When I was a child, we had a friend of the family we called Uncle George. His real name was George Byrnes. He had been a cop in New York City for some 28 years before retiring to Connecticut with his wife and three daughters.
He never talked about his time as a NYC policeman. But he was the kindest, most Christian man I ever met. When my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, George used to accompany my father to Yale New Haven Hospital where she was receiving treatment. Parking at the hospital was limited at the time, so they parked the car well down the block. New Haven was a rather seedy small city, and there was no shortage of down and out characters on their way to the hospital.
My father, the hard bitten, New England combat veteran, ignored them. Uncle George, on the other hand, went among them handing out whatever money he had on his person. When he ran out, he asked my father to borrow some money. My father, who was a good man but a frugal one, looked at him and said, you know they’ll only go out and buy more booze with it. George replied, I wouldn’t want to miss the one who needed it.
The United States spends almost 17 percent of her GNP on healthcare, and does not insure everyone in the country. No other country in the world spends anywhere close to that amount.
The following countries provide universal healthcare at a level commensurate with what we would expect if we can afford healthcare here: Austria, Australia, Croatia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Many other countries provide universal healthcare, but I would not hesitate to receive care in any of the above listed countries.
The UK spent about 10 percent of its GNP on healthcare last year. Life expectancy there was 2.6 years longer than found in the U.S. Infant mortality in the UK was 4.8 per thousand births versus 6.2 for the United States. Cancer survival rates in the U.S. seem slightly better, but more cancers are diagnosed here, including more cancers that would not cause death.
When you get into medical statistics, it gets complicated and esoteric. What really ought to stand out to all of us are a couple of facts.
We pay a LOT more for medical care in this country. Not all of our people can obtain medical care. Many people face economic ruin when they do obtain care. Many of our poor are never afforded the care that the poorest in far poorer countries may obtain.
A couple of weeks ago Mr. Beverly in one of his editorials told us that evangelicals, in opposing government-mandated and -financed healthcare, are not acting in contravention to mandates from the almighty to assist the poor. Such acts he said are individual and should not be compelled through government.
Last week he told us the government simply cannot afford it; that U.S. national debt is already too great.
So I’m wondering now which is the reason. Government should not, or government cannot. Because right now somebody is vacuuming up the proceeds from our healthcare expenditures while we overpay and receive in many cases, only average results.
For our efforts, millions of people have to deal with a system that routinely overcharges, and causes many people to wonder how on earth they will afford their treatment, while the poorest among us must seek the most expensive treatment available at emergency rooms.
I challenge evangelicals because I have known true Christians, not because I am one. How can one group of people who are supposedly following in the footsteps of the Christ be so enslaved to a party and a leadership so enslaved to their own personal enrichment? How can people attend church, mutter all the words, and completely miss the point?
I am not as good a man as Uncle George. He would never call people out on their actions and their hypocrisy. He was like an original Christian. By his deeds, by his kindness, by his love for humanity in whatever form he could fashion it he just was.
Modern American evangelicals in their ossified state will undoubtedly continue to meet, to wear their little mission shirts when they seek obfuscation from the poor in Central America, and completely miss the one who needs it here at home, because they have wedded themselves to political thought that is completely callous in its effect. We can’t all be Uncle George, but we don’t have to be Ayn Rand.
It’s our call.
Timothy J. Parker
Peachtree City, Ga.
