The Art of Humanity?

So, why would I call this blog, "The Art of Humanity"? Because the more I speak with people, the more I perceive that our concept of humanity is becoming lost and muddled. Selfishness seems to dominate our society. People are afraid, unwilling, or unable to help each other.


Take the issue of healthcare. We have all heard it. "Why should I pay for someone else's problem?" Well, because you should WANT to help them with their problem. Personally, it seems unnatural and inhumane to say something like that. Every time I hear it, I cringe. We live in a first-world, wealthy, powerful country, yet so many have no access to decent healthcare. Why? Because our economy dicates it to be so. A healthcare system for everyone makes no one any money (except for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals). Our economy as it stands now favors the uber-rich and the most powerful corporations, with an emphasis on stockholders and dividends. The business of healthcare is a very big one for many companies. So, why would they want us to turn our heads and look somewhere else for our medical needs? They don't! We need to take it upon ourselves to DEMAND something better. The newly deemed "Obamacare" is a very small step to someplace better, but it is not the solution by any means, and unfortunately our population is so against anything that even SOUNDS like socialism that it will probably get repealed or ignored anyway.

Why should we demand something better? Well, for one thing, I don't want some fat-cat CEO in a high rise building in NYC making decisions about what operation I should and shouldn't be having. I would like my doctor to decide that. And if my doctor tells my insurance company that I need it, they should pay for it (since I'm paying them to do so!). But since the insurance company won't make money off my operation, they probably won't want to pay for it. For-profit companies should not be making any major medical decisions for me, bottom line.

When you think about healthcare, think about your grandmother. Your best friend, your cousin's child, your neighbor. Then remember that we are all the same, we are all individuals with wants and needs, and a very strong will to live. If you would pay for your grandmother, why wouldn't you pay for someone else's grandmother? Because you don't care about them? Shame on you. Being selfish is doing no favors for our society as a whole. I think we need to take a step back from our busy daily lives, our small cubicles and computer screens, our giant load of laundry piling up in the spare bedroom (I should really take care of that), and take a moment to think about what is really important. Do we want to carry our own banners everywhere we go, and let the "less-worthy" people clean up our tracks as best they can? Or do we want to committ ourselves to something bigger, something more meaningful?

It is a form of art when people look beyond their own tedious lives and demand something more. It's remembering where we come from, who we are, and that this world is precious and we should treat it as such. We can work together to win back our most basic humanity. Yes, we can.