Robert Thomas, Moultrie
Dear editor:
Last night I listened to president Obama address the nation and must say, as always, I was impressed with his presentation. I have to agree with most of his expectations. The difference comes in how to achieve these goals. There seems to be a general consensus in Washington that the country can spend itself into prosperity therefore alleviating all our problems.
One point Mr. Obama made was that there was a need to return to the "common sense" approach to governing - unfortunately, common sense is not so common anymore. Abe Lincoln once said that "the Lord sure must have loved the common people cause he made so many of us". What he didn't mention was that this country was in dire need of a change in our culture and attitudes.
Below is a short letter sent to the White House from Starner Jones, MD, that pricks the heart of a lot or our problems in this country today. Having worked in Emergency Medicine for nearly 2 decades, I can, as anyone in healthcare can, personally relate to this type of mass belief in entitlements.
It reads:
“Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B; ringtone.
“While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smoked more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still had money to buy pretzels and beer.
“And you and congress expect me to pay for this woman's healthcare? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses.
“Rather, it is the result of a ‘crisis of culture,’ a culture in which it is perfectably acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.
“It is a culture based on the irresponsible credo that ‘I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me’. Once you fix this ‘culture crisis’ that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.”
Robert Thomas
Moultrie
