I am not a refugee. Why would

it matter, anyway? I dated, and later married, one of your intelligent

and pretty girls whom I have met in Germany. That brought me to America.

I admit, though, I also was curious about that paradise of a country called

the United States of America which, as it turned out, is a mere fiction

of postwar U.S. propaganda in Germany.

Mr. Bryan, I wonder which opinion

piece did you read? In contrast to your claim, I didn't even mention Russia,

or East Germany, in my article.

Also, I am not an anticapitalist.

I only oppose the greed-driven U.S. (Darwinian) version of capitalism.

I prefer the less profit-oriented, more humane version of capitalism adopted

Further, life expectancy for

U.S. men is 67.6 years, not 74 years as you claim; and for U.S. women

life expectancy is 72.6 years, not 79 years (overall life expectancy is

70.0 years as cited in my article). My informed guess is you were using

data provided by Republican spin meisters. My data are WHO data (https://www-nt.who.int/whosis/statistics/dale/dale.cfm;

https://www-nt.who.int/whosis/statistics/dale/dale.cfm? path=

statistics,dale&language

=english).

True, many Canadians come to

the U.S. for procedures. On the other hand, U.S. media rarely mention

the fact that tens of thousands of Americans travel in the other direction,

to Canada: U.S. citizens without insurance who cannot afford the price

of U.S. basic health care (please see USA Today, Nov. 11, 1991, "U.S.

patients go for treatment to Canada"; or, New York Times, Dec. 20,

1993, "Americans Filching Free Health Care in Canada").

The American Medical Association,

typically, is completely silent on this issue. I also want you to know

that according to a 1993 Gallop poll published in the magazine In These

Times, 96 percent of Canadians appreciated their health care system.

You ask: "If illegal aliens

can receive health care, why can't legal citizens obtain health care?"

Good question. I can't give you the answer. Ask your political representatives.

You ask further: "Do you

suppose the government and the mainstream media are lying to U.S. citizens?"

I sure do, sir. In fact, they quite frequently lie to you or tell half-truths.

Most Americans except maybe the likes of you are quite aware of that.

Finally, "Why does Herr

Rückl wish the U.S. to emulate Canada...?" (I didn't suggest

to emulate Mexico.) I would like the U.S. to emulate the Canadian health

care system because it is based on precepts of social justice and medical

need, not Wall Street and it produces better medical outcomes, nationwide,

for everyone, independent of the thickness of a person's pocket book.

Mr. Fielder, it's your turn.

What I said above concerning data citation also applies to you. In the

future, please indicate the source of your database so that your discussion

partners can have a meaningful debate with you.

You chide the Democrats for

enrolling as many children as possible in basic health care. What a sorry

person you are! Don't our children, ALL our children, not just the children

of the rich, deserve to be taken care of first and most comprehensively?

Cut the bloated Pentagon budget

in half or eliminate corporate welfare and you'll have plenty of dollars

to go around to cover the least powerful and influential of society, the

children, who cannot yet speak for themselves. The U.S. is the only country

in the so-called civilized Western world whose children do not have full

access to its health care system. What a shame!

You stated private insurance

plans would cost about $20 a month. Tell us as fast as you can which company

sells comprehensive health care insurance for $20 a month. We'd run and

line up for enrollment right now.

You said in one year, 1999,

$13.5 billion was lost by fraud and mismanagement in the Medicare system.

My opinion: Medicare is administered by your government. Who is your government?

Isn't it YOU, the community of ALL Americans? At least it says so in your

Constitution.

So don't whine about government

mismanagement. Get out of your recliner and change the way your government

operates! Make officials accountable! Make sure the law is enforced! There

is no reason at all why government can't be run like a corporation. It's

only in your head that it can't.

What shocked me most when I

came to the U.S. 13 years ago was the low regard Americans have for their

government. Americans are completely schizophrenic when it comes to the

issue of government performance and who is ultimately responsible for

it.

You said, "They (Clinton-Gore/the

Democrats) insult us by calling us bigots, homophobes and extremists,

and insist we cannot look beyond race, gender or sexual proclivity to

see character and competence."

I tell you, Mr. Fielder, most

of the rest of the civilized world joins Clinton-Gore/the Democrats in

this assessment. Yet what you call "us" is not all of America;

what you call "us" is the Bible belching, fascist, blindly flag-waving

minority; those who post the Ten Commandments in court rooms, schools

and on town squares but pretend to have no clue of the meaning of "Thou

shalt not kill." Each time a death row inmate had been executed someplace

in the country your likes break out in a wild cheer and praise the Lord.

"Us" is those who go to church Sunday morning nodding their

heads in complete agreement at the pastor's "Love your neighbor as

yourself" but the same afternoon bicker about national efforts to

combat hunger in the country.

I stop here, Mr. Fielder. First,

because I doubt you have been listening for my words. Second, because

I feel we have extremely little in common, philosophically speaking. Go

on and keep regurgitating what the New Slave Master (see Gerry Spence,

"Give Me Liberty!") stuffs into you, day by day, hour by hour.

Mr. Gilmer, you are right,

I am not happy with your system (the status quo, not the concept). Quite

frankly, I am not happy at all with the status of the American democracy,

for reason eloquently addressed in Gerry Spence's "Give Me Liberty!,"

Marianne Williamson's "The Healing of America" and William Greider's

"Who Will Tell The People?".

I dislike the extreme materialism

in this country. I dislike the lack of civic involvement of a majority

of Americans. I dislike that corporations and a rich, influential elite

and their money run the country, not the people . I dislike the

lack of freedom of speech. I dislike U.S. economic and political/military

imperialism. I dislike the arrogance of Americans. I dislike their pervasive

ignorance. I dislike the abuse of children in this country.

The reason I am still here

struggling is because I will not deliver my child without a fight to this

unhealthy spiritual climate; because I want to communicate with Americans

and influence their thinking. It is important for the world what America

thinks and what it does or not does. I am still here because of many wonderful

Americans who help me keep up my belief in this country; because there

are still newspapers who celebrate freedom of speech; and last, not least,

because I am determined to help save America's stunning natural beauty

or what is left of it.

For your information, I did

not swear to support the U.S. Constitution or, for that matter, any constitution.

And I never pledged allegiance to anyone besides my family. Understand

me right, the U.S. Constitution is a grand piece of work. I just wish

it would be lived, not just boasted about.

Your question, "Should

not a person's decision on whether or not he chooses to be his brother's

keeper be voluntary?" exemplifies the emotional desert in the hearts

of many Americans. Neale Donald Walsch calls it "primitivity"

("Conversations with God"). There is nothing more to add. It

is rather depressing.

So, and now I guess I have

to go and get a bulletproof vest. Have you all a good day,

Günther Rückl, M.D.,

Ph.D.

[email protected]