office.

It would be better to see the churches take on an increased role in health care. Government intervention is no replacement for charity. Education, health-care, and shelter are traditional roles of the church. Since the government has been doing such a terrible job in all three for the past 70 years, I don't see the good in expanding their power.

I agree with an open discussion, but the people on the other side feel there is adequate reason to be worried about 'about "death panels" and "pulling the plug on Grandma"' Dismissing it outright as lies isn't helping the debate either. You would need a case-by-case examination of the claims. The difficulty of this is compounded by the fact that somehow the health care reform bill is 1,500+ pages long. Tell me that health care reform takes 1500 pages to fix and I'd say 'Have a heart for the trees.'

[kannadzuki]

Please explain, how are private insurers supposed to make inordinate (let alone increased) profits from a single-payer system, as opposed to reasonable profits based in competition for non-essential services, like they do in Canada? When patents expire, how can pharmaceutical companies continue to request high prices of government for drugs that can be cheaply replicated by others?

Perhaps your laudable "heart for the trees" can consider how inhumane it is to categorise the basic health of citizens as a commodity, requiring "charity" to those who cannot afford it. Though it is false that your national healthcare bill would rise under a proper single-payer system (or that the quality of care would decline) ....if it did rise somewhat and **stayed there** it would still be a far more preferable option to ever-higher costs and ever-reducing coverage.

I certainly hope they're using recycled paper, but I don't see how it should surprise anyone the bill is over 1500 pages long. I'm not even American and I've heard of bills over 1000 pages long before. There are a lot of related laws to adjust. Here's a better explanation than I can give, though: http://www.slate.com/id/2225820/

Perhaps "The Church" has a role in charity but to consider "it" (as if it were truly a single entity) best-suited to completely take over elected representatives' responsibility toward citizens' most basic issues of welfare... do you have any faith in humanity?

[BTN]

Americans aren't afraid of healthcare reform, they are afraid of FEDERAL GOVERNMENT healthcare reform.
Why anybody would trust the federal government to manage our healthcare is incomprehensible.

Look at Medicares $37 trillion unfunded liability, Social Security functionally bankrupt, poor treatment of our Vets at VA hospitals, FEMA during Katrina, the post office, Amtrak safety record, etc., etc.

[wmfor]

So you are evidently proposing eliminating Medicare and Social Security. How about the Post Office? Isn't that socialism? Perhaps we should outsource the army, given what a sterling job Blackwater is doing.

And wouldn't the local police be better done by a private company? Watch Robocop.

I love the faith and trust you put in private megacorporations to manage your fate.

[BTN]

I'm proposing that if the Federal Government can't run things efficiently and effectively without costing taxpayers trillions of wasted dollars, then yes, the private sector should be involved. The government has failed.

And yes, as Obama said clearly, "UPS and Fedex are doing fine, it's the Post Office that has problems."
(Fedex already does overnight mail for the US Post Office and saves taxpayers billions).

[chiefpayne]

Want to know what scares me? A group of government representative who take it upon themselves to rewrite laws without listening to what their constituents want, without telling their constituents what they are putting in the bill, writing the bill behind closed doors as to prevent anyone from seeing it, and then rushing thru the voting FOR the bill. And then later talking to consitutents as if they are children and saying "they don't know what's good for them...but I do."

Talk about taxation WITHOUT representation!

[billw8017]

Almost 200 years ago, Henry Clay was gearing up for a 1810 run for Congress that would eventually make him one of America's leaders through the next quarter century. His big issue was the American System," a program of road and canals to knit the young republic together. This would subsidize improvements on the local and private "plank" roads that made, say, representatives from New England spend a week traveling between their home districts and the capital. Eisenhower's modern improvement, the Interstate System is widely agreed to have made travel and shipping more economical. Our highways are, of course, a Socialist construction; that is, a public benefit paid for from our tax dollars.

How scared are you really to consider how deeply a social conscience is ingrained in our national psyche? Do you suppose the legislators who supported such programs were all arrogant SOBs who did not worry how you suffered to pay the taxes that went for your benefits? Or do you use the roads while supposing they are free and taxes are pointless pains?

Highways are important. How important do you think it that millions of Americans cannot afford the simplest health care at any one moment, a multiple is without provision for health care over a short period and thousands die from medical neglect each month? Do issues of life and death mean that much less to you than the convenience of commerce?

Just asking...

[BlueStateMama]

I love this comment!! "I'm a Fan of billw8017" for Congress!!! Yes! Brilliant writing...

[wmfor]

Near as I can tell, we still have elections every November.

[DixieDoll]

Mr. Englund wrote: If we're going to achieve effective health care in this country, we need an honest public discussion based on facts: how do we pay for reform, how will it work, who will be covered?

All good questions, Mr. Englund. And I agree, we need to have an HONEST public discussion about them. The problem is that the administration refuses to answer them. Apparently you haven't seen the videos of those very questions being asked of representatives, only to have their goons push the journalist away long enough for the rep to run out the back door. Or worse yet, lock the doors and call the cops.

So tell me, Mr. Englund.....how do we go about having that honest discussion when the ones that should have the answers (the administration) refuse to give open, honest answers?

Now, maybe, you & others will understand where the anger is coming from at the townhall meetings.

[billw8017]

How can you disparage the participation of our representatives in public discussion AND mention townhall meetings in the same blog? Are you that illogical or are you totally swayed by more cynical people? Do you seriously think an ambush reporter is interested in a deep and searching debate?

[Edward Clarke]

I disagree with Mr. Englund. First, the term "reform" incorrectly suggests that the proposed changes to our health care system are minor and inconsequential. They're, in fact, fundamentally transformative and consequential. Obama promised as much when he said this on 10/30/08 : "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming America!"

This total overhaul of our health care system is the government confiscating 1/6 of the wealth earned and owned by U.S. citizens.

The government wants to take control of medical decisions that are private matters between independent doctors and their patients. Obama admitted it to Jane Sturm at the ABC townhall meeting when he nixed the idea that her mother's strong life spirit should qualify her for life-saving surgery: He said, "I don't think we can make judgements on people's spirits. That would be a pretty subjective decision...We have to have rules that say that we are going to provide good, quality care for all people. End-of-life care is one of the most difficult sets of decisions we're going to have to make."

continued...

[billw8017]

Actually, "reform" means significant and consequential change where I come from. Not all reform is things like tax benefits for people who may be unemployed or tort reform to people who are legally denied care.

Your figure of 1/6 of the "wealth earned" is not about what is owned by US citizens but what we already pay for health care. The point is that this is more than what is paid by countries that actually cover all their people.

End of life care is sort of trivial, particularly for people who do not choose to sweat their choices until they can do nothing about them. The choice to die with dignity mostly matters because it has something to do about living with dignity while, maybe, sparing those who care about you some anguish.. While you choose to mock the President, remember, such decisions ARE difficult because they are unpleasant to face.

[loggershead]

Something to Fear?

So if the current bill pass congress you may opt out of getting
health insurance by paying an annual tax of about $750.00 and just
sign up when you get (insert favorite disease here). There is even
more good news. You will pay the same rate as the responsible guy
who bought his insurance years ago. Wow, what a deal. Sounds great
right? Only problem is that the responsible guy will have to pay more
than DOUBLE for his insurance premiums now because he has to carry
you until you feel like getting insurance.

It's such a great idea we should try it with car and life insurance
too! When you get in a car wreck, you can just sign up. Get stage
IV cancer? Just wait for hospice and sign up for life insurance.
Where do they come up with these great ideas? No pesky bills
clogging up my mail box. It's so brilliant I bet we will see Geico
ads for it real soon.

For text:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703567204574499034177212064.html

For study:

http://www.wellpoint.com/newsroom/stats_facts.asp

It's almost like Nancy Pelosi has another agenda. Do you think they
are trying to force us into a government takeover of health care?

[billw8017]

A universal single payer system is widely agreed to be the best idea. The vested interests that are insurance companies and big pharma would be reduced to a peripheral position by such a system. Experience has taught us that too many people can be seduced from their better interests by TV ads and other propaganda so the Democrats have tried to sweeten the deal for those vested interests. The hope is to get something and, maybe, improve on it if the need becomes clear.

You do pay for America's inadequate care if only by the denial of care when charity hospitals close.

[nceeno]

Widely agreed upon by whom? Since the single payer would be the government, I have absolutely no confidence that program would be setup to run correctly at all.
Medicare has cost 9 times what was originally figured. Using that logic, we're in for a bill that could cost up to $9 trillion. I somehow think the Democrats math is worse than it used to be so the figure of 9 is probably underestimated.
The people who are seduced by better interests are not the voter, but the people ramming this crap down our throats. There used to be a term called fiscal responsibility that ALL of our elected leaders seem to have forgotten.
Health care today is not about reform. It's about power grabbing.

[billw8017]

Medicare works well and polls show those who use it are well satisfied; so, we see the tea partiers with the sign, "keep the government out of my Medicare." Many people, particularly with pre existing conditions, are hoping just to hang in there until they might qualify for Medicare. The Veterans Administration also seems popular despite having its budget cut during the past administration.

These are models of single payer systems. Subsidizing insurance companies is a more dubious proposition. Their rates are market based and, as the market will bear them, it is logical to continue to charge the same and just add the subsidy to top them off. Something like this has happened with the prescriptions subsidy, widely regarded as a gift to big pharma. Not every government program is practical.

I'm glad you are well, and I hope your insurance continues to work for you.

[delightman88]

Somehow I knew we thought alike, Mr. Englund. One of the greatest fears for me is that we are forgetting how to do things for ourselves, and what it means to do them. The time may come when we will have to go back to a more mechanical-manual oriented culture, and a lot of people will be lost in the wilderness. All it will take is for a major upset like the oil supply to be cut off, or a massive Internet invasion that prevents data transmission. A crippling dependency on machines to do our work doesn't sit well with me.

Plastic water bottles can be recycled and we need to do a better job of that. Drink tap water instead. At least you know what's in it.

My biggest fear, like your issue with the Healthcare bill, Robert, is pandering fear itself. In my state, crime has risen nine percent over the last 20 years, while the prison population has swelled almost 200% during that same time. Few laws have changed, and violent crime is actually down, but the fear-mongering media and an overwhelming sense of danger have persuaded courts and juries to put more and more people behind bars. Our society hasn't changed, nor has the growth of the criminal element. The only thing that has changed is our perception and the way we deal with it.

[billw8017]

It is unclear that crime has increased. The decline of serious violent crime is indicative as these are the most reliably reported crimes. Data on other crimes and incarceration for them may reflect more police and better police work.

[Ezzy666]

Liked the article. But I have to disagree with the bottled water bit. What is even scarier than that is drinking Nevada tap water. It doesn't always taste gross but it made my friends and I sick whenever we drank it. I'll be drinking bottled water.

[David Rozgonyi]

Great article, Mr. Kreuger! I mean, Englund...

[imfedup]

I'm scared that it turns out I'm such a kindred spirit with Freddy Krueger! Loved this piece.

[PNOGUY]

Of course, Obama and his team would NEVER dream of using fear to get Americans to SUPPORT his massive health care behemoth. Fear has driven the entire process.

[imfedup]

There's nothing wrong with appealing to fear as long as it's a legitimate threat. In this case, it is. Anyone whose brains haven't been eaten by zombies can figure that out.

[becspk]

WE MUST DO THIS NOW!!! If that's the case, why wait until 2013 to implement all of this? I thought that we were "literally dying" in the streets? And if you're going to pay for this by getting rid of waste and fraud in big GSEs like Medicaid/care, why not start doing that already?

[barbara960]

I agree with everything you stated, but especially the plastic water bottle situation. Do you remember when people used to walk around without a beverage in their hands at all times? I mean, people could go as long as 90 minutes without drinking a thing!

[BonesofWrath]

I don't see a problem with people carrying a beverage around as long as it is in a reusable plastic sports bottle you buy at Target or a sports outlet. A part of that "personal responsibility" conservatives laughingly and conveniently love to quote is part of keeping yourself hydrated with the recommended amount of water each day. Or even healthy tea.

Not picking on you barbara960. I agree with the plastic bottle dilemma also.

[plier]

Thanks for speaking my mind.

Parents don't let their kids walk to school like we did 30 years ago because of their fear and insecurity. They will tell you the streets are less safe nowadays [They are wrong]. Parents do not fear the effect that this paranoid insecurity has on their kids [do they?].

The grotesque waste created by the bottled water industry stems from the fear of our tap water. Where does that come from, when tap water is regulated to higher standards than bottled water?

Fear generally results from ignorance, which is something to be truly fearful of.
That brings us to public education, and public health.

As a Canadian, I have no fear of the Death Panel currently considering my fate. I'm sure its decision will be a wise one.

Happy Halloween!
[don't let your parents ruin it for you]

[Ventoi]

5 things
5
lets see

I used to be scared by...
uhmm...
lets see...

I am wandering back in my mind...
trying scarey things
for my conscience
to see if they scare me...
like I always tried them

nothing...
I`m not afaid.


``One, two
One, two, three
Alright
Now dig this trash, baby
You don't care about me
I don't care about that
I got a new fool
I like it like that
I got only one burning desire
Let me stand next to your fire``
-Alice

We cannot be the Guitar family (its an accentual issue)

[budanatr]

Hello Robert,
Wouldn't it be great if you could get all made up as Freddy and then slip into the dreams of these conservative senators and representatives and assorted tea baggers and tell them that they must support and vote for a single payer health insurance system immediately or their dreams will become nightmares on Elm Street for the rest of their lives.
While we are at it, add the admonition that they must always vote for the good of the people rather than for lobbyists, large corporations and ideologies.
Great article Robert. Thanks.

[Elis]

AMEN!

[arnray]

Even better, dress up as Jesus and tell them to take care of the poor or else they are going to hell. Oh wait, someone already did that and they ignore him anyway.

[nceeno]

Voting for the good of the people would be to incrementally fix health care and not rewrite it completely to favor a power grab by the government.